Threaded Order Chronological Order
| Renee Flemming? | |
| Posted by: andPeggy 08:05 pm EDT 07/29/20 | |
| In reply to: I'm confused. Does anyone actually WANT to see opera stars perform musicals? - GrumpyMorningBoy 01:00 pm EDT 07/29/20 | |
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| It's interesting that you brought up Carousel, but not Renee Flemming. I didn't see her in Carousel. No one seemed to hate her in it. How was she? | |
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| Not bad but hearing Blythe in the role was a visceral experience | |
| Posted by: fm_15 10:30 pm EDT 07/29/20 | |
| In reply to: Renee Flemming? - andPeggy 08:05 pm EDT 07/29/20 | |
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| I had seen the Met mezzo Stephanie Blythe in Wagner's Ring Cycle as Fricka the previous year before she played Nellie in the Philharmonic's concert version a few years ago, so I was familiar with her voice. Yet even that did not prepare me for the bomb she detonated the night I saw it. Being cheap, I had bought a 3rd Tier side box high above the the stage. The sight lines were so bad I heard they refunded some money to those who complained. The microphone and sound engineering were terrible and my partner who had never seen Carousel lost interest a quarter of the way through because he could not clearly hear nor understand any of the lyrics. That's how bad the sound was! And then, You'll Never Walk Alone arrived... Blythe's voice has the heft of an 18-wheeler but the supple smoothness of heavy cream. No echo-y microphone could harness her. Her voice rose over the poor mic-ing and resonated through the hall, growing and growing with each verse. By the end, I actually reached out to hold onto the hand rail of the box seat to steady myself because I swore I felt the box vibrating and for a moment actually thought it was going to collapse! I think i agree with the OP that this shouldn't be a trend where an opera star is hired in a knee-jerk reaction. However, if the voice is suited and the acting chops are there...it can make for an exciting performance. Paulo Szot in South Pacific was genuinely dreamy in the non singing parts and is a great example of perfect casting. |
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| re: Renee Flemming? | |
| Posted by: GrumpyMorningBoy 10:07 pm EDT 07/29/20 | |
| In reply to: Renee Flemming? - andPeggy 08:05 pm EDT 07/29/20 | |
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| While acting, she was better than good. She was clearly a professional actress. Not the kinda performance where you'd say, "Wow, she could do a straight show," although she's stretching her own boundaries so much and received good notices for the Victoria Clark role in THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA... ... but her singing was just so gorgeous that you really didn't care. And this is where I'll say that an operatically trained voice shines -- it's in a live performance. She didn't even need that body mic, clearly, to fill the house with sound, and it was truly lovely. - GMB |
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| re: Renee Flemming? | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 04:42 pm EDT 07/30/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Renee Flemming? - GrumpyMorningBoy 10:07 pm EDT 07/29/20 | |
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| Fleming starred on Broadway in the nonmusical Living on Love, playing an opera singer. She had previously played it at Williamstown. Her acting seemed like an opera singer who's worked hard to be able to act in a nonmusical. She wasn't painful or embarrassing but she wasn't really good. Nettie doesn't have have a whole lot of dialogue in Carousel. Probably something she could do successfully. |
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| re: Renee Flemming? | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 08:47 pm EDT 07/30/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Renee Flemming? - AlanScott 04:42 pm EDT 07/30/20 | |
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| "Her acting seemed like an opera singer who's worked hard to be able to act in a nonmusical. She wasn't painful or embarrassing but she wasn't really good." That's how I felt about Fleming's acting in CAROUSEL, and unfortunately, even her singing in that show was not enjoyable (to me) because of all those silly embellishments that were added. I wonder if those were her idea, or the musical director's? Either way, I DID NOT like them. One of the many wrongheaded decisions in that production, in my opinion. |
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| re: Renee Flemming? | |
| Posted by: lordofspeech 12:47 am EDT 07/30/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Renee Flemming? - GrumpyMorningBoy 10:07 pm EDT 07/29/20 | |
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| I thought her stiff and studied. | |
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