Pamela Anderson To Make Broadway Debut In CHICAGO- Page 10

[goldenboy]

Posted: 5/4/22 at 12:46am

Caught this with Pamela Anderson and she is quite good in the show!! She brings a star quality that was needed. The show is in pretty darn good shape for 20 years.

Pamela is drop dead gorgeous and a  star. She acts the role very well and is perfectly cast.  She dances th role very well and her singing is good.

Also great are Mary Sunshine (R Lowe) and Amos (Raymond Bokhur) playing fully fleshed out characters. The ensemble was in good shape. Stand outs were the swing Sharon Moore who was the funniest of the girls in Cell Block Tango.  The cell block girls could use some acting tweaking but Sharon Moore was superb.

Lana Gordon is good as Velma..Different than Chita or Bebe but she makes it her own. It's an adjustment but it works. And she plays a hardened Velma well. 

 The Matron Mama Morton was  well sung by Brenda Braxton but was missing character development. of being a butch prison matron. . You should not just sing the role.  You need to own i and act it.

Also disappointing was the Billy Flynn  of Ryan Silverman. Again.. sings great but no character development or stage prescence.or personality.

Overall the show was in good shape!

[gleek4114]

Posted: 5/14/22 at 11:56am

Has anyone rushed recently? I was planning to try for tomorrow’s evening show.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 5/14/22 at 12:44pm

Curious as well. Looking to go next Saturday

[yyys]

Posted: 5/14/22 at 7:09pm

I bought tonight's Saturday evening show standing room for $27.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/15/22 at 10:25pm

After my performance of SUFFS was cancelled tonight, I grabbed a front row ticket to see Pamela Anderson in CHICAGO for this evening's show. I haven't seen the show in years. It has always been one of my favorites, but the last few times I saw the Broadway production I was underwhelmed. That being said, I am thrilled to report that this production has never looked or sounded better in the countless times I have seen it on tour and on Broadway. THIS is the CHICAGO I know and love. Seeing this show performed so flawlessly tonight was the highlight of my trip (this was show 7 of my 7 show marathon weekend trip to the city, and surprisingly enough it ended up being my favorite).

Lane Gordon's Velma is fierce and feisty. And then there's Pamela Anderson. I cannot say enough positive things about her performance. She is absolutely fabulous in every sense of the word. She has the audience in the palm of her hand, and her facial expressions are absolutely exquisite. After watching Feldstein in Funny Girl last night, it was such a tremendous relief to see a proper comedic performance from someone who knew how to command a stage and be a star.

If you haven't already, get down to the Ambassador before June 5th to see Pamela Anderson. I truly feel like new life has been breathed into this show.

[gleek4114]

Posted: 5/16/22 at 12:03am

For those curious about rush, I got in line today at 11:30 (box office opened at noon), and was about 20th or so in line got Row C Seat 18 all the way to the right for the evening show. View was decent, maybe 10% obstructed. Not bad for $49. Pam was delightful and had a lot of charisma. 

[yyys]

Posted: 5/16/22 at 12:03pm

Ryan Silverman was out this past saturday night as Billy Flynn and we got Brian O'Brien. He was awesome!

https://thebroadwayblog.com/theater-buff-brian-obrien-from-chicago/


https://www.broadwaybox.com/daily-scoop/10-secrets-fans-dont-know-about-life-backstage-at-chicago/

Updated On: 5/16/22 at 12:03 PM

[ACL2006]

Posted: 5/16/22 at 12:22pm

Brenda's been missing a good amount of shows recently. The understudies and swings are really getting a lot of chances to go on. Don't think Pam Anderson has missed any shows.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 5/16/22 at 2:46pm

Ryan Silverman sings well but is lackluster in the role. He needs some direction and oomph.

Seeing the understudy was most likely a blessing. 

[DearTheodosia]

Posted: 5/17/22 at 11:49am

Do we know how long she will be in the show?

[yyys]

Posted: 5/17/22 at 11:51am

JUNE 5th

DearTheodosia said: "Do we know how long she will be in the show?"

 

[gleek4114]

Posted: 5/17/22 at 11:55am

On Sunday evening Ryan was still out and we had Jeff Gorti as Billy, he was wonderful!

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/17/22 at 11:57am

gleek4114 said: "On Sunday evening Ryan was still out and we hadJeff Gorti as Billy, he was wonderful!"

I was there Sunday night as well, and also thought that Jeff Gorti was fantastic.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/1/22 at 12:07pm

Pamela is remarkable in this show. It's a shame her run isn't longer. I swore off Chicago a decade ago, but had to return to see her. She is a revelation and she completely reinvigorates the show. I know it sounds dramatic, but for me, she elevated all the shop worn, creaky elements of the show. This was not stunt casting, this was inspired casting. She is the perfect symbiosis of star and character. She could work any misstep into the character. She was Roxie. I went in preparing to be very forgiving, but i didn't need to be. She was singing on pitch and on key (albeit, softly), she was game for all the comedy and went for broke in all aspects of performing. 

Her "We Both Reached For The Gun" was flawless. Her one misstep during Hot Honey Rag was handled like Roxie. She has great chemistry with the entire cast and Lana. Lana was absolutely fantastic. She has an ease and a delicious take on Velma I've never seen before. Her "Roxie" was sublime. She had the audience in the palm of her hand. There was also a parallel process with the audience because you sensed they were rooting for her. 

