Predictable, manipulative, sentimentalized, cliche. It's as if he thinks he's the only one who has seen bad old movies. And productions like this are a slap in the face of professional musicians and the paying audience. Actors have enough to do trying to act, sing and dance -- forcing them to play instruments too is a pointless distraction.
Hm. I seem to be one of the few that like this piece! Well, maybe because this is the only cast I have seen perform Company in full. . .but I really like it! It does seem rather silly though that people are getting so mad over the video. . .maybe if you like the video it just means you like it and if you don't like it you don't?
some people dont know what theatre means. its conveying a message. its sharing an experience. its not finesse. he is so resolutely his character and the emotion is so strong, he is an excellent performer. no, he is not a world class singer, but he is a really good singer who happens to let his emotions take him too far. so sue him. and stop hating.
@clarevanechaute Please. I see a fame whore who sacrifices any context in the piece as a whole in order to deliver his fantasy of a show stopper. Forcing a lame indication of emotion, forcing a terribly trained not-quite legit voice -- this is not acting, it is exhibitionism of the Miss Piggy variety. Ruins every show he's in. Laughably bad. I hear he's been trying to be a movie star the past couple of years. Gee how's that working out -- somehow it's well-hidden. Wonder why ...
@joh9ny Haha - what's wrong, can't you get with the "experts" who won't stop twisting your arm until you admit this guy is so good he makes you jizz in your pants? Or maybe the fact that after a 15 year career relatively few people have a clue as to who he is should tell us all something ...
LOL there were only a dozen or so musicals submitted to Tony voters in 2007. To be one of five nominees is hardly a major coup. Kind of like the chances of getting into a junior college.
@walterglanz Remember, if you don't like a performance it means you are jealous that you cannot bore the public like the cringe-worthy fame whore in this video.
Some people are a little more sophisticated and worldly, have traveled, have seen real professionals work, have discovered new phenomena and watched them become famous, been uplifted by performances around the world and, yes, even on Broadway when the lowlifes who operate there allow it. To such people, tedious Broadway sycophants parroting the hype composed by halfwits elicits a sad head shake and a walk in the other direction. Audiences who pay top dollar deserve better than this mediocrity.
Okay number one. Raul got nominated for a Tony award for his performance in this, so quite a few EXPERTS and critics believed he was good enough..and I think they know what they are talking about.
OH and number two..all the people on here slagging off his singing and acting can jog on. You all probably cant sing that well and act because if you could then you would be doing Broadway instead of him..but oh wait he is because he is obviously good enough to do it....
Forcing a fantasy of heavy emotion to prove what a sensitive person you are is a common delusional pastime of amateur and wannabe performers. Screaming instead of singing does not cover the fact that you are not musical. Generation after generation of performers handle this kind of material adroitly -- why not study and learn from them? This video is an embarrassment to all involved.
@funboy7979 What is marvelous about a performance of this piece by a strong and confident singer-actor like Julian Ovendon, or a strong and confident actor who does not worry he can't sing & talk-sings effectively like Adrian Lester, is that the audience need not be distracted from the character's situation by a performer struggling with lack of technique. The guy in this video cannot sing yet tries, & thinks acting is all about "scenery chewing" as he has often said. This is why we cringe.
@joh9ny Julian Ovendon, Adrian Lester, Dean Jones, Neal Patrick Harris, Larry Kert, John Barrowman, and a bunch of guys in college productions are more satisfying to watch than this. The character of Bobby is many things but not an attention whore -- this guy is woefully miscast.
This is an amazing performance and his voice sounds amazing.....he plays a character singing an incredibly powerful song...cant believe some of the comments on here...his support and control are astounding
This production is embarrassing. Pretentious, sententious, hackneyed, misbegotten. This number in particular. "Someone to sitinyrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrchair ..." Nobody who hasn't drunk the Koolaid can listen to this mess without first laughing at it, and then wondering how they charged Broadway prices for it.
Moving someone with a song does not require a beautifully trained singing voice. But it does require sincerity, common sense, connection to something real, something other than the propensity for being a fame whore ...
Performers need to understand their purpose. The audience don't care if you can't sing if you move them. Look at all the people who late in their career had little left in the way of voice - Sinatra, Garland, Billie Holiday, Josephine Baker, even Callas - yet they could make you cry with one note because they knew how to make their limitations their strength and had rich experience to share. Today we have hot-house babies from BFA programs with no guts who think they're clever. ZZZzzz...
The same stalker troll over and over repeats that anybody making a critical comment about this college-level video is a "hater" or using "hate speech," and that the guy in this video must be great because he is on Broadway. Flash: there is a lot of crap on Broadway for a lot of petty political and financial reasons. Poor guy has been promoted well beyond his abilities, and now finds himself more famous than loved. He said a couple of years ago he was testing for films. How's that working out?
Funny thing bout the haters (I have my own reservations about the performance, but can't deem it as 'under par' [not in proper golf terms of course; I mean not worthwhile]) is how envy foams out of their speech. Let's face it, the 'intellectual' powers in Broadway get to pick the people they feel capable, rather than 'box office friendly'. He got the part, he did a great job: DEAL WITH IT! He is talented, devoted, versatile and hard-working. That's why he got the part. Fund your own productions.
@thejokerslastlaugh More widespread honest public discussion - including critical comments -- about lackluster or college-level performances in return for expensive Broadway tickets serve as an antidote for the idiot hype, & only make the theater better. A Broadway performer is no different than any other professional - we pay big bucks for tix & when they don't deliver we are rightly pissed. I suppose you tell people who criticize an NFL or NBA player that they should try out for the team.
everybody is saying this is hard for him to sing and so it sounds very odd. that's not it it doesn't sound odd, he's just acting and a lot of you are just to stupid to remember it. this is absolutely amazing and very well done.
@joh9ny wow ignorance is bliss isn't it you fucking retard you should get away from this work of art and watch something more in your rang like spongebob.
The Matthew Broderick style vibrato does not fit this music. He sounds like he should be playing an elf or something instead of a dramatic male lead. :( I love the music so I have to be honest.
Sondheim, creative powerhouse, also sometime closeted coke addict and S&M freak. Not the most attractive or personally appealing man, and definitely not the last word in objectivity, particularly about his own work. The less savory politics of Broadway is something publicists work hard to hide from the bloated tourists maxing out their credit cards on tickets to what they have been told is the most masterpiecest masterpiece ever masterpieced.
Raul Ezparza kicking ass again! Moves me to tears every time, Seeing him live is on the bucket list! Soundheim has said this is his favourite adaptation of his musical simply because the staging is so dynamic. We can but agree :)
@dbzcoolman23 Nah, just responding to the troll(s) who attacks, defames, and stalks anybody not gushing a verbal blowjob at the mediocrity in this video. Inescapable conclusion: it's the work of a particularly psychotic/illiterate publicist. How she (you?) persists with the usual p.r. b.s. is fascinating. Back on topic: a generation of pop singers know how to effectively use their talents to personalize a show tune for a modern audience. Interchangeable Broadway hacks do not get it.
