So I saw the show twice this past week...once on Saturday from the front row and again last night. And I have very mixed feelings about Raven's performance. She was good, don't get me wrong, but I thought A) her singing voice was way too thin for the part --she barely registered as someone who fancied themselves a future star-- B) she was going through the motions with the choreography and C) she was funny, but actually could have squeezed a few more great comedic moments out of the role.
I enjoyed Patina's performance, although it was a very different take on the role. And I did enjoy Raven, overall, for different reasons, but I just thought she could have given a little more oomph to her performance. She does seem to be enjoying herself, and that is infectious energy you simply can't fake.
I actually preferred Carolee Carmello to Victoria Clark, who I thought was wonderful when I first saw the show last year. She gets bigger laughs, knocks both of her songs out of the park ("Haven't Got A Prayer" got roaring applause both nights I went) and again, seems to really be having fun up there. Kingsley Leggs is sleepwalking through his part, Fred Applegate is still very funny, and Chester Gregory has really warmed up in the role that he was very stiff in last year.
Another note, on Saturday, Holly Davis was on as Mary Patrick and KILLED it. She took a very different approach to the role (not in the Kathy Najimy vein) and was hilarious. I loved her!
It's honestly a real shame that this show isn't filling up the house every night. The audiences I have seen it with, particularly this past week, have been on their feet applauding, dancing, singing, and cheering throughout. I really thought this would be a huge sell-out smash. I don't understand why it hasn't caught on with audiences, and it's too bad. It's such a joyful, fun, entertaining, and pretty well-crafted crowd-pleaser of a show. I hope it has, at the least, a strong summer run.
I agree about SISTER ACT being an immensely fun and entertaining musical. It's a very joyful night out at the theatre. It is just pure fun! And, like your experience, both times I have seen it (one with Patina and once with Raven), than audiences were greta and were up dancing and cheering both shows.
My biggest problem with Raven is that, for two and a half hours, I was watching Raven play Raven, not Deloris. The bugged out eyes, crazy expressions...the whole package. There was no attempt to create any kind of a character beyond her own persona. She loses so many of the laughs that Patina got and there were some absolute cringe-worthy line readings because of how amateurish they come off. I was pleasantly surprised that she didn't seem to have trouble with the higher notes in the score, but she did struggle mightily with the lower notes.
I agree about Carolee, though. Wonderful performance and she's having a blast, you can tell. Although, she and Raven don't have near the level of chemistry that she and Patina had.
I'm kind of jealous you got to see Holly Davis as Mary Patrick. I once had Marissa Perry in that track, and it was horrendous.
Kingsley has been walking through his role since the first preview, unfortunately. I've never been anything but bored by him. I also agree about Chester getting better as the run has gone on. He also feeds off the audience, and the more responsive they are, the more he does during I Could Be That Guy.
I think what makes the show right now (besides Carolee) is the performances of the three featured women (Marla Mindelle, Sarah Bolt, and Audrie Neenan) who are all hilarious in their own way. Their chemistry together is fantastic.
Raven is a truly funny television star who does nothing but prove that she has immense stage presence and can sing her face off on a Broadway stage. The problem is the part isn't right for her. She looks way too young up there.
I know Patina is only about one year older than her but she reads about 10 years older on stage than Raven does. Whoopi was not young when she made the movie and the show was conceived with an older actress in mind (Dawn Lewis must have been in her 50s or 60s when she did it in Pasadena and Atlanta). Patina was the understudy for an older woman playing the part and I've heard from multiple people that while Patina made certain parts of it her own, a lot of her acting and comic choices came straight from Dawn's take on it.
Raven just needs another musical. I had my doubts about her being able to pull off a Broadway musical but she is truly a gifted performer. This show just doesn't suit her.
Just out of curiosity, how was Holly Davis? I've never seen her as Mary Patrick before. What did she do differently?
Back to the topic, I think Raven's great. She sounds great, especially that last note of Fabulous Baby. But I don't understand why she hasn't made it "Deloris" yet. As someone else said, she seems to be playing "Raven on Broadway" rather than Deloris. I'm also quite surprised people are saying her comedic timing aren't as funny. She is a funny woman, no doubt. It seems like she's just sticking to the script rather than adding in a little Deloris.
Hope she changes in that way by the time I see her.
I wish I would have seen Patina earlier in her run because the way you all go on and on about her lets me know that I missed something. I saw her towards the end of her run when Fabulous Baby was lowered and she wasn't even attempting to hit the last note. She would also cut a lot of sustained notes short. She looked so incredibly bored onstage that I couldn't connect with her at all. That was my second time seeing the show, my first being with Rashidra Scott who bleeds passion and energy so I knew the show's potential.
When I saw Raven I liked her way more than Patina. Patina's performance was I'll admit more put together than Raven and Rashidra's, but I'd rather see that passion and energy than a run of the mill performance any day, especially for a character like Deloris.
I just couldn't help but feel like if Raven gave 110%, instead of 75%, she would knock this role out of the park. I know she can do it, she just needs that extra push. I honestly felt like she was giving a good rehearsal performance, not a finished, polished, audience-ready take on the part. It's frustrating to know that she COULD kill it, but she just sorta stays within her comfort zone the whole time. There are moments of comedic wonder in her performance, and there are segments of the show that even work better than they did with Patina, but they are a bit too few and far between for my taste.
A funny moment last night: when Raven and Carolee give each other a high five towards the middle of SPREAD THE LOVE, Raven missed and slapped Carolee right in the nose. It was hilarious and they both cracked up for the rest of the song. At the bows, Raven held up her hands for Carolee to try the high-five again and she sort of stepped back, hamming it up as if Raven was gonna sock her in the face again. It was really funny. You can tell the two of them are having a ball onstage and that really makes their performances work in the end. That kind of unbridled joy just can't be manufactured.
Every time I've left the show, I've felt like I was on Cloud 9. The last time I remember leaving a show feeling so joyful was probably HAIRSPRAY. It's just so sad it probably won't be around for too much longer.
adamgreer, I'm starting to think that I just saw an off show of hers. There's "footage" of her on youtube, and I love watching that performance, but that was nothing like what I saw when I was actually there. I saw that footage after seeing her live so it wasn't like I had expectations for her. It's too bad that I can't see the show with her again to find out for sure though.
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joined:6/13/04
Posted: 6/14/12 at 11:42am