Toni Braxton in Beauty and the Beast

[alxscrz2]

Posted: 11/25/08 at 10:10pm

How was she in the show ? Also who was your favorite belle ? :)
Updated On: 11/25/08 at 10:10 PM

[feline0favenueQ]

Posted: 11/25/08 at 10:14pm

Change the title to "IN."

I don't know my BATB cast members, but I want to hear what you guys think!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/25/08 at 10:59pm

She sang "A Change in Me" on Rosie. It's on youtube, but the video and audio quality are horrid. I know the song was written for her, but her rendition is one of my least favorites.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar4wjoQtz3o

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/25/08 at 11:46pm

Simply horrid. It was a horrendous performance. They decided to make Belle "sassy" for her, and changed a bunch of the costumes so that they were more revealing. A Change in Me was in fact written for her, but every actress I saw sing it after she left did it better.

Here you can see Belle's famous, signature dress is suddenly short-sleeved and lower cut...





As for favorites, mine was Ann Sanders. Ashley Brown was a close second, though she was by far the better singer. Her A Change in Me, which you can hear on the On the Record recording was fantastic.

Posted: 11/25/08 at 11:51pm

I saw the show in London with John Barrowman and Michelle Gayle who ahd a brief but somewhat successful UK pop career and was famous from Eastenders. She was cute but surprisingly (or not) didn't have a great live voice and this song felt so rushed through to me. I actually like Toni's version of it on Rosie, even if I cna't picture her in the role.

is Ashley Brown's the only recorded one?

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 11/25/08 at 11:53pm

Susan Egan recorded the song on her album.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:00am

I saw Kerry Butler, Andrea McArdle, and Anneliese van der Pol. I don't really remember Kerry's performance, since I was 6 when I saw her, but I loved both Andrea and Anneliese- they gave two totally different but equally stunning performances in the role.

Adamgreer, what was so great about Ann Sanders that made her your favorite Belle?

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:14am

I really liked Sarah Urirate Berry when she made her return to the show.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:20am

Adamgreer, what was so great about Ann Sanders that made her your favorite Belle?

Of the Belles I saw- Susan Egan (but I was 11, so I remember little about her performance), Toni Braxton, Andrea McCardle, Ann Sanders, Cristy Carlson Romano, and Ashley Brown- Sanders brought by far the most depth to the role. She was much more than just a cute face; she delivered a nuanced, layered performance. One of the very few who managed to make Belle something other than a caricature.

That being said, vocally, none of the women I saw could ever top Ashley Brown for sheer belt to the rafters type of singing. They changed the key of A Change in Me to accomodate her big belt, since it was originally written for the limited range of Toni Braxton.

[Ole Chum]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:24am

i loved toni braxton in aida.

[Kev]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 1:01am

Toni Braxton was horrific and all-wrong for Belle. Her diction was muffled, her acting inappropriately sassed, and her vocals underwhelming. At one point in the performance, Ms. Braxton even acknowledged a fan shouting "you go girl" during "A Change in Me." Awful. She did look stunning in all of her costumes, though.

All of that said, I thought Toni Braxton was excellent as Aida. The acting was genuine and the vocals, while singing lowered keys, were rich and powerful.

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 1:39am

I only got to see Christy Carlson Romano and Anneliese Van Der Pol in the role, both were amazing! Although I have to say, based on what I have heard and what footage I've seen, Ashely Brown is my favorite Belle.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 2:43am

Andrea McArdle was gorgeous as Belle, as were Annelise van der Pol and Megan McGinnis.

[IAMmyownMUSICAL]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 3:27am

anneliese van der pool

by FAR

[caitlinette]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 3:55am

Does anyone know what Toni's ballgown was like? I imagine something tight-fitting.

As for favorite Belles...I like Megan McGinnis, Jennifer Hope Wills, and Ashley. Julia Moller is quite lovely too.

I found Anneliese very cold and serious...Girl didn't smile once the whole time!

[mikeyb16]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 4:26am

I saw Sarah Litzsinger back in July 2001 and absolutely loved her! I thought her rendition of 'Change In Me' was the best, next to Susan Egan.

Posted: 11/26/08 at 6:15am

Does Susan Egan's recording use the show orchestrations?

[jagfkb]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 6:41am

On stage? Annelise was by far the best, followed by Ashley, then Andrea, and the Kerry.

Off Stage? My first broadway show was "Beauty & the Beast" with Kerry Butler, and afterwards, she gave me a rose. Annelise was cold.

[boyfromoz2]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 7:45am

Are we talking Broadway Belles or internationals as well??

My first trip to Broadway was in the fall of 1998, and the first show I ever saw on Broadway was BatB with Toni Braxton. Having seen the two Australian Belles, Sharon Millerchip and Rachel Back, I was very disappointed. The new costumes were great, the new song was great, but Toni was (and still is) my least favourite Belle. Sharon Millerchip, who opened the Australian production (but who wasn't on the cast recording) was great - she brought the perfect amount of innocence and joy, while not resorting the typical bubbly Disney princess mould. I think her performance won her a few awards, and they were definitely well deserved.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 8:31am

I saw three Belles - Brooke Tansley, Deborah Lew, and Anneliese (sp?) van der Pol. van der Pol had a good voice, but I think my favorite was Deborah Lew.

[SimplyDeLovely]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 9:21am

Does Susan Egan's recording use the show orchestrations?

I'm not really sure. I have it, and there is a full orchestra, but for a large part of the beginning of the song is accompanied by mostly guitar. Something about the percussion part doesn't like it's the orchestrations either.

[mormonophobic]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 10:29am

Is it wrong that even without reading the now-changed thread title, my mind immediately went to her playing Beast? I'm sorry, but I live in Las Vegas and for most of this past year her frightening mug was plastered up against the side of the Flamingo Hotel (that's how they advertise things now). So yeah - this itchbay scares me to no end. And on a more thread-related note, I can't believe they tried to make her Belle more sassy and sexy. Do they not get the whole point of the role? Ick.

[LadyDramaturg2]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 11:46am

At the end, instead of taking the curtain call with the show costume, she bowed in a skin-tight, slinky, beaded, filmy (see-through, Las Vegas-style) floor-length gown.

Like, "here I am, a Real Recording Star, not just one of these poor worker bees like those on the stage around me..."

And she couldn't handle the vocal demands, regardless of the changes in the music.

WHAT a waste. There wasn't a single moment during the show when I saw Belle, instead of Toni Struggling and Over Her Head.

[sybil7]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:21pm

my first and favorite was Kerry - she played opposite Chuch Wagner and there chemistry was awesome!

(best shoulders goes to Andrea McArdeale! LOL)

[Brick]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 12:26pm

She was awful. But girl was broke.