Vanessa Williams to star in ANYONE CAN WHISTLE at Carnegie Hall — Page 5

I do still play the 1995 Carnegie concert CD with Peters, Bakula, Kahn frequently; my go-to.



I'm in the minority: surprised Williams didn't seem prepared and ended up vocally disappointing. I've seen her in all three of her B'way engagements, and she was always a powerful singing presence. She even turned that really bizarre (and later abandoned) version of "Last Midnight" into something compelling. But any one gig, any one night, can reveal someone not at the top of their game. Perhaps the melding of the two sides of her range just didn't work here.

Count me in the majority of underwhelmed Williams fans- I truly think it was a mix of material not suiting her voice, but also horrible sound throughout the night- the blend was horrendous and whoever was on sound really dropped the ball. I saw today on Williams' Instagram that they had three weeks of rehearsal time- that being said, I also know that she was working on other projects and appearances throughout that time as well. Stanley was the highlight of the night- she deserves the praise being granted to her- I do agree maybe some of the comedic moments didn't hit as hard as they could have, but it's a concert and we know she's a comedienne from her appearance as Claire De Loon in the most recent On the Town revival. She's a great talent, from old school musicals, to JRB material, to Alanis Morisette, she constantly delivers. Fontana makes it look easy and he was a delight. Sills' talents were really squandered by the lack of or even poor direction throughout the night; all seemed to have made safe choices with their performances and not exciting or bold choices. Both Williams and Sills shined in Hey Look Me Over at Encores and it wasn't that long ago so I would dispute that Williams doesn't still have her vocal chops- I think she was miscast here. For those saying Clark would've been a better choice based on Sperling's comments, did you see Kimberly Akimbo? Her voice has certainly lost a bit of luster and if we have qualms about Williams, the same might have been said of Clark they day after. I think Carolee Carmello or Beth Leavel would've really shined here. Carmello would've been my pick, but who's asking lol! Overall, it was great to hear the score in person, the memorable songs were all performed wonderfully- I even thought the orchestra mix was muddy at times- I cannot stress enough how bad the sound was, perhaps having the board stage left isn't ideal. I've never thought that sound was a problem here- especially in a concert hall designed to have good acoustics. The last concert I saw here was Jessica Vosk, and sound was not an issue at that performance.

Updated On: 3/11/22 at 01:45 PM

Just listened to some audio from it. Williams doesn't sound bad, just maybe a little thin? Cora needs some more animated sounds.

oh wow, is part of the play on the title is "Anyone can whistle" (besides the song and Fay's story) as in "whistle-blow?"

Cause the thrust of the story is exposing internal evil in an establishment.

Gall?

Geez.

Of course not.

It’s a strange show that’s sometimes inappropriately lumped in with Merrily, because both are failed Sondheim pieces. But Merrly’s problems are entirely unique and their remedies approached very differently. The book is unwieldy and diffused but earnest and emotion driven. Human beings and their stakes remain front and center. Tonally Whistle is the opposite. The satire and misogyny in the story’s resolution are strange bedfellows now and Whistle is likely workable only in a heightened concert. It’s just not funny enough in 2022 to sustain, score aside.

Updated On: 3/12/22 at 02:26 PM

Auggie27 said: "It’s a strange show that’s sometimes inappropriately lumped in with Merrily, because both are failed Sondheim pieces. But Merrly’s problems are entirely unique and their remedies approached very differently. The book is unwieldy and diffused but earnest and emotion driven. Human beings and their stakes remain front and center. Tonally Whistle is the opposite. The satire and misogyny in the story’s resolution are strange bedfellows now and Whistle is likely workable only in a heightened concert. It’s just not funny enough in 2022 to sustain, score aside."

The way I see it, you take what you want from Anyone Can Whistle. It’s absurdist tongue in cheek theatre. It’s not for everybody, but I don’t think there’s anything to….correct? It kinda is what it is and you’re on board for the ride or not.

Merrily will always just be depressing to me. Score is so magnificent but I just feel like it’s just negative “price of fame fable” without nuance. I’ll jump at the chance to watch it professionally happily, but it’s not nearly as compelling and complicated as other Sondheim shows.