Understudy Reviews

The Smoothie Queens

I went back and saw Spring Awakening AGAIN last night. Yes, the show was still beautiful, powerful, and electrifying, to say the least, but right now, I'm just going to give you the reviews of the understudies I saw.

Julie Benko as Wendla: Her voice is sugary sweet. It fits the character--Wendla is supposed to be fourteen. Her acting was good. Her singing was good, and her higher soprano parts were clear sounding and pure and pretty much great (i.e. 'The Word Of Your Body', etc...). There were a few moments where I wished she delivered the lines differently, but...if I hadn't seen Christy Altomare go on last week, I would've absolutely loved Julie. But as an understudy, yes, she did very well.

Krystina Alabado as Anna: Well, as much as I totally loved Gabby Garza's performance as Anna, Krystina did a great job! My Mom didn't really like her all that much, but I thought she did well. It was just weird, in my opinion, to see Anna in a green dress, when everyone's used to seeing Anna in a red dress. You could really hear Krystina's voice in 'Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise)', and she did a cool little riff (or something close to a riff) in 'My Junk' that I thought was so pretty and cool, and naturally I forgot what it was three minutes later.

Lucas A. Wells as Hanschen: No. I mean, if I didn't see Andy Mientus (sp?) go on, I would probably think Lucas did okay, but even then, he wouldn't be my favorite. For example: Andy was extremely into 'B*tch Of Living'. He rocked out the most. If you looked at Lucas, you could tell that he was the understudy because he wasn't moving nearly as much as the other boys. And he just didn't deliver the lines the way Andy did, and that was also the way I've heard Broadway Hanschens say them. In 'The Word Of Your Body (Reprise)', the first time he sang "body", he cracked so much that my Mom and I looked at each other and sighed. So no, he wasn't too, too terrible, but he didn't really do it for me.

Laura, let's hear about your understudy experiences. Broadway, national tour, regional theatre--do tell!!
Other undertudies that were good/great: Beth Curry (for Nikki Snelson) as Brooke Wyndham in Legally Blonde, Jay Armstrong Johnson (for David Hull), as Mark in the national tour of A Chorus Line.
Undertudies that were bad/totally sucked: Jim Walton (for Tituss Bergess [sp?]) as Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Guys And Dolls.

Spring Awakening

The Smoothie Queens


Spring Awakening


Wow


I can't even describe it


It's like it never even happened


Full review on my BroadwaySpace


Even that only skims the surface


I worshipped the stars, so seeing them was crazy


It was all very surreal


I won't ever forget

Weeee!!

The Smoothie Queens

The Tony Awards was amazing. I was disappointed that Sutton didn't win, but I was really happy that Alice won for Next to Normal. Next to Normal's performance was amazing, and so that show is now on my Must-See list.

Let me know how SA is! I really wish I could see it. The show is coming my way pretty soon but I'm not allowed to see it. Psshhh....

Widgets And Tours And Notebooks (OH MY!)

The Smoothie Queens

Hey, Laura, are you on Summer break yet?

So, the Guys And Dolls widget on the side here is going to be removed in a little while, because Guys And Dolls is closing on Sunday. I love the widgets because we get to rock out to Next To Normal and stare at our cute little Daily Puppy, et cetera! I cannot find any other widgets--some musical websites are NOT helpful.

I see the national tour of Spring Awakening tomorrow, and I AM SO EXCITED. Oh my God. It's such an amazing show with such an awesome score and such a powerful message. I've totally been waiting for tomorrow for months!

I have my little green notebook sitting next to me, because writing this blog entry is me avoiding what I SHOULD be doing--continuing what I'm writing dutifully because I promised myself I'd finish it over the Summer. It's not just another crappy short-story--it's this musical I've been 'writing' since I was...twelve? I don't know. Not very long.

Okay, bye!! =)

Drumroll, please...THE TONY AWARDS!!!!!

The Smoothie Queens

My God, what was up with the sound?! When Guys And Dolls performed, some guy was like, "Do I go on with it [the mic]? Okay, I'm going!". Ugh, poor Tituss Bergess! Oh, and I feel terrible for Josefina Scaglione, because not only could you hear her warming up in the wings before West Side Story went on, but the poor girl cracked during 'Tonight' before she kissed Matt Cavenaugh for four hours. She has such a gorgeous voice, ugh, it really made me feel bad for her when she cracked!

On to...the awards! When Next To Normal won best score, I was on cloud nine! It has the best score I've heard in a while (probably since last year's best musical winner, but I still see why Billy Elliot won), and that performance last night...so, so powerful! Mad props to Alice Ripley, even though we all knew she'd win. It must be very emotionally draining to play Diana eight times a week. I was so ecstatic when Karen Olivo won best featured actress, oh my God! I thought for sure they'd give to Hadyn, since Billy Elliot is a phenonmonenenen (I can't spell!). I filmed it, and a lot of other stuff, too, but there was some slight commentary from my Mom and I, so...

Neil Patrick Harris is love. Enough said.

Tonight is the night!

The Smoothie Queens

Tony Time!! Can't wait!!

Hmm...

The Smoothie Queens

Nicole Parker is leaving Wicked soon. I'm thinking of going back to meet her one last time. I was thinking of making her a little gift. But what would it be? I was thinking of a necklace with a pic of her as Elphie on one side, and a pic of me and her on the other. If I don't make a gift, I'm going to ask her to do a quick little video for me of her "You Didn't Ask" sketch from MADtv because my friends and I watch it nonstop. Or maybe the "Hockey Mom" thing from her Sarah Palin sketch.

Any suggestions of gifts? Shoot me a message on youtube. (...I hope I get to see her again. Or else this post would be completely pointless. haha. But it would...)