My pastor and I caught yesterday's matinee of SAINT JOAN. He was completely thrilled with the production but I had my reservations.
Certainly the supporting cast is exceptionally strong but this was my first time seeing Condola Rashad. I found her vocal choices to be peculiar, especially as she attacked some words with a sledgehammer and trailed off at the ends of sentences. I also detected a Haitian or Jamaican cadence in her voice. I know what her parentage is, but is this her normal speech pattern or is it a deliberate choice for the role?
I thought she was utterly delightful and a scene stealer in A Dollhouse Part 2. I didn't remember hearing any hint of a Jamaican or Haitian accent in her voice.
My partner saw it last night. He was underwhelmed. While he thought Miss Rashad was passionate in her portrayal, he said her “S’s” were missing and it sounded lispy. And he doesn’t remember that in DH2, so many it was a choice? He said Walter Bobbie had a similar speech pattern.
I have not understood the love from the beginning. I saw her in Trip to Bountiful and decided that I was expecting too much because of her reviews. Her performance did nothing for me. Then I saw Romeo and Juliet and thought she was bad; at least she got some mediocre reviews for that one. Then I saw ADHP2 and really didn't understand all the fuss. I have no interest in seeing St. Joan, based on the reviews and her being in the lead. Although she did get a Tony nom, let's face it...there wasn't a lot of competition; she sorta got nominated by default.
Definitely a choice, though her trailing off at the end was something she did in ADHP2, but I thought her speech pattern was really unique and served her character very well. It added to the sense of zen around her, as if she was more level-headed in this debate than her mother.
joined:5/15/03
joined:
5/15/03
Posted: 5/3/18 at 9:52am