Unpopular opinions you hold — Page 36

- I think that Bare: a pop opera is a severely underrated show with a beautiful score. Not unpopular but it was absolutely ruined with Bare: the musical

- Karen Olivo was completely miscast as Susan in Encores! Production of Tick...Tick...BOOM

-Will Swenson is one of the best Javerts, and a great Broadway talent.

The whole character of Alfred P. Doolittle could be cut from My Fair Lady (at least the current production) and I wouldn't miss him one bit.

Mister Matt said: "Ok... actual unpopular opinion that I'm afraid will piss people off, but I'm going to put on my ballsy hat and say it anyway: I don't like that they have a man playing Asaka in Once On This Island.

Just curious because I didn't see you mention it...how do you feel about a woman playing Papa Ge? Dandridge could just as easilyend up with a Tony nomination in the Actress category for playing male character. Personally, I thought it was an interesting trade-off. Asaka has a showy song, but Papa Ge is arguably the strongestrole among the Gods (and all of the male characters), playing the most vital role in the catalyst of Ti Moune's odyssey, so you could say that the gender-bending of the cast may ultimately be in favor of the female actress. I think the show is so strongly written and female-centric, it could be performed by an all-female cast and be just as good. Incidentally, it's interesting to note that the understudies for Asaka and Papa Ge are actors of the originally written genders."

It's a really interesting question that I've thought about a lot. I loved Merle Dandridge in it, but I think it's different. Papa Ge felt like a totally different interpretation of the character than I had ever seen before, which I loved... where Asaka felt like the same Asaka as always, just played in drag. (No one left that show thinking that Papa Ge was played by a man, while many have left the show believing that Asaka was played by a woman. So it's apples and oranges to me.)

I also saw the show for a third time last week, and went in with the most open mind I could about Asaka, because I want to feel what so many other people seem to be feeling. I've realized that while my thoughts are probably still the same... that the character feels inherently female to me, I think my bigger issue is just that I'm not crazy about Alex Newell. I.e. if the character was being played by a different man, would I have different feelings? Maybe?

I think part of my turnoff is all of the praise that he's getting, because it seems disproportionate to the performance to me. Like, I see a lot of, "but people went nuts after Mama Will Provide!!" And of course they did, because people go nuts after that song in every production of Once On This Island. It's a rousing, sassy production number that comes right after a heavy ballad. As long as the performer doesn't royally screw it up, people will go nuts. So I have that syndrome where I start to dislike something just because I don't understand the rabid fandom for it, even if I didn't mind it that much at first. In short, I thought Newell was the weakest of the men in the show, so it's annoying to me that he's getting all of the Tony talk. Phillip Boykin, Isaac Powell, and Quentin Earl Darrington all had superior performances, imo. (Especially Boykin.) Newell just never seems that connected to me in the way that everyone else is. (I also selfishly wish they had someone else singing the end of "Pray" who can really wail, as that's one of the most thrilling moments of the score for me, and it feels like such a letdown in this otherwise fabulous production.)

Anyway, carry on. There are more important things to talk about in this thread. :)

Iceman Cometh is a fast moving, engrossing and entertaining play- not the depressing and overly long play I keep reading about.

I think Alex Newell is perhaps going through a low-energy ebb as Asaka in OOTI right now. We saw the Easter Sunday matinee and in "Mama Will Provide" on the last "pro-viiiiiiide!", Alex left off the leap up the octave and a third that makes that riff so thrilling. I know he can do it because I've heard him perform it on Colbert's show and other posted performances early in the run. He also seems much less interested in all the improv interactions with the rest of the cast that starts the show-- just not as into it as the other committed ensemble members. Girl gets one great solo song and for the most part he delivers, but compared to the heartbreaking commitment of everyone else on that stage, his tuning out was noticeable.

John Legend was a good Jesus and Alice Cooper gave an extremely lackluster performance.

