Ok, I just heard clips of Lauren singing a couple of songs from L5Y (She was the one who originated the role of Cathy) and I have come to a conclusion that I would have rather of have had her be on the recording of L5Y. What does everyone else think?
"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2
I do love SRS but Lauren is AMAAAAAZING! it kills me that L5Y opened pre-ny at nortlight theatre which is right by where i lived with Norbert and Lauren and i DIDNT SEE IT!!!! same thing happend with YAGMCB...ugh! i dont have the luck!
They both are quite good, and their interpretations of the role are different. I'm not sure I would say I'd rather have Lauren on the recording, because Norbert and Sherie are so great together, but I'm sure it would have been a pretty different recording had Lauren been playing Cathy.
Maybe I'm just used to Sherie, or maybe I just don't like the orchestrations of the samples...but I didn't really care for what I heard there. When SRS sings on the recording, I feel like she's telling us the story, but Lauren sounds more like she's just singing it for the hell of singing it.
Without SRS there would be no recording to speak of. The show did not do well and I doubt it would get recorded had it not been for the great great Sh-k-boom record lable thar Sheris husbund owns.
I love them both and I actually find SRS a more mature type of Cathy and that gives the role a different meaning in many places. fom what I heard from a bootleg of the chicago production Lauren had a very different take on the role.
I think i have to go with SRS on this one....possibly because she was the first Cathy I knew....but i just love her voice. i can understand how it might bother some people...but i definitely choose her over Lauren Kennedy.
"Because what is more like love than the ocean? You can play in it, drown in it. It can be clear and bright enough to hurt your eyes, or covered in fog; hidden behind a curve of road, and then suddenly there in full glory. Its waves come like breaths, in and out, in and out, body stretched to forever in its possibilities, and yet its heart lies deep, not fully knowable, inconceivably majestic."
SRS--I love her. I know no one will believe me because of her speaking voice, but I read somewhere that she considers herself to be an alto through and through. So I think she does a pretty decent job on the L5Y cast recording, I always seemed to enjoy it.
A lot of people say that Lauren's version of the songs aren't "telling a story". However, Lauren's renditions of these songs (as heard by most people, myself included) are from Lauren's solo album and thus, they are taken out of the context of the show. It's not necessarily an accurate account of how she would perform the songs on a cast recording or in the show. That said, I do prefer Lauren's renditions to Sherie's and I think that Lauren is better suited, vocally, for the musical requirements of the role of Cathy.
I didn't see L5Y when it was in NY but I did see Jason Robert Brown and Lauren Kennedy perform it last year in Cooper Union (anybody else see this?) LK was great, except for that I thought her comedic timing was a bit off. I rememember her overdoing a lot of the comedy delivery and therefore it didn't come across as genuinely funny, but a "here comes another funny part!"
But to be fair it was a concert version for huge JRB fans, and might've been vastly different with a full production. I mean, during one moment when JRB sang "go out on a limb-o-vitch", he stopped playing, and then sighed loud and long enough as if to say, "I can't believe I actually rhymed this".
I saw Lauren and JRB at Cooper Union last year too!
I love Sherie on the recording but there's something about Lauren singing the songs that just makes them feel right (to me anyway.) I loved the Cooper Union concert- I literally screamed (and I think I was the only one) when Jason did the cut song for the encore- I was so excited.
Anyway, on to Lauren- I think she comes off excellent singing these songs and the only thing I would have to say against her is I thought Sherie sounded stronger when it came to the part (not the whole song) where she says "I should have told them I was sick last week..." but that might just be because Lauren wasn't doing it for a full performance. Otherwise I like Lauren's take on it better. I have her solo CD just to get her versions of the songs.
I'm actually a bit disappointed with her CD because it takes a lot of songs that "tell a story" like JRB does so well, and makes it try to sound poppy. This doesn't mean I don't like her; I thought she was MUCH better at Cooper Union than she was on her CD. Perhaps it's that while she's a good actor, she doesn't act much on her CD.
I thought Scott was terrific in the role, even better live than on the recording. Having seen Kennedy and Scott in other stage roles not long before THE LAST FIVE YEARS opened off Broadway, as soon as it was over, the first thing I said to my partner as the lights came up at the end was "Thank God we saw it with Sherie and not Lauren Kennedy." And the row of people behind us spoke up and said they wholeheartedly agreed. While Kennedy is very attractive, can act and sing, she is one of the most bland performers I've ever seen. That is not something I can say about Sherie's work.
From those clips, I prefer Sherie. But the arrangements are different on the Lauren Kennedy album, so it would be much different in performance. Both are great anyway.
I have only heard a few songs by Lauren Kennedy, but I love her voice. It is much more clear and stronger than SRS's voice. Even though I love SRS, her voice gets weird at the high notes.