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| Tonya Pinkins/Caroline, or Change | |
| Posted by: ablankpage 01:42 pm EDT 08/29/22 | |
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| I was listening to the cast recording of Caroline, or Change today, one of my all-time favorite scores and impeccable performances from the entire cast. I’m wondering, for those who saw it throughout the off/Broadway runs, when did Tonya Pinkins’ vocal troubles start? Her performance on the Tonys is emotionally committed, but she was clearly struggling and the show hadn’t been open that long. When I saw it a few weeks later, I wasn’t sure she was going to get through even the first act. I don’t mean this as a cruel or slanderous question, it’s a monstrously difficult role on many levels. I’m just curious if it was a consistent or passing problem throughout the run. | |
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| re: Tonya Pinkins/Caroline, or Change | |
| Posted by: PlazaBoy 01:55 pm EDT 08/29/22 | |
| In reply to: Tonya Pinkins/Caroline, or Change - ablankpage 01:42 pm EDT 08/29/22 | |
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| I saw her three times on Broadway prior to the Tony's. I couldn't tell you the exact months, but she was is in wonderful voice all three times. Her performance on The Tonys is rough to watch. Not representative of what I experienced when I saw her. |
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| re: Tonya Pinkins/Caroline, or Change | |
| Posted by: roleplay 07:40 am EDT 08/30/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Tonya Pinkins/Caroline, or Change - PlazaBoy 01:55 pm EDT 08/29/22 | |
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| I also found the Tony performance incredibly tough to watch. My throat just hurt for her! I saw the show and it was a wonderfully gutting moment. I'm sorry to sound naive but why is it that composers and arrangers feel they need to push an actor to those unhealthy limits? It should be able to be performed in a healthy way and yet still have the dramatic punch. I don't recall feeling that way watching Angela or Bette or Tyne performing Rose's Turn when I saw them. And yet, the number blew the roof off. I'm sure Rose's Turn was a tough moment for all those actresses too, coming at the end of a long vocal show for Rose. | |
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| re: Tonya Pinkins/Caroline, or Change | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 09:53 am EDT 08/30/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Tonya Pinkins/Caroline, or Change - roleplay 07:40 am EDT 08/30/22 | |
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| For me, the big difference is the emotional vulnerability that Pinkins brought to the role. Watching Sharon D. Clarke, whose voice was never less than stellar, perform "Lot's Wife", the number reminded me of "Rose's Turn": big, brassy, assured... but still quite guarded. And then add to that... Tonya is a force of nature, but part of her magnificence on stage comes from her messiness. She doesn't use the best vocal technique on stage, and she doesn't practice the best vocal care off stage. Like Bernadette, she's someone you want to see early in the run if possible. | |
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| For me it was also the nuance | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 07:11 pm EDT 09/02/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Tonya Pinkins/Caroline, or Change - Singapore/Fling 09:53 am EDT 08/30/22 | |
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| Sharon was awesome... but very much 2-3 notes, both times I saw her, and very low energy compared to the rest of the cast and goingson. This was not the case at all with Pinkins. Pinkins brought energy TO being exhausted and angry and suffocating. And more importantly to me, for the show, she brought a sense of resigned humor to a lot of her lines and lyrics and looks (like with her eyes, not her outfits) that made her much more human, relatable and someone you root for rather than observe in exhausted sorrowful majesty. | |
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| re: Tonya Pinkins/Caroline, or Change | |
| Posted by: carolinaguy 02:25 pm EDT 08/29/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Tonya Pinkins/Caroline, or Change - PlazaBoy 01:55 pm EDT 08/29/22 | |
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| I could be wrong, but I seem to recall that she had been sick just before the Tonys and wasn't fully recovered yet, which was why she didn't sound her best. | |
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| re: Tonya Pinkins/Caroline, or Change | |
| Posted by: Kjisgroovy 07:23 pm EDT 08/29/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Tonya Pinkins/Caroline, or Change - carolinaguy 02:25 pm EDT 08/29/22 | |
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| She sounded quite terrible when I saw her late in the Broadway run. Sick or not, she couldn’t sing the score. It was an embarrassing vocal performance. Her acting and presence were still in good form. The rest of the cast was wonderful. | |
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