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Liza in "Victor/Victoria" on Broadway

Has anyone here seen that show live? Was it really as disastrous as some make it out to be?

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by Anonymousreply 85November 13, 2019 7:13 PM

Only performance on Broadway I ever left at intermission. She must have had recent dental work because her shhhhhh's were out of control.

by Anonymousreply 1August 30, 2017 9:41 AM

I felt molested by the performance.

by Anonymousreply 2August 30, 2017 9:42 AM

I bought tickets for her performance in the show and she didn't even make it 30 days.

by Anonymousreply 3August 30, 2017 9:44 AM

more details please!!!!!

How long was she supposed to do they show? How long did she last? What went wrong?

by Anonymousreply 4August 31, 2017 12:46 AM

I like blue

by Anonymousreply 5August 31, 2017 1:17 AM

She stepped in for 30 days in 1997, during Julie Andrews's vacation. Right from the beginning there were problems. She was out many nights. Drunk. Drugs. Etc. I had tickets for the the period at the end and she didn't appear at all. Dropped out early and an understudy went on. Who the hell wants to spend B'way money on an understudy?

by Anonymousreply 6August 31, 2017 3:00 AM

Was that same "vacation" the surgery she had that cost her her voice?

by Anonymousreply 7August 31, 2017 5:40 AM

[quote]Who the hell wants to spend B'way money on an understudy?

I must be rarity, because I don't really care who's in a show, as long as they can act, sing, or whatever. I had a Broadway-obsessed friend who would see a show repeatedly whenever there was a cast change, even if the show was terrible. I'm not a masochist, so I don't understand. He'd also bitch and moan and demanded a refund if a certain star was absent.

by Anonymousreply 8September 25, 2017 4:23 PM

R8 Most people who visit Broadway (especially if they're from out of town) go because of the star. If someone bought tickets to see Bette Midler in Hello Dolly, they'd be pretty pissed if the paid those prices and saw an understudy instead. Not surprised R6 is pissed for paying for Liza and not getting her.

by Anonymousreply 9September 25, 2017 4:29 PM

Video's quality is poor but you can hear Liza's voice. It must have been difficult to take over from Dame Julie whose song this is, among others.

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by Anonymousreply 10September 25, 2017 4:30 PM

Actually, it's Chris Colfer's song.

by Anonymousreply 11September 25, 2017 4:37 PM

Don't you dare to forget me!

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by Anonymousreply 12September 25, 2017 4:41 PM

My BIG finish!

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by Anonymousreply 13September 25, 2017 4:42 PM

Raquel has all the soul for jazz as a slice of white bread.

by Anonymousreply 14September 25, 2017 5:04 PM

R13 she is definitely NOT singing that high note.

by Anonymousreply 15September 25, 2017 5:05 PM

Did Raquel get good reviews?

by Anonymousreply 16September 25, 2017 5:07 PM

Liza used to go out in the alleyway during intermission to meet with her "pharmacist."

by Anonymousreply 17September 25, 2017 5:09 PM

R16 NYT

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by Anonymousreply 18September 25, 2017 5:19 PM

R16 Variety. As I remembered her reviews were not good.

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by Anonymousreply 19September 25, 2017 5:20 PM

It wasn't Liza's finest show.

by Anonymousreply 20September 25, 2017 5:44 PM

Look, Liza never really had much of a range, but she had power. When she attempts that slide up at the end of the song, she barely even switches. I just find Julie and Liza two completely different types. I don't see Liza in this show at all. It'd be like Julie playing Mama Rose or Roxie Hart. I don't see it.

If we're being honest, the movie was excellent, but the show was pretty meh.

by Anonymousreply 21September 25, 2017 5:54 PM

She could always get her legs higher r12.......

by Anonymousreply 22September 25, 2017 5:56 PM

The elephant in the room problem here is the fact that "Le Jazz Hot" is one of the stinkiest songs ever to pollute a Broadway stage.

by Anonymousreply 23September 25, 2017 6:00 PM

There wasssssh onssshe a ssssshady dame from Shhhhevile, usssshed to wonder around the town dresssshed to kill...

by Anonymousreply 24September 25, 2017 6:01 PM

The whole point of the show was really just to give Blake Edwards something big to do in his old age when they wouldn't let him do films anymore. Julie Andrews loved him so much she was willing to ruin her voice for this, even though it was not up to the challenge.

by Anonymousreply 25September 26, 2017 2:54 PM

Good lord, those final notes by both Minnelli and Welch are fucking painful. The whole point of it was to show how talented the "female impersonator" was by hitting a note so high that most men would not be able to do it. Minnelli never had that level of talent, and Welch never.....well she was never talented, period.

by Anonymousreply 26September 26, 2017 3:12 PM

Liza never had a great voice. That said, I don't believe having a very high note in one's range is a prerequisite for being high level talented, but then I favour deep voices.

by Anonymousreply 27September 26, 2017 3:32 PM

Julie couldn't hit that note either. Forbidden Broadway did a whole song about it.

by Anonymousreply 28September 26, 2017 6:20 PM

The understudy can still hit it. And how.

