Piling onto this opinion, I guess. Ashanti's singing was fine, but her voice was a bit too pop for my taste. Her acting was nonexistent. I mostly remember her stammering out her lines without much rhythm, just about as quickly as she could. I think I missed about half of what she said.
I saw the show in its final week. Orlando Jones had left the production and was replaced by Coleman Domingo, who was (understandably) underrehearsed. Strangely, at the performance I attended, LaChanze did not perform as Aunt Em but did show up as Glinda in the second act. Maybe she got in a traffic jam on her way to the theater. Who knows? I thought Dawnn Lewis and Tichina Arnold were the cast standouts. I literally can't remember a thing about the actual production except: 1) the munchkins rolling around the stage on what looked like office chairs from Staples and 2) a big to-do before "No Bad News" of Evilene's servants putting her wig on. |
