I LOVED him! i though he was really funny- i loved his ad libs during 'timeless to me', normally i find that song the boring part of the show but i enjoyed it when i saw him in the role, he said things like "Oh Wilbur, i can hear the bells!.... maybe it's the ice cream man- JUST A SECOND!" and "Carry Me to my room (looks at Wilbur and how small he is and looks at the audience) someone will have to help."
I didn't enjoy him in the role...at all. To me, that kind of ad libbing shows disrespect for the writing. I saw Hairspray for times over the course of its run, and his Edna was, by far, the worst I saw.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson
I was fortunate to catch him in the 1st Nat'l Tour of HAIRSPRAY after he replaced Bruce Vilanch and I LOVED him. I always loved how every actor brought his own to Edna Turnblad without ever having to alter their own masculine voices AND they were fully convincing. So much so that during intermission at the performance I attended the women next to us were raving about the large actress (Pinette) playing the mom.
Having been familiar with Pinette's stand-up comedy bit I was quite pleasantly surprised to see he indeed possessed acting ability and pulled-off perfectly a convincingly loving and touching Edna Turnblad.
So what does that make you, Brody? A zero-trick pony? - Wanna Be
A
Foster
.........................The only power brody wields is in his own mind, joe.
But it's amusing to watch him pretend nonetheless. - tazber
"Timeless to Me" was written to have "adlibs." If he was out of line, the director would have stopped it.
No good can possibly come from using this vast wasteland of error and deliberate deceit. You should get off of it and warn others away. You should make sure your children and grandchildren know what a corrupt and morally bankrupt institution it truly is.
He is my personal favorite Edna. I am VERY familiar with his stand up comedy, having seen him perform stand up 4 times. I also love his specials on Netflix. In of the 2 on Netflix, (I can't remember which), he actually talks a lot about his Broadway run as Edna. He is HILARIOUS. I love him.
Some people can get a thrill, knitting sweaters and sitting still. That's okay for some people, who don't know they're alive!
Count me in as a fan of Pinette's Edna. Warm, witty, and touching. He also looked adorable in the garb. And Pinette's "Timeless to Me" (with his excellent chemistry opposite Stephen DeRosa) was still the funniest I've seen out of all the Broadway Ednas.
Pinette was opposite Stephen DeRosa? I saw Pinette, and the guy playing opposite him didn't make such a huge impression on me that I would remember his name, the way I did Pinette.
Years later, I'm a big Boardwalk Empire fan, and discovering that I saw not only a popular comedian but a Boardwalk Empire regular in the same show as Darlene Love and POWERLINE is a big wake-up call to read the program more carefully!
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joined:11/29/11
Posted: 1/27/13 at 12:43am