Holiday VS Hudson
Holiday VS Hudson
Spacedog78
Featured Actor Joined: 11/3/06
#1Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/2/07 at 8:49pm
I know thi shas probably been asked before, but I missed it and don't feel like looking it up, so here goes:
Jennifer Hudson or Jennifer Holiday in Dreamgirls, who do you like better?
Although Holiday is amazing, I liked Hudson better!
Any thoughts?
#2re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/2/07 at 8:54pmHudson seems nicer and genuine to me. I thought she was fantastic.
for fierce, fabulous and fun times visit eric mathew's world.
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Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#2re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/2/07 at 8:59pmDid you see them both Spacedog? How do you factor in the fact that one is giving a live performance, 8 times a week and one is singing on film with as many retakes and edits as needed? Why do people have to compare? A film is not a Broadway show.
blaxx
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/05
#3re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/2/07 at 9:05pm
Sorry, not to make fun of your post, but Holliday's performance is legendary. There is no place to even try to compare the two.
Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE
Updated On: 1/2/07 at 09:05 PM
#4re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/2/07 at 9:12pmthe t2o performances i have seen from holiday...one is from the tonys and the other is from the broadway leading ladies video. the second one was just a little too over the top for me.
for fierce, fabulous and fun times visit eric mathew's world.
http://ericmathew.blogspot.com/
#5re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/2/07 at 9:14pmI hate comparing performers - especially comparing movie v. originating the role on Broadway.
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
To Kill A Mockingbird
To Kill A Mockingbird
#6re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/2/07 at 9:24pm
*Holliday
and yes, my answer is Holliday.
...What happened next, was stranger still, a woman breathless and afraid, appeared out of the night, completely dressed in white. She had a secret she would tell, of one who had mistreated her. Her face and frightened gaze, my mind cannot erase...But then she ran from view. She looked so much like you...
#7re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/2/07 at 9:26pm
HOLLIDAY!
Edit: All_For_Laura beat me to it.
"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
Updated On: 1/2/07 at 09:26 PM
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
#8re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/2/07 at 9:38pm
I hate comparing performers - especially comparing movie v. originating the role on Broadway.
- Exactly. Like comparing Renee Zellweger to Gwen Verdon would be one the sickest things ever!
show2n2
Featured Actor Joined: 12/22/04
#9re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/2/07 at 9:51pm
I agree with everyone that says it's really not fair to compare actors. Especially in a movie performance vs. a broadway performance.
We all know it's inevitable, but it truly is apples and oranges.
They both bring something totally different to the party.
I also know there are Holliday horror stories about her in the show, but I can't help think that everyone that has played Effie after her, owes her just a little. Creating a role the way she did, good, bad, or ugly helped the show in the long run.
J.Hudson has the distinction now of being the Big Screen Effie. That's a huge accomplishment in it's own right.
Let's hope that in 20 yrs, both performances are still talked about by someone.
MrMidwest
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/8/05
#10re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/2/07 at 10:04pm
Holliday's voice barrels rapidly up and down the notes in AIATY in such a way that that I get a sense that she's truly feeling something powerful and emotional course through her body while she's singing. I find her singing on all of the other songs to be quite stirring also.
While Hudson's voice is astounding to me, she comes off more like she's decided how she wants to sing the song from the start and that's also how her singing on most of the soundtrack feels to me. However, I'm not exactly sure whose vocals I prefer. I love the way Hudson sings "that would be just fine" in I Am Changing.
"The gods who nurse this universe think little of mortals' cares. They sit in crowds on exclusive clouds and laugh at our love affairs. I might have had a real romance if they'd given me a chance. I loved him, but he didn't love me. I wanted him, but he didn't want me. Then the gods had a spree and indulged in another whim. Now he loves me, but I don't love him." - Cole Porter
Updated On: 1/2/07 at 10:04 PM
WalkOn
Broadway Star Joined: 8/7/06
#11re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/2/07 at 10:25pmHudson was awesome...but her performance will always be measured against Holiday's. What is remarkable about Hudson's singing performance is that she seems to channel Holiday. Very impressive. But Holiday will always own the role.