@Jfireprime I see no snobbery in that comment. Snobbery is insisting on praising something because your betters praise it, as is the case with much of the Broadway camp. In this day and age, after two going on three generations of rock/pop/folk singers showing us how to personalize a song, to go to a Broadway theater and be confronted by a non-singer struggling to sound like he has a legit voice, overacting badly, all in a pretentious context, in an effort to impress is, well, it's just sad.
@joh9ny Broadway producers prefer a blurry hack like this. Once you have a star that really touches the public, such stars make demands, such stars cost money. Better you have a struggling mediocrity who's grateful for the job and works cheap, and can be easily replaced.
@funboy7979 Broadway suck-ups accuse anybody with simple honest taste of snobbery. A real artist can take any song and move you because they know how to do it. It does not take a great voice, it does not take enormous effort -- they just naturally have the talent. Such talent is rare indeed on Broadway, where clueless hacks rule and cynical publicists try to bully the public into believing they've been moved by tired mediocrity.
@joh9ny Denizens of Broadway for the most part lack formal education in basic academics; to them, anyone who uses a few multisyllable words that any above-average high schooler knows is a snob. Stupidity is glorified as sexy. This dumbed-down group-think results in embarrassing productions. It's why on Broadway, boring, unhip tools from London rule, or afflicted wrecks and autistics from Yale or Williams impress.
@joh9ny Non-singer, eh? Later you go on to say it does not take a great voice. Also let's be honest, you and funboy are the same person. Your writing styles match and you've been here long enough for me to have seen the previous deleted accounts. The thumbs are also all from your fake accounts which is why numbers match. Really, I think you've come to prove what you have to prove, youtube being a free platform and all.
Why do the "fans" of this guy attack and defame anybody critical of him? Looks like a particularly rabid and deranged publicist at work. Were he as great as claimed, he certainly would not require such tactics. If only all that energy could be spent making him a better performer ...
There's some broadway singers that have perfect voices for Sondheim. Raul is one of them, and he'll probably rank amongst Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin soon.
This is just absolutely amahzing. I was in times square with my friend and she just whips around and half-screamed "RAUL ESPARZA!" and there he was. he shook my hand :)
Okey dokey... excuse me while I wade through the pretension here... one moment... there we go! I really enjoyed this performance. Glad I was able to get that in there.
Bad acting, lack of singing ability, general narcissism on the part of those involved in this production make this lovely theater piece seem campy, kitschy. Nothing is more ridiculous than when somebody presses the despair over a major world calamity button in response to a dissatisfaction with personal growth dilemma. Combine that with lousy technique and the result is embarrassing.
@TheAxelMan100 I would much more enjoy a tone-deaf guy off the street singing this if he had depth and a giving spirit. The guy in this video appears to be attempting to impress some bad voice and acting teachers he had long ago. No soul, no meaning. Typical for Broadway. Sondheim deserves way better.
Broadway trolls are the most pretentious of all. I loved this performance. The song is rad, he rules at it, and is kind of a hottie. That's all plenty for me :)
Same comment rephrased over and over -- a rehash summary of his resume', "I like him I really like him," characterizing any critical comment as "hate speech," etc.
Is this stuff seriously still going on? What I find weirdest is the dismissal of the people posting here as part of a publicity team; is it so bizarre that an actor who has had a number of major roles on Broadway would have a handful of fans? I'm pretty sure that, being continuously on Broadway and critically praised (despite your opinion of him and/or critics), Raul Esparza doesn't need to have someone making dozens of accounts to defend him on Youtube.
The fanboy(s)/girl(s) riding shotgun on this video characterize any critical comment as "hate." This is why Broadway will continue its slide into mediocrity, and why any garden variety British import will always dazzle.
@funboy7979 Were all such sycophants the random fans they claim to be, this guy would be famous beyond the usual limited Broadway camp. New York theater nabobs prefer their peon performer employees controllable, masochistic, mediocre, interchangeable, as this makes them a very inexpensive commodity. Cheap is the operative word above all else.
I'm very curious as to why this performance gets so much hate. Initially I wasn't a huge fan, but I've grown to love Esparza's performance of it. No, he's really not the best singer around, but he is a terrific actor, and that's something to be prized just as highly. You don't *hear* Bobby in this version like you do in Julian Ovendon's or John Barrowman's wonderful interpretations, but you *feel* him, and I feel like that's just as important.
Ah, more turnspeak, faux victimhood, baiting, and false accusations against anybody critical of this overpriced mediocrity. Fat little publicists working the same tired old routines ...
@fanboy7979, I don't know if you were talking to me or not. If you were, I have never commented on this video before, nor am I female, nor have I ever stalked someone in my life. If you have an issue with me, please say it to me personally, the entire internet does not need to know. I was attempting to calm down the people involved in the bashing of each other, as well as Raul. It was not directed at any side, I was just attempting to get people to engage in civil, respectable discourse.
I actually want to know why you guys think this performance is so bad. I don't mind it. I mean, if the dude got nominated for a Tony he must have done SOMETHING right.
Ah, the little spin minion publicist is back from her vacation and toiling away once again at her little keyboard. Notice the textbook turnspeak -- after trashing and stalking anybody critical of the mediocrity in this video, she accuses them of "cruelty." Probably crashes through life intimidating waiters by telling them she's a "reporter."
Yes, I agree with the below comment. Art, is as beauty, subject to opinion. There is no way that anyone can say that Mr. Esparza does not have a beautiful voice, because he does. Also, Broadway is Theater, not an opera, right. So, why the criticism from the voice students? That is what it seems to be. The drama and emotion that Raul brings to his performance is excellent. Also, he sings just as well, as Dean Jones, just more natural, without all the styling. Raul Esparza is fantastic!
One of the most exciting and interesting things about art is that not everyone will enjoy something, and everyone is entitled to their own opinions, as long as they maintain a level of civility, and respect for other people. What I see in the comments of this video is cruelty, and is an insult to art. What is the point of getting so worked up? There is no need to bash someone, they are simply trying to entertain. Feel free to have a lively debate, or discussion, but have a little class!
for everyone commenting on his vibratto. his isnt forced, it's how he sings. look at all his other songs. plus, have you seen the west side story revival? the guy who plays tony has a horrid vibratto, while Raul's is actually tolerable. Raul did a wonderful job, he was perfectly cast and gave depth to the character. Can you do any better? No, i didn't think you could. Can you give people goosebumps or move them to tears? Nope, didn't think so either. enjoy the music and just stop....
