884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Nov 12, 2017 8:27:13 GMT
You could see the effort it took for EP to get into character in Piaf, she's never worked harder, but it was uncomfortable to watch. Around the same time I saw Scottish actress Terry Neason play Piaf, and although she's about four times the size of both EPs put together, she was completely believable in the role, as she got the energy and spirit of Piaf, as well as the sound.
|
|
884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Nov 8, 2017 9:29:42 GMT
Paige really didn't get it at all. She never gets below the surface showstopper to the interior monologue where the character reveals more than she intends to.
|
|
884 posts
|
Follies
Nov 7, 2017 23:17:27 GMT
via mobile
Post by karloscar on Nov 7, 2017 23:17:27 GMT
Joan Crawford's story would've been well known long before Mommy Dearest was published, never mind the movie. Carole Burnett's I'm Still Here gets all the shifts in mood within the lyric very well, and keeps it in character better than anyone else, and her "I had a Follies number..." intro always makes me laugh.
|
|
884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Nov 7, 2017 10:51:52 GMT
I haven't seen this production yet but the the whole point of Loveland is that it should jar with everything else. It's a nightmare version of the gaudy spectacle of the Follies which gets more and more frantic until it all collapses with Ben's breakdown. It really shouldn't fit the style of the rest of the showbiz party.
|
|
884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Nov 6, 2017 22:01:56 GMT
Well that depends what you mean by unconventional, and what you find pleasant. Listening to Ruthie Henshall is quite unpleasant to me, while I recognize her talent I can't abide her vocal style. Thankfully we are all drawn to different voices and performers rather than all liking the same thing which would favour the bland and colourless.
|
|
884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Nov 6, 2017 20:06:27 GMT
Some of the great performances in musical theatre have been by actors whose singing style was unconventional. Joel Grey, Lotte Kenya, Gertrude Lawrence, Rex Harrison, Ron Moody, Michael Crawford, Yul Brynner, Carol Channing to name but a few. It's rarely about making a pretty sound.
|
|
884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Nov 6, 2017 13:02:02 GMT
What I really want to see is the Sondheim version of Sunset, which he was going to write for Angela Lansbury in the early seventies before deciding it was a bad idea. Can't help thinking it would've been a much better show.
|
|
884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Nov 6, 2017 12:46:07 GMT
Better to have a story than to be so bland and uninteresting that nobody cares. Has Mollie uttered one memorable sentence in the last seven weeks?
|
|
884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Nov 6, 2017 11:08:36 GMT
The whole show was terribly old fashioned and badly directed. The only song (surprisingly) that worked was her stripped down version of And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going, and even that reminded me of your spinster auntie weeping over her lost loves after one too many sherries on Christmas day. Just be grateful that Xander Armstrong didn't expect to do a duet with her!
|
|
884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Nov 4, 2017 23:03:35 GMT
Why would anyone save Mollie? She's horrendous. Ah well, she'll be in the dance off again next week. Must've signed up for the tour, so they're keeping her in.
|
|
884 posts
|
Chess
Nov 2, 2017 17:39:47 GMT
via mobile
Post by karloscar on Nov 2, 2017 17:39:47 GMT
Maria Ylipaa, who played Kristina recently has been announced as Florence in 2018...... but in Sweden not London.
|
|
884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Oct 30, 2017 22:07:39 GMT
Rapp was working on Broadway from a young age, playing Anna's son in the Yul Brynner revival of the King and I. His mother seems to have been a bit naive about life in the big city. People are much more informed these days.
|
|
884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Oct 30, 2017 21:10:50 GMT
Rapp himself says that things were different for young actors in the 80s. He would make his own way to the theatre across Manhattan which would never happen nowadays, and he was mixing with adults socially from a young age.
|
|
884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Oct 30, 2017 20:03:23 GMT
No hair dye in the clink, but sunbeds aplenty it seems.
|
|
884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Oct 30, 2017 10:04:19 GMT
Must be Katherine Jenkins if it's as disappointing as you say!
|
|
884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Oct 29, 2017 23:05:30 GMT
One great waltz by Kern is The Touch of Your Hand from Roberta. The lyric is a bit purple, but the melody is lovely. (Marcovicci sings it now and again)
|
|
884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Oct 29, 2017 7:40:12 GMT
Much as I love the original cast recordings of Falsettos and A New Brain, the recent revivals have produced brilliant new versions provoking smiles and laughs and a few tears. I'd Rather Be Sailing and Unlikely Lovers never fail to please.
|
|
884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Oct 28, 2017 10:38:22 GMT
Graham Norton just played a "world exclusive" of Sheridan covering the Bette Midler/ Karen Carpenter classic Superstar. Oh dear. Totally bland and soulless with awful production, and she mangles the lyrics destroying the rhyme scheme. Maybe she should stick to Cilla.
|
|
884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Oct 27, 2017 22:53:40 GMT
Siobhan took over from Elaine at the Prince Edward after a year, and her Svetlana Grania Rennihan was third to play Florence, and then Ria Jones I think. They always had a leading lady to hand. Siobhan, Tommy and Michael Howe as Freddie were particularly good together for a short while.
|
|
884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Oct 27, 2017 21:47:40 GMT
Never mind an overlooked Svetlana, Siobhan McCarthy was even better as Florence, and made the romance with Anatoly (Tommy Korberg) far more believable than EP ever did.
|
|
884 posts
|
Post by karloscar on Oct 27, 2017 11:05:02 GMT
That's all very well but it wont shift a single ticket at the prices. They will have to cast one or two BIG names. Read more: theatreboard.co.uk/thread/730/chess?page=13#ixzz4whmBjLRHYeah I know, but just don't let the likes of Alfie Boe and Katherine Jenkins anywhere near it. Is Jake Gyllenhall as Anatoly a big enough name?
|
|
884 posts
|
Chess
Oct 27, 2017 10:13:13 GMT
via mobile
Post by karloscar on Oct 27, 2017 10:13:13 GMT
Julian Ovenden for Anatoly, Jeremy Jordan for Freddie, Laura Osnes for Florence and Tommy Korberg for Molokov. Don't really mind who plays the other roles.
|
|