acl review 1/05/07

as part of a chrsitmas gift, my cousin his fiance and my other cousin and i all went to see a chorus line. if i could describe it in one word I would say "good." I wasn't blown away by it but by the same token I didn't hate it. Lets start with the cast:
the standouts were:

Mara Davi- hilarious! great voice and superb acting; she stole the show.
Jesica Lee Goldyn- a bit crazy at times but the audience LOVED IT! histerical; i loved her!
Deidre Goodwin- Added comic relief at times when the show needed it and was simply hilarious!

I was disapointed with:
Charlotte d'Amboise- great dancer- horible signer. could barely hit the notes in the music and the mirror and everyone was talkking about how she couldn't sing.
Natalie Cortez- couldn't dance and could barely sing. totally miscast as Diana.

all in all the show was "okay", i mean the dancing was the best i've ever seen in a long time but the singing was good. Everyone wished the show would have an intermision because 2 hours in those tiny chairs at the Schoenfeld was just too long- everyone was getting antzy. would i see it again? no; was it a good piece of theater that i liked? yes.

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Updated On: 1/6/07 at 11:32 AM

no one wants to read or comment my review?!

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The spelling nazi within compells me to first start off by saying it's "hysterical" versus "histerical"

ACL meant to take place in real time and I just don't know where one could even put an intermission in the show

Was it your first time seeing the show? What did you think of the story and the direction?

it was my first time seeing the show; the story was good; the dancing phenominal; some cast members like charlottes singing: horrible.

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Charlotte is not a "horrible" singer. You have obviously never heard her in anything else.

Cassie is just a little out of her range. They should've lowered a bit more to fit her voice. Like they did for Ann Reinking who replaced Donna McKechnie.

coleen_lee
you can't make that judgement without seeing the actual thing; thats nonsense.

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you know that when they make the cd they can redo it as many times as they want right? watch her live and say she "blew you " away .

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I haven't just listened to the CD, darling. As I said, I have SEEN and HEARD her. I have seen her sing this song live.

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Or have cast someone who could sing the role as written....

The song isn't even all that high.

- How would you know what it's like to sing the song and dance the intense choreography?

Donna McKechnie states multiple times in her book it was very difficult and exhausting to sing that song and dance at the time. That's why only the first half of the song Cassie actually sings. No dancer would've been able to sing and dance those intense moves for the entire length of the number.

I saw ACL for the first time myself when it was in San Francisco last summer. I agree about Mara, Jessica, and Deidre. I also felt Jason and Chryssie was standouts. Totally disagree about Natalie. I thought she was quite good.. I didn't have a problem with Charlotte’s singing or dancing, but she didn’t shine as Cassie acting-wise.

Updated On: 1/6/07 at 04:19 PM

"Music and the Mirror" on its own isn't too hard to sing. With that dance, forget it. However, Cassie's part is actually REALLY rangy vocal wise. The sporano in the 3rd part of the montage? Cassie.

I can't imagine that show with an itermission. Now, I didn't see this production, but when I saw it a few years ago, I was so riveted that I can't imagine anyone being "antsy."

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Natalie is fantastic!

Glad to hear you liked Jessica

"which Charlotte sings down an octave"

Thanks for the info.

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