By Andrew Gans
22 Sep 2006

Q: You were also the standby for Alice Ripley in the Kennedy Center's Tell Me on a Sunday. Did you ever get the chance to go on?
Kritzer: No. Alice had asked me if I wanted to. She's like, "Do you want to go on?" And I said no. She was so great in the role. We had such a good time. I have never had a better experience than I did with Alice. If I'm going to have a standby experience, I would standby for her again because she is so much fun. We would hang out like we knew each other forever. It was just the stage manager, the band and her and me. . . . I didn't need to go on. It was my first production contract. I loved being there Christmastime — I shopped my face off. It was nice to buy gifts for the crew. We just had a blast.

Q: Do you have a favorite role so far?
Kritzer: Well, Funny Girl, Fanny Brice.

Q: Would you like to play the role again at some point?
Kritzer: Yeah. It's been going around and around. Every year someone will say to me, "You know, we're thinking of bringing Funny Girl back to Broadway." Every year there's another resurgence of rumors. I feel really lucky to have played it in a great theatre. It was a great time for me, and it was just really wonderful, and it kind of jump-started my career here in New York. If I could do it again, it would be a blast, but I'm just happy that I had the opportunity to do it when I did.

Q: Do you have any other projects in the works?
Kritzer: I'm doing two shows in NAMT [National Alliance for Musical Theatre], Vanities and Jerry Christmas and then I'm doing a Jerome Kern concert at Town Hall and other concerts here and there.

Q: Do you think the Les Mouches show will be done again if the reception is good?
Kritzer: I think if the reception is good, we will probably extend. I'd like to do it again. [In fact, demand is already so high that two additional concerts were added this week: Dec. 8 and 9 at 11:30 PM.] We have interest in doing it a couple of different places outside of New York. There's maybe some interest in San Francisco while I'm out there for Legally Blonde, but it all remains to be seen after the fourth. . . . I just want to have a blast on the fourth, and if it extends great, and if it doesn't, it was still worth it.

[Leslie Kritzer is Patti LuPone at Les Mouches will be presented Oct. 4 at 9:30 PM (with encore dates Dec. 8 and 9 at 11:30 PM) at Joe's Pub, which is located within the Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Avenue. There is a $25 cover charge plus a food/drink minimum. Call (212) 239-6200 for reservations or visit www.telecharge.com.]

FOR THE RECORD: Evita

For those of us who grew up listening to the various Evita recordings - the original concept album with Julie Covington in the title role, the London cast recording with Elaine Paige as Eva, the Broadway cast recording starring Patti LuPone and the world tour highlights disc with Florence Lacey - the arrival of a new Evita is big news. So it was with great anticipation that this writer and admitted Evitaphile opened the Polydor CD of the 2006 London cast recording of the Andrew Lloyd Webber (music)-Tim Rice (lyrics) musical.

The newest production of Evita - currently playing London's Adelphi Theatre - is the first major staging not to utilize Hal Prince's original, Tony-winning direction. Instead, the musical about the life and untimely death of Eva Peron features brand-new staging by Michael Grandage with choreography by Rob Ashford. The current London production is also unique, as it boasts the first Argentinean actress (Elena Roger) to portray Eva either in the West End or on Broadway.

Of course, the fate of any production of Evita rests in the hands - or, more aptly, the vocal chords - of the woman playing the lead role, and Roger, a heretofore unknown actress outside her home country, greets the challenge head on and is blessed with her own brand of "star quality." In fact, from the moment Roger begins her portion of "Eva Beware of the City," it is obvious this is an Eva to be reckoned with: There is fire in her soul and voice, and there is no denying that this Eva will find her way to Buenos Aires.

Roger, it should be noted, possesses a strong accent, which produces an Eva that sounds unlike any of her predecessors. Her earthy, gritty belt rises to the demands of Lloyd Webber's score, which may be the most challenging role for a belter, as it requires the actress to sing in her uppermost belt for much of the show. If Roger's voice doesn't scale the heights quite as easily as Tony winner LuPone or have the lush quality of West End star Paige, she does well with the songs, managing to bring new life to the score while simultaneously adding a few flourishes - including new high notes that conclude an exciting, determined "Buenos Aires" and a show-stopping "Rainbow High."

