LaChanze in the Color Purple
LaChanze in the Color Purple
#1LaChanze in the Color Purple
Posted: 12/18/15 at 9:31pm
How was she? Particularly considering the recent revival/Cynthia Erivo etc.?
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
GreasedLightning
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/11/14
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#3LaChanze in the Color Purple
Posted: 12/18/15 at 9:54pm
She was excellent. I prefer Cynthia's performance, but they were very different in their approach. I also preferred Fantasia, but again, her performance was very different. So of the three Celies I've seen, she's my LEAST favorite, but that's not to say her performance wasn't wonderful
Truthfully, I think she deserved the Tony that year. I also wonder what she could have done with the part in a more focused, small, and intimate production like the one currently running. She had to fill that huge theater and huge space and did it well, but I think she would have been even better if she was given a more intimate production to work with.
Updated On: 12/18/15 at 09:54 PM
#4LaChanze in the Color Purple
Posted: 12/18/15 at 10:20pm
When Patrick Pacheco made his prediction on Theater Talk back in 2006, he was given a lot of flack for thinking LaChanze was going to win.
@19:14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86Ev0_X8H3c&index=11&list=PL_2Wk1WlmEyQBFMVIDPPx_k-thJZ5Cg8y
Luckily, he outsmarted everyone...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4AqyKCLIdk
#5LaChanze in the Color Purple
Posted: 12/18/15 at 11:03pm
I enjoyed her but found her performance to be too...regal. Celie's struggle didn't come across for me as clearly as it should have. She was better than Brandi Chavonne Matthews, whom I saw on the tour. Fantasia (who I expected to hate) was my favorite. That was a performance I'll never forget.
Haven't seen Erivo yet.
