Tonya Pinkins as Caroline

So, I'm sitting here listening to "Lot's Wife" from Caroline or Change. And I can't figure out why so many people thought she was so bad in this show (and on the Tony's-- i thought her performance FAR surpassed Idina's). I saw it in June and I thought she was absolutely brilliant and I LOVED "Lot's Wife" in the show, and even on the recording. You can feel her pain and heartache, and just from listening you can tell how connected she is. I think it sounds wonderfully passionate and Tonya Pinkins' Caroline is one of the most beautiful things to hit broadway in a long time.

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I thought her voice cracking help in the part. I saw her in one of her last performances and thought she was great.

After seeing the Tony performance, I almost commit suicide.

what is this about judging people based on their icons?

I loved Tonya Pinkins in the show... she gave an incredible, heart- wrenching performance. But her voice absolutely couldn't hold up. It sounded like she was in pain. It didn't ruin the show or anything though...

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lets look at this woman, this Caroline; she has been through HELL. Her voice is not gonna be coluratura. sorry. her son is in vietnam, she's afraid her daughter's gonna die in a race riot somewhere, she had to beat her husband half to death and now he's gone her young sons need new clothes and dental work. cant enjoy goin out and havin fun and buyin stuff like other kids. they have NOTHING. she has to work for a woman who means well but is one of those people that thinks she can "save" her.
her heart is in a knot. a ball. her emotions are stuffed so deep in her soul that she cant even cry internally. her voice better not be pretty, or else i wont believe it, and if you understand acting, youll understand that it's the EMOTION that matters. i dont think anyone on this thread who's seen this performance didnt feel that pain when she sings LOT'S WIFE.

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"she had to beat her husband half to death and now he's gone"

I was under the impression that she killed him. Therefore, didn't she beat him to death?

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So then what's all that six feet under ground stuff throughout the show? I thought Lot's Wife explained that.

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she's six feet under the ground in that basement. it's a theme repeated throughout the show of being under ground, being repressed. and they also say "sixteen feet below sea level" because the state of Louisiana is sixteen ft. below sea level.

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okay.....

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Sorry, I guess I was too into Anika to pay attention to what was going on with Caroline...

(or maybe, the fact that Tonya was cracking so much had me tune out her words...)

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Updated On: 2/3/05 at 11:50 AM

Actually Leo, the song is 1943 that describes her relationship with her husband. The show is set in 1963. :)

I thought that Tonya gave one of the most amazing performances ever seen on a Broadway stage. Her vocal distress totally worked for her and showed the dispare that Caroline was in. It's not always about being note and pitch perfect. She never waivered in her acting intensity.

I loved the show and her vocals were fine the evening I saw it on Broadway last April. She was a bit raspy during lot's wife but it was ok. Her not so great performance on the Tony's was due to her being under the weather. According to something I read, she had asked not to go on as she was worried about how the performance would turn out. My understanding is that Wolfe and, I think Kushner convinced her to go on. Most likely because they could not do another number. I wish I can remember where I read this. But it was a day or two after the Tonys.

As for Idina's performance...I will only say that she was much better when I saw the show a month before the Tony's. Her Tony performance made me and my friends cringe.

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