@prettyyoungthing816 Please dispense with the "can you do any better?" canard. We pay for tickets to watch professional performers like we pay to watch pro athletes or for medical care or for a book: we expect basic competency at the very least, and something more. This guy's voice makes one ears bleed. He should admit he cannot sing, he should admit that "chewing the scenery" as he has described his own acting is cringe-worthy, and then re-assess his strengths. Ruins everything he's in.
i adore this performance. he did an amazing job. he's a different kind of actor and singer, and he brought his own spin to the Bobby character. he made it a little darker. there's passion and pain in this performance. those are th best kinds i think...
He has a beautiful Broadway style voice with a unique tone, he's sincere, he LISTENS to the lyrics--and he plays the piano!!! People what more do you want??!!
@someonecalleddean Thank you. Adrian Lester shows what an actor without a legit voice should do with a song. The guy struggling in this video not so much.
@bc9021010001 An actor really has to assess his strengths and use them. No matter how this poor thing struggles and tries every trick in the book, nobody in their right mind is going to think he can sing. Adrian Lester indeed showed what a great actor without a legit singing voice can do with this material. Of course, this guy's "acting" is cringe-worthy too.
@funboy7979 and @joh9ny I don't live in the states so I can't actually comment on things about Broadway, I've never been to a Broadway show, nor do I know anything about trained singing and I've never seen him perform but I quite liked the video, that's all. I don't have a professional opinion so I really do not know what is "actually good." A lot of people do like him though.
@joh9ny I really think you should go and start auditioning then if you think your knowledge of both broadway and performing is so spectacular. Your highly opinionated comments suggest that you clearly don't like Raul Esparza as a performer whether it's his singing or acting. People click on this video to enjoy it, if you dislike him so much then why were you on this video in the first place?
@JMetzful Sorry, but if you want to sell this video without comments then buy TV time. More public critical discussion of Broadway performers is a good thing. Makes them better. Gives isolated, self-regarding producers, directors, actors a sense of what their audiences demand.
I spend a lot of time and money attending Broadway -- seen this guy live many times. A charisma black hole, an exhibitionist, and theater-as-cathartic-therapy scenery chewer. And that horrible singing voice ...
@funboy7979 Funny how this guy's fans are so rabid and insecure, their only response to any critical comment is to shut down the discussion, as if they know their idol is on shaky ground. Typical.
@joh9ny They all sound like the same semi-intelligent and highly-disturbed publicist. Any random fan is just gonna enjoy the video and ignore the comments.
Here's why I think Raul Esparza is brilliant- I've watched so many musicals before, and I love almost every one. But never in my life have I watched one where I believe a character so much that I am unable to imagine them as anyone but the character they're portraying. Raul could play any role and he completely takes it over, he's no longer himself. And he is a stronger singer than Adrian Lester. So, that's why he's great.
I couldn't agree more. I am honestly surprised by all the hate Raul Esparza is getting. I personally think that he is brilliant, his voice is amazing! Also how he completely disappears into his roles you would be surprised how many people who perform on Broadway who are fabulous singers but are completely out of touch with the character. We all have our opinions, but honestly for those of you who clearly don't like him why are you even here?
@tichyha Vibrato: there is an ongoing discussion of its dubious value, how it is overused, an affection, a distraction. Especially when a performer toils to affect something like vibrato when he does not have the right stuff for it to flow naturally. This guy is so fake and forced when he tries to sing and when he tries to act. Unpleasant to the eye and ear and often laughable. He needs to go with his strengths, not try to affect a fantasy of talents he does not possess.
@joh9ny Vibrato is ok as a natural product of a full, beautiful voice, but not when some non-singer tries to force some weird vibrato-like effect to make his voice sound trained. This guy is embarrassing when he sings. Makes my ears bleed.
@Alvildus "... the lyrics are painfully dated ..."
Honestly I think it is the performance style that is dated -- the song itself is fairly timeless. This guy's self-indulgence, exhibitionism, presumption is hard to take. Ruins everything he's in, imho. He fulfills Broadway's insistence on being terminally unhip forever and ever.
@bc9021010001 Broadway is constantly setting new standards for mediocrity. It's why British imports always seem so astounding -- the local Broadway product sets the bar very low. Wallowing around in a general indication of a fantasy of emotion is not acting -- it's just oppressive and boring, and makes people cringe and laugh nervously, and gives them a headache. And good god that dreadful vocal mess going on there. Yuck. Only on Broadway does such a mess get a pass.
YouTube is an interactive portal. Marketers and publicists who can't handle feedback should buy TV time, rather than viscously attacking and stalking anybody expressing an opinion not raving about their inferior product. Publicists are an ugly lot -- always have been. The audience stifles laughter and cringes when this guy sings and acts badly. Analyzing why is a useful thing.
@bc9021010001 LOL. I assume you meant "Marketers and publicists who can't handle feedback should buy TV time, rather than VICIOUSLY attacking and stalking anybody expressing an opinion not raving about their inferior product." If so, I agree. Tinhorn Broadway bosses -- legends-in-their-own-minds -- prefer to tell you what to think. They hate an honest public discussion of the baloney they're selling.
How unfortunate that this video's comment thread has been flooded by pretentious bullshit and overly critical insults. Did Raul Esparza pee in your cereal or something? It's astounding how it's impossible for some people to know when to stop, let it go, and let people enjoy what they want to enjoy. If this type of theatre isn't good enough for you, stop coming back to the video. Problem solved.
@AOleander Another pompous attempt to shut down a critical discussion of a public performance. If a performer cannot bear criticism, then he should not appear in public. This guy works all the time and is good enough in some things -- he was just miscast in this misbegotten production.
Guys, I just want to say, I've met Mr. Esparza twice and recently took a class with him, and he is NOT arrogant, and he really knows what he's doing. He's very insightful about what a song means, and he's very nice. I understand disliking him as a performer, but you shouldn't bash him as a person. He's just trying to make a living!
@1441katie Why do you continue to mischaracterize the criticism? What people are lamenting is his miscasting in this, and his demonstrated lack of perspective on how to use what talents he has. He is not a singer, so indulging in weird singer-y affections like a laughable quivery fake vibrato make things worse. His acting style is broad brush and ridiculous -- he himself has referred to it as chewing the scenery. Many people are very nice personally but arrogant/complacent about their work.
Soooo, apparently it is the height of barbarism and poor taste to think this guy sings the hell out of this song, and enjoy it accordingly. You'd think by now I'd have learned not to read YouTube comments, but it turns out that just because a person can spell all their words correctly doesn't stop them from being a joy-sucking asshole who likes to tell people to stop having fun.
@scumthecourtfool "apparently it is the height of barbarism and poor taste to think this guy sings the hell out of this song"
No one has suggested anything of the sort. Some simply have different tastes & wish Broadway offered better quality. The emperor has no clothes. I like the descriptions of this guy's inexpressive voice as "kazoo in oatmeal," "laughable fake vibrato,, "Buffy St. Marie w/o the sincerity," etc. and his acting as "broad-brush, old-time-y, over-the-top, cringe-worthy."
