This is absolutely STUNNING.... such emotion and such power. Unbelievable. I have seen so many different performances of this on stage, and this is by far the best ever.
What is with all the Carolee hate she is just a true Broadway powerhouse, and she can't help that her voice has a beautiful natural vibrato it only adds to how to hurt Donna is in the scene in my opinion. I just think she is terrific and Myrel Strep wishes she could sing like her.
Meryl may not be a Broadway vocalist but you can't take away the power in her emotion during this song. She reaches into her soul and throws it into her performance.
That's definitely the best version of "The Winner takes it all" i've ever heard in my life! Thanks Abba for the lyrics, but from now on this song will always reminds me of Carolee Carmello 😮
Carolee is one of the nicest ladies in the theater. She is very approachable and genuine, along with Beth Leavel and unfortunately the late Rebecca Luker and Marin Mazzie. Karen Ziemba is also a sweetheart. I saw Carolee many times on Broadway and she reacted to me laughing in something she did in Sister Act. She smirked at me as if I was watching Maggie Smith in the original movie and it had me in tears. Karen Ziemba applauded back at me for applauding her. Patti in War Paint and Bernadette in Dolly were also very happy about audience love. Beth cried with every standing ovation she got at The Prom, and Victoria Clark was shaking with tears when I saw Light in the Piazza. I adored Carolee in Tuck Everlasting. I saw all the Broadway Dolly's and I would rush back to see her.
This is so incredible- the song and the delivery; when she sings “loses someone dear” - it’s so powerful, and heartbreaking, it’s - and this is conveyed perfectly in lines like this - still fundamentally a *love song* and she still desperately loves and wishes she had the person who chose another over her. This makes it simultaneously a devastating protest anthem, hurling rage at “the gods” as well as at the one she still loves. Well the song says these things infinitely more powerfully than these words can suggest, but what a performance that can convey these layers so precisely, powerfully, and authentically.
Carolee is amazing. I saw her perform no less than 40 times at the Winter Garden back when I was just starting to write my musical and grow my producer/director chops. She a dynamo on stage and a lovely person off. I'd love to hire her one day.😀
I don't want to talk About the things we've gone through Though it's hurting me Now it's history I've played all my cards And that's what you've done too Nothing more to say No more ace to play The winner takes it all The loser standing small Beside the victory That's her destiny I was in your arms Thinking I belonged there I figured it made sense Building me a fence Building me a home Thinking I'd be strong there But I was a fool Playing by the rules The gods may throw a dice Their minds as cold as ice And someone way down here Loses someone dear The winner takes it all The loser has to fall It's simple and it's plain Why should I complain But tell me does she kiss Like I used to kiss you? Does it feel the same When she calls your name? Somewhere deep inside You must know I miss you But what can I say Rules must be obeyed The judges will decide The likes of me abide Spectators of the show Always staying low The game is on again A lover or a friend A big thing or a small The winner takes it all I don't want to talk If it makes you feel sad And I understand You've come to shake my hand I apologize If it makes you feel bad Seeing me so tense No self-confidence But you see The winner takes it all The winner takes it all So the winner takes it all And the the loser has to fall Throw a dice, cold as ice Way down here, someone dear Takes it all, has to fall It seems plain to me
wich date is this? I've never seen this bootleg before!...by the way,is there any mamma mia fan who knows the time laps in wich carolee was donna in the show? That is,when she first arrived and when she departed?
