I'm going tonight as well and was really looking forward to Randolph. I saw Moya in DREAMGIRLS though and she was fantastic. So hopefully she's just as good in GHOST.
Moya was a terrific Effie in DREAMGIRLS. She should be absolutely fantastic in this role.
While Da'Vine Joy Randolph stole the show at the first preview last night (and is only going to get even better as they go along,) it was quite evident that something was wrong with her voice. I'm assuming she's probably just completely worn out from their relatively insane technical schedule, so here's hoping she's back in the show soon.
Looking at their preview schedule, it's smart that she's opting to sit out now and rest when she can rather than continue to push herself and make it worse.
This is in NO WAY meant to be a statement on Ms. Da'vine Joy's gifts, but it sounds to me like she was not fully prepped for the Broadway stage -- in terms of technique and durability, no?
CurtainPullDowner, I'm not making excuses for Randolph (especially because I don't know the specific circumstances involved here,) but I do know that the technical period for GHOST was significantly longer than most shows. Because of the extensive special effects involved, they were in the theater for tech for over three weeks, where as the standard tech period for most musicals is just under two weeks.
Again, to be clear, I'm only theorizing that her voice may be burnt out from the rehearsal schedule. I don't know anything concrete to substantiate that, other than the fact that it was evident that her voice was under strain last night.
Rehearsal hours are much longer than performance hours. Perhaps she's battling other health issues as well. Let's wish her well and wait to see if the problem persists before belaboring this.
According to many Broadway actors' Twitter feeds, there are a few viruses going through the community right now. Josh Gad was just out of BOM for stomach flu, Audra was out of P&B for sinus infection, and Steve Kazee was recently out of Once for the flu virus as well. Let's just chalk it up to Da'Vine being unfortunate enough to have caught a bug and had to sit out a performance.
Let's face it - if one can't deliver the performance because s/he is throwing up, is confined to the toilet, or suffering a vocal strain or sinus infection it's a wise move to sit out a show rather than do damage to themselves, pass it on to the company, or come in and give a lacklustre performance for which s/he would surely get slammed on these boards.
@CutainPullDowner - Where the hell did you get that idea?
@Broadway61004 - I called out of work 4 days last week due to a respiratory infection I caught while visiting my 9-month old nephew who was in the NICU for the same virus. Thought I was too much of a "man" to wear the hospital mask. My own damn fault. Still recovering, too. Unbelievable. A baby took my down & knocked me on my a$$.
I think the concern is less that she was out in general and more that she was out for the show's second preview performance. I'd have to imagine that she has a perfectly good reason for being out, though. Otherwise, why would she miss what was to be only her second performance in a role that she is apparently a knockout in? I'm sure she'll be back very soon and wowing audiences like she did at the first preview.
I was initially very sad that Randolph was out tonight since I'd heard such positive things about her performance, but once I heard Moya Angela was going on, my mind was at ease. I'd seen her in Dreamgirls, and absolutely loved her. She was fantastic. Her timing was great, was in great voice. For a second preview, I'm not sure how much rehearsal time she had, but she was pretty incredible, as was the show.
For those that are interested, apparently Moya Angela hadn't had any rehearsal at all. She posted online that two hours before the show, when she found out she was going on, she didn't know "any of the lines," so it's even more impressive to hear she was as good as she was.
bwayfan7000 - it would've been her 2nd performance on Broadway, but not in the role. She was in the role for about 5 weeks in London when Sharon D Clarke was out injured.
Ah, didn't know that. Was this very recently? I could imagine that run followed by strenuous tech could be enough to really tire someone out if the role is demanding as it seems to be.
greeny11, Randolph was in the show in London for way less than five weeks. If I recall correctly, she performed there for less than three weeks, and she didn't even do all the performances during that window of time (she was rotating with the regular understudy.)
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joined:6/13/04
Posted: 3/16/12 at 05:37pm