I like to think that if Stephanie originated this role in place of Sutton, she'd have gotten that long overdue Tony. Same for Wicked. If Idina hadn't been chosen, and Stephanie continued the role, she'd have won. I saw her in Edwin Drood and she was phenomenal and such a sweetheart at the stage door
I love Sutton Foster! LOVE HER TO DEATH!!! And I love her version of Reno Sweeney ALOT! And she is not bad or awful at the role like others say... She won a Tony for her performance, so she is obviously not terrible at this role but there is just something about Stephanie's voice that makes her PERFECT for this role. When I hear Stephanie sing this song, I think she sounds like a very brassy broad! She IS Reno Sweeney!!! Sutton and Stephanie are BOTH incredible at this role! BOTTOM LINE!!!
I saw her on Broadway in Anything Goes and COULD NOT believe how this woman even exists. My goodness, this song took my breath away-- the fact that she was able to dance with such precision and then belt out PERFECT notes was just mind-boggling. Plus she's gorgeous and such a sweet person. Man, she's awesome. I can't believe she hasn't won a Tony.
I'm not a big Broadway and musicals fan, but i went to NYC last summer and my wife dragged me out to anything goes with SJB, i was blown away, she was amazing! Were planning on going to NYC again this summer and now im the one pushing to go see a broad way show!
Stephanie J. Block has been consistently good, if not, GREAT in every production she has done in the past decade. When I saw her in "The Boy From Oz", I was convinced that I was seeing Broadway's next big star, but no Tony nomination. Since then, she has been an Elphaba replacement (one of the best), been the lead in a flop (Pirate Queen, and she was good in that too) and she was wonderful in 9 to 5 (why she didn't get the best notices is a mystery) and here..wow..she needs a vehicle and a Tony.
I saw Stephanie perform this too and she was FANTASTIC! I'm not taking anything away from Sutton Foster but SJB plays this part so much better. She comes off being sexier, she can dance just as well and her voice is SECOND TO NONE! I'd love to see a video of her performance. Sutton is lucky to still have a job when she came back from California. There was a reason why Stephen Schwartz wrote the "Wicked" music for her, she's the best there is. She's way overdue for a Tony.
This song is in Fallout 4 with a male singing it. It's pretty cool. Don't know much of this song or Broadway but whenever I hear this song it makes me want to dance!
I wasn't sure I'd like SJB because of how much I adored Sutton's take on Reno, but she's actually marvelous! Her vocals and look make an almost entirely new Reno and it's great - I find it really distasteful when replacements clone the original, but Stephanie really impressed me. No offense to her, but I still prefer Sutton's blonde Reno ;P
We'll they are both altos. For me, Sutton is much more shrill. Where as Stephanie has a darker tamber to her voice which allows her upper register to be less light than sutton. Both can belt their faces off, but I think Stephanie's is for sure more classic broadway.
Yes, they do have very different voices, that's true. I've noticed that with Sutton's voice, people either love it or hate it. I love her voice, but I can see how some people would prefer Stephanie to Sutton, because Sutton's voice is a little different. I love both of them, but if I had a choice, I'd pick Sutton, just because I like her acting and personality, but they're both incredible. thespian302
i don't think comparing stephanie and sutton is completely fair, because of their varying differences. it's useless to, anyways. personally, they're both very talented and wonderful.
I'm still so salty Tari Kelly didn't get a chance to take over the role when Sutton left. The best Reno I saw in this revival (I saw Sutton, SJB and Tari)
She sounds much better on this than Sutton. Foster is a legend, but I really just DON'T think Reno Sweeney was a role that she was meant to play. SJB is sensational in everything and gives the role more depth that Sutton ever did.
But she definitely did not have Sutton's tap ability. I saw Sutton from the first row before she left and let me tell you, that number is the bees knees when she does it! I thought she was all-around fabulous. :)
Her natural gift is ten times better than Foster for this role whose singing was forced. And Block has a much better sound than :LuPone who was horrid in this role. Horrid. She was bitchy, not brassy and charmless LuPone was never convincing in the role. Block was born to play this part.
SJB is great, but Sutton is the star that she will never be, there's a reason she hasn't won a Tony. She's extremely talented but missing that star quality.
