| I'm a fierce defender of all things Bernadette Peters -- I even loved her Sally, and touted it here after DC when many did the opposite -- yet I must agree about her Annie. I thought it was like a polished stock performance, the type I often saw on the Guber circuit, a singing star given a role that wasn't a perfect fit i.e., say, Barbara Eden in Sound of Music or Jane Morgan in Dolly come to mind; both of which I saw, both, well, stock-y. I'm not comparing one of our greatest musical theater performers with Eden or Morgan; yet Peters couldn't disappear into the role, or find a character, and so it became an exercise in waiting for the songs, which she sang prettily. Reba had an innate authenticity that wasn't forced or worn as an acquired mask. It just didn't happen for the insanely gifted Peters. |
