Heather headley vs jennifer hudson

[teddy1996]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 1:04am

Who is the better shug avery?

[aaaaaa15]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 1:11am

Heather.

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 1:14am

Heather Headley

[nicnyc]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 2:22am

Heather.  

Updated On: 6/16/16 at 02:22 AM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 3:02am

And why does it have to be a contest? So petty. They are both good. 

[darreyl102]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 6:11am

Heather took the role to another level. She and Cynthia are magic together and you can really feel the connection between them- something I did not really get with Jennifer in the role. Heather makes the perfect Shug!

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 6:24am

Heather Headley. It was like seeing a whole new show with Headley as Shug.

[ChildofEarth]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 7:21am

Heather. Had she originated, she'd likely have the Tony.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 8:36am

No one was taking that Tony from Goldsberry.

Heather is remarkable in the role. It was night and day compared to Hudson's well sung but very wooden performance. Heather blew me away.

[The Other One]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 8:47am

She would probably not have won the Tony over Renee, but she would have been nominated.  Jennifer was a disappointment in a major role.

[Sunny11]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 8:52am

This was Jennifers Broadway debut. I think that she could get nominated/ even win a Tony with some more training and experience. She's an Oscar winner after all. 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 8:58am

Another vote for Heather from what I've seen. It's too bad we won't get a cast album with Heather or even a reissue with her vocals dropped in.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 9:07am

I actually would not be surprised at all if Headley were to win the Tony in this scenario. 

 

Heather's portrayal of the role was beautiful and intricate. She achieved a balance between strength and vulnerability that was unlike any I've ever seen. She was a Shug who had been broken and was trying to build herself back up, and needed Celie to do that. She was 100% in the character the entire time, even in the background. And of course, needless to say she has a perfect, golden voice. 

[Valentina3]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 10:25am

I haven't seen Heather yet (next weekend!), and I'm excited to see what she's done with her Shug. But I hate how direct and quick people are here to diss Hudson. She's a phenomenal singer. Her acting is lacking - there's no question about it, but she worked really hard, stayed humble, and helped the show to stand on its feet at the box office. And the second she opens her mouth - that heavenly voice is simply breath-taking. I'm personally glad it's her on the cast album and not Heather.

 

I think she needed a little better direction and some training to help with her acting, because you can see it's there. There were flashes of brilliance in her acting too.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 10:38am

So an opinion is now "dissing" someone?    She sang the heck out of it, but not much more.   She doesn't get a "buy" because she tried.   I don't at my job, and I'm sure you don't.  I have to actually DO WELL.  

 

The night I saw her, I thought she was quite good, until the final scene.  Then she lost whatever character she'd built because all I saw was JHud waiting to go home.  Just because you sing the notes, does not a musical performer make!

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 10:45am

Heather is giving one of the best performances I've ever seen. J-Hud was vocally phenomenal (she's Jennifer Hudson, for God's sake), but she did not give us a whole lot, acting-wise. Heather is knocking it out of the park night after night, and would have been a serious contender for the Tony versus Renée if she had opened the production.

Edit, after reading the above posts: I still would have given the Tony to Renée myself, but the choice wouldn't have been as clear-cut and obvious to me if Heather was in the throw of things.

Updated On: 6/16/16 at 10:45 AM

[@z5]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 10:49am

I really loved Jennifer in the show and her voice is one of the best ever, I think it is better than Heather's.

[aaaaaa15]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 10:52am

I also would have rooted for Heather to get the Tony if she was eligible.

Posted: 6/16/16 at 11:39am

From what I gather, Headley is the superior Shug Avery, but I saw it with Jennifer and I have to say I think people unfairly criticized her performance. I thought she was magnificent. I think people (theatre people) wanted to come to the show with the mindset of "she's just a singer" which limited their ability to recognize how good she was. Let's not forget, she's an Oscar-winning actress too.

[funhamilton_rent]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 12:05pm

First vote for Lin. He is the King of Broadway, so he plays every role and is the best at all of them.

[FlySkyHigh]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 12:26pm

I can't speak to JHud's performance in TCP. I only saw Heather Headley, who was mind blowing. I can't even imagine Jennifer in the role now after seeing Heather. However, even without seeing her in the role, I find it interesting that people are using her Oscar to defend her acting skills. Personally, even though I rooted for her and was genuinely happy when she won the Oscar, I can't say I was blown away by her Dreamgirls performance. When she was singing she was brilliant ('And I am Telling you' is what probably clinched the win or her), but all the non-singing scenes were serviceable at best. As someone mentioned earlier, there were flashes of her true talent where you could see she is capable of being a really good actress. But she didn't quite get there for me. But again, I didn't see her in this production. So maybe her acting skills have improved. (I didn't think so when I saw her on Empire last season, but you never know).

[Sunny11]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 12:30pm

Jennifer Hudson is the better box office draw since the  average  grosses dropped about $ 100 -300k since she left. She did something right. 

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 12:34pm

funhamilton_rent said: "First vote for Lin. He is the King of Broadway, so he plays every role and is the best at all of them.

"

This.

[tja928]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 1:38pm

I've seen it 4 times now, 3 with Jennifer, most recently with Heather. There is comparison in my mind, it's Heather by a mile.

As others have mentioned, she takes it to another level. Her acting is electric and she has wonderful chemistry with Cynthia on the stage. Don't miss her!

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 1:45pm

Count me as another who's yet to see Heather but who very much enjoyed Jennifer's performance.  Was she nearly as great as Danielle and Cynthia?  No.   But Danielle is a revelation as Sophia and Cynthia is giving one of the greatest performances ever.  But I would hardly call her performance wooden.  She was truthful, strong, and sexy and it was wonderful to see her for once in the glamour part. 

Updated On: 6/16/16 at 01:45 PM