A far from weak

[My Oh My]

I think she's fabulous in this.

I've been so jaded the last couple of years due to my fave show cheapened beyond belief at the height of its popularity and at a milestone, that I was one of the members who expressed harsh discontent at member reports describing an unexciting, bland, and significantly subdued take on a character that is said to have been "humanized" by her, a claim far too common these days and almost always complete bullsh*t.

I developed a sort of resentment toward audiences for not noticing, or even caring about the significantly thinned out new orchs at the so-called 2006 revival of Les Mis, and especially not noting the impact that had on how the production was perceived. So when reports that my ultimate guilty pleasure that is Carrie: The Musical was being given the pretentious, gimmicky treatment of the 25th ann. Les Mis, I went off before hearing a second of Mazzie's performance.

Thankfully, I have enough sense that I've only allowed my fiery passion for this art form to reach such heights of quick judgement on those two occasions. While I no longer so much "resent" audiences as much as I used to, after this and the shocking let down by fellow Les Mis fans and general audiences in that horrid orchs debacle, I am very, very wary of where people's opinions come from. At least wary enough not to assume we mean the same thing.

In a way, part of what allowed me to think it was safe to assume the worst and take their reports at face value before even having a chance to listen and judge for myself was giving them the benefit of the doubt. It's natural to assume when someone says keys were lowered to the point it renders a song ineffective and is described as "subdued" to the point Mazzie appears to be drugged half the time, then you throw in confirmations that the director is approaching this from a pretentious, preachy perspective, the least to expect is a rant on how badly theatre sucks these days and the idiocy of modern directors.

As tainted as my outlook and opinion on audiences is, I never would have thought I'd listen to the audio preserved rendition of what was said to be horribly lacking months later, and feel like a fool for going off on what was--to be sure--anything BUT a lackluster performance by Mazzie.

Yes, it did cross my mind at the time the possibility that the highly negative reports by members were solely in response to the simple absence of WoW notes in the style of Betty Buckley. Now I see that was likely the sole reason based on the results and I find I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo glad that I am me!

I can't imagine being of such limited perspective. How depressing that must be. That head voice is bad because it is head voice regardless of the dynamics and nuances Mazzie has to offer that are every bit as powerful as anything Buckley did. I'd say she is just as great. I'd rather be a nit picky mofo than one that is either so easily impressed and wooed by sh*t or easily dismayed by the presence of variation. As heavy handed as I can get, at least I have reasons for my beliefs and takes on things enough to fill a page, or 100, with drivel!

That's my obnoxious, self important post of the day. Hooray! XD

P.S. - The orchs in this are a tasteful adaptation of the originals, which were one of the original production's strengths and saved in their Broadway modification from the outrageously pretentious earlier stuff dripping in lushiness and sentiment that brought the overall feel of the show down a few hundred pegs in Stratford. Ugh.

[Auggie27]

I saw the revival twice, once fairly early and the penultimate week. Mazzie was masterful at both, yet sang the song very differently (she was out for days after my first viewing). Her performance was so reality-based, its intensity was tied to her very specific, grounded reading of Margaret. She used much more head voice in the preview, and came closer to this recording near the end. Ultimately this is the performance the authors intend to document the score, and to my ears, it's close to definitive because it's tonally (in terms of character/story) so correct, devoid of even a whiff of camp. Achieving it via belt or upper range, the character is just effortlessly there.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

I don't personally believe that belting a higher note equals "more intensity." That's measuring emotion in technical terms, which I have always hated.

Marin's acting (at least vocal acting) here is pretty fantastic. I don't need her to peel the paint off the walls at the same time, or hit a high Q above middle H on the scale. She did freak me out a couple of times during this song, and that's all it really requires.

Couldn't agree more with you, Besty. I also don't really get why people like to say that just because she isn't belting, she isn't getting the effect "right." All I got is that she completely captured Margaret and what makes her truly scary (part of it is that she's so grounded in her own craziness). And whoever said that this is her weakest number, I only wonder what her strongest number would sound like! This is already pretty brilliant.

[ComingUpRoses2]

I actually found her both scary and moving in the show! Betty was a powerhouse, but Marin had so many more layers. Truly a remarkable performance.

[DeNada]

And whoever said that this is her weakest number, I only wonder what her strongest number would sound like! This is already pretty brilliant.

The Tube of You can probably help you with I Remember How Those Boys Could Dance in particular (I think you can find When There's No-one too). I found that very impressive.

[JP2]

Can someone explain the random lyric changes from the original that add absolutely nothing and don't improve the song at all?


I just didn't like this... at all.

[CATSNYrevival]

^I didn't even realize that they changed lyrics in this song until you mentioned it. They probably just thought "satan's bride" and "jezebel's pride" was too campy.

[JP2]

And also "I thought I was dying, I started crying" was flipped, which is silly because now they don't fit with the music.


Instead of "Go to the cellar and pray woman!" it's "You're a woman now..."

[qolbinau]

The meaning behind "You're a woman now" is more clear than "Pray woman" I feel. Although I would have liked "Go to the cellar and pray, you're a woman now". However, in this off-broadway production there was no cellar, was there?

[CATSNYrevival]

^Also, in the novel Carrie prayed in the closet so this was just going back to how it was originally in the novel.

Though the cellar, and Margaret pushing Carrie down the trap door in the original production, was definitely a bit more frightening.

[Auggie27]

Have to admit, the failure of "...I started crying..." to scan with the music jars my ear every time. I don't know why they didn't find a suitable substitution. Wasn't it, "I SAW you crying?" I always liked that, a kind of premonition of her mother weeping over her untimely death, based on a horrific ignorance of the menses. On the other hand, maybe I've had it wrong for years; wouldn't be the first time. (Appropros of nothing: As a teenager, I thought in "Life Is" from ZORBA: "Hungry for the pilaf in someone else's pot," via Ms. Serabian's accent, was "Hungry for the feel of someone else's butt...")

[AEA AGMA SM]

Just checked, Linzi definitely sang "I started crying."

[THDavis]

Auggie, are you referring to the aforementioned switch from "I thought I was dying! I started crying!" to "Then I started crying. I thought I was dying!" If you are, then most if not all of us are in agreement.

[Auggie27]

I am, yes. Thank you. I couldn't parse the word order and the scan with the music.