She is peerless in acting a song and her musicality is impeccable. And, with her dancing ability I don't think Broadway has ever seen such a triple threat.
Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus are among the greatest song writers of the 20th Century. They are up there with Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lennon and McCartney, Lerner and Lowe. Who would have predicted that when they took to the stage of The Eurovision Song Contest in 1974.
Lot's of training! She went to the University of Michigan, which is one of the best schools for musical theater in the country, and she's so naturally talented to that the training only amplified how fantastic she is! I used to not be thrilled by her, but after really looking at her work other than one of two shows, she's so damn good.
her shoulders aren't doing the work, it's her ribs. and actually if done right the rib swing should be large because that means you are dropping the diaphragm to allow breath in. you would know if she was breathing unhealthy, the sound would be shallow and she wouldn't be able to make half the phrases because she would run out of air. her control is amazing, you can see the breath moving, which plays a huge role in emotional acting and singing.
Wow. The song took on a whole new dimension with Sutton. She is heartbroken throughout. It’s not an easy song to sing but she made it work and made it poignant.
I'm auditioning for Fiona in Shrek the Musical and I'm planning on singing this for my ballad. So glad I found a video of Sutton singing it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sutton went to high school in Michigan and had one year at Carnegie Mellon. Older brother Hunter was the one who attended U of M's musical theater program.
@luvHSM2 Yeah! I worked on a song with her this afternoon and I've been watching her teach for the last few days. She's one of the most down to Earth people you'll ever meet and she's friggin hilarious! I wish she was on faculty here @ BSU.
She's 34 now so she was about 28 when this was filmed. I agree she looks like she is 15 in this video. I think it's because it's a rehearsal and she is dressed in very casual clothes with no makeup or hair styling.
I thought the same thing about what she is wearing. It is a rehearsal for a CHESS concert. That's why she is in the street clothes, with the MIKE coming out her back pocket.
It's like she doesn't even have to TRY to hit those beautiful notes! How old is she? I can't tell. She looks so young until she opens her mouth and that tone pours out.
I think there was an American concert in September 2003. Then, there was another concert in London at the Royal Albert Hall in May/June 2008 with a few changes in cast.
And now it's 2014 and Sutton is giving what could be THE performance of her career so far in "Violet" and has been nominated again (is it 6 or 7 times now) for possibly her THIRD Tony. I guess,@ovitatric, she's just that much BETTER than elaine page, ruthie "Who ?", lea salonga, etc.,etc.
Ha ha, that's the best way to shut up talkers. Usually during rehearsals, I'll aim my entire performance right at them. Sutton really sounds great here.
@Akuchan7 haha.. im so sorry i was tryin to press the thumbs up button turns out i have picked the other one. but i agree with you. i really didn't expect that voice to come out of her young appearance.
Big sutton fan, the was wicked in TMM and cant wait to se what she adds to the fiona part in shrek. Someone elses story is my favorite chess song (along commie newspapers)
When was this video recorded, does anyone know? I'm wondering if this is the rehearsal for the other version of her singing this song on RU-vid. She is a phenomenal vocalist.
It was 15 years ago. I was at this rehearsal, it was just hours before the benefit that evening. It was insane that they were able to pull it together so quickly. Raul was literally trying not to fall off the stage during his rehearsal.
i agree w/ peggers1980... give her some years more. not yet in the caliber of elite stars { elaine page, ruthie henshall, lea salonga, liz calloway, etc}.
Don't get me wrong, I love Sutton and her work, but this just seems to be sung to high... (as in the wrong octave) I don't know why, but it doesn't hit right with me... ^_^'
I admittedly didn't know about Judy Kuhn, so I just listened to several of her versions of the same song, and I agree that she has a better voice from a technical viewpoint. But calling Sutton Foster a "Wannabe" is hardly fair, is it?. In my humble opinion, Sutton Foster sings with more emotions and character, but is still inferior to Helen Sjöholm, but all three are extremely talented singers, and it's a great pleasure to listen to different voices and interpretations of the same song.
Or maybe tear her apart. Yes, tear and tear are spelled the same. That said, Millenniumsteeler is out of his/her mind, to call Sutton Foster a wannabe. She and Judy Kuhn are very different indeed. I get so sick and tired of people making pointless comparisons that trash one person in favor of another. Childish.