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Fantasia/After Midnight/k d lang

Posted by: enoch10 10:37 pm EST 12/05/13

I saw AFTER MIDNIGHT tonight. I liked it better as COTTON CLUB PARADE the first season it was done at city center but only because it was an entirely new experience. I like this production very much. Fantasia knocked me out. Either she's had more training than she 'fesses up to or she has the kind of instincts that can't be taught. Not only is she really good in this she is completely at ease, entirely comfortable up there. I don't know what I expected. I didn't really think about her at all. I certainly wouldn't have been surprised at either a dud performance or the kind of bravado that comes from compensating. Uh, uh. She had the entire audience, me included and much to my surprise, in the palm if her hand as soon as she started singing - and she knew it.

I dont watch american idol, I don't like any of her recordings (I've listened to them because I think she has such an interesting voice but the material is consistently awful and I've never heard her rise above it) and I didn't see her in COLOR PURPLE. I don't think her performance in it would have changed my mind, the performances I saw were fine - it was the book and the score that bored me but it may have prepared me for tonight. Again, she absolutely knocked me out.


How they are going to fit k d lang into this thing I have no idea. I saw no track and no costume that even might be a good fit. They can (and I'll lay money they will) put her in a tux but that doesn't solve the question of the material.


I hope this has a successful run. It has the potential to be a smash and a good one. It is a top notch revue. It looked like a sold out house tonight. I hope it finds this kind of audience every night. It deserves to.


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re: Fantasia/After Midnight/k d lang

Posted by: dreambaby 01:28 pm EST 12/06/13
In reply to: Fantasia/After Midnight/k d lang - enoch10 10:37 pm EST 12/05/13

Fantasia knocked me out too. I did see her in THE COLOR PURPLE, and thought she was fantastic in it, but wasn't sure of what she'd bring to AFTER MIDNIGHT. What she brings is some of the most powerful star power I've seen in person.

I also love K.D. Laing, but as well have trouble seeing her bring the fire to this show that Fantasia does.


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Isn't it great when someone totally unexpected knocks you out?

Posted by: DistantDrumming 01:33 am EST 12/06/13
In reply to: Fantasia/After Midnight/k d lang - enoch10 10:37 pm EST 12/05/13

I went into this show with zero expectations, having no familiarity with the Encores production and very low expectations for Fantasia, having heard her mostly dreadful albums. But as you noted, this was one of the smartest casting decisions I've seen in a long time. The woman has a natural affinity for this music and she obviously connects deeply to this music. I also think she - consciously or unconsciously, I dont' know - does a marvelous job of staying somewhat true to the period while simultaneously bringing in a harder, even rougher modern edge to her numbers. The image of Fantasia looking pleadingly up to the heavens as the gorgeous lights cascade around her at the end of "Stormy Weather" will stay with me for a while. I hope that she comes back for a return engagement.

I also agree that KD Lang feels like an even odder fit for this production now that I read that the rotating guest stars will all sing the same songs. Lang has a fine voice, but she won't bring 1/10th the glamor, soul or fire that Fantasia does. While Toni Braxon is a very limited vocalist, I think she might have a little more success.


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re: Fantasia/After Midnight/k d lang

Posted by: tpdc 11:07 pm EST 12/05/13
In reply to: Fantasia/After Midnight/k d lang - enoch10 10:37 pm EST 12/05/13

I agree that The Color Purple wasn't a great musical but Fantasia was unforgettable in it.


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re: Fantasia/After Midnight/k d lang

Posted by: Zelgo 11:01 pm EST 12/05/13
In reply to: Fantasia/After Midnight/k d lang - enoch10 10:37 pm EST 12/05/13

Absolutely agree that Fantasia is just stunning here!


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