HOME ALL THAT CHAT ATC WEST COAST SHOPPIN' RUSH BOARD FAQS

LOGIN REGISTER SEARCH THREADED MODE E-OPINIONS

not logged in

Threaded Order | Chronological Order

re: Underwood and "Attempting"

Posted by: LegitOnce 05:48 pm EST 12/06/13
In reply to: re: Underwood and "Attempting" - Michael_Portantiere 05:22 pm EST 12/06/13

Another thing you have no way of knowing for sure is whether Hathaway or Gaga could "cut the mustard" in the unique challenge of singing, dancing and acting a stage musical on live TV. Neither one has ever tried. It's fair to say that these two would seem to show great promise for such a project, but the point is that right now you are comparing an idealized imaginary experience to a real one, and naturally reality suffers in comparison to your fantasy.

People are being extremely rough on Underwood, mostly because she was (I think) essentially miscast in a part that needs a high level of charm and star quality to paper over what is otherwise a not very interesting character dramatically. But she didn't cast herself: she was offered the job by people who are experts in the field of musical comedy. Why should she doubt their expertise, after all: that's their job, and she really knows very little about the subject.

From my point of view, her acting was passable in the lighter scenes, her singing was solid if not particularly idiomatic, and she danced gracefully. She clearly needed more direction, but again, that's not her problem: she wasn't the director.


reply to this message |
re: Underwood and "Attempting"

Posted by: lowwriter 06:13 pm EST 12/06/13
In reply to: re: Underwood and "Attempting" - LegitOnce 05:48 pm EST 12/06/13

In the case of Hathaway, she has a lot of stage experience and I was impressed how she was able to do Shakespeare a few summers ago in New York. And having seen her in Carnival! at City Center I think she knows how to act and sing.


reply to this message |
re: Underwood and "Attempting"

Posted by: mikem 06:25 pm EST 12/06/13
In reply to: re: Underwood and "Attempting" - lowwriter 06:13 pm EST 12/06/13

Despite the whole "Carrie Underwood was our first choice," if Anne Hathaway had wanted to do it, we would have seen her last night. I'm sure she got some kind of informal feeler. Maybe from a career trajectory perspective, doing TV right after winning the Oscar didn't seem like the right choice for her. Or a million other potential reasons. But if Hathaway had wanted the role, she would have gotten it. I have no doubt about that.

As for Lady Gaga, I'm not sure she would have been any better than Underwood. Lady Gaga would have been much more inherently miscast than Underwood. A naive girl studying to be a nun doesn't exactly conjure up images of Lady Gaga. When she wore a nun's headgear on tour, that outfit also had bandages in an X over her nipples because the dress was see-through plastic. And despite Underwood's underwhelming acting, I don't think she was miscast. As with Fantasia in The Color Purple, Underwood COULD have given an amazing performance despite little experience. It was a gamble that only semi-paid-off, but I don't blame the producers for making that gamble.


reply to this message | reply to first message
re: Underwood and "Attempting"

Posted by: Chromolume 08:24 pm EST 12/06/13
In reply to: re: Underwood and "Attempting" - mikem 06:25 pm EST 12/06/13

A naive girl studying to be a nun doesn't exactly conjure up images of Lady Gaga.

Besides, somehow, hearing "...and starring Lady Gaga as Maria" just doesn't sound right, lol. (Would she have reverted back to calling herself Stefani Germanotta, to sound more proper in this context, lol?)


reply to this message | reply to first message


All That Chat is intended for the discussion of theatre news and opinion
subject to the terms and conditions of the Terms of Service. (Please take all off-topic discussion to private email.)

Please direct technical questions/comments to webmaster@talkinbroadway.com and policy questions to TBAdmin@talkinbroadway.com.

[ Home | On the Rialto | The Siegel Column | E-Opinions | Cabaret | Tony Awards | Book Reviews | Great White Wayback Machine ]
[ Broadway Reviews | Barbara and Scott: The Two of Clubs | Sound Advice | Restaurant Revue | Off Broadway | Funding Talkin' Broadway ]
[ Broadway 101 | Spotlight On | Talkin' Broadway | On the Boards | Regional | Talk to Us! | Search Talkin' Broadway ]

Terms of Service
[ © 1997 - 2013 www.TalkinBroadway.com, Inc. ]

Time to render: 0.117204 seconds.