"John Legend was a good Jesus and Alice Cooper gave an extremely lackluster performance."

Are those unpopular opinions? Gee, they're definitely majority opinions 'round these parts. And of course BVD was the MVP of the night.

Alex M said: "John Legend was a good Jesus and Alice Cooper gave an extremely lackluster performance."

I'll go you one better: they both sucked, and here's why.

Re: Legend, Jesus in this show is a rock tenor. Period. End of report. You've got to be able to scream. If one is doing the part right, they might come close to popping out an eyeball by the time of "Gethsemane." John Legend is a great talent, I've loved him since "Ordinary People" came out, he's got the kind of soul style that I rank right up there with Stevie Wonder, but anybody who knew his range and knew this show knew exactly what to expect. Sadly, he lived down to my expectations, both in terms of acting and in terms of singing.

(If one is going to be hung up on the race angle, and I understand why in terms of significance at this moment in history, there are tons of performers who could have performed this role in the style required -- Lenny Kravitz comes to mind, he's got a terrific rock voice. If they were pushing for a more pop direction and couldn't be dissuaded, Bruno Mars could probably have done something interesting. I'm not saying, nor would I say, Jesus should always and only be played by a white guy. Having said that, a lot of the white guys I've heard sing this part were more appropriate purely in terms of vocal range and performance style than what I heard that night; a fairly equal amount of white guys were not. It's a hard role, and I'm willing to extend sympathy pretty far, but John Legend could not sing the part as written. Period.)

As for Cooper, sadly he was a "take or leave" proposition. I was looking forward to him the most, since he already did the role for a studio recording 20 years ago and seemed to have made all the right choices then; that he could have forgotten them, or worse been so straitjacketed by direction that he couldn't make them, is thoroughly depressing. What I noticed is that it seemed like he could only act when he wasn't singing. His mannerisms before and after were terrific, but then he just sort of stood there awkwardly. "Do something!" I kept screaming. This was the piece of casting I was most looking forward to, since he'd done the role before and I knew he could do it well, so this was one of the biggest disappointments of the evening for me.

Someone in a Tree2 said: "And of course BVD was the MVP of the night."

My ass he was. While he was technically capable as a singer, and hit a lot of the right notes, he was basically copying Carl Anderson up there. Any even remotely exciting riffs that you heard did not originate with this guy. I didn't expect not to like that; in fact, I know normally I would balk if he really tried to change it up, which is why it's weird to feel that way about a more faithful approach. But the whole time, any time he wasn't doing something that seemed to originate from him, I listened to that and said to myself, "Okay, good, he knows the best is where to steal from, but... does it excite me? Not really." Aside from injecting a little bit of his own flavor, he didn't take any risks, his performance entirely lacked passion, and frankly I found him quite boring.

Updated On: 4/9/18 at 03:38 AM

Dancingthrulife2 said: "If you bother to read the articles included in this month’s playbill, you’ll know Sher specifically mentions that nothing in the text restricts Eliza to a certain age."

That article is why I'm saying it's an unpopular opinion. Sher is absolutely right about that, her age is never mentioned in any way, but my personal preference is that she's a little younger than him. Sher made a decision that honestly isn't a big deal, but I'm sharing my thoughts on a minute issue.

GeorgeandDot said: "Just a fact check, the text most certainly does state Eliza's age. In my libretto, Pickering says something about her not being older than 21 (I think that's the number) and her having brown hair in A Hymn to Him. When I saw the show, however, I didn't hear that piece of text and I believe the line has been cut. There were couple of sections of text that seemed to have been cut from that production actually."

Maybe I subconsciously garnered this opinion when I read the libretto in college! But I also recognize that it’s probably mostly because of Julie Andrews being 21 when she originated the role. Part of me was hoping they would find a brand new girl, the same way they found Hailey Kilgore for OOTI (although I guess Eliza would need to be older). I’m always fighting for the newcomers though.