If you haven't seen her yet, try to check her out. It's a truly fun, sexy and delicious performance. She fully committed and you can tell. The woman deserves all the respect in the world. The press and the public did her dirty. She is a true icon. 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/1/22 at 12:23pm

I completely concur with everything you wrote, Bettyboy. She is so unbelievably great in this. She also made it through her entire run thus far without missing a single performance. Pamela Anderson breathed some much needed life back into this show, and I hope the momentum keeps even after she leaves.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/1/22 at 12:23pm

I’m hoping the Weisslers are smart enough and get this filmed with Pamela.  And I agree about Lana - she adds an extra layer that matches Pamela.  Even the ladies push the tired “Cell Block Tango” to a higher level.  Everyone truly stepped up their game to match Pamela. 

[n2nbaby]

Posted: 6/1/22 at 3:51pm

I am seeing her final performance on Sunday and I am so damn excited! I've also never seen Chicago on Broadway, so I'm thinking this is the perfect time to finally do so.

[veronicamae]

Posted: 6/1/22 at 8:27pm

I rushed last Tuesday - got there at 9:30, was 3rd in line (4 people ahead of me) - got Orch Row C on the far house right. Barely partial view - only missed stuff happening upstage if there were people downstage in the way.

I found her to be serviceable and more confident singing w/ Velma than singing alone - in fact I thought she sounded great when she was singing with someone, though she doesn't have much vocal support so she's pretty airy.

Mostly she was just a joy to watch. I didn't go to see an amazing singer, I went to see Pam Anderson in Chicago. And the audience loves her - and she loved them, and they loved her for loving them and she loved them for loving her.

[Miserent]

Posted: 6/2/22 at 12:22am

The thing about Pam’s performance is that its only enjoyable because she’s Pamela Anderson.  She did bring her personality to it, and she dances much better than expected, but if anyone else was giving that performance, there’s no way they’d be allowed on a Broadway stage, and I say this as someone who overall enjoyed Pam…but can’t quite figure out why or how.  Her casting does make the show feel like an event, maybe that adds to it?  She’s charming enough and cute enough, I’m just not so sure I’d use words like “remarkable” and “spectacular” to describe her performance.

[OhHiii]

Posted: 6/2/22 at 7:04am

Miserent said: "I’m just not so sure I’d use words like “remarkable” and “spectacular” to describe her performance."

Someone making a show that’s been creaking along for the past decade feel like an event and energetic is a remarkable feat. You can’t deny that Pam breathed new life into the show as a whole. For these long runners who’s energy’s been dwindling since the 00s decade (don’t get me started on what’s on stage at the Minskoff these days), that’s definitely something she should be proud of. 

 

[Dirty Rotten Scoundrel]

Posted: 6/2/22 at 11:42am

I'd never seen Chicago live before, but like many others, leapt at the opportunity to see Pamela in this. I went last week and was really impressed by her performance. As countless others have said, the entire audience was on her side and rooting for her. A guy in the front row kept giving her two thumbs up throughout (which I imagine was pretty distracting for her after a while but was pretty amusing). Pamela can carry a tune, she can do the dance track they gave her, and her jokes landed. The audience ate up everything she did, and when she struggled or showed a bit of trepidation, they were right there to pick her back up. I found it pretty darn endearing. And of course, it's clear she relates to Roxie.

Pamela is 54 years old, and to agree to star in a Broadway show in her first ever attempt at live theatre is a pretty brave thing to do. I'll always commend her for that - icing on the cake was that she honestly was really enjoyable to watch! 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 6/2/22 at 4:46pm

I can’t wait for the day Chicago casts Britney Spears in the show. 

Updated On: 6/2/22 at 04:46 PM

[broadway86]

Posted: 6/2/22 at 5:49pm

Saw the show on Tuesday and, honestly, it was a fantastic evening. I was there really out of curiosity to see how Pamela did, and I was shocked by how stellar she was. Her comedic timing, stage presence, her focus, her dancing, her "Roxie" monologue, all of it was on a level I wasn't expecting. A very thin voice, to be sure, but pleasant and perfectly on-key.

Would she have made it to Broadway if she wasn't Pamela Anderson? No. But there also wasn't a single person there who didn't know who she was, and her camaraderie with the audience made the whole night that much sweeter. Lana Gordon and Raymond Bokhour were excellent as well, and offered nuances to Velma and Amos that I hadn't seen before.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 6/2/22 at 9:37pm

Call_me_jorge said: "I can’t wait for the day Chicago casts Britney Spears in the show."   

 

[SpookyFish13]

Posted: 6/5/22 at 12:54pm

Although I understand it was a limited time thing, I'm still kinda bummed that the show didn't extend her run until the end of June... You'd think that Pamela in Chicago for pride week would be a no-brainer! There's going to be so much gay tourism for pride week (myself included) who would have LOVED the chance to see Pamela as Roxy! That being said, Jennifer Holliday will still be fantastic as Mama so that's still going to get me to go! Looking forward to it!! 

And as for future stunt casting (just putting this out into the universe) - I would LOVE to see someone like Kesha appear as Velma or possibly Roxy!! That would be ICONIC.