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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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