I'm still trying to figure out who his powerful "daddy" in the business is. No way he could have gotten this far otherwise. Smh. Broadway politics always mean the audience gets shafted.
I see the employees sent to shill for this video have returned from their July 4th holidays, and are back at their desks doing what they are paid to do: make you believe baloney is filet mignon. Acting is not emotion. Acting is not a personal catharsis for the performer. Acting is not exhibitionism. When this middling talent figures that out he might become watchable. Until then, he is eminently resistible. This chew-the-scenery old timey shit was already old 50 years ago.
@joh9ny "I see the employees sent to shill for this video have returned from their July 4th holidays, and are back at their desks doing what they are paid to do: make you believe baloney is filet mignon."
And discredit anybody critical of this video. Random people who like something just like it -- they don't care what anybody thinks. This is like trying to brainwash people into adopting bad taste and very low expectations. Broadway should be way better than this, just on a technical level.
I actually feel that this man captures the song perfectly. Sure he may not be the best singer, but he acts the heck out of it. Over the course of the song, you genuinely feel Bobby's loneliness. It may be a bit more dramatic than how Bobbys prior have portrayed it, but it still works. And it has made me cry numerous times.
"Dean Jones has the charisma and talent of a lamp."
Let's see, Dean Jones. Sings expressively, on pitch, lovely tone, in rhythm. Portrayed Bobby's character arc from something of a playboy cipher to self-examined messy human being. Looked, acted, sounded like a thirty-something New Yorker from somewhere else ready to evolve into a fuller human being. The guy in this video, not so much. Sondheim wanted Jones so badly to open the show and record the cast album, and, fortunately, he did.
Love how when the opinions expressed don't fit the money-making agenda, the errand girls try to shut down the discussion. Typical Broadway huckster legend-in-their-own-mind mentality.
Notice that those claiming to think this guy is great can never say why -- they can only keep retyping his resume'. This is the only thing publicists and agents know how to do. They don't appreciate their clients' work, only the money they make off them.
@freestuffffff i pay money to be moved and enjoy a good show. not to be a critic of a performer. The people who cast the show thought he fit the role, as do I. I think he did an amazing job. And when we go see a pro athlete i'm pretty sure they suck sometimes too. Have we not seen the Yankees bullpen? I love this performance. you don't have to(obviously you dont) so don't watch it. I'm sure you're no pro critic, so stop acting like one. enjoy the damn performance, if not...don't watch. simple.
@prettyyoungthing816 Why are you and everybody else here claiming to be "a random fan" so against anyone expressing an opinion and so intent on shutting down an open public discussion of this performance? No wonder the sneaking suspicion that you are this guy's junkyard dog publicist.
"... if you don't type fulsome praise for the pretentious mediocrity in this video you get trashed and stalked by a particularly nasty YouTube troll. I guess the hustlers trying to sell this DVD are desperate."
Hide your kids, hide your wife ... LOL
"A shallow vibrato-like effect is a very odd aesthetic choice. ... It is an affectation, probably intended to fool the audience into thinking the performer can sing when he really cannot."
Several in the audience stifled giggles when he sang.
Honestly, I think I'll stay out of this debate now. Raul Esparza has a great many people who appreciate his work, or he wouldn't be headlining on Broadway. Everything is subjective, including talent. Personally I highly dislike Patti Lupone's acting and singing, despite her mass following, just as the people here dislike Raul Esparza. Fine. Youtube commenters don't run Broadway. What's to be said has been said. You like it, or you don't. This has gotten way nasty. Best move along.
@poetoffire Tell us something we don't know. Kind of basic that everyone has an opinion, and that opinions are, by definition, subjective. You're sort of like the remarkably stupid girl in class who talks forever but says nothing. Love the hit and run style of those girls who trash everyone here and then mumble something astoundingly disingenuous like, "Honestly, I think I'll stay out of this debate now."
@funboy7979 Anything to stop a public free and open discussion of this guy's lack of skill, charisma, awareness. Like so many Broadway performers now, he is merely obedient and can be relied upon to show up and turn in a broad-brush hack performance night after night. Acting by numbers pleases the overfed, gaily-dressed hick tourists maxing out their credit cards at TKTS. The rest of us dream of something more.
Here we go again -- an honest critical discussion of this performance where audience members dare to talk about his lack of singing chops, ludicrous fake vibrato, egregious hammy indicating instead of good acting -- interrupted by a shill under various screen names claiming that to openly express such honest opinions is blasphemy, hate speech, personally insulting to God & country, blah, blah, blah. I'll say something nice then: he's kinda chimpmunky, visually & vocally, so old ladies like him.
A shallow vibrato-like effect is a very odd aesthetic choice. It does not inform a song or a character, demonstrate profundity, inspire. It is an affectation, probably intended to fool the audience into thinking the performer can sing when he really cannot. Amateur, amateur, amateur. Most high school performers these days sing better, express more, and move audiences better than this guy.
@funboy7979 We accept a shallow vibrato-like effect from some folk singers because their amateurishness is an intrinsic part of their persona. Broadway performers know better, and should not pretend otherwise. It's like he's doing a bad parody of Buffy St. Marie:
@bc9021010001 Omg Buffy St. Marie. She can be forgiven, she's a classic and a natural. Plus she's charming and sincere. Broadway product of acting and voice coaches, not so much.
Worst I've ever seen on YouTube. Does not understand the interactive nature of YouTube at all. Thinks it's her personal marketing tool -- so must be from "The The-uh-tuh" where anybody who questions the various dysfunctional Broadway hierarchies (like stating the obvious about this wretched performance) gets stalked and fucked with endlessly by bottom feeding moronic minions and errand girls.
"Worst I've ever seen on YouTube. Does not understand the interactive nature of YouTube at all. Thinks it's her personal marketing tool ..."
Broadway publicists -- a few are decent. But the milieu attracts the lowest kind of parasitical sleaze. YouTube glitters --- it is free money to them. They think it's one more place to get money for nothing. To them Broadway is just another commodity to hawk.
@funboy7979 "... comparing the mess in this video unfavorably to any other superior performer as you have done will get her stalking you, studying your YouTube history, leaving spam attacks on any video where you've posted a comment."
Any other actor who has done this role has been far superior, from Dean Jones, to Boyd Gaines, to John Barrowman, Adrian Lester, Julian Ovenden, Neal Patrick Harris. They all brought something marvelous -- this guy brings an oppressive exhibitionism. Yawn.
@bumpyjjeans Haha. You're inviting the psycho YouTube troll to stalk you. Let me join you then: even most of the kids in the college production videos of this number are better than this guy. He seems like a nice guy -- even has said he often chews up the scenery. That begs the question -- if you're aware of it then why do it? Bad acting can be saved by wonderful singing & vice versa. But this guy strikes out on both counts, and does not seem to care. That is what is called arrogance.