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by Anonymousreply 29September 26, 2017 6:40 PM

Oh....my....God.....r29

by Anonymousreply 30September 26, 2017 10:52 PM

I remember Tony Roberts walked offstage during a performance one night because he was so angry at how ill prepared Liza was to play the role. It made a lot of waves in the community.

by Anonymousreply 31September 26, 2017 10:56 PM

I could've shhhhhhung the hell out of Shhhhhhhhicago Illinois.

by Anonymousreply 32September 26, 2017 10:59 PM

I saw the tour with Toni Tennel. I'm not sure what sucked more, her singing or acting.

by Anonymousreply 33September 26, 2017 11:47 PM

[quote] I saw the tour with Toni Tennel. I'm not sure what sucked more, her singing or acting.

Your spelling.

by Anonymousreply 34September 27, 2017 12:34 AM

Thanks R29.

by Anonymousreply 35September 27, 2017 2:03 AM

I thought the movie was really awful.

It wasn't' funny (except for Lesley Ann Warren) and the songs and jokes were AWFUL.

I can't imagine how bad the Broadway show was!

by Anonymousreply 36September 27, 2017 5:08 AM

The men in Liza's clip aren't helping matters. They sound awful.

by Anonymousreply 37September 27, 2017 6:57 AM

[quote] The men in Liza's clip aren't helping matters. They sound awful.

The men in my clip are faaaaaabuloush, darling. I married three of them!

by Anonymousreply 38September 27, 2017 6:38 PM

At least in Raquel's performance you could understand what she was saying.

by Anonymousreply 39September 28, 2017 9:56 AM

just bumping to get this in my thread counter.

by Anonymousreply 40October 4, 2017 12:38 AM

IN the clip at r10, she seems competent. If she bombed in the show it was from substance abuse getting out of hand, not lack of talent.

by Anonymousreply 41October 4, 2017 12:44 AM

Raquel isn't horrible, either. Its a stink bomb show and number. Just put some energy into it and have a known "hot" persona and I think you're good to go. Hit some notes, move around a bit, kick, flail arms. Fine.

by Anonymousreply 42October 4, 2017 12:47 AM

WOW, R29!

by Anonymousreply 43October 4, 2017 12:58 AM

Good grief, that's a high F at the end of R29! I checked on my pitch pipe.

Anne was terrific in Cyrano. Not just the singing but the acting, too.

by Anonymousreply 44October 4, 2017 1:09 AM

I saw it. She had lost her pizzaz by then. Back on the sauce. It was still fun to see her live on stage. Her last hurrah was in '92 when she did Steppin' Out

by Anonymousreply 45October 4, 2017 1:09 AM

R10, that actually worked! Bravissimo

by Anonymousreply 46October 4, 2017 1:10 AM

R44 is high F really high?

by Anonymousreply 47October 4, 2017 1:11 AM

It's virtually the highest. In opera, the most anyone has to get to is that same F, and it's rare, though it does come up, for instance in the Queen of the Night's arias in The Magic Flute.

Once in a generation, a Lakme will soar up to a high G in the Bell Song, but I've heard only one singer do that in my entire life--Mado Robin (on records), and she was particularly known for her trick top notes. Lily Pons could get way up there as well.

by Anonymousreply 48October 4, 2017 1:15 AM

I married a coupla high F's, yesh I did.

by Anonymousreply 49October 4, 2017 1:17 AM

R48 knows her shit. Gotta hand it!

by Anonymousreply 50October 4, 2017 1:44 AM

R48, You sent me down a sort of rabbit-hole, and I thank you for that. I knew about Lily Pons, but never actually heard her sing.

by Anonymousreply 51October 4, 2017 1:50 AM

The Tony Roberts walking offstage story is true. During the same brief run, Liza once turned to Tony on stage and said "Are you mad at me?" She had no idea how her ill-prepared, sloppy, unprofessional performance was a slap in the face to the entire cast. Tony just couldn't hold back his disdain for her.

And Anne Runolfsson is a treasure and a talent.

