I made the trip to New Jersey today to see this. I was very disappointed upon arriving at the theatre to find out that Deborah Cox was out. Her understudy, Jasmin Richardson, was passable, but I couldn't stop thinking about how much better the show would have been with Deborah Cox. Jasmin had a pretty rough first act, but she seemed to find her footing for the second act.
The show itself is, sadly, not in that great of shape. The book is a clunker. It is poorly written and structured. Plot points that were clear in the movie become overlooked and muddled in the stage adaptation. The set is very cheap looking, and it is not that pretty to look at. The projections are laughable.
The supporting cast was fine, but there are no real standouts. I had been looking forward to seeing this ever since they announced the tour with Deborah Cox, so needless to say I really wanted to love this. I will definitely manage to see this again with Deborah when it goes out on tour. I still had a great time, but I was definitely a little disappointed.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "