Tony Yazbeck stuns in this number from Broadway Backwards. I do not own the copyright to this video, which has been uploaded for entertainment and has not been, in any way, monetized
I have had Donna's performance in my head since I, as an adolescent, saw her at the Shubert. I could never imagine anyone else doing the role. I have to say, Tony nailed it. Beautifully.
Tony Yazbeck comes across as an all American jock. If they ever make a movie musical again where they want a "Gene Kelly" type, Tony Yazbeck is the right man for that role.
He could play Tommy Rall both a great dancer and a tenor as is Tony Yasbeck. Of course Gene Kelly too but he.more like Rall a great tenor and dancer.As Kelly and Rall he is a very masculine and sexy dancer and as Rall a great singer.Kelly was a good singer but not a tenor like Rall and Yasbeck
As a musical theatre vocal coach I have always love Tony's work. It is refreshing to see him doing Music and the Mirror. It is so difficult with the number to get the organic natural movement Donna brought to the role. He is so sexy, organic and believable. Truly a master. I also loved his Broadway Backwards Forget About the Boy from Thoroughly Modern Millie. Truly one of the Broadway greats.
I loved it as i also Love Tony Yazzbeck's performance but as much as i Loved the recreation of the original choreography , i wish it would have been re- Choreographed to play on Tony's Dance Strengths then it would have been Phenomenal..
They usually don't rechoreograph numbers for this event, but honestly even if they had offered I bet Tony would have preferred the original. He's a Dancer Dancer, and A Chorus Line is probably the MOST iconic dance musical in history. I'm sure he loved doing this number.
this guy is great. i saw him in NYC in the (undeservedly) short-lived PRINCE OF BROADWAY. played several famous scenes. his number from GRAND HOTEL was the show stopper. for PRINCE he should have not only gotten a nomination but taken home the Tony.
His nomination alone (for "On the Town") was enough to make me sit up and take notice! Was SO disappointed he wasn't nominated this year for his brilliant performance as Cary Grant in " Flying Over Sunset!". I'm a super fan for life, and have faith he'll get his Tony one day!
I so appreciate Tony Yazbeck and have seen him live as well as in performances such as these. Saw him recreate the "Nowadays" number from "Chicago" which was excellent. Also fan crush on this man...! However, here, this dance was specifically created by Michael Bennett for Donna McKechnie and when danced by a woman, is much more feminine, obviously, and the gestures are for a female dancer. A male dancer dancing it as a man, loses some of those nuances and thusly, to me, this dance which is so famous for theatre goers, lost something in translation. Perhaps had it been choreographed for him, using similar techniques but for a male dancer, it would have seemed more fluid. However, that is just my opinion. It is still a wonderful piece.
No, it's not just you. I was lucky enough to see Laurie Gamache (the final Broadway Cassie - chosen by McKechnie) dance it and, as talented as Tony Yazbeck is, this is choreographed for a woman's body. Gamache was so incredibly fluid, her extensions complete and full, the transitions seemless and graceful. Words aren't sufficient... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mj5JDWa2IUQ.html
Tony is beautifully smooth eye candy. He is beautiful to look at, has a beautiful voice, dances beautifully. This all kinda makes him wrong for this role. His dancing has none (and you see him struggling to give it the dynamic tension) of the desperate dynamic tension of Donna McKechnie. Tony physically has a shorter stocky muscle built body. Donna has moe of the long lean dancer toned body (and yes I saw the original on Broadway with Donna in the role back in 1979) Donna's voice was a powerhouse belt (she worked on it) Tony's voice has little to no belt and he struggles because of his very pretty voice. He is technically perfect in the dance steps, but like many Broadway dancers in this day and age they are so technically perfect that they lose the nuaces of emotions their bodies would provide to audiences to gaze at and be in awe because their technique is incredibly visiable.
