Did anybody actually like her in it? I know a lot of people had a problem with her belting a lot of her part. A Weekend in the Country
"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
I think she's funny, but I'm not sure that she succeeds in creating a real, flesh and blood person.
"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
She improved as the run went on, but I found her terribly annoying both times I saw it. Her vocals weren't the issue for me, just her characterization. It was like all she knew about Anne was that she was young, and so just decided to be petulant and stupid.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
I saw the show near the end of the run and thought she was good.
"I don't want the pretty lights to come and get me."-Homecoming 2005
"You can't pray away the gay."-Callie Torres on Grey's Anatomy.
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Saw her three times, first in December about a month into the run and then again in July with Bernadette Peters. She definitely improved during the run, starting as an over the top caricature and eventually grounding herself into a young lady baffled and scared on how to approach womanhood. However Ms. Mallory was not the problem. Trevor Nunn was.
Having spoken to quite a few people who were involved with this production, I can attest that very few people in the cast (the exceptions being Catherine Zeta Jones and Angela Lansbury) were allowed to make any character choices. Nunn had it set in his mind what the characters should be, with a few notes from Sondheim, which Nunn then hammered into the ground. It wasn't until Nunn left the production after it opened that cast members started incorporating hints of what they initially wanted to do with their roles and allowing themselves to stray from Nunn's initial direction.
"Sing the words, Patti!!!!" Stephen Sondheim to Patti LuPone.
"It wasn't until Nunn left the production after it opened that cast members started incorporating hints of what they initially wanted to do with their roles and allowing themselves to stray from Nunn's initial direction."
This is really evident once Bernadette and Stritch took over, I think.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
I saw this revival 12 times. Ramona definitely improved as the run went on, but I did always hope to catch an understudy at least once for Anne, but never did. Actually, she, Davie, Herdlicka, and Larkin all improved as the run went on. It's very true that once Peters and Stritch took over, the production almost completely changed. They all started letting loose and having fun. It was a "stuffier" production with CZJ and Lansbury, but I really enjoyed both casts.
Anybody know what Leigh Ann Larkin is up to? She seemed to be getting steady work for a while there. She had to choose between coming to Broadway with Ragtime or Night Music. Obviously, she chose wisely. But we haven't heard from her in a while.
What role was she offered in Ragtime? She seems awful young for Mother, and Evelyn Nesbit seems such a small role for someone who had just been getting such good work.
ljay, I'm not entirely sure what she's up to, but I do know that Larkin left New York and moved out to LA some time ago. Last I heard, she was teaching in an arts program there as a sort of day job while still auditioning regularly.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
I also really enjoyed Ramona Mallory. There's something about her voice that I just love...maybe it's the fast vibrato. I did find her performance to be a little whiny at some times, which is arguably part of playing such a young woman, but overall I thought she was charming and very funny!
^ Yes, that's certainly part of it. Nunn was very insistent on casting the production younger than usual. It was great not having a 25-year-old Fredrika.
No, there's a difference between playing young and playing a caricature. In the Menier production, Anne was played not whiney at all but constantly crying and practically on the brink of suicide. Then in New York, Nunn changed it to her whining and jumping all over the place. There was no truth to his direction of the role. It didn't make Anne funny or amusing, it made her annoying and irritating. You're not supposed to exactly root for Anne, but you're not supposed to hate her either.
Anne is less Veruca Salt and more Cher in Clueless. She means well, but she's just so oblivious that she isn't aware of how ridiculous she is.
"Sing the words, Patti!!!!" Stephen Sondheim to Patti LuPone.
Her voice annoyed me. It sounded to me that she was always on the verge of choking. As for her acting, that revival was my first encounter with Night Music so I had no idea how Anne was usually portrayed, so I didn't have a problem with it. But looking back, she was a little...I think the word coming to mind is "hysterical." Not in a funny way, just shrieky and hysterical.