You can find that info out on Playbill.com Most of the time you can... I just checked it only gives her departure dates and according to Playbill.Com she played the role twice. Her first departure was August 31, 2009 and her second was July 1, 2011
This so reminds me of “Send in the Clowns.” Obviously they are similar jilted woman songs, but in their theatrical contexts, they’re so devastating because the wounded woman sings it to the one who ditched her, and it’s the chance to protest basic human decency required that he accord her, including the chance to wound him back as best she can for what he has done to her. Such a scene is almost too devastating to think about, but it’s part of nature’s cruel mating game in which there are winners and losers with little on between. It’s literally winner take all. And so CRUEL. In these scenarios, all people can do to mitigate the cruelty is let the woman dump as much of the pain she can into the man who inflicted it. So the men in these scenes, their role is to absorb as much punishment as she can inflict and he can absorb, both as what he owes her (whatever relief this gives her), and the price of finding a new mate he loves more. It is a disgusting part of life, and these scenes honor that most vital critical role of art: making this misery and cruelty more bearable by acknowledging and protesting the suffering life inflicts. This performance should be treasured for doing absolute justice to this reality, and justice *for* the women (and men sometimes) who undergo this pain nobody deserves.
Hi! My name is Zoe Chipalla and I'm a reporter with 23 WIFR TV news in Illinois. I was wondering if I could use this video/any videos you have of Carolee in a story I'm writing about the Broadway industry. If you could shoot me a DM on Twitter I'd appreciate it!! @ZoeChipallaTV
I saw Carolee as Donna in January of 2008, and that was my intro to Mamma Mia. I absolutely adored her (though I loved Judy as Tanya as well) and it was later that year that the movie came out. Though Carolee has a much more classical musical theatre style voice, I have to say...I prefer Meryl for this song. That probably comes from the fact that I have Meryl's version on a playlist I listen to pretty much every day at work, and it's become the the version that I am most familiar with, and her acting combined with her singing blows pretty much anyone out of the water, but Carolee is a close second.
Charles Duncan I totally agree! Meryl may not hit the notes perfectly and her vocal technique is not perfect, but that is what I love about her performance. She doesn’t sing with vocal perfection but with real and raw emotions that embody Donna’s regret, sadness, and anguish.
This red haired vixen sings this song as though it were a Sondheim masterpiece instead of a piece of garbage whose lyrics mean nothing. I bartended at the Winter Garden, inside the actual performance space, for some of Mamma’s run and we all wanted to stab our eardrums out EXCEPT for when she performed this song. She’s a gifted vocalist and a truely original talent, something Broadway used to be good at showcasing before the financial stakes got so high that now every performer from the past 20 years is basically a version of Sutton Foster.
Ok, I’m just going to say it: You don’t need to drag Meryl down to raise Carolee up. It does nothing but make you look like a dick. Carolee would probably be horrified to see fans of hers tearing down an Oscar winning legend. We all have our preferences, but Meryl put everything into her version, and that deserves everyone’s respect, at least. Hell, Benny and Bjorn adore everything she did with their songs, so I wouldn’t want to be acting like you know better than the writers of the song. Let’s not pit two talented women against each other, ok?
I agree it sounds far too forced. This is supposed to be an understated songs, and she forces is too hard from the start. it just doesn't go anywhere at all. No build up throughout the number. Its never sung like that over here in the UK. Totally wrong kind of voice for the role of Donna.
I agree it sounds like she's forcing the emotion and pushing waaay too hard. A song like this just doesn't need to be sung like that. she needs to ift her foot off the pedal a bit, so to speak definitely.
She has a beautiful voice but she always raises her voice for a high note. I think it would it be better if she wouldn’t do a lot of high notes but only in the chorus and the ending of the song.
Talk about over egging the pudding! This is waaaay over the top! Too much too soon and too much vibrato & she also doesn't get chance to develope and go anywhere cuz she hits the audience over the head straight away with her powerful voice. Its supposed to be an understated, emotional monologue that builds and builds, this doesn't AT all! It just gets harder and more forced! She's got a cracking voice , but just so so wrong for this role. As an amendment, I've just seen her performance of The story goes on from Baby and thought her voice was better suited for the role and especially that particular song. She's a superb Singer and actress, Im not denying that or trying to pull her down or hating on her as has been suggested further down in the comment section. Just this sing and her rendition here isn't to My taste. It's just My opinion is all.
@@Chaneloweenz Yes I do thanks for asking. I saw the original production in London and had friends in both that production and the UK tour, so I know the role and the show very well.
