| re: Brantley reviews "The Visit." | |
| Posted by: | AnObserver 07:51 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
| In reply to: | Brantley reviews "The Visit." - kieran 11:30 pm EDT 08/07/14 |
|
| |
| I think I will skip reading the review. But I'll tell you C. Rivera is NOT the right actress to play the role. Needs someone with more depth and heft. (Rivera was great as Liza's mother in The Rink, but not The Visit.) I know that Ingrid Bergman, in the movie version of The Visit, wanted to play the character as a woman falling apart. She wanted to pull off her wig on camera, pull out false teeth, etc. This would have been close to the right approach. But the producers convinced her that her Old Hollywood glamour style was still appropriate, and so she gave in to that. It really is too bad that Lansbury didn't get to do this part. So they've ended up with Chita. V. Clark or D. Murphy or B. Walsh or LuPone would have been the wiser choice. | |
| reply to this message | | |
| re: Brantley reviews "The Visit." | |
| Posted by: | LegitOnce 09:37 am EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Brantley reviews "The Visit." - AnObserver 07:51 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
|
| |
| "Between one performance I didn't see and another performance that doesn't exist, I think I'll choose the latter." | |
| reply to this message | | |
| WOW...have you seen her in the show!!!! | |
| Posted by: | actor103 12:06 am EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Brantley reviews "The Visit." - AnObserver 07:51 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
|
| |
| I have never had any strong opinion of her either way. Only seen her in a couple really lousy musicals. Never seen her in any of her hits. I mean yeah, she was amazing in Bring Back birdie. But could I really tell what this woman was truly about dazzling us amongst the wreckage. Or the other show... the magician thing. Started to say Magic Show. But it was Merlin. So really had not experienced her until THE VISIT. I could not believe that the woman has not had a stage career in straight plays. She is an incredibly smart and instinctive actor. There is something so subtle and detailed in this performance. I am sorry, I think it is one of the great musical theatre performances of all time. Yeah, historic even. She could have been so over the top here. She is so real and authentic that you totally care for her and your heart breaks for her because you totally see the younger child that was so abused. Hate to say that you are simply wrong. This is of coure subjective stuff. But....you are clearly seeing this from an entirely different viewpoint than I. Wow....have you seen the show? | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message | |
| re: WOW...have you seen her in the show!!!! | |
| Posted by: | BruceinIthaca 12:40 am EDT 08/11/14 |
| In reply to: | WOW...have you seen her in the show!!!! - actor103 12:06 am EDT 08/09/14 |
|
| |
| I've only seen her in a handful of shows. I'd say she always delivers and that when she is onstage she is fully present and simply has a magical pull--even when not ideally cast, as in "Drood" (and I still would rather have seen her than any number of actresses better suited for the role--it was mainly the accent). But the first time I saw her onstage was a Sunday matinee of "Jerry's Girls" (the last performance before she had her accident back in the mid-80s): even though the revue wasn't the most innovative production in the world, and even when flanked by Dorothy Loudon's raucus comedy and heart-breaking torch-singing and Leslie Uggams' songbird voice, Rivera grabbed the stage and enchanted us all when she stepped on all in purple, IIRC, with "Wherever He Ain't." She didn't hog the stage--she never seemed to be trying to steal focus--she just was totally there and totally fabulous. I saw her "Spider Woman," "Nine," "The Dancer's Life," and "Drood," and would, contrary to Lloyd Richards, sign-up gladly to see her in "The Hairy Ape"! Someone called her a chorus girl who made good. She did better than "make good." And I've never heard a person say a bad word about her in real life. Keep going, Chita! I may drive to Williamstown this week. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message | |
| re: Brantley reviews "The Visit." | |
| Posted by: | Glitter 07:59 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Brantley reviews "The Visit." - AnObserver 07:51 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
|
| |
| I can't begin to tell you how wrong I thik you are in this assessment. Depth? Heft? Do you think she treads lightly and plays the whole thing for laughs? | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message | |
| re: Brantley reviews "The Visit." | |
| Posted by: | AnObserver 09:12 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Brantley reviews "The Visit." - Glitter 07:59 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
|
| |
| Not laughs. She just basically a really good chorus girl who got lucky and has SOME depth, but not enough. Don't get me wrong. I've enjoyed her. Just can't imagine she's right for this part. And I've enjoyed her enough. Don't want/need to see her again. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message | |
| re: Brantley reviews "The Visit." | |
| Posted by: | robert_j 10:38 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Brantley reviews "The Visit." - AnObserver 09:12 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
|
| |
| If we were talking about her performance in Drood I would agree with you -- she did not impress me there. But she really is sensational in the Visit. I did not care for the show itself, but Chita was not the problem. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message | |
| re: Brantley reviews "The Visit." | |
| Posted by: | PlayWiz 11:35 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Brantley reviews "The Visit." - robert_j 10:38 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
|
| |
| I saw Chita do this at the Ambassador Theater about 2 years ago as one-night-only benefit. She was quite good, and some of the score and book were compelling. One problem with moving this to Broadway is that, diva-worshiping critics aside, Chita is not and has never been box-office like her "Chicago" co-star Gwen Verdon. Her "A Dancer's Life" show ran only a few months. She's a wonderful performer, but unless she's in a really brilliant show like "Kiss of the Spider Woman" or a popular one like "Bye Bye Birdie", or has box-office co-stars like Liza Minnelli, she might sell perhaps 3-6 months worth of tickets. | |
| 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 | 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 - 2014 www.TalkinBroadway.com, Inc. ]
Time to render: 0.089453 seconds.