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart; and you'll never walk alone.
Spacedog78
Featured Actor Joined: 11/3/06
#12re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/2/07 at 11:51pm
"Did you see them both Spacedog? How do you factor in the fact that one is giving a live performance, 8 times a week and one is singing on film with as many retakes and edits as needed? Why do people have to compare? A film is not a Broadway show."
yes i actually have seen both the actresses perform live and that is where I got my opinion from. PLUS I am not just talking about their singing but their acting too. I do not think that Jennifer Holliday was a very good actress and soley won the tony for her amazing singing in the part. Hudson, on the other hand, blew me away as a first time actress and her rendition of the songs, I felt, were more emotionally charged and controled. PLUS they could have done 1000 retakes of the songs while filming, but the soudtrack was pre-recorded, in a studio, as all soundtracks are (so they all could be touched up, not just movie soundtracks), and her performance of "And I am Telling You" was fabulous.
Also Hudson is a SINGER first and then an actress!
I hope she does the revival!
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#13re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/2/07 at 11:54pm
Let's put em together in a ring and let em duke it out.
I agree you can't really compare a Live Theatre performance and a Movie one.
soulman83
Stand-by Joined: 2/25/05
#14re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/3/07 at 12:53amIs this happening? i have to agree with MrMidwest...but seriously, i am mildly over this discussion. i think...
jarred03
Leading Actor Joined: 10/17/04
#15re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/3/07 at 1:57am
@Spacedog, are you drunk? How can you say that Hudson's a good actor. Don't get me wrong I loved the movie and her performance of the song but her acting was nothing special. Now, I've only seen Holiday's Tony performance and I think her acting is a little crazy to but her overacting works on stage Hudsons lack of acting isn't good for film.
Now as for the song itselfs, I have to say Hudson was amazing and killed it, but Holliday destroyed it. Holiday's version is clearly better in my opinion and I will always consider it her song.
#16re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/3/07 at 4:36amThis topic annoys me....why is there such a need to compare everything, especially something that is imcomparable. Just like evyone lese said on this thread....Jennifer Holliday is untouchable.....what she did will always be hers....what Jennifer Hudson did will always be hers. So there isn't a comparison.
Danielm
Broadway Star Joined: 3/17/05
#17re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/3/07 at 1:23pm
Spacedog, you say you've seen both perform live--but did you see Holiday in the original production of Dreamgirls? Seeing her perform on the Tonys or in concert is not the same thing as seeing the show with her in it.
I will not weigh in on this because I never saw Holiday in the show though she blew me away on the Tonys. I suspect most of the people posting on this board never saw the original production let alone Holiday in it. Jennifer blew me away in the movie--but a movie is not the same thing as a Broadway show--you're allowed much more subtlety on the screen.
Yes, we do need a third vampire musical.--Little Sally, Gypsy of the Year 2005.
#18re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/3/07 at 1:36pm
at least hudson is overwhelmed and grateful of her reception... In the Holliday VS Hudson battle over being a good PERSON Hudson wins, whether her Effie is as good or not... I prefer Hudson's voice but was born long after Holliday took her final bow so I can't say who was better....
BUT I think Hudson would be VERY capable of doing this 8 times a week... I mean she sounds just as wonderful in all of the live promo performances AND even back on American Idol
It's the music and I'm its hapless victim
#19HOLLIDAY vs HUDSON
Posted: 1/3/07 at 1:45pm
They are both totally different performances.
I adore them both for totally different reasons.
I saw DREAMGIRLS on broadwy with Holliday and just loved the whole thing. It was a dream for me. I was 10 and it was like this is what my life is all about. She will always be my dreamgirl.
BUT... Jennifer held her own. In many ways, it is different. Maybe not vocally as they both belt out a storm and take full control of it but with Holliday, there is a desperation in her voice, perhaps a I have ALWAYS been in control and she ain't going to take it lying down. Hudson's is more of a mental breakdown.. the hysterical kind..
