She mostly performs for church groups and the like as well as doing symphony pops concerts. She and her husband are born again christians.
"It does what a musical is supposed to do; it takes you to another world. And it gives you a little tune to carry in your head. Something to take you away from the dreary horrors of the real world. A little something for when you're feeling blue. You know?"
I saw her as the narrator in a Donnyless-yet-Osmond-filled Joseph tour not too long ago. It was right after my sister got divorced, so that would be 1998 or 1999.
OK, that was 7-8 years ago. Scratch the "not too long ago" part.
I saw her in concert last summer in Millenium Park with Debbie Gravitte and Rebecca Luker. She sang Part of Your World and it was divine. It was especially cute because her family was there and she was all excited about it.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
What does "born again Christian" have to do anything with it?
(My opinions about "born again Christians" aren't very good. But I don't know Jodi, so I'm not going to stick her in that category. I think she's a very good Ariel.)
She was great as Polly in Crazy For You. Her triple threat performance was sensational. Then she disappeared! I read Karen Ziemba was passed on for Jodi!
did she ever end up doing every single member of her hubby's team?
oh wait, that was anna benson...my bad.
r.i.p. marco, my guardian angel.
...global warming can manifest itself as heat, cool, precipitation, storms, drought, wind, or any other phenomenon, much like a shapeshifter. -- jim geraghty
pray to st. jude
i'm a sonic reducer
he was the gimmicky sort
fenchurch=mejusthavingfun=magwildwood=mmousefan=bkcollector=bradmajors=somethingtotalkabout: the fenchurch mpd collective
I heard that her religious beliefs got in the way of her doing or saying just about anything even slightly risque on stage. Clearly her stage career was not a priority for her.
I saw Jodi several times in CRAZY FOR YOU. She had trouble sustaining her pitch as the show went on. Clearly, she doesn't have the equipment for long runs.
From experience with "born agains", they're whores/sluts/drug users/alcoholics in their "past life" and then all of a sudden they're this perfect human being.
Hardly the fact.
And again, I don't know Jodi. I have no idea what caused her to be "born again".
I think the fact that they were born again Christians came up in the context of her singing for church groups. (I'm one too, and trust me, we're waaay far from perfect. )
I saw her and loved her in "Crazy for You," and I know she's done some other musicals, including "South Pacific" -- in L.A., I think. She's done a lot of voice work too, for varoius animated shows and movies.
When I saw her as the narrator (phenominal by the way) in the Joseph tour, she was at the stage door talking about her pregnancy. Perhaps she's focusing on her family?
I recal when Crazy for You opened, many critics who otherwise loved the show felt that Benson and Goroener lacked charisma. Within a few weeks, the now defuct Theatre Week Magazine had a slew of Letters to the Editor offering suggestions on who should replace the two leads (this was back in 1992, before internet chatrooms and message boards became popular). People were making goofy suggestions like Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters!
Yes, the original casting came down to Jodi and Karen. Karen did the first national tour, and then replaced Jodi on Broadway, doing the role for a much longer run than Jodi had.
Shortly after, the same director, the late Mike Ockrent, was casting "big - the musical", and it came down to Karen Ziemba and Christa Moore for the female lead. Again, he passed on Karen and chose Christa. Of course, that show was a huge flop.