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Post by danb on Sept 23, 2021 21:44:38 GMT
Tbh she was worth camping out for then. Her first six months were pretty special. But then the same riffs & growls in the same places every night just got a bit ordinary, then she got tired. Then she came back again but on auto pilot and every show sounded like she was saving her voice for something else…all cheats, back phrasing and any excuse not to hit a money note. Such a shame as she is an excellent vocalist (and only ever lovely when I’ve spoken to her/been around her).
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Post by showtoones on Sept 24, 2021 0:01:11 GMT
It will end up being Upstairs at the Gatehouse or something 😂 They could do it on the patio outside the Eagle in Vauxhall. Didn’t they transform that space into a theatre? |
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Post by HereForTheatre on Sept 24, 2021 6:10:38 GMT
When declaring people rude it's always worth remembering that we don't know what someone is going through. They could be having a bad day, they could be in a bad mood, they could be ill, they could be stressed, they could have depression or anxiety, they could have something serious going on in their life. None of us are lovely to people 100% of the time and it doesn't make us a bad person.
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Post by ali973 on Sept 24, 2021 14:55:12 GMT
It's a hard sell as a West End show. It's so NY-focused, and it was pretty much a star vehicle for Idina Menzel who is a much bigger star than Kerry is, and was running during Idina's peak fame..and it still tanked. The score is good enough I think, and the though the story and plot are weak, it's a compelling theme for a formidable leading lady of that generation. Though I like Kerry and would see her in things, I don't think she's got the Idina-level charisma or box office draw to make this work. Her vocals were her best attribute, and though she can still carry a tune, I don't think she has the same vocal prowess she possessed even five years ago. It should be a concert/staged concert or regional tour a la Wonderland, which means it will also close too soon because..no one cares. As far as Broadway is concerned, Brits love light American musical comedies like Hairspray, Legally Blonde, or Kinky Boots. They wouldn't know what to do with an If/Then experimental mainstream pop musical theatre which was a hit or miss to begin with. I also don't think that following Idina's footsteps in every role under the sun is a good career move. This is not a must-do role, or a staple of musical theatre. The comparison will be invevitable. A better move for Kerry would be to play Heidi Hansen and just sing the crap out of Good For You.
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Post by inthenose on Sept 24, 2021 15:04:50 GMT
I have to say I miss the Kerry thread on here. It was certainly eye opening reading for me just getting into theatre and hearing about her fans camping out for tickets every weekend on the steps of the Apollo Victoria. You should've seen it when it was Idina. Literal camping overnight! We arrived at 2am and were 10th in the queue. Never again!!! |
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Post by filendile on Sept 28, 2021 11:33:05 GMT
Kerry singing Always Starting Over at a concert. I wonder if she was dropping hints here at 6:20 -
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Post by MoreLife on Sept 28, 2021 16:45:07 GMT
It's a hard sell as a West End show. It's so NY-focused, and it was pretty much a star vehicle for Idina Menzel who is a much bigger star than Kerry is, and was running during Idina's peak fame..and it still tanked. The score is good enough I think, and the though the story and plot are weak, it's a compelling theme for a formidable leading lady of that generation. Though I like Kerry and would see her in things, I don't think she's got the Idina-level charisma or box office draw to make this work. Her vocals were her best attribute, and though she can still carry a tune, I don't think she has the same vocal prowess she possessed even five years ago. It should be a concert/staged concert or regional tour a la Wonderland, which means it will also close too soon because..no one cares. As far as Broadway is concerned, Brits love light American musical comedies like Hairspray, Legally Blonde, or Kinky Boots. They wouldn't know what to do with an If/Then experimental mainstream pop musical theatre which was a hit or miss to begin with. I also don't think that following Idina's footsteps in every role under the sun is a good career move. This is not a must-do role, or a staple of musical theatre. The comparison will be invevitable. A better move for Kerry would be to play Heidi Hansen and just sing the crap out of Good For You. Very much this! I remember seeing the show in NY with Idina as the lead, and while I enjoyed it and was happy to have seen it, I came away thinking that the book was a bit shaky, and the various shifts between the alternative storylines were not always clear-cut and "easy to read". All in all, it doesn't strike me as something that British audiences would really take to. Despite a more than decent score with a bunch of solid contemporary MT numbers - and the kind of ballads designed around Idina's vocal sweet spot - and despite a stellar cast (alongside Idina, the likes of Anthony Rapp, Lachanze and Jenn Colella were among the OGs), this didn't quite flow as smoothly as perhaps it could have. However, Idina's solos were little lessons in acting through song. I think Ellis is a brilliant vocalist, but not nearly as brilliant as an actress, and I fear she would struggle to carry the show on her shoulders. She may as well belt the high section towards the end of 'Always starting over' beautifully, almost certainly technically more accurately than Idina, but... if she fails to make me connect with and care for her character(s) on the way there, her 'my new life starts right now' won't move me nearly as much as it should. |
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Post by inthenose on Oct 23, 2022 19:35:24 GMT
Same as Next to Normal, I’ve been told they are shopping this around finally, possible workshops next Spring. Apologies I couldn’t find the old thread! As I posted prior to N2N’s announcement, performers, get onto your agents. Make them work folks  |
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Post by cezbear on Oct 23, 2022 19:48:03 GMT
Didn't someone say Kerry Ellis was doing this?