I loved them both.
At least it is not ROZ RYAN who I saw on tour a couple years back who made me almost walk out on the show.
And as much as I adore and think Lillias is da bomb.. She can't hold a candle to either Jennifer's....
"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."
#20HOLLIDAY vs HUDSON
Posted: 1/3/07 at 2:04pm
Holliday was a force of nature on stage. I would venture to say her sheer power and vocal energy can never be topped. She can't even get to that level herself anymore. She was 21 back then, and heavier, and both helped her to explode with the unmatchable excitement of "And I'm Tellin' You." It was as if she was self-destructing in front of you. Tearing out her voice like that, every time. It worked in a HUGE way, but it also took its toll on her.
Hudson is fantastic on that song too, but she doesn't reach Holliday's power. Close! But no cigar. She doesn't push off the deep end into self-destruction.
However, Hudson gets my vote OVERALL, because her acting is much better than Holliday's ever was. Later in Holliday's run you even got the sense that she was almost "marking" the show to save herself for "And I'm Telling You" and "I Am Changing." She kinda walked through the rest of it, a bit. And it's understandable. She was like an athlete pacing herself for the triple somersault.
Hudson's work is on film, and I don't think she could do any better sustaining Effie on stage than Holliday did, plus she already can't deliver the song with THAT much power (nobody can). She had multiple takes, and didn't have to worry about pacing herself for the rest of the show. So I'm already "discounting" my choice...
But since I'm basing my ultimate decision on the impact of the entire performance, I'm picking Hudson (qualifiers and all).
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
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SporkGoddess
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
#21HOLLIDAY vs HUDSON
Posted: 1/3/07 at 2:13pmHudson, because I can't stand to hear someone destroying their voice like Holliday did.
Jimmy, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? It's almost 9 PM!
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#22re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/3/07 at 2:19pm
There's really no need for a comparison given that the demands of the two mediums are completely different, but......
I saw Holliday in DREAMGIRLS back in 1982 for me (and most others who saw her) there's really no comparison between the two performances -- Holliday owns that role. She embodies Effie like no other and the passion, pain and sheer power she brought to her performance is unparalleled. She was a force of nature and her raw intensity was so emotionally overwhelming, I can recall literally shaking afterwards (several people around me were actually in tears). No performance by anyone I've ever seen (and I've seen over 1000 shows) has had the same impact.
Hudson was fine -- quite solid in fact -- and gave the sort of very committed, but scaled down kind of performance that the screen demands. It's an appropriately strong Effie, but not an overwhelming one, which works well for the film. But, out of the dozen or so Effies that I've seen (including about 5 during the original Broadway run, another two for the '87 revival, and the others during the various national tours and regional productions), I'm not sure she'd even be in my top 5 -- and again, I say that realizing that making comparisons between stage and film can be rather unfair.
Nevertheless, Hudson deserves all the accolades she has received and I, for one, would be happy for her if she ends up nabbing an Oscar for her performance. But, at the same time, I would never begin to compare her performance to Holliday's which was the stuff of legend and in a different category altogether.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
#23re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/3/07 at 2:46pmMargo, I've been WAITING to read your take on the performances. I was never fortunate enough to see Jennifer Holliday live -- I'm sure it was an unparalleled experience. That being said, I was happy to see that Hudson was able to tackle the role on film and not be completely consumed by the task. Having seen how she has portrayed herself (on American Idol and at the Actor's Fund concert of Whorehouse), I was afraid that it would be impossible for her to put her natural timid nature on the shelf. I feel she made distinct choices that enabled her to embody Effie and bring another person to life. It didn't seem to be a re-enactment of any other portral, but her own. For that AND the wonderful way she's handled herself through the media frenzy surrounding the movie, I give her MAJOR kudos!
". . . POP . . ."
#24re: Holiday VS Hudson
Posted: 1/3/07 at 3:46pmSaw them both, loved them both. Was moved by both, and I cried both times. Pushover.