@bumpyjjeans "... comparing the mess in this video unfavorably to any other superior performer as you have done will get her stalking you, studying your YouTube history, leaving spam attacks on any video where you've posted a comment."
You see, his career is so fragile and Broadway goons so aware their product sucks, any mention that this guy is tedious, shallow, not great, amateur-level gets them on the warpath.
@bc9021010001 "We accept a shallow vibrato-like effect from some folk singers because their amateurishness is an intrinsic part of their persona. ... It's like he's doing a bad parody of Buffy St. Marie."
Buffy St. Marie with adenoids and pneumonia plus cloying narcissism.
@funboy7979 "A shallow vibrato-like effect is a very odd aesthetic choice. It does not inform a song or a character, demonstrate profundity, inspire."
Yup -- people force a vibrato-like quiver when they want to sound like a singer when they are not a singer. It is a cheesy affectation, and invites laughter every time he opens his mouth to sing. Combine that with an exhibition of a fantasy of deep emotion and you have a truly cringe-worthy performer. He should really step back and assess.
Yup, leave a comment critical of this guy's awful singing voice, old-fashioned bad acting, incredible arrogance and you get harassed and stalked by the junk yard dog of a resident troll who haunts this video. This is what it takes apparently to keep the public fooled into thinking this mediocrity and amateurish posing is the best Broadway can aspire to.
@funboy7979 Yes, I'm the one whose feelings that no one gives a shit about, as one of you so poetically put it a few pages back. :)
Really, I don't see any harrassing being done, only the same three posters agressively asserting how much they hate this performance and insulting anyone who disagrees with your negativity.
I don't know why I'm bothering having this conversation.
@InspectorKaramazov "I'm the one whose feelings that no one gives a shit about, as one of you so poetically put it a few pages back."
We are trying to have a serious discussion here, and you interrupted to talk about your hurt feelings and to give people permission to express an opinion. This discussion is not about you, your feelings, your cat, your diet, or anything else about you personally, and nobody asked for your permission to express an opinion. Got it now?
@funboy7979 Haha. She's gonna dog you to death now until you type over & over that this mess in the video is " just really really great." Broadway truly is the sleaziest, most tedious, least interesting collection of fools in show business. This is why they keep importing British shows & actors. American theater is all about politics -- sexual, economic, cultural, etc. This is why instead of talented stars we get fabricated nonentities acting like actors -- like this charisma black hole.
Now he will use walterglanz or zoooooooooopertrooooooooper or funboy for his response. He likes to mix it up, thinking people won't notice the same tone in all of his comments (He says more or less the same thing everytime).
walterglanz=funboy=bumpyjjenas=bjocelot=zoooooperdoooooooooper=BC9000etc=jupiterdingo=speeHIPOCRASY there are more but I can't remember them right now
These videos have become hater central.
ConwayJCalvin 2 days ago
Predictable, manipulative, sentimentalized, cliche. It's as if he thinks he's the only one who has seen bad old movies. And productions like this are a slap in the face of professional musicians and the paying audience. Actors have enough to do trying to act, sing and dance -- forcing them to play instruments too is a pointless distraction.
walterglanz 4 days ago 2
Hm. I seem to be one of the few that like this piece! Well, maybe because this is the only cast I have seen perform Company in full. . .but I really like it! It does seem rather silly though that people are getting so mad over the video. . .maybe if you like the video it just means you like it and if you don't like it you don't?
dramageeek 1 week ago
some people dont know what theatre means. its conveying a message. its sharing an experience. its not finesse. he is so resolutely his character and the emotion is so strong, he is an excellent performer. no, he is not a world class singer, but he is a really good singer who happens to let his emotions take him too far. so sue him. and stop hating.
clarevanechaute 1 week ago
@clarevanechaute Please. I see a fame whore who sacrifices any context in the piece as a whole in order to deliver his fantasy of a show stopper. Forcing a lame indication of emotion, forcing a terribly trained not-quite legit voice -- this is not acting, it is exhibitionism of the Miss Piggy variety. Ruins every show he's in. Laughably bad. I hear he's been trying to be a movie star the past couple of years. Gee how's that working out -- somehow it's well-hidden. Wonder why ...
joh9ny 6 days ago 3
@joh9ny Haha - what's wrong, can't you get with the "experts" who won't stop twisting your arm until you admit this guy is so good he makes you jizz in your pants? Or maybe the fact that after a 15 year career relatively few people have a clue as to who he is should tell us all something ...
funboy7979 4 days ago
LOL there were only a dozen or so musicals submitted to Tony voters in 2007. To be one of five nominees is hardly a major coup. Kind of like the chances of getting into a junior college.
walterglanz 1 week ago 6
@walterglanz Remember, if you don't like a performance it means you are jealous that you cannot bore the public like the cringe-worthy fame whore in this video.
funboy7979 1 week ago 4
Some people are a little more sophisticated and worldly, have traveled, have seen real professionals work, have discovered new phenomena and watched them become famous, been uplifted by performances around the world and, yes, even on Broadway when the lowlifes who operate there allow it. To such people, tedious Broadway sycophants parroting the hype composed by halfwits elicits a sad head shake and a walk in the other direction. Audiences who pay top dollar deserve better than this mediocrity.
funboy7979 1 week ago 4
Okay number one. Raul got nominated for a Tony award for his performance in this, so quite a few EXPERTS and critics believed he was good enough..and I think they know what they are talking about.
OH and number two..all the people on here slagging off his singing and acting can jog on. You all probably cant sing that well and act because if you could then you would be doing Broadway instead of him..but oh wait he is because he is obviously good enough to do it....
Themattyboy14 1 week ago
All I care is that his performance moved me, which is a lot more than can be said for any other performance of this song I've seen.