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Post by Mark on Oct 23, 2022 20:07:09 GMT
Didn't someone say Kerry Ellis was doing this? She said herself in a podcast interview with Sheridan Smith. |
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Post by TallPaul on Oct 24, 2022 15:33:09 GMT
Threads merged.
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Post by Being Alive on Oct 24, 2022 15:41:40 GMT
After her terrific performance in Anything Goes, I'd very much like her to do this - get her properly back to theatre.
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Post by mjh on Aug 7, 2023 23:00:18 GMT
Kerry guested with Tom Kitt at his Crazy Coqs show and did a couple of numbers from If/Then.
While they mentioned how Kerry had workshopped it and how they wanted to do it, it doesn't sound like there's any active development of it further sadly.
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Post by apubleed on Aug 8, 2023 8:59:38 GMT
I just think the material is lousy. Idina saved the show, but next to next to normal it’s very disappointing.
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Post by Being Alive on Aug 8, 2023 11:26:49 GMT
Kerry guested with Tom Kitt at his Crazy Coqs show and did a couple of numbers from If/Then. While they mentioned how Kerry had workshopped it and how they wanted to do it, it doesn't sound like there's any active development of it further sadly. Spoke to her afterwards and that's not necessarily the impression she gave me... |
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Post by steven22 on Aug 8, 2023 15:18:11 GMT
Kerry guested with Tom Kitt at his Crazy Coqs show and did a couple of numbers from If/Then. While they mentioned how Kerry had workshopped it and how they wanted to do it, it doesn't sound like there's any active development of it further sadly. Spoke to her afterwards and that's not necessarily the impression she gave me... When is it happening? I’ll have to plan another London trip  |
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Post by Being Alive on Aug 8, 2023 15:23:13 GMT
I didn't get a date but the producers who are going to be doing it were at the Tom Kitt concert and she said it's moving forward ...
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Post by doornumberthree on Aug 9, 2023 13:37:10 GMT
Unfortunately I was not impressed with her performance of Always Starting Over, I don’t think as an actor that she could carry this role. (I’ve seen her in nearly everything she’s done professionally)
There’s some other actors in her age range that I think could be brilliant if it does come over.
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Post by corblimey on Aug 11, 2023 7:42:47 GMT
I think producers that continue to cast Kerry Ellis in anything are taking a big risk ,she hasn’t been a ticket seller for a long time and the producers lost there shirts that produced Wonderland and her past concert at the Adelphi was such a flop ticket sales wise.
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Post by andrew on Aug 11, 2023 10:26:22 GMT
I think producers that continue to cast Kerry Ellis in anything are taking a big risk ,she hasn’t been a ticket seller for a long time and the producers lost there shirts that produced Wonderland and her past concert at the Adelphi was such a flop ticket sales wise. What a stupidly ignorant comment. As the recent Michael Ball case has proved, no name on its own can guarantee ticket sales, especially one that has a regular concert/show presence. It’s always a combination of the show/names/creatives/reviews that sells the tickets. |
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Post by Scswp on Aug 11, 2023 13:15:11 GMT
I think producers that continue to cast Kerry Ellis in anything are taking a big risk ,she hasn’t been a ticket seller for a long time and the producers lost there shirts that produced Wonderland and her past concert at the Adelphi was such a flop ticket sales wise. What a stupidly ignorant comment. As the recent Michael Ball case has proved, no name on its own can guarantee ticket sales, especially one that has a regular concert/show presence. It’s always a combination of the show/names/creatives/reviews that sells the tickets. I like Kerry Ellis, but I do see the point corblimey is making. I think Kerry Ellis’s ‘prime’ may now be behind her, both vocally and in terms of her popularity and ticket-selling power. ‘Wicked’ was obviously huge for her, but I think it was more the show and the ‘belting nature’ of the role that created the hype, not Ellis herself. I saw Ellis in Wicked. Vocally, at that time, she made the singing seem effortless, but her acting was not up to standard. To be frank, she seemed bored. In ‘Wonderland’, her acting was, again, amateurish; in fact, for much of the time, she didn’t seem to know what to do (and she struggled vocally in certain parts). For me, ‘Anything Goes’ was the best all-round performance she’s given. She was cast alongside a truly talented company (including Simon Callow and Bonnie Langford), which possibly made her ‘up her game’. This was ‘broad-stroke’ comedy acting though. Whether she can carry a truly emotional, nuanced and dramatic role, however, is another matter. I’m not convinced. Don’t misunderstand me : Kerry is still a great singer (although I have to be honest - her hand gestures and twiddling of the fingers has become very annoying), but she cannot seem to sell tickets based on her name. I think some of her earlier successes may also have been due to her association with Brian May. On her own, I think there is less interest. Other Wicked performers seem to generate more of an interest and they go on to other successes (e.g. Rachel Tucker, Willemijn Verkaik). Samantha Barks also seems to go from one show to another more ‘smoothly’. This may be because they are much better actresses, alongside their huge voices. Hitting the notes is not sufficient in the modern musical theatre world (as there are clearly many performers who can actually do that nowadays); a much more rounded acting performance is needed - and this is where I think Ellis falls behind the other performers I have mentioned. |
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