And the Tony for Best Replacement goes to...

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 3:29am

Marin Mazzie...what a thrill to see this gem on Broadway.
She is a pearl of gold and diamonds...a goddess...her voice is terrific, she cries on stage 4 times every performance, looks great, her take on the role of Diana is simply amazing. I wish the producers had cast her to open this show.
Unfortunately as I said before the material(the show and its music, script, etc) I find very lackluster.
But Marin is just terrific, and Jason Danieley was 1st class. Kyle Dean Massey is a too sexy at times...but very good. Louis Hobson is great too, and very handsome.
Every fan of this show should return and see Mazzie, she is 1000x better than Ripley.

[binau]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 4:08am

So the tony for best replacement doesn't go to Mazzie. (Bernadette? perhaps)

Alice Ripley still remains 1000x better than Mazzie.

Jason Danieley isn't that good.

Kyle Dean isn't as sexy as he should be (cf: Tveit, perhaps?)

Hobson isn't handsome.

The material (of the show) is amazing.



Once again, thanks for your insightful opinions :).

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 4:35am

I agree to disagree!

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 4:36am

I also don't want to sound bitchy, but did you see both Marin and Alice? And CZJ and BP?

[binau]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 5:05am

No (Again kidding).

I saw Jessica Phillips and CZJ.

It is interesting how your opinion generally 'goes against the grain' though.

[PurpleFanta]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 8:01am

"She is 1000x better than Ripley."

Since theater is subjective, I respect your opinion. But I wholeheartedly, 1000% disagree.

[tazber]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 8:03am

Well since there is no Tony for best replacement anymore isn't this just a way to express your admiration for Marin's performance?

It's great that you loved her, but why frame it as comparison to other performances? It's not in competition.

Isn't it enough that she moved and inspired you?

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 8:11am

I love Marin but my guess is that if this was put to a vote (Tony voters or otherwise), it would be Bernadette in a landslide.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 8:44am

I actually agree with muscle (WHAT?) that Marin is better than Alice. Also, I loved Jason and HATED Bobby (Brian is still my favorite). And CZJ is better than Bernadette for that part. CZJ played a character, and I never thought "that is Catherine Zeta-Jones". Bernadette is playing Bernadette, and I was aware of it the whole time. It really took me out of the performance. Regardless of how talented she is, Bernadette didn't impress me.

[lsinger2]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 9:04am

Saw N2N last night. Marin was AMAZING but a different show from Alice. Jason was fabulous. I thought the role of Natalie was not as strong, just blah. The audience was sobbing at the end. It was cool to see a married couple play the part and come out to sign playbills together. They are a class act.

[FeelingElectric]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 3:01pm

I agree with a lot of what you said muscle23ftl, but I have to agree with lsinger2 on one point.

Marin's portrayal of Diana is drastically different from that of Alice Ripley (and Amy Spanger at NYMF). Somehow, it seems more subdued, more human. There are many subtleties in her delivery of lines, her expressions, and her phrasing that make this character seem that much more real to me. It's not as intense of a portrayal as Alice's. It's different, but I won't say it's better. I love all three Diana's I've seen, and the way they have played the role.

I had to let Jason grow on me as Dan. I felt he was a little too theatrical in his performance of Just Another Day, but mellowed after that. I will say that I noticed expression and emotion in his portrayal (particularly when Diana in therapy) that I never saw from Joe Cassidy, Brian or Bobby.

I also notices moments between the two that I never saw from any other paring, probably coming from the fact that they know each other so well as a married couple.

I honestly couldn't discern a huge difference between Aaron and Kyle's Gabe, or Jennifer and Megahn's Natalie. If you close your eyes, you almost couldn't tell the difference between the two Gabes (besides that new crazy high note at the end of Kyle's I'm Alive). You could look right at Megahn for the whole show and not see a huge difference between her and Jennifer.

I am really impressed at how great Louis and Adam still are, despite all the turnover. You'd never know that Adam has been doing this show for 2 1/2 years and Louis for nearly 2. Their performances are still fresh and engaging. They fit perfectly with the new cast members.


I won't get into the Marin/Bernadette argument, but I will say this; if Marin had opened this show last year, I believe she would have won the Tony.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 3:06pm

I think just about ANYBODY could have won a Tony for playing Diana! Not to take anything from Alice or Marin, but that role is the stuff awards are made for!

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 3:08pm

Molly Shannon as Marge McDugall in the 2010 Broadway revival of PROMISES, PROMISES.

[brightasyellow]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 3:32pm

bjh - I actually disagree about Bernadette Peters. For the first five minutes she was on stage, I was just like "woah, it's Bernadette," but then she was just Desiree...

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 8:10pm

"I think just about ANYBODY could have won a Tony for playing Diana! Not to take anything from Alice or Marin, but that role is the stuff awards are made for!"

Just like the role of Marge in Promises Promises.

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 8:16pm

And maybe the role of Desiree. Johns and Jones both won the Tony. And Dench won the Olivier.

[steven22]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 8:21pm

I was shocked when I saw Marin last week. I saw Alice 6 times, but was even more blown away when I saw Marin's Diana!