Though CRJ has a completely different singing style than Laura Osnes (pop v. classic Broadway lyric soprano), CRJ is a more than capable actress, as you can see in the clip, and she has what I'd call an "enchanting earnestness" about her on stage that makes you really root for her. She was a more than adequate replacement for the wonderful Laura Osnes. Many people gave her a bad (and unfair, in my opinion) rap.
CZJ at opening night party for A Little Night Music, Dec 13, 2009.
I'm not a fan of Carly as I didn't even know she had a career outside of her one hit wonder, but, I do have to say I feel she was an adequate replacement when it comes to stunt casting. She sounds and acts presentable and although she might not be the best singer/actress, she's definitely MUCH better than I thought she was.
I saw Carly today, and I REALLY liked her. What a great little actress. There were some voice things that weren't all the way there, but her voice is very pretty. I really believed and felt for her. Fran was hard to understand sometimes, and it sounds like she's not using her voice properly even for her. I thought that Joe Carroll was very weak in voice, almost alarmingly so. His singing was very weak and amateur.
There's a lot of good in this show, it needs to be 90 minutes. There's some extra that they could afford to trim that would really make this piece go.