ZaneISane 2 weeks ago
Forcing a fantasy of heavy emotion to prove what a sensitive person you are is a common delusional pastime of amateur and wannabe performers. Screaming instead of singing does not cover the fact that you are not musical. Generation after generation of performers handle this kind of material adroitly -- why not study and learn from them? This video is an embarrassment to all involved.
funboy7979 2 weeks ago 10
@funboy7979 What is marvelous about a performance of this piece by a strong and confident singer-actor like Julian Ovendon, or a strong and confident actor who does not worry he can't sing & talk-sings effectively like Adrian Lester, is that the audience need not be distracted from the character's situation by a performer struggling with lack of technique. The guy in this video cannot sing yet tries, & thinks acting is all about "scenery chewing" as he has often said. This is why we cringe.
joh9ny 1 week ago 3
@joh9ny Julian Ovendon, Adrian Lester, Dean Jones, Neal Patrick Harris, Larry Kert, John Barrowman, and a bunch of guys in college productions are more satisfying to watch than this. The character of Bobby is many things but not an attention whore -- this guy is woefully miscast.
funboy7979 1 week ago 3
This is an amazing performance and his voice sounds amazing.....he plays a character singing an incredibly powerful song...cant believe some of the comments on here...his support and control are astounding
1blueshoe 2 weeks ago
This production is embarrassing. Pretentious, sententious, hackneyed, misbegotten. This number in particular. "Someone to sitinyrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrchair ..." Nobody who hasn't drunk the Koolaid can listen to this mess without first laughing at it, and then wondering how they charged Broadway prices for it.
joh9ny 3 weeks ago 8
Moving someone with a song does not require a beautifully trained singing voice. But it does require sincerity, common sense, connection to something real, something other than the propensity for being a fame whore ...
joh9ny 3 weeks ago 9
I just bought this DVD. Just wonderful
bidubarreto 3 weeks ago
Performers need to understand their purpose. The audience don't care if you can't sing if you move them. Look at all the people who late in their career had little left in the way of voice - Sinatra, Garland, Billie Holiday, Josephine Baker, even Callas - yet they could make you cry with one note because they knew how to make their limitations their strength and had rich experience to share. Today we have hot-house babies from BFA programs with no guts who think they're clever. ZZZzzz...
funboy7979 3 weeks ago 8
The same stalker troll over and over repeats that anybody making a critical comment about this college-level video is a "hater" or using "hate speech," and that the guy in this video must be great because he is on Broadway. Flash: there is a lot of crap on Broadway for a lot of petty political and financial reasons. Poor guy has been promoted well beyond his abilities, and now finds himself more famous than loved. He said a couple of years ago he was testing for films. How's that working out?
funboy7979 4 weeks ago 2
Funny thing bout the haters (I have my own reservations about the performance, but can't deem it as 'under par' [not in proper golf terms of course; I mean not worthwhile]) is how envy foams out of their speech. Let's face it, the 'intellectual' powers in Broadway get to pick the people they feel capable, rather than 'box office friendly'. He got the part, he did a great job: DEAL WITH IT! He is talented, devoted, versatile and hard-working. That's why he got the part. Fund your own productions.
thejokerslastlaugh 1 month ago
@thejokerslastlaugh More widespread honest public discussion - including critical comments -- about lackluster or college-level performances in return for expensive Broadway tickets serve as an antidote for the idiot hype, & only make the theater better. A Broadway performer is no different than any other professional - we pay big bucks for tix & when they don't deliver we are rightly pissed. I suppose you tell people who criticize an NFL or NBA player that they should try out for the team.
funboy7979 3 weeks ago 10
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thejokerslastlaugh 3 weeks ago
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thejokerslastlaugh 3 weeks ago
"Work of art. " HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
funboy7979 1 month ago
@funboy7979 Psycho stalker probably shills for Spongebob too so cleverly works that bit of guerilla marketing in here.
joh9ny 1 month ago
everybody is saying this is hard for him to sing and so it sounds very odd. that's not it it doesn't sound odd, he's just acting and a lot of you are just to stupid to remember it. this is absolutely amazing and very well done.
QuicksilverHammer 1 month ago
@QuicksilverHammer You are correct, sir. I thought this was a cinéma vérité documentary. Thank you for the enlightenment.
funboy7979 1 month ago 2
@funboy7979 Why yes, I too thought I was peaking through a keyhole at some anonymous guy who had no idea anybody was looking. Acting? Wow.
joh9ny 1 month ago 2
@joh9ny wow ignorance is bliss isn't it you fucking retard you should get away from this work of art and watch something more in your rang like spongebob.
QuicksilverHammer 1 month ago
Eeeek. But I have to give him credit for having the balls to sing that. It sounds very difficult for him, which must be scary in the moment.
elgozador 1 month ago
The Matthew Broderick style vibrato does not fit this music. He sounds like he should be playing an elf or something instead of a dramatic male lead. :( I love the music so I have to be honest.
elgozador 1 month ago 2
Better say you love this video or Psycho McScrewy will stalk your every move ...
joh9ny 1 month ago 4
Sondheim, creative powerhouse, also sometime closeted coke addict and S&M freak. Not the most attractive or personally appealing man, and definitely not the last word in objectivity, particularly about his own work. The less savory politics of Broadway is something publicists work hard to hide from the bloated tourists maxing out their credit cards on tickets to what they have been told is the most masterpiecest masterpiece ever masterpieced.
joh9ny 1 month ago 4
@joh9ny She's b-a-a-a-a-ck ...
funboy7979 1 month ago 3
@funboy7979 and still bringing the crazy lol
joh9ny 1 month ago 3
Raul Ezparza kicking ass again! Moves me to tears every time, Seeing him live is on the bucket list! Soundheim has said this is his favourite adaptation of his musical simply because the staging is so dynamic. We can but agree :)
DoctorDelilahxXx 1 month ago
Chills... every time.
JaimieAppleton 2 months ago in playlist JaimieAppleton's favorites
Repetitive and pretentious. Tries so hard to impress. Sad.
funboy7979 2 months ago 5
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@funboy7979 lol dude you've been posting negative comments on this video for SEVEN MONTHS! If that's not repetitive and sad, I don't know what is.
dbzcoolman23 2 months ago
@dbzcoolman23 Nah, just responding to the troll(s) who attacks, defames, and stalks anybody not gushing a verbal blowjob at the mediocrity in this video. Inescapable conclusion: it's the work of a particularly psychotic/illiterate publicist. How she (you?) persists with the usual p.r. b.s. is fascinating. Back on topic: a generation of pop singers know how to effectively use their talents to personalize a show tune for a modern audience. Interchangeable Broadway hacks do not get it.
funboy7979 2 months ago 9
@funboy7979 Don't pretend to be a music snob.
Jfireprime 2 months ago
@Jfireprime I see no snobbery in that comment. Snobbery is insisting on praising something because your betters praise it, as is the case with much of the Broadway camp. In this day and age, after two going on three generations of rock/pop/folk singers showing us how to personalize a song, to go to a Broadway theater and be confronted by a non-singer struggling to sound like he has a legit voice, overacting badly, all in a pretentious context, in an effort to impress is, well, it's just sad.
joh9ny 2 months ago 11
@joh9ny Didn't you know? If you don't love this pretentious old-lady shiz you're a snob.
funboy7979 2 months ago 10
@joh9ny Broadway producers prefer a blurry hack like this. Once you have a star that really touches the public, such stars make demands, such stars cost money. Better you have a struggling mediocrity who's grateful for the job and works cheap, and can be easily replaced.
funboy7979 2 months ago 10
@funboy7979 Broadway suck-ups accuse anybody with simple honest taste of snobbery. A real artist can take any song and move you because they know how to do it. It does not take a great voice, it does not take enormous effort -- they just naturally have the talent. Such talent is rare indeed on Broadway, where clueless hacks rule and cynical publicists try to bully the public into believing they've been moved by tired mediocrity.
joh9ny 2 months ago 12
@joh9ny Denizens of Broadway for the most part lack formal education in basic academics; to them, anyone who uses a few multisyllable words that any above-average high schooler knows is a snob. Stupidity is glorified as sexy. This dumbed-down group-think results in embarrassing productions. It's why on Broadway, boring, unhip tools from London rule, or afflicted wrecks and autistics from Yale or Williams impress.
funboy7979 2 months ago 12
@joh9ny Non-singer, eh? Later you go on to say it does not take a great voice. Also let's be honest, you and funboy are the same person. Your writing styles match and you've been here long enough for me to have seen the previous deleted accounts. The thumbs are also all from your fake accounts which is why numbers match. Really, I think you've come to prove what you have to prove, youtube being a free platform and all.
