Alice Ripley out of N2N Monday night, 11/16/09

[pete02118]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 12:41am

Alice was out Monday night...anyone catch the performance with her understudy?

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 1:09am

Does this have to be announced every time Alice Ripley is out? Isn't there a Next to Normal or Jessica Phillips thread?

ETA: https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardid=1&boardname=bway&thread=1004104

Updated On: 11/17/09 at 01:09 AM

[bjh2114]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 1:20am

I was there tonight, and I was blown away. I haven't loved Next to Normal prior to tonight (seeing it once at 2nd Stage and once on Broadway). But tonight, the show was completely different for me. It felt more genuine somehow. Jessica Phillips was a revelation, and is the best argument I can think of for the inception of a Tony Award for Best Understudy. I honestly think she is light years better than Alice.

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 7:33am

I saw her back in July and I also thought she was better then Alice. I don't know if it's possible but Alice plays the role too crazy.

[Sondheim_Geek]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 8:04am

I LOVELOVELOVE that Jessica's fanship increases every time she goes on.

Such a different take on the role. Loved her both times I've seen her go on.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 8:06am

Jessica Phillips is an absolute disaster in this role. A debacle, from beginning to end. She plays Diana like a cartoon and sings like a chirping chipmunk.


Updated On: 11/17/09 at 08:06 AM

[bjh2114]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 9:18am

You are completely incorrect. If anyone plays it like a caricature, it's Alice. She is so over the top in everything to the point that it's never believable. Jessica starts very mellowed and normal, with a small quirk about her that she is trying to fix. It isn't until she is being ripped in two opposite directions during You Don't Know that her true confusion and fear begins to show. Her performance is so incredibly genuine. Also, I felt a maternal connection to Gabe and Natalie for the first time. And to say she sings like a chirping chipmunk is just stupid. Her voice is incredible, and it's honestly one of the best ones on Broadway right now. I hope she can get a non-understudy role in a different show in the future.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 9:58am

You are completely incorrect.
I didn't know an opinion could be completely incorrect.

If anyone plays it like a caricature, it's Alice. She is so over the top in everything to the point that it's never believable
I find Alice to be quite subtle, as opposed to Phillips who thinks she's in a musical comedy. Phillips overacts so much, particularly during You Don't Know, when the night I saw her, she kept bobbing her head back and forth. It was laughable, as was the fact that she sang I Miss the Mountains with a giant smile on her face.

Her voice is incredible, and it's honestly one of the best ones on Broadway right now.
If you think she has one of the best voices on Broadway right now, then you need to see more shows. I'm not saying Ripley is a stunning vocalist, but Phillips is far from the top tier of vocal talent.

I hope she can get a non-understudy role in a different show in the future.
Well, I agree with you about the last part. I hope she ends up in some other show as well, so she doesn't inflict her "performance" as Diana on audiences again.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 10:29am

I didn't know an opinion could be completely incorrect.
It can't be incorrect, but "Jessica Phillips is an absolute disaster in this role" didn't exactly sound like opinion. It sounded more like a condescending remark.

I find Alice to be quite subtle, as opposed to Phillips who thinks she's in a musical comedy. Phillips overacts so much, particularly during You Don't Know, when the night I saw her, she kept bobbing her head back and forth. It was laughable, as was the fact that she sang I Miss the Mountains with a giant smile on her face.
Well perhaps she has gotten better since you saw her? That IS a possibility, you know. She didn't act like it was a musical comedy at all, which was evident from the buckets and buckets of tears streaming down her face the entire show (especially during Make Up Your Mind). It's funny that you cite "You Don't Know". As soon as I left the theatre, I texted my friend to tell her that Jessica was perfection except for in that one song where she was trying to mimic Alice. I just think it's funny that the one part that wasn't so hot for her last night was almost a carbon copy of Alice's version of that song. Everything else was original, and it worked beautifully.

Also, "I Miss the Mountains", which I usually loathe with a fiery passion of a thousand suns, was my favorite part of Act I last night. It finally made sense. And no, she did not sing it with a smile on her face.

If you think she has one of the best voices on Broadway right now, then you need to see more shows. I'm not saying Ripley is a stunning vocalist, but Phillips is far from the top tier of vocal talent.
Well considering that I've seen every single Broadway musical open now and every one in the past 5 seasons (save for Tale of Two Cities), not to mention the countless off-Broadway musicals, touring shows, and regional productions I have attended, that remark seems foolish. She has a killer voice. Perhaps you need to hear her sing something other than the Next to Normal score. But she's talented.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 11:02am

Vocally, I prefer her "I Miss The Mountains" over Alice's.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asRdwq0qwUI&feature=related

[bjh2114]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 11:05am

And she was about 20 times better last night than she is in that video.

[Sondheim_Geek]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 11:08am

It's clear that adamgreer will never be a fan of Phillips and it's unfortunate that he feels the need to blast his apparent disapproval of her every time she goes on. The thing that pains me the most is that as more and more people begin to appreciate her subtle and nuanced performance, he continues to rail against her as if she is delivering an inferior product.

adamgreer: we understand...you don't like her.

[musicalsFan]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 12:03pm

Yeah, you'd think Jessic Phillips ran over adamgreer's cat, deliberately and with malice, the way he comes on here every time Jessica's name is mentioned.

It is like he has a how dare she go on for Alice Ripley in this show because I hated her performance mentality about it. A bit scary.

