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| re: Really fantastic JCS live procuction already... | |
| Posted by: robert_j 08:56 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
| In reply to: Really fantastic JCS live procuction already... - Leon_W 08:21 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
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| Hmm, well I am not enjoying this but then I have never liked the piece much. Judas is overparted, Caiaphus sits too low for Norm Lewis, and Legend is inconsistent, but we will see how Gethsemane is. On the plus side, Bareilles is very good and is showing her Broadway chops. But then Mary Magdalene gets most of the best music anyway. | |
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| Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane | |
| Posted by: Leon_W 09:29 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Really fantastic JCS live procuction already... - robert_j 08:56 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
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| and he isn't a good actor by any means. | |
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| re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane | |
| Posted by: 37Rubydog 10:27 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
| In reply to: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane - Leon_W 09:29 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
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| It’s a helluva role...and a helluva song. I’m not a Ted Newley proponent but perhaps Legend could have considered some of the adjustments that Newley made as the role got too vocally challenging. Overall though - nice job by all...would have loved to see Ato Blankson Wood tackle Judas and Javier Munoz as Jesus....but certain i am overlooking other great performers. Norm Lewis was a great Klingon (or was that Romulan wear) but he’s clearly a baritone not a bass. | |
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| re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 10:49 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 10:41 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane - 37Rubydog 10:27 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
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| Really good production of a musical/rock opera, and this isn't really one of my favorites. I found it quite compelling, though it's clear that ALW really didn't know at that stage of his career certainly how to write for the human voice -- Judas and JC are really voice killers and have very difficult demands on the voice. Dixon did really well -- great rock top, though it seemed to go out in the 2nd act, to then re-appear again during "Superstar" song before giving way to animalistic screams. The middle and bottom of the voice not as strong. But he anchored the show with his fine stage presence and acting, too. Norm Lewis' role is at times much too low for him, though he sounds lovely in the baritone/high baritone range rather than the low bass tones. Sara Bareilles did a lovely job, and unlike some of the men, her music is well-written and rather graceful for the voice. John Legend, looking quite striking and handsome, is quite overparted in this. He croons, goes into falsetto for some of the high notes, screams, yells, and doesn't really have a full vocal core in his voice. I don't know the score so well, but did he leave out some of the role's high notes when he didn't go for a light falsetto/head voice or scream them? He was trying all right, giving it his all, and sweating as he tried. But the staging of this show by David Leveaux was so compelling, that I actually rather bought him in the role. Jin Ha sounded quite good in his tenor role. Ben Daniels' acting and presence was so good that his voice giving out wasn't that crucial (given that it's not 8x a week). Alice Cooper had style, presence and attitude enough that his one number was a showstopper. I think by advertising this as a staged concert but in reality giving a very well-done and staged, stylish full production (with the orchestra on stage) really made this one of the better tv musical presenations. Some of the performances weren't the best, but all together they made a very good showcase for this musical. |
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| re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 12:58 am EDT 04/02/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane - PlayWiz 10:41 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
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| As far as the singing goes, it seems that most of the cast didn't realize they only had to get it right once (tonight!) and obviously oversang during rehearsals leaving their voice in tatters for the actual event. Amateur mistake. But the energy was fun. It's a tough show to sing. Sara was great. | |
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| re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 10:56 am EDT 04/02/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane - KingSpeed 12:58 am EDT 04/02/18 | |
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| I didn't hear any voices "in tatters." I just heard a few people that didn't have the chops. I thought most of the cast did really well. If you're referring to extremes like Daniels' last few lines as Pilate, or some of the ultra-high stuff that Dixon was attempting in the title song, it's hard to know if those were rough due to fatigue, or if that's the sound they were legitimately going for. And I wouldn't doubt the latter. (Or, knowing this was the one big performance, they may have been attempting things in a way they wouldn't if they had to do a long run.) Also, they are hardly amateurs. No one in this cast was. Legend may have shot his upper range - I don't know. Certainly Gethsemane didn't work for him, though I'll say he basically made it work for the rest of the score. But if his voice were "in tatters" he wouldn't have been able to even do what he did. When he wasn't going into head voice (and even often when he did) he sounded healthy to me. His last "see how I die" when he went up into very high territory simply didn't work at all - but did it ever for him? But certainly "most of the cast" did not sound anywhere near "in tatters," nor do I think "most of the cast didn't realize" it was a one-shot deal and instead oversang. That's just hyperbole. |