Roger also delivers a lovely, understated "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," brings a nice bite to the "Waltz for Eva and Che" and is the first stage Eva to have the chance to perform the one new song penned for the Madonna Evita film, "You Must Love Me." Roger's interpretation of the latter is extremely moving, as is her deathbed "Lament."

As for the other roles, Matt Rawle is a less intense Che than his predecessors, though he sings the role well in a light tenor. Philip Quast's Peron is a sheer delight, bringing the most to his brief solos, including a wonderfully sung "She Is a Diamond." And, as Peron's young Mistress, Lorna Want brings the requisite dejection to "Another Suitcase in Another Hall."

This recording of Evita also features several new orchestrations by David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber, who were inspired to create an exciting new passage in "Buenos Aires" as well as new arrangements for "The Art of the Possible" and the penultimate "Montage" that are surprising improvements over the enjoyable originals.

One minor quibble: For some reason London Evas seem to get short shrift from the record companies. Both the Paige and the new Roger discs are highlights recordings, denying Evita fans the chance to hear all of Eva's vocal work. Most missed: "Eva and Magaldi," the introduction to "A New Argentina" and the second bedroom scene, "Dice Are Rolling."

DIVA TIDBITS
Sh-K-Boom Records will release the cast recording of the current Off-Broadway revival of Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris in November. The 22-track CD will feature 77 minutes of tunes from the acclaimed revival at the Zipper Theatre. Additional songs from the show, which could not fit on the single CD, will be available for downloading on-line at iTunes. The Brel disc was recorded at Skyline Studios on 37th Street. In addition to the show's musicians, the CD will also feature guitar player George Petit and violinist Joe Brent. The recording will be available at the Zipper in October; Sh-K-Boom will release the disc — with original cast members Robert Cuccioli, Natascia Diaz, Gay Marshall and Rodney Hicks — at a date-to-be-announced in November.

The Italian Welfare League will honor Broadway favorite Melissa Errico with its 2006 Woman of the Year Award Oct. 14. Errico, most recently on Broadway in Amour, will be presented with her award during the League's Autumn in New York Luncheon and Fashion Show Oct. 14 at the St. Regis Hotel. The event, which begins at 11:30 AM, will also include the presentation of the Man of the Year Award to FDNY Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta. In addition to her acting-singing credits, Errico teaches master classes at the LaGuardia High School and the Actors Center. She has helped raise money for Worldwide Orphans and recently created Lila Mamas, a mother's support group in downtown New York. The event will begin with a silent auction, followed by lunch and the fashion show. The latter will feature the work of Clifford Michael. Proceeds will help "Italian American children in poor health or who've suffered tragic events." The St. Regis Hotel is located in Manhattan at 2 East 55th Street. For tickets call (212) 861-8480. Visit www.italianwelfareleague.org for more information.

Daphne Rubin-Vega, the former Rent star who will be seen as Fantine in the upcoming Broadway revival of Les Misérables, will release a new solo recording next month. On Oct. 17 "Redemption Songs" — on the Sh-K-Boom Records label — is scheduled to hit stores around the country. The recording is a collection of "original and diversely classic songs reflective of [Rubin-Vega's] experiences in life, love and motherhood." In a statement, the actress says, "Some of these songs were written when I experienced deep losses and incredible firsts. I was inspired to write again. It was a very 'fertile' time for creativity." For more information visit www.daphnerubinvega.com or www.sh-k-boom.com.

And, finally, a new compilation disc entitled "Andrew Lloyd Webber Divas" is scheduled to hit stores Sept. 26 on the Decca Broadway label. The 15-track CD features songs from Evita, The Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard, Aspects of Love, Jesus Christ Superstar and Song and Dance as well as one originally penned for the now-aborted project Phantom 2. Among the "divas" represented on the recording are Broadway favorites Betty Buckley ("Memory") and Patti LuPone ("Buenos Aires"), West End star Marti Webb ("Tell Me On a Sunday"), international recording artist Sarah Brightman ("Surrender"), Academy Award winner Barbra Streisand ("As If We Never Said Goodbye") and opera star Kiri Te Kanawa ("The Heart Is Slow to Learn"). When listening to the disc, you will probably notice one surprising error: the back cover and liner notes state that "Rainbow High" is performed by Elaine Paige; it is actually Julie Covington's version from the original recording of Evita.

Well, that's all for now. Happy diva-watching! E-mail questions or comments to agans@playbill.com.

View article on single page

Previous Page   1 | 2 Next Page