YF Sat 12/13 Matinee

So about 2 hours before the show I decided i would go see YF because a friend that is a big Beth Leavel fan wanted to see it so we went... and there werent enough people for the lottery so we were front row Center, which was lots of fun. The only sad part was Beth Leavel was out... sad day

But...overall i actually enjoyed it.

Roger Bart is obviously the only principle character from the original cast along with Shuler Hensley.. as far as I can remember. And he was ... lackluster... He seemed very bored and over it... he didnt really sing a lot of the songs and if he did it was very quietly, as though he had better things to be doing.

Its always so funny to see shows where Big names were once in these roles and then when they are replaced by often times more talented individuals they have these grand entrances accompanied by deadspace instead of the applause that would soundtrack these entrances. On that note...

I loved Michelle Ragusa who played Elizabeth. What a great performer. I thought that some of her choices were copying Megan Mulaly but I dont know if she was the understudy first of if it was a wish of the production to have her do everything the same. I know some shows will let someone new reinvient some things and sometimes they want carbon copies of the originator... (Disney does that a lot) Regardless she was great

As for Frau B, due to Beth Leavel being out it was played by Linda Mugleston, who was really great, really enjoyed her, she seemed as though this was not her first time.

Kelly Sullivan who played Inga was... blah. She was very gorgeous and had a decent voice but i wanted more from her... she was very lackluster for me.

Cory English and Fred Applegate both really impressed me and truly were refreshing in a very much phoned in performance

And Matthew LeBlanca is gorgeous!

That is all!

Updated On: 12/14/08 at 08:31 PM

Just an FYI: Fred Applegate is from the original cast.

I've seen the show 6 times, with all incarnations of the cast (with the exception of Megan Mullaly). Michele has come a long way with making the role her own from when she first took over the part, and I really like what she's done with it. I miss Christopher Fitzgerald, he was great. But Cory English did a good job the two times I saw him in the show. It's too bad you missed out on Beth Leavell, she does SUCH a great job as Frau Blucher. I have to say though, it really bothers me that no one on these boards seems to like Kelly Sullivan as Inga. She's been in the show five out of the six times I've seen it, and even though there's no denying Sutton Foster is a great performer, I like Kelly's Inga a lot more than Sutton's. I find the role itself a bit lacking, compared to the other roles in the show. But Kelly does a great job for what's there, and she's totally going to go on to do great things.

I'm going to miss this show. (I know I'm in the minority, but...)

I think Sullivan has a bright career ahead of her...

I would be interested to hear her vocal in a different show to see if I like it more.