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| re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 11:10 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 11:07 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane - PlayWiz 10:41 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
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| I'm not so sure we can say that Webber didn't know how to write for the voice, when he was originally writing for specific voices in the context of a concept recording. But yes, many of the roles have extreme ranges, and no matter how one tailors the music, there's something still undeniably iconic about that concept album, and even the original film. Yes, it's clear that Legend wasn't the vocal ideal, though I though that he did very well when he was in control of the music. Same for Norm Lewis, who just didn't have those low notes securely (I was afraid that would happen), but who was dignified in the role. There's an easy tendency for the Judas to sound showier than the Jesus, given his numbers - and indeed I think Dixon stole it from Legend big time. Bareilles could have gone bigger, but actually her restraint worked well. Alice Cooper likewise showed that less is more - so often the tendency is to want to camp this role up a la Josh Mostel in the film - and Mostel's cameo was funny, but what he didn't give us was a sense that Herod was actually a king. Cooper trusted the song to do its work and gave us a more powerful, poised figure. Perfection. Everyone else did great work, including certainly the Simon, the Priests, Jason Tam's Peter, and the many outstanding ensemble members. And it was indeed a thrill to see live musicians (though I wasn't sure about the brass until they got their camera shot during the bows). Obviously this arrangement had more synth in it than originally written, but for a rock concert setting, I bought it. I did, however, thank god that the ending "John 19:41" music was played by the acoustic strings. Levaux's staging was mainly very good, and inventive. A few moments here and there seemed unfinished or not well-thought out, but for the most part, this worked. The ending was very effective indeed. I have to say that I tend to think that the phrase "concert musical" (or "in concert" as this was tonight) should be banned, as it has lost all sense of meaning. But, this staging did have a certain "arena rock" fele to it that would have made Dennis DeYoung proud, lol. I tend to wonder how much of the audience response was scripted/prompted - but the use of the audience as part of the "rock concert" event worked for me. Commecial breaks - way too many - though of course we could all have predicted that. But thank god they stayed away from the fanboy-fueled transitions this time. I hope they're over that. Just give us the actual show, NBC, just like you did tonight. Thank you. ;-) No question that this was the best overall of the NBC live shows so far. Unlike PlayWiz, this show has always been a favorite of mine - and I really enjoyed this version, and was moved emotionally a number of times. Yay. ;-) |
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| re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane | |
| Posted by: MikeR 10:30 am EDT 04/02/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane - Chromolume 11:07 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
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| On Twitter, Michael Paulson reported "In case you’re wondering, the live audience (about 1,300 people) at #JesusChristSuperstar was encouraged to whoop and cheer and emote and sing along." | |
| Link | https://twitter.com/MichaelPaulson/status/980607368693256192 |
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| re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane | |
| Last Edit: Ann 10:32 am EDT 04/02/18 | |
| Posted by: Ann 10:32 am EDT 04/02/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane - MikeR 10:30 am EDT 04/02/18 | |
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| The only thing that bothered me was when they seemed to go into full-whoop mode, but the song wasn't over yet. That was really sady :) |
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| re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane | |
| Posted by: robert_j 09:38 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
| In reply to: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane - Leon_W 09:29 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
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| It started off okay but lost steam quickly. Legend does not seem to have much vocal endurance. And he is more of a crooner than a rocker, which is okay if you are Michael Ball but otherwise does not sound right. | |
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| re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 09:42 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane - robert_j 09:38 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
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| Although I applaud this production in general - yeah, it's a shame when you have a Jesus with no high range and a Caiaphas without a true low range. Especially when just about everyone else is spot on. | |
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| re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane | |
| Posted by: broadwaybacker 10:20 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Yeah sady Legend couldn't climb the moutain that is a great performance of Gethsemane - Chromolume 09:42 pm EDT 04/01/18 | |
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| It’s possible to pick little pieces of this apart if you try, but judged as a whole, as a TV production no less, it was absolutely brilliant. Incredible. The director deserves an enormous amount of credit, as does the music director, the musicians and everyone else who played a part in bringing this into our homes. | |
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