I said I was going to go into detail of what I thought about the new cast so here we go (yeah I know it's long):
John Salvatore – There isn’t much to say about the Billy Dixon track, but seeing him enter during the back up secessions is hilarious itself.
Michael James Scott – He does fine with his track, nothing stellar but he gets the job done.
Jason Martinez – His Norm looks like a slime ball loan shark on appearance alone and that’s how he plays him.
Jonathan Gerard Rodriguez – Instead hyperactive, as I’ve seen before, his Joey is more like the kid trying hard to fit in with the guys of the neighborhood he idolizes. Every time he’d get yelled at for saying something, the way Jonathan would back away made it seem like he’s trying to not step on anyone’s toes and feels bad when he does. It’s kind of endearing. And he sounds surprising similar to the actual Pesci.
Kristofer McNeeley – A great Mika. It’s funny how he checks out the guys in Crewe’s apartment the whole time until he reacts to “Don’t get me started.” And his Hank, is hilarious. He’s pissed when he’s telling the guys “You don’t understand…” but when Tommy tells him to get out, you see that his feelings were hurt. Like Lizzie said, there were a few “Awws” from audience as he walked off stage.
Joyce Chittick – Her Mary is a tough girl and sometimes comes off as a bitch. But it works in the Frankie & Mary scenes. It's a slightly different take on Mary from what I’ve seen, but some of the humor is lost because Mary is such a bitch.
Natalie Bradshaw – She’s hilarious in the church scene. I like how she takes a quick pause when she enters and realizes they’re in a church and her delivery of the blob line. Her teen angst riddled Francine is also great.
Julia Krohn – Like her Lorraine portrayal. During the breakup, it comes across that she’s pissed Frankie isn’t giving her any attention so she’s ending it, and she doesn’t wavier from that. And she does one of the best deliveries of the “Chinese Twins” line I’ve seen. But her Frankie Nolan could be funnier. She doesn’t make it seem like she’s a crappy singer.
Lauren Tartaglia – Covered Lorraine the first time I saw this cast and she did a fantastic job all around. And some of the expressions on her face were priceless.
As the Angels the girls are solid. Natalie Bradshaw does great job as the lead Angel. Together they all sound great and they don’t overpower each other so they sound balanced. But there is something missing during that song.
Jonathan Hadley – His Crew reminds me of a cross between Craig Laurie and John Altieri’s take on the role. A little bit of bitchy queen, a little bit flaming, and slightly toned down, but still hilarious.
Ken Krugman – Takes a serious tone with Gyp. Demeanor doesn’t change much, reminds me of Marlon Brando in the Godfather. But when he breaks out crying during “My Mother’s Eyes” it hilarious. He’s fine in the rest of his track.
Bryan McElroy – His Tommy is a complete tough/wise guy from Jersey, overall he was good. He has a nice singing voice, and it seems like there is a bit of lightness to it. He really works the “Yo, I’m from Jersey” angle but sometimes it goes too far that it’s not believable. His Tommy is a complete prick, and did not have much of that charm factor that still makes you like Tommy even after all the crap he put the group through.
Andrew Rannells – The moment he walks onstage there is just some innate quality about him that makes you like him. He has a fantastic voice. I think he’s a strong actor but it didn’t seem like there was that big of a difference between his pre and post “Oh What A Night” Bob.
Jeff Leibow – There is an endearing quality about his Nick. Whenever he says, “I should start my own group” it comes off more as an insult to Tommy then a guy mentioning his aspirations. And he’s great during the sit-down. It's like he releasing all this pent up anger. It doesn’t end after the Tommy rant. It carries over to when he’s telling Frankie and Bob about how much he hates being on the road. When he is delivering Nick’s monologue after he tells the group he wants to go home. A sense regret and disappointment comes across in what he did regarding his kids and that maybe he wasn’t angry about the stuff with the group but angry with himself for messing up his family life.
Rick Faugno – I’ve only seen Rick onstage as Joey, and thought he was one of the best I’ve seen. He’s a solid Frankie and I enjoyed his performance. He’s a great actor and good singer. It sounds like there’s a slight roughness in his voice sometimes. But I like how he’s not afraid to try new things with his singing. But I’d have to agree with Chad Jones’ review that he does look young for the role and his physical progression from young to old Frankie isn’t noticeable.
Updated On: 12/4/07 at 03:34 PM
