Cabaret - Playhouse Theatre

Absolutely. So I love Evita, right? I have seen several dozens of live Eva's, all over the world. Varying from Broadway, to West End to tours (domestic and abroad), to international foreign language productions to am-dram.

My personal favourite Evita was an actress called Abigail Jaye who was something like the third or fourth cast change in Kenwright's "latest" tour. You probably haven't heard of her - few would have. She was way after Louise Dearman, for example, who was adored because she was in "definitive" in Wicked. Then she wasn't. And those "fans" evaporated. But to me Jaye was absolutely definitive in how I want that part sung, acted and interpreted. I'm sure Dearman was too (especially in Wicked). I'm sure she was "special" and the next big thing, too.

I am also seasoned enough to know the likes of Abigail Jaye isn't a superstar, no matter how perfect I thought personally she was in the role. There were brilliant performances before, and since, playing the part. I thought she was special, though.

Now - I saw Cabaret, and I've seen it elsewhere many, many times with other interpretations of who and what Sally is, the quality of the singing, the quality of the acting and the general stage presence.

It all comes down to opinions and taste, as you rightly remind us, but I am not coming on here suggesting Abigail Jaye is "special" just because I thought she was exceptional. It was the right role at the right time.

Being a "once in a generation talent" is subjective enough as it is, without inevitably everyone else saying "well, why isn't my favourite musical performer special?". Ramin is special. Carrie is special. Boggess is special. Donnelly is special. They are leading hit shows,so they must be, right?

Standards are desperately low right now, in my opinion, because everyone and anyone can take leads now, with the right exposure. The days of learning your craft are gone, nowadays if you're famous enough you learn on the job. Quality is secondary to sales.

I really can't think of any generational talents. Even performers I hugely admire and were incredibly influential in their roles at the time (eg Idina in Wicked) have fluctuations in output. I don't think she's "special". She has done extremely well and I am a huge fan, but she isn't a "generational talent" despite Let it Go abd Wicked.

Jessie Buckley, when assessed coming from someone who actually quite likes her, is absolutely great as an actress - and a joy to watch. But she's at her level right now - in fact, with her failure to perform so often (I'm not getting into that again for why and how etc) if anything it's showing that perhaps doing West End musicals isn't for her.

Not in the slightest, there is nothing objective about it beyond the objective question of whether someone is on pitch or not, as that can be measured and there is a right or wrong answer.

Everything else is wholly subjective and what constitutes "once in a generation" talent to one person will be entirely different to someone else's viewpoint on it.

This is an acting choice - if you actually watched the show instead of judging from a YouTube audio you'd understand. Yes, vocal issues is why she's missing shows but she has been singing the ending like that since the first preview (sometimes she holds the note for a long time but mostly she doesn't). The ending note on Mein Herr is higher than the Cabaret one and she does sustain that for a while, and quite impressively. 

They were definitely going for both those things. The staging was very creepy.

Is Buckley doing ANY shows during this, her final week .... She looked fine at the Baftas !

Surprise!

Cast at a pre-Oliviers nominees lunch today. 
I assume they all made it in time for the matinee? 

Because attending lunch really makes a difference to a vocal problem...

Really what is the point in going round in circles here again? It's certainly not entertaining.

Oh, come on! It is not a good look!

I could be fired for being pictured out and about whilst off work sick. If you’re sick, you rest as much as possible to get back to work as soon as possible.

Sure. I’m not necessarily criticising her. I just think it’s a terrible look, whoever is responsible.

I'm sorry but why must you always adopt such a nasty tone? More often than not, it's deeply unpleasant encountering one of your posts, also with what you posted on the Legally Blonde thread.

It's a terrible look. On producers, and on her. It's a terrible look.