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THEATRICAL THROWBACK THURSDAY: Alice Ripley & Emily Skinner Shine In SIDE SHOW

By: Oct. 30, 2014
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Today we are saluting the brand new Broadway revival of SIDE SHOW kicking off preview performances this week by looking back at the original production of the emotional and heartfelt musical.

I Will Never Leave You

Thanks to the current resounding success of FX's hit horror anthology series AMERICAN HORROR STORY: FREAK SHOW, attracting 15 million viewers for its premiere episode alone, the prospect of an entertainment focused on the socially stigmatized inhabitants of a side show attraction is not as wholly unfathomable as it was nearly 20 years ago when Henry Krieger and Bill Russell's daring and anomalous musical SIDE SHOW opened on Broadway. Time has been unusually kind to the musical tale of the Hilton sisters, Daisy and Violet, particularly as it is now outfitted with a largely rewritten and reworked Broadway revival production spearheaded by DREAMGIRLS movie musical director and mastermind Bill Condon, yet the permanent place of these divas-in-the-making in the great canon of major musical theatre leading ladies was not always so assured. After all, how could anyone possibly contemplate measuring up to original stars Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner in the main roles of the star attraction conjoined twins at the story's core? The dubious prospect of finding new shading and detail to bring to the unquestionably expert original portrayals of the characters as seen in the premiere production seems nearly insurmountable, even now. Sometimes comparisons are utterly outright futile, though - and, time marches on, in any event. No matter, Erin Davie and Emily Padgett have a Herculean challenge set out for them given what has come before them - Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner in SIDE SHOW is the stuff of legend.

Some may argue that chemistry is something that cannot be acted or somehow conjured up - it either exists or it does not. With Alice Ripley and Enily Skinner joining together in story and song to enact the touching and traumatic story of the rise to fame of the Hilton sisters as headliners of a freak show during the 1930s, musical theatre history was made and one of the most formidable duos ever to grace the stage was birthed. These were two sensational actresses at the height of their abilities performing a riveting score tailor-made to their seemingly endless abilities as singers and actresses, further maximized by the fact that they spent the majority of the show literally joined at the hip, inseparable in more ways than one. Although many would sing these showstopping songs after them, the special kind of magic imbued to each and every one of their moments onstage was something truly special - and memorably singular. After all, big Broadway diva belting does not get anymore dynamic, thrilling and just plain awesome as when Ripley and Skinner launched into the explosive "Who Will Love Me As I Am?", while it is still rare to witness something as special as their exhilarating "I Will Never Leave You". That's as good as it ever gets.

What Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner created together was the highest level of musical theatre craftsmanship and heartfelt art while essaying their roles in SIDE SHOW - they made it all seem totally real and alive right before our very eyes - and their incomparable involvement in the show's history is vital and unforgettable, as is their place in musical theatre history.

So, now, remind yourself why SIDE SHOW is one of the most emotionally gripping and tremendously moving musicals of all time while revisiting these spine-tingling performances given by Ripley and Skinner on THE ROSIE O'DONNELL SHOW during the original run of the show in 1997 and 1998.

"Who Will Love Me As I Am?"

"I Will Never Leave You"

What is your absolute favorite SIDE SHOW showstopper of all? Furthermore, are you looking forward to a new look at the musical now that it has been reworked for 2014? Now, with SIDE SHOW back on Broadway at long last, the potential for more musical theatre history to be made once again is a particularly ripe proposition. Will it happen? Here's hoping that lightning strikes twice.

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