Finally, don't forget that DL's favorite composer/whipping boy, Frank Wildhorn, composed two of the numbers in the show - Trust Me, and the 11 o'clock number, Living in the Shadows. Both written to fit Julie's limited 1 octave range.

by Anonymousreply 52October 4, 2017 1:57 AM

I saw Anne Runolfsson do the part in Houston in the late 90s at TUTS. They had promised Julie Andrews for a few years but she kept postponing before finally bowing out and Anne took over yet again. She was really, really terrific. Barry Williams (!) was Toddy and Michael Nouri reprised Marchan. Still a deadly show with a terrible score but it was a great production with a terrific cast.

by Anonymousreply 53October 4, 2017 2:35 AM

Le Jazz Hot is an iconic, infectious number in the film. What the hell happened on Broadway? It lost all of its snap, its energy, its pop. And then they wheel the leading lady offstage for the entire middle section! It made no sense theatrically or choregraphically.

by Anonymousreply 54October 4, 2017 2:40 AM

Was Le Jazz Hot Oscar eligible? Seems like it should have got a nomination. Was it written directly for the film?

by Anonymousreply 55October 4, 2017 2:45 AM

R48, the high F in Le Jazz Hot is NOT the F above the high C as seen in the Queen of the Night aria. It's at least an octave below that F. They're belting.

by Anonymousreply 56October 4, 2017 2:54 AM

Anne Runolfssen has a voice that goes from belt to head, and she sings the top part of that Jazz Hot run in her head voice. She ends on the top F that the Queen of the Night sings. It's unmistakable. An octave below that doesn't sound remotely as high. Even Barbra Streisand sings the F you mean (actually an F#), at the end of I Stayed Too Long at the Fair," on The Second Barbra Streisand Album.

And it's not in "the Queen of the Night aria," as you state. The F is in both of her arias.

by Anonymousreply 57October 4, 2017 3:02 AM

I know a bunch of people who saw Liza (the first week of her run), and they said she was great. Obviously in the clip she is in reasonable voice and is well rehearsed. I saw it with Julie who was worse than Liza in the number. The whole show was a dirge, each number worse than the next! It had ENDLESS, talky book scenes that went NOWHERE! A pure vanity production gone mad. One of the biggest stinkeroos I've seen in 35 years of Broadway theatergoing.

by Anonymousreply 58October 4, 2017 6:55 AM

Julie supposedly didn't really want to do the stage version but Blake Edwards did and it ended up ruining her singing voice.

Edwards had a strange hold on her. He made her do a lot of stuff like the infamous S.O.B. film and the nudity. It was like she was being exploited by her own husband.

by Anonymousreply 59October 4, 2017 7:02 AM

The timing was good for Julie because Carol was nearby doing Moon over Buffalo as both shows opened in October, 1995.

by Anonymousreply 60October 4, 2017 7:31 AM

[quote]I know a bunch of people who saw Liza (the first week of her run)...I saw it with Julie who was worse than Liza in the number.

Horseshit, Liza was a mess. I saw her and went in expecting at least a competence performance. Julie was wonderful on stage and sang beautifully until her voice gave out. People were thrilled to see Julie and you could feel it in the theater, and no one walked out as they did for Liza. The "bunch" of people you know must be drunks.

by Anonymousreply 61October 4, 2017 8:42 AM

Or as Julie liked to call it, R60 'Poon over MUFFalo'

by Anonymousreply 62October 4, 2017 9:33 AM

R56, did you watch r29? She does a belt version and a high, head option.

by Anonymousreply 63October 4, 2017 9:46 AM

The film version of Le Jazz Hot is "iconic?" Seriously? Does anyone actually remember it?

by Anonymousreply 64October 4, 2017 11:34 AM

The shit I took this morning is iconic, R64. Don't you understand the modern use of the word?

by Anonymousreply 65October 4, 2017 6:44 PM

Madonna sings a song about Iconic but it blurs and blends to nothingness with her song about the Illuminati.

by Anonymousreply 66October 4, 2017 7:50 PM

I saw VICTOR / VICTORIA three times: once with Julie, once with Liza and once with Anne. The show stunk/stank all three times.

I saw Liza's second or third performance. She didn't sing "If I Were a Man", although she did do the thing with the sauce pan and the raindrops. She kept saying "SaskatchoooWON!". Her costumes showed more leg than Julie's and had more sequins. And that's about all I remember.

by Anonymousreply 67October 4, 2017 8:21 PM

R10 that was awful. Not just Liza, who clearly wasn't up to the task. That rank choreography and third-rate dance troupe made me wonder why the audience didn't storm the box office demanding refunds.

