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re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer....

Posted by:	sf 06:06 pm EDT 03/31/14
In reply to:	re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer.... - perfectlyfrank 05:57 pm EDT 03/31/14

Well, in this revival, last time around, the late, great Natasha Richardson did get raves from pretty much everybody, and she also got the additional songs from the movie, and as wonderful as she was (on CD, anyway - I didn't see her in this, although I did, when I was a teenager, see her in another musical), she didn't have much of a singing voice. The role - even the expanded role in this production - requires an actress who can put a number across. It does not necessarily require a great singing voice.

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re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer....

Posted by:	perfectlyfrank 06:39 pm EDT 03/31/14
In reply to:	re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer.... - sf 06:06 pm EDT 03/31/14

True. But there's a big gap between an actress who can sing and has the ability to put over a song and one who is lost in a musical. We shall see if Williams manages to put over the role as well as Richardson did. I have my doubts that she will receive the same notices in the role. Then again, this is simply not what I personally look for when going to see a musical. And as good as Richardson may have been in the role, I'll still prefer seeing and hearing Liza actually belt out "Maybe This Time" and the title song. Just as I prefer to hear Ethel Merman or Patti LuPone belt out the score of GYPSY over Tyne Daly. John Raitt over Michael Hayden in CAROUSEL. The songs are why I go to musicals. Otherwise, I'm just as happy seeing a play. Badly sung musicals do nothing for me, no matter how wonderfully acted they may be. All I remember is the bad singing, not the great acting.

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