END OF THE RAINBOW to Play Broadway's Belasco; Cumptsy, Pelphrey & Russell Join Cast- Page 2

[juggles]

Posted: 12/21/11 at 2:41pm

Anyone else booked tickets for this? I have and my flights, I can't wait. I just hope it takes Broadway by storm as it did London. It is an amazing performance by Tracie Bennett and a great play/drama/comedy too. There are three main characters, it is funny/sad and has Judy's fabulous numbers too which Bennett sings with the energy of Judy and she sounds like her.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 12/21/11 at 3:32pm

Is it just me or does she have a distinct tendency to sing flat?

I don't know if that can be fixed, but I'm pretty sure Judy Garland never sang:

"Why, oh, why cahn't I?"

Sorry if this post seems overly critical to those who love Ms. Bennett in the role. I'm not doubting that she is excellent, but the singing is a little underwhelming to me.

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 12/21/11 at 3:39pm

Listen to the famous Carnegie Hall CD. Judy sings "cahn't."

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 12/21/11 at 3:52pm

"Listen to the famous Carnegie Hall CD. Judy sings "cahn't."

Okay, I did and I hear what you mean. But it's just a touch of the broad A at the beginning of the word and then she flattens it out. Not Minnesota flat, perhaps, but distinctly American.

On the link provided, Bennett is singing a veddy British "cahn't".

THAT BEING SAID, I don't have tapes of Garland's last week (which I believe is the time period of the play). It may be Garland was singing flat herself and had even picked up British pronunciations of some words. Look at what happened to Madonna! (This will be the one and only time I ever mention Garland and Madonna in the same paragraph.)

Thanks for the suggestion.

[AngusN]

Posted: 12/21/11 at 5:57pm

Broadway you are in for a treat. Tracie's performance is one of the greatest performances (if not THE greatest performance) I've ever witnessed.
Each time I have seen this show the audience have been stunned at the close of the show - an incredible experience. Enjoy it.

[MusicalMo]

Posted: 12/21/11 at 6:15pm

I saw the show on a trip to London back in the spring. I enjoyed it so much that I cancelled tickets to another show and went again later that week! Tracie Bennett is phenomenal and I am excited to see it here at home in NYC this spring!

[juggles]

Posted: 12/21/11 at 6:25pm

Gaveston2 hahaha you're hilarious. Bennett is so spot on it's frightening. I watched Judy and Liza at the Palladium [1960s]on TV this week and Judy couldn't reach a lot of her notes. She totally made a mess of Over The Rainbow and asked the audience to help her out. It was embarrassing.I'm not knocking her but she didn't sing good at all towards the end of her career. There is no way she sang like she did in the Wizard of Oz anyway, which people seem to think she sang like that all her life.....er.......no she didn't. Honestly Tracie Bennett is spot on ....and you pick on one word...cahnt??? hahaha she's a Brit doing an American accent and you pick on one word??? hahaha bless you. Meryl Streep has just played Thatcher...er....not every word she said was spot on British!!!!!!!!!!!!







Updated On: 12/21/11 at 06:25 PM

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 12/21/11 at 7:19pm

juggles, it was just an observation and it is arguably the most famous line Garland ever sang. I certainly wasn't trying to talk anyone into disliking Miss Bennett's performance.

And I have read that Garland's voice deteriorated over her later years, which is why it later occurred to me that Bennett's impersonation may be spot on in the flat notes.

(I'm enough of a Garland fan that I can easily distinguish between the teenage, young adult and mature voices. But I can't claim to tell the difference between 1967 and 1968.)

[juggles]

Posted: 12/21/11 at 7:23pm

sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. This play will storm Broadway, they'll have never seen the likes, trust me. When you get the likes of Barry Mannilow going in her dressing room and revering her, you know it has got to be good. he is Liza's best friend.

Updated On: 12/21/11 at 07:23 PM

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 12/22/11 at 5:20pm

Who was being sarcastic, juggles?

I acknowledged that my criticisms were minor and that what seem to be errors might actually be accurate impersonations of Garland in her final days. That's not how sarcasm works on this side of the Pond.

[juggles]

Posted: 12/24/11 at 6:28am

Sorry if I misunderstood. Bennett doesn't sing any flat notes, I thought you were being sarcastic about that.
Merry Christmas

Updated On: 12/24/11 at 06:28 AM

[nealb1]

Posted: 12/24/11 at 1:18pm

Looking forward to seeing this in April. Broadwaybox has a great 40% discount.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 12/24/11 at 3:42pm

"Sorry if I misunderstood. Bennett doesn't sing any flat notes, I thought you were being sarcastic about that."

No harm done and no need to apologize, juggles. To my ear, on the linked recordings Bennett sounds under the pitch much of the time (though she's usually on for the big notes). Maybe that's a Bennett thing or maybe that's how Garland was singing by the time of her death; I don't know.

But I wasn't being sarcastic or even suggesting Bennett is bad in the part.

Happy Holiday!