ZSy264 1 month ago
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Jfireprime 2 months ago
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Jfireprime 2 months ago
Why do the "fans" of this guy attack and defame anybody critical of him? Looks like a particularly rabid and deranged publicist at work. Were he as great as claimed, he certainly would not require such tactics. If only all that energy could be spent making him a better performer ...
joh9ny 3 months ago 5
I love the emotion he puts into this.
AndreaMarleyPenta 3 months ago
There's some broadway singers that have perfect voices for Sondheim. Raul is one of them, and he'll probably rank amongst Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin soon.
stephencassista 3 months ago
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Lol it's great how people are marking comments they don't agree with as spam, then are complaining about being accused of hate speech.
darkpdxwolf 3 months ago
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The themes of the sycophant troll(s) here:
1. Give a verbal blow job to the mediocrity in the video.
2. Harass and stalk anybody who doesn't.
3. Characterize any critical comment as "hate speech" or "pretentiousness" (or as she/they call it, "pretension" (sic)).
funboy7979 3 months ago 8
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funboy7979 3 months ago
This is just absolutely amahzing. I was in times square with my friend and she just whips around and half-screamed "RAUL ESPARZA!" and there he was. he shook my hand :)
go16997 3 months ago
Pretension? That is mean. It is called being real.
DameDisco78 3 months ago
Okey dokey... excuse me while I wade through the pretension here... one moment... there we go! I really enjoyed this performance. Glad I was able to get that in there.
Rh1ann0n13 3 months ago
Bad acting, lack of singing ability, general narcissism on the part of those involved in this production make this lovely theater piece seem campy, kitschy. Nothing is more ridiculous than when somebody presses the despair over a major world calamity button in response to a dissatisfaction with personal growth dilemma. Combine that with lousy technique and the result is embarrassing.
joh9ny 3 months ago 2
@joh9ny Narcissism = sophistication to some.
funboy7979 3 months ago 3
@joh9ny Lack of singing ability? You've got to be fucking kidding.
TheAxelMan100 3 weeks ago
@TheAxelMan100 I would much more enjoy a tone-deaf guy off the street singing this if he had depth and a giving spirit. The guy in this video appears to be attempting to impress some bad voice and acting teachers he had long ago. No soul, no meaning. Typical for Broadway. Sondheim deserves way better.
joh9ny 3 weeks ago 6
@joh9ny What about Raul's voice is so terrible? Haha I really don't get it.
TheAxelMan100 3 weeks ago
When he screams 'Mock me with praise' I get goosebumps, everytime
sianround 3 months ago
Broadway trolls are the most pretentious of all. I loved this performance. The song is rad, he rules at it, and is kind of a hottie. That's all plenty for me :)
poofleia 3 months ago
Such a translation of emotion! Brilliant.
MasterCacophony 3 months ago
No film work for this guy because the camera does not lie -- stagey/pretentious/old-timey bad.
walterglanz 3 months ago 3
This is the most powerful performance I've ever seen.
I've never cried so much over a performance.
I am so in love with this.
jazzminefarol 4 months ago
Same comment rephrased over and over -- a rehash summary of his resume', "I like him I really like him," characterizing any critical comment as "hate speech," etc.
joh9ny 4 months ago 46
@joh9ny The fulsome praise comments, like most of this Broadway generation including the guy in this video, are flat, obvious, and repetitive.
funboy7979 4 months ago 5
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Is this stuff seriously still going on? What I find weirdest is the dismissal of the people posting here as part of a publicity team; is it so bizarre that an actor who has had a number of major roles on Broadway would have a handful of fans? I'm pretty sure that, being continuously on Broadway and critically praised (despite your opinion of him and/or critics), Raul Esparza doesn't need to have someone making dozens of accounts to defend him on Youtube.
poetoffire 4 months ago
The fanboy(s)/girl(s) riding shotgun on this video characterize any critical comment as "hate." This is why Broadway will continue its slide into mediocrity, and why any garden variety British import will always dazzle.
funboy7979 4 months ago 11
@funboy7979 Were all such sycophants the random fans they claim to be, this guy would be famous beyond the usual limited Broadway camp. New York theater nabobs prefer their peon performer employees controllable, masochistic, mediocre, interchangeable, as this makes them a very inexpensive commodity. Cheap is the operative word above all else.
joh9ny 4 months ago 48
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I'm very curious as to why this performance gets so much hate. Initially I wasn't a huge fan, but I've grown to love Esparza's performance of it. No, he's really not the best singer around, but he is a terrific actor, and that's something to be prized just as highly. You don't *hear* Bobby in this version like you do in Julian Ovendon's or John Barrowman's wonderful interpretations, but you *feel* him, and I feel like that's just as important.
VengefulKBM 4 months ago
Ah, more turnspeak, faux victimhood, baiting, and false accusations against anybody critical of this overpriced mediocrity. Fat little publicists working the same tired old routines ...
funboy7979 4 months ago 4
This has been flagged as spam show
I apologize, I read the user name wrong. The comment below was directed at @funboy7979.
AwesomevilleMc 4 months ago
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@fanboy7979, I don't know if you were talking to me or not. If you were, I have never commented on this video before, nor am I female, nor have I ever stalked someone in my life. If you have an issue with me, please say it to me personally, the entire internet does not need to know. I was attempting to calm down the people involved in the bashing of each other, as well as Raul. It was not directed at any side, I was just attempting to get people to engage in civil, respectable discourse.
AwesomevilleMc 4 months ago
I actually want to know why you guys think this performance is so bad. I don't mind it. I mean, if the dude got nominated for a Tony he must have done SOMETHING right.
fatpoop619 4 months ago
"Kazoo drowning in oatmeal" pretty much sums this up. Sad.
joh9ny 4 months ago
Interesting comment below - "textbook turnspeak" vs. "logical argument"? I still think Raul is wonderful!
