Patty & Emily talk Brandy in Chicago, Speakeasy Dollhouse’s Ziegfeld’s Midnight Frolic, Leslie Kritzer’s standup, and The Sound and The Fury at The Public. They discuss the Taye Diggs’s casting announcement, Kate Shindle’s presidency, and how Love Never Dies will never die.
Patty & Emily
Comedy and Opinions from Two Broadway Fans!
I love Chicago. When it came out on DVD I watched that thing over and over again. I have seen the revival twice this year (which is twice more than I thought I’d see it), once with Jennifer Nettles and once with Brandy. I think Jennifer and Carly Hughes were fantastic but the show around them was not great the first time. (Well, I did like some of the featured actors like Natasha Yvette Williams and the actor playing Amos, etc.) I think Brandy was also great but kind of miscast but her presence seemed to bring up the energy of the ensemble (I saw her towards the end of her run so maybe things got a bit better). Still, I’m curious about what the original production was like. Something gets lost in this revival (besides how stale the production is at this point) that doesn’t get lost in the same way in the Cabaret revival. Without the vaudeville conceit from the movie, people are just coming out and singing songs in this disconnected way that makes the plot feel thin and I think the commentary (crime, fame, etc.) that is in the movie gets lost on stage. Anyway, I’m glad I got to see Jennifer Nettles and Brandy on stage in a musical but I’d so much rather see them in a better show/production.