Flashback Friday - Sideshow

Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley as Daisy and Violet Hilton

One of my favorite recordings that I have been listening to for years is the Original Broadway Cast Recording of Sideshow.  Composer Henry Krieger (of Dreamgirls fame) and lyricist Bill Russell concocted this beautiful, haunting, and poignant musical which premiered in 1997.  Sadly the show was short-lived and only ran for three months or so, but it received four Tony Award nominations including a co-nomination for Best Actress in a Musical for Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner.  Ripley and Skinner portrayed Violet and Daisy Hilton in the true story of conjoined twins who became famous touring in sideshows and Vaudeville for many years.

This is another show that I first heard about by watching The Rosie O'Donnell Show and there was always so much in this story that really struck a chord with me.  I definitely understood the feeling of being an outcast and being perceived as a "freak".  Only a few years after I first heard Sideshow, I came out of the closet while I was in high school.  I would listen to songs such as "Like Everyone Else" and "Who Will Love Me As I Am?" over and over on my Sony Discman and I could absolutely relate.  I knew how it felt to be ostracized all too well and it really hit close to home to hear these girls begging for love and acceptance and just wanting to be "like everyone else".  This is a theme that is just as important today as it was at the time this show premiered and I think would resonate with modern audiences as well. 

As you listen to and watch Skinner and Ripley sing "Who Will Love Me As I Am?", you can tell these two are emotionally invested in these characters.  This was the first time that I saw the power of Alice Ripley's acting.  She has the ability to vividly convey the pain a character feels with her facial expressions while simultaneously expressing it with her voice.  I was so fortunate to see the talented Ms. Ripley (see what I did there?) in her Tony Award winning role in Next to Normal at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles and I was floored.  I was so obsessed with her performance that I saw her in the show again only a week later and I still think about that performance often. 

Anyway, back to Sideshow, here is another fantastic performance from the Tony Awards with Skinner and Ripley performing "I Will Never Leave You".  This heart-wrenching duet is the final scene in the show where the twins realize that although they were not successful in romantic love, the two of them will never be alone and will always have each other.  Beautiful song, beautiful message.  

Last year Sideshow returned in a revised version that premiered at La Jolla playhouse.  I was unable to see this production at the time, but I do hope and pray that it will return to Broadway in the near future and that I may have an opportunity to see it.  This is one of those shows that I have entirely mapped out in my mind and I desperately want to see it fully produced.  On my list of my top favorite shows, there are several that I have only listened to and imagined, and this is at the top. 

Flashback Friday - AIDA

I have to say how grateful I am for YouTube, first of all.  YouTube is amazing because whether I have seen a show or not, I can look up at least parts of the show and be able to have a glimpse of what the experience was or might have been.  There are so many great clips and even some full shows.  Sometimes the quality is less than stellar, but I always say something is better than nothing.

With that said, my first Flashback Friday focuses on Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida-and more specifically the video that was initially the reason I fell in love with this show, from The Rosie O'Donnell Show.  I miss Rosie's talk show so much.  As a young musical theatre kid in Utah I could not see many of the shows I wanted to, and certainly not until they toured here several years later.  I could only listen to cast recordings and dream and imagine what might be occurring on stage.  Rosie brought me scenes and performances that I would never have seen otherwise and I at least got a taste of these incredible Broadway and Off-Broadway shows.

This show was and still is a BIG deal for me.  I finally had the opportunity to see this show a few years later when it came to Salt Lake City on tour.  Aida encompasses all of the reasons that I love musical theatre.  There is so much emotion in this show that just would not exist without the incredible Elton John score and the actors singing their faces off.  The story is incredible, and with Disney Theatricals at the helm, the sets, costumes, and cast were nothing short of incredible.

This song proves what musical theatre can do and how much emotion can come from even just one actor standing live on stage, vocally projecting their heart and soul into the audience.  I live for performances like this.  You simply cannot deny the power, the heartbreak, the raw emotion.  Heather Headley LIVES this song. Upon seeing this clip, I immediately went out and purchased the cast recording and just fell in love with Headley over and over and over again.  Although I never had a chance to see her perform live, she still completely IS Aida in my mind. 

If you want another taste of Headley's amazingness, check out this clip from when she originated the role of Nala in a little show called The Lion King.  I never get tired of listening to that song either.  I am just going to finish this post so that I can continue to relish in her performances.  YouTube is chock full of them-so take a gander and enjoy!

Have a great Friday my fellow musical theatre lovers!