I've seen Julie's Bway version; its marginally better. Maybe the reason the film version is so enjoyable is the magic of editing!

by Anonymousreply 68October 4, 2017 11:32 PM

Victor/Victoria did not receive even a single good review when it came to Broadway, not one. Yet it lasted for, how long? 1 1/2 years (someone check my memory here). Let's go back in time and read the reviews for Victor/Victoria. This one is from Variety.

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by Anonymousreply 69October 5, 2017 1:06 AM

NYTimes theatre review. HATED IT!

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by Anonymousreply 70October 5, 2017 1:10 AM

Why did it last so long with those awful reviews?

by Anonymousreply 71October 5, 2017 1:45 AM

Baby girl's makeup is FIERCE!

by Anonymousreply 72October 5, 2017 2:37 AM

If the high note was so hard to sing every night , why didn't they just prerecord it. . ? I believe Christine's high note at the end of the phantom of the operas title song is recorded

by Anonymousreply 73October 5, 2017 2:49 AM

I wonder if let it go in the new Frozen show will be recorded.. it seems to be a hard song to sing

by Anonymousreply 74October 5, 2017 2:50 AM

I'm sure the initial publicity of Julie coming back to Broadway in a well-remembered movie hit of hers, then Liza taking over, helped the advance a LOT. Not every theatregoer reads (or cares about) reviews, even 20 years ago.

Also, I thought Julie did record at least one of her high notes. I think it was the one she sings when she walks out of that audition in her first scene, though. One of her biographies has a quote from DL fave gossip subject Rachael York defending her for recording it. I don't think she recorded the one in "Jazz Hot." Not sure how she could do the glissando (is that what it's called?) without showing its recordingness, but it probably would have helped save what was left of her voice going in.

by Anonymousreply 75October 5, 2017 2:58 AM

[quote]R25 Minnelli never had that level of talent, and Welch never.....well she was never talented, period.

I had other talents...that've held up pretty damn well, you f-ing [italic]monster!

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by Anonymousreply 76April 15, 2018 2:52 AM

I didn't see Liza in it, but I heard she was terrible. I do remember that one of the reviews said she looked like Uncle Moneybags from the Monopoly game, dressed in drag.

by Anonymousreply 77April 15, 2018 3:09 AM

Liza was never a Broadway star.

by Anonymousreply 78April 15, 2018 3:12 AM

Julie was AWFUL, too.

Even Forbidden Broadway sent her up with the song "I Couldn't Hit That Note"

by Anonymousreply 79April 15, 2018 3:17 AM

Julie wasn't awful. The show was. She was fine, but the song from FB wasn't about her not being able to hit the notes in the show, but that they kept changing the keys mid-song so she didn't have to hit the same notes she did in the movie.

by Anonymousreply 80April 15, 2018 12:52 PM

Don't forget the added publicity stunt when Julie refused to accept the Tony nomination. That certainly drew attention to the show and kept it on life support for a while longer, until Andrews' voice took a final powder. Her contention in rejecting the nomination was that the "other talents" in the show had not been acknowledged. No, they weren't, and nor did they deserve to be.

I saw it VV with Julie, Liza, and Raquel. I saw Julie early in the run, and she was actually quite good, though her voice was less fluid and a bit forced at times. She appeared to be singing live and the audience excitement in seeing her return to Broadway was electrifying. Liza and Raquel, on the other hand, were Train Wreck and Train Wreck, Inc. Tony Roberts and Michael Nouri deserved the accolades.

by Anonymousreply 81November 13, 2019 6:41 PM

Blake Edwards was the worst thing to ever happen to Andrews. Lili is catastrophic. She had to get a boob job to do that atrocious scene in SOB and she could have easily have returned to Broadway years if not decades sooner with the necessary energy and vocal gifts still in respectable shape.

I think she has had the most frightening plastic surgery I've seen on anyone. Now she goes around in a Julie Andrews slasher Halloween mask. Joan Van Ark is asking people what is wrong with her.

by Anonymousreply 82November 13, 2019 6:59 PM

Tony Roberts, who was playing the Robert Preston role in the stage versions, was so disgusted by all of Liza's drink, drugs, and drama that, after suffering through a week, he announced he was finished, and left the show till Julie came back.

by Anonymousreply 83November 13, 2019 7:10 PM

It was during that show that Liza officially turned into Liesha.

by Anonymousreply 84November 13, 2019 7:13 PM

Around the WORLD!

by Anonymousreply 85November 13, 2019 7:13 PM
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