[mormonophobic]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 1:03pm

Does anyone know know why Ripley was out? I saw the show Sunday night and she was incredible. Plus her voice actually sounded the best I've ever heard it, including the recording. Even at the stage door she seemed fine. I'm wondering if this was a scheduled day off or what was the reason. Either way I'm happy when I saw it, as the only person out was Louis Hobson.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 1:11pm

Does anyone know know why Ripley was out? I saw the show Sunday night and she was incredible. Plus her voice actually sounded the best I've ever heard it, including the recording.

Interestingly enough, I saw the show Saturday afternoon and felt the same way. I thought Ripley never sounded as strong as she did Saturday afternoon, so maybe it was planned. She hasn't been out of the show in almost two months, prior to last night

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 1:24pm

Phillips was...not very good the night I saw her. But I'm glad to hear she's getting better. She has an excellent voice; I just didn't find it appropriate for the role. And she's clearly very talented; I just thought she had no idea what she was doing as Diana the night I was there. But, like I said, its good to hear she's getting better or at least that others are enjoying her performance.

[mormonophobic]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 1:30pm

Well I guess I'm just glad I got to see it when I did then. Though I love to see different takes on a role, I had been looking forward to seeing her in the role and she more than lived up to my expectations. Which were ridiculously high, by the way. And to say that Alice is over the top to the point of making the material unbelievable, while totally valid as one person's opinion, is just absurd to me. As someone specializing in psychology (with most of my experience in the bipolar arena) , I found its gut-wrenching believability to be what really made it work so well. This show and role have evolved from a cartoon cutout of the disease to something much fuller. And although something like bipolar disorder can range from grounded to completely out there, I thought Ripley so perfectly captured both the manic highs and the dark emptiness of the lows.

The one who really surprised me was J.Robert Spencer, who I had such low expectations for. Although he more than held his own throughout, the last few scenes really showed me just how much he has grown into the role. When I got back home to Las Vegas last night I was trying to describe in detail all that happens in Next to Normal to my boyfriend. When I got to the end and was trying to best explain "I Am The One (Reprise)", I actually showed him the Tony Awards clip so that I could better explain how the song then shifted focus. As I was recounting the end of the scene and got to Dan saying his son's name, I could have kicked myself I got so choked up. I was pretty much crying by the time I said, "Hi Dad". ...Sorry to stray from the topic at hand there, but I just had to comment on how surprised I was at the talent of the company as a whole.

[AC126748]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 1:34pm

AdamGreer, you are, of course, more than welcome to your own opinion, but you do give it here with such a finality that it's bound to put some people off. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you catch Jessica's first performance in the role? Of course, she's been on minimally (Alice has always had a stainless attendance record throughout her career), but don't you leave room for the possibility that, through understudy rehearsals and the half-dozen performances she has done, she has improved in the role? Very few understudies are great the first time they go on.

Updated On: 11/17/09 at 01:34 PM

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 1:39pm

The night I saw Phillips, Spencer walked away with the show. It seemed like it was much more Dan's story than Diana's that night.

Even Natalie's journey seemed more important than Diana's. Damiano really brought it that night and watching her give her all and drain herself, emotionally, during "Maybe" was gut-wrenching. But watching Phillips stand there and mechanically sing her lyrics to Damiano like a deer caught in the headlights was gut-wrenching for different reasons.

[obsessedjb]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 1:39pm

^ yeah that's what's really irritating..adamgreer saw her the performance right after the Tonys and not since then..so over his constant bashing of her..we get it..

I still have yet to see her (she's the only understudy I haven't seen) but I hope to soon
Updated On: 11/17/09 at 01:39 PM

[bjh2114]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 2:22pm

For the record, Bobby was a hot mess last night. Vocally he was terrible, and his acting was as stiff as a board. The only time he showed emotion or wasn't monotone was the crying at the end, which came across as incredibly fake and stilted by comparison. The fake crying was very amateur. Aaron really surprised me. I wasn't a big fan of his the last time I saw the show on Broadway, as he came across as very complacent in his role. Last night, however, his performance was incredibly nuanced and beautiful. From top to bottom, the performances for me ranked in order of Jessica, Aaron, Jenn, Louis, Adam (all fantastic), and Bobby (awful).

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 2:51pm

Very few understudies are great the first time they go on.

The far less experienced, much younger, Meghann Fahy was excellent the first time she went on as Natalie. Was she as good as she was Saturday afternoon, when I happened to see her again? No, but she was still exceptional and gave a much more credible first performance than her fellow understudy "mother."

You will not find a bigger supporter of understudies on this board than me, so don't give me the "unable to accept seeing an understudy/ different take on the role" business.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 3:02pm

Adamgreer, those two roles are HARDLY comparable. Plus, when you saw Jessica, it was the performance after the Tonys, where lots of people were dying to see Alice. I am sure Jessica was quite nervous that night. Cut the woman some slack.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 3:12pm

I am sure Jessica was quite nervous that night. Cut the woman some slack.

They didn't cut the price of the tickets that night, so why shouldn't one expect a performance oomparable to that of the regular performer?

[bjh2114]

Posted: 11/17/09 at 3:16pm

Because people had higher expectations of her than on a normal night, which isn't her fault. Alice Ripley had JUST won a Tony, and people were dying to see her. And they didn't cut the ticket prices, but they did offer refunds. Performing the day after the lead wins a Tony isn't a usual circumstance for an understudy. I am sure that on Tuesday June 9th, Jessica Phillips was the most stressed out woman on Broadway.
Updated On: 11/17/09 at 03:16 PM