Toni in Aida- I'm dying to know- how was she.

Yep... She sounded a little bit hoarse last night, though a lot better in the second half than in the first when I think they improved her micing. It was my first time seeing Aida, so I unfortunately don't have much of a reference to compare it to previous casts. I will say that both Mandy Gonzalez, and Will Chase were awesome... If I wasn't already making Mandy's web site, I'd have offered to make her one after last night.

Rob

I can honestly say that I don't really enjoy Toni Braxton's voice. As a recording star that is, not as a star of the stage.

apparently all of the keys had to be lowered, and her diction and pronunciation is horrid.... very hard to understand.

I'd image that for Braxton, they'd have to lower them into a grave.

oops. Did I say that out loud?

I was at the show Monday night. I didn't care for Toni Braxton at all. I'm not familiar with her singing so at first, like RobD, I thought she sounded hoarse from a cold. Further on into the show I realized that her style is to clip a lot of consonants from words which not only makes her extremely difficult to understand but also creates the impression that she is having problems reaching certain notes. It's a style I found quite irritating.

LilianB

I saw Heather with the original cast. I also saw Paulette Ivory when the tour came to Atlanta. Heather was by far better, but Paulette was still great. When I first heard Toni was in talks, I was speechless. I couldn't believe it. Toni is no Heather, or Paulette. I could picture Beyonce, but not Toni. Her voice is very deep. I'm not sure if she has a higher register that is not used. Some artists hide their talents because it doesn't fit their style. For example, Jewel is a classically trained opera singer, but it would be odd to hear her bust into that in the middle of "You Were Meant For Me." I thought, "Maybe Toni can tackle this." From what I'm hearing, she can't. Can someone tell me how her "Easy As Life" was?

Apparently, all of her music had to be transposed lower for her.

not sure, but I believe it would be aranged for her to sing lower, but no one else.
Otherwise, I would have serious pity for the cast of Seussical when Rosie did it and all of her stuff was transposed!

yeah, but that's what arrangers and orchestrators are for! :)

Toni Braxton's like, a bass...there's no way she could sing I think *anything* as written.

I'm going to see her next Wednesday night, so I'll report back.
I sooo adore her as a recording artist and I love her voice, I think she's got a great sultry quality and I really look forward to seeing it.
Second, I adore the living crap out of both Mandy Gonzalez *and* Will Chase, so the combo of the three of them on the same stage...I am so there.

Guess we were spoiled with Heather as well. Really do not have a desire to see Toni as Aida, even though we like her albums.

Seeing her in "B & B " was enough for us !!