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Originally posted by DMDR
What first reactions? Critics haven't attended the show yet, but twitter has been full of praise for Leona after each preview show.
Here are some of the tweets I had posted on another forum after some of the initial preview shows,
I think it is safe to say the initial reaction has been more than good, I just hope the critics will like it as much as those who have been attending it. I honestly haven't seen one negative tweet from anyone who has attended yet.
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I'm talking about the people on the broadway boards, whose reactions have been rather mixed. Don't get me wrong, I really want her to be good and I know the more hardcore Broadway fans can be very critical, but some of the more trusted commenters on there are pretty negative.
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Leona Lewis is great. She can sing the hell out of Memory. Her acting needs some work but she will get comfortable with the role over the preview period
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Leona Lewis, who gave a serviceable "Memory", came out after about 45 minutes
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Leona Lewis was fine for most of it, but she really sold me when she sang Memory in the second act.
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Leona Lewis is very amateurish in her portrayal of Grizabella, which at first was a bit endearing, but after a serviceable (at best) rendition of "Memory", with overwhelmingly repetitive hand gestures, I was checked out. There are so many brilliant performers who could've made it something exciting but instead we get poor stunt casting with little payoff. Shame.
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Leona Lewis sounded fantastic. She seemed a bit uncomfortable and you can tell she hasn't performed much in the theatre, but all the groundwork is there for her to be giving a breakout performance
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The true stars of the show here are Tyler Hanes and Leona Lewis. Tyler Hanes is mesmerizing the entire show even when he's not the center of attention. Leona Lewis's vocals during Memory was my favorite part of the entire evening. She sounded fantastic.
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Miss Lewis is green and it shows, but she looks stunning and the earnestness in her performance is commendable. And when she rips into "TOUCH MEEEE"- it's just one of those moments, and it thrills.
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Also, despite the fact that I think the score is almost entirely garbage, I'll be the first to admit that "Memory" is a great song, so I was all the more disappointed with Leona Lewis. Though I didn't hate her performance, I think the casting team could have gone with a much more interesting choice.
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I'll admit I was not impressed with Leona in act 1 and I was worried about act 2. Once she sang Memory in act 2, I swear it feels like I broke my arms from clapping so hard and I lost my voice from screaming so loud. She was fantastic (and I really didn't want to like her because my friend was a frontrunner for Griz when they decided to go with a pop star instead).
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The two stumbling blocks I found with this production were the deletion of Growltiger and Leona Lewis, who was so thoroughly mediocre in the role that it makes absolutely no sense for Old Deuteronomy to select her at the end. My friend remarked at the end that since she's so underwhelming that they should allow the audience to vote Drood style on who gets to go the Heavyside Layer. I bet Ricky Ubeda would be selected more often than not for his exciting turn as Mistoffelees.
I know Grizabella has never been a dancing role, but you still have to move like a cat. You still must have some feline embodiment, and Lewis walks and moves with such stiffness that you hope she sees a chiropractor after the show. I've been around real life old, sick cats and they still move like cats. Her singing is subpar; she's serviceable in her big moments, but after decades of knowing what some actors can do with that song, the show deserves better. Her acting is weak and quite frankly I thought she brought the show to a halt whenever Grizabella appeared.
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Well, for the record I thought everyone in the cast had their feline movements down except for Lewis, so I think the production team still did their jobs- I just think Lewis is inept at it and her ineptitude is only magnified by the gracefulness of everyone around her.
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I, too, was bothered by Leona's un-catlike appearance. Laurie Berchman is still my favorite Grizzabella. I also saw Betty Buckley in the role.
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Like I said, it's all very mixed. I have absolutely no reason for wanting Leona to fail, but I do wish they would've cast a more seasoned Broadway performer. Someone like Carolee Carmello, who apparently auditioned, would have taken it to another level and it just bothers me that they chose to stunt cast.
