South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
SteelTown
Swing Joined: 4/4/08
#1South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/5/10 at 5:30pm
I am asking opinions about Laura Osnes and David Pittsinger in South Pacific. I saw Tony award cast with Kelli O'Hara & Paulo Szot.
#2South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/5/10 at 5:32pmThey were fine, Andrew Samonsky was pretty terrible though. Like straight out of community theater.
#2South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/5/10 at 5:37pm
I saw the OBC, then saw the show again last week.
Osnes is great. I saw William Michals as Emile, and he was quite good. I liked Samonsky. Loretta Ables Sayre is still practically stealing the show.
#3South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/5/10 at 6:17pmI also thought Osnes was fantastic. I have seen her with Szot and William Michals. Michals is fine- very good voice, but not much chemistry with Osnes. I have no idea how Pittsinger is. Not a fan of Samonsky, but Sayre is absolutely spellbinding as Bloody Mary.
#4South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/5/10 at 8:31pmKelli came back after having her baby, didn't she? Did she leave the show again, along with Paulo?
#5South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/5/10 at 8:41pm
Kelli left on January 3. Paulo comes and goes like he did before.
David was actually my first Emile and I thought he was great.
The only thing about Andrew's performance that I had an issue with was that weird voice he was using. If you can get past that he's not bad.
#6South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/6/10 at 12:45amI can't say anything about other Emiles, since I've only seen Szot, but Osnes is fantastic. And, like ljay said, Loretta Ables Sayre is one of the best things about the show and she alone is worth a revisit.
#7South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/6/10 at 9:17am
I really loved Laura Osnes. Having just seen West Side Story and thinking how I never believed a single emotion by the leads, I was blown away by the scene when Nellie realizes the kids are really Emile's. She actually gave me goosebumps and I beieved every word and action she did.
I saw Paul Szot, so can't comment on any other Emile.
Is that wonderful Bloody Mary playing it forever? I hope so.
#8South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/6/10 at 1:11pm
Did you see Karen Olivo?
Her performance is an emotional tour de force.
If you saw Natalie Cortez (her standby/alternate), she doesn't begin to reach Karen's emotional spectrum.
Or maybe you were just referring to the Tony and Maria.
#9South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/6/10 at 1:52pm
Laura Osnes is a wonderful Nellie. David Pittsinger on the other hand... eh. He looks too old for Laura and, frankly, his speaking and singing voice sounds like "Freddy Krueger: The Opera". I walked out at intermission when I saw the two of them together. However, I returned when Paulo Szot was back and he and Laura were lovely together.
Andrew Samonsky is horrific, from that stupid voice he puts on to essentially walking through his performance (his line readings have remained the same every time I've seen the show). Loretta Ables Sayre is, as has been previously stated, remarkable as always.
#10South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/7/10 at 10:02am
ljay889, no indeed I DID NOT see Karen Olivo. And doubtless according to what everyone seems to tell me, that's part of the reason I wasn't moved by ANY of the acting in WSS. But the real chemistry needs to come from Tony and Maria -- I saw none there.
goodmanK
Chorus Member Joined: 3/24/08
#11South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/7/10 at 8:20pm
" Did you see Karen Olivo?
Her performance is an emotional tour de force"
That is, if she ever performs. I've gone to see WSS 4 times since Tony's and every single time Olivo is out, as well as atleast 5 others. Typical.
#12South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/7/10 at 8:21pmSorry! I've seen her all 6x that I planned on seeing her. Since last month, she doesn't perform Sunday matinees. And Josefina Scaglione doesn't perform Tuesday evenings.
#13South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/7/10 at 8:25pm
That is, if she ever performs. I've gone to see WSS 4 times since Tony's and every single time Olivo is out, as well as atleast 5 others. Typical.
The only times I've missed Olivo are the times I knew specifically that Natalie Cortez would be on as Anita. As ljay said, Cortez does all of the Sunday matinees now. In any case, I've seen the show 8 times, and Olivo was there for 6 of them. The other two times I knew I was getting Natalie Cortez, because it was a Sunday afternoon.
TalkinLoud
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/3/09
#15South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/7/10 at 8:28pm^ His vocals are better than Morrison's were. Morrison was cracking all over the place when I saw him.
#16South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/7/10 at 8:38pmCouldn't disagree with that more. Morrison sounded wonderful the two times I saw him.
#17South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/7/10 at 8:40pm
Well I'm not lying about his voice cracking. There were posts consistently throughout his run about his voice cracking on the high notes.
Updated On: 2/7/10 at 08:40 PM
#18South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/7/10 at 8:45pmMorrison was fine when I saw him. Samonsky has a wonderful singing voice that jarred so much with his speaking voice it made me laugh.
#19South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/7/10 at 8:48pm
I saw the show three times and here's the breakdown of my Nellie/Emile.
#1 Laura/David
#2 Laura/Paulo
#3 Kelli/Paulo
As talented as Kelli is I think I liked Laura a bit better in the role. Mostly because she fit the look more. Kelli and Paulo seemed equals rather than a May/December romance.
I didn't feel that David was too old for Laura at all. They were beautiful together.
#20South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/7/10 at 11:20pmSome of you are better sleuths than I am. I saw WSS on Friday night, Jan. 22 and Karen Olivo was out then. I had no way of knowing that in advance, did I?
#21South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/7/10 at 11:48pm
Some of you are better sleuths than I am. I saw WSS on Friday night, Jan. 22 and Karen Olivo was out then. I had no way of knowing that in advance, did I?
No, I don't think you had any way of knowing. I happened to see the show Saturday evening the 23rd, and Olivo was in, and in fine voice. I assume you saw Natalie Cortez that night?
#22South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/7/10 at 11:51pmDoes anyone have an idea of how much longer it will run? I was really skeptical of Laura, but I'd like to see her now that she's received mostly positive feedback.
#23South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/7/10 at 11:58pm
Does anyone have an idea of how much longer it will run? I was really skeptical of Laura, but I'd like to see her now that she's received mostly positive feedback.
Conventional wisdom on here seems to indicate the show will close around Labor Day.
#24South Pacific leads worth a revisit?
Posted: 2/8/10 at 2:21am
Olivo in In the Heights > Olivo in West Side Story
The only emotional performance in West Side Story belonged to Josefina Scaglione's beautiful Maria. Everyone else was either horrendous or laughable, including Karen Olivo. She didn't bewitch me one bit. Anita is my favorite role in musical theatre. Disappointing. That Tony belongs to Haydn Gwynne, who was brilliant in Billy Elliot.
But this is not the point of this thread. When does Szot return? No one really gave a straight answer: Is Pittsinger a yay or a nay? I'm dying to return to South Pacific!
~Steven
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