DameDisco78 4 months ago
Ah, the little spin minion publicist is back from her vacation and toiling away once again at her little keyboard. Notice the textbook turnspeak -- after trashing and stalking anybody critical of the mediocrity in this video, she accuses them of "cruelty." Probably crashes through life intimidating waiters by telling them she's a "reporter."
funboy7979 4 months ago 4
Absolutely floored. One of my favorite performances of one of my favorite showtunes of all time.
NelliumTheFisherman 4 months ago
Yes, I agree with the below comment. Art, is as beauty, subject to opinion. There is no way that anyone can say that Mr. Esparza does not have a beautiful voice, because he does. Also, Broadway is Theater, not an opera, right. So, why the criticism from the voice students? That is what it seems to be. The drama and emotion that Raul brings to his performance is excellent. Also, he sings just as well, as Dean Jones, just more natural, without all the styling. Raul Esparza is fantastic!
DameDisco78 4 months ago
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DameDisco78 4 months ago
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AwesomevilleMc 4 months ago
One of the most exciting and interesting things about art is that not everyone will enjoy something, and everyone is entitled to their own opinions, as long as they maintain a level of civility, and respect for other people. What I see in the comments of this video is cruelty, and is an insult to art. What is the point of getting so worked up? There is no need to bash someone, they are simply trying to entertain. Feel free to have a lively debate, or discussion, but have a little class!
AwesomevilleMc 4 months ago
Breathtaking. I can't put my finger on what he brings to this role that makes it so... painful. I don't know. But it just hits me every time.
illusions142 4 months ago
I personally think his voice is something of an aquired taste, and his acting while not awful is "ok" at best
vhunter13 4 months ago
for everyone commenting on his vibratto. his isnt forced, it's how he sings. look at all his other songs. plus, have you seen the west side story revival? the guy who plays tony has a horrid vibratto, while Raul's is actually tolerable. Raul did a wonderful job, he was perfectly cast and gave depth to the character. Can you do any better? No, i didn't think you could. Can you give people goosebumps or move them to tears? Nope, didn't think so either. enjoy the music and just stop....
prettyyoungthing816 5 months ago
@prettyyoungthing816 Please dispense with the "can you do any better?" canard. We pay for tickets to watch professional performers like we pay to watch pro athletes or for medical care or for a book: we expect basic competency at the very least, and something more. This guy's voice makes one ears bleed. He should admit he cannot sing, he should admit that "chewing the scenery" as he has described his own acting is cringe-worthy, and then re-assess his strengths. Ruins everything he's in.
funboy7979 5 months ago 3
i adore this performance. he did an amazing job. he's a different kind of actor and singer, and he brought his own spin to the Bobby character. he made it a little darker. there's passion and pain in this performance. those are th best kinds i think...
prettyyoungthing816 5 months ago
He has a beautiful Broadway style voice with a unique tone, he's sincere, he LISTENS to the lyrics--and he plays the piano!!! People what more do you want??!!
windstorm1000 5 months ago
Adrian Lester... that's all i have to say :)
someonecalleddean 5 months ago 3
@someonecalleddean Thank you. Adrian Lester shows what an actor without a legit voice should do with a song. The guy struggling in this video not so much.
bc9021010001 5 months ago 4
@bc9021010001 agreed :)
someonecalleddean 5 months ago 2
@bc9021010001 An actor really has to assess his strengths and use them. No matter how this poor thing struggles and tries every trick in the book, nobody in their right mind is going to think he can sing. Adrian Lester indeed showed what a great actor without a legit singing voice can do with this material. Of course, this guy's "acting" is cringe-worthy too.
freestuffffff 5 months ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
@freestuffffff Listen to the Tick Tick Boom 2001 recording and tell me again this man can't sing.
videk2010 2 months ago
My last name is esparza thats how i found this.... googling myself
avii3 5 months ago
Beautiful, thats all thats needed to be said
chrisonfire25 5 months ago
@funboy7979 and @joh9ny I don't live in the states so I can't actually comment on things about Broadway, I've never been to a Broadway show, nor do I know anything about trained singing and I've never seen him perform but I quite liked the video, that's all. I don't have a professional opinion so I really do not know what is "actually good." A lot of people do like him though.
JMetzful 5 months ago
@joh9ny I really think you should go and start auditioning then if you think your knowledge of both broadway and performing is so spectacular. Your highly opinionated comments suggest that you clearly don't like Raul Esparza as a performer whether it's his singing or acting. People click on this video to enjoy it, if you dislike him so much then why were you on this video in the first place?
JMetzful 5 months ago
@JMetzful Sorry, but if you want to sell this video without comments then buy TV time. More public critical discussion of Broadway performers is a good thing. Makes them better. Gives isolated, self-regarding producers, directors, actors a sense of what their audiences demand.
I spend a lot of time and money attending Broadway -- seen this guy live many times. A charisma black hole, an exhibitionist, and theater-as-cathartic-therapy scenery chewer. And that horrible singing voice ...
funboy7979 5 months ago 6
@funboy7979 Funny how this guy's fans are so rabid and insecure, their only response to any critical comment is to shut down the discussion, as if they know their idol is on shaky ground. Typical.
joh9ny 5 months ago 6
@joh9ny They all sound like the same semi-intelligent and highly-disturbed publicist. Any random fan is just gonna enjoy the video and ignore the comments.
funboy7979 5 months ago 4
@JMetzful Are you this guy's publicist or just the comment police?
joh9ny 5 months ago 3
Here's why I think Raul Esparza is brilliant- I've watched so many musicals before, and I love almost every one. But never in my life have I watched one where I believe a character so much that I am unable to imagine them as anyone but the character they're portraying. Raul could play any role and he completely takes it over, he's no longer himself. And he is a stronger singer than Adrian Lester. So, that's why he's great.
miaxlovesxMCR 5 months ago
@miaxlovesxMCR
I couldn't agree more. I am honestly surprised by all the hate Raul Esparza is getting. I personally think that he is brilliant, his voice is amazing! Also how he completely disappears into his roles you would be surprised how many people who perform on Broadway who are fabulous singers but are completely out of touch with the character. We all have our opinions, but honestly for those of you who clearly don't like him why are you even here?
FateLovesTomorrow 5 months ago in playlist Inspiration for play
Tone, range, and some of the best-sounding vibrato I've ever heard. Bravo.
tichyha 5 months ago
@tichyha Vibrato: there is an ongoing discussion of its dubious value, how it is overused, an affection, a distraction. Especially when a performer toils to affect something like vibrato when he does not have the right stuff for it to flow naturally. This guy is so fake and forced when he tries to sing and when he tries to act. Unpleasant to the eye and ear and often laughable. He needs to go with his strengths, not try to affect a fantasy of talents he does not possess.
joh9ny 5 months ago 3
@joh9ny Vibrato is ok as a natural product of a full, beautiful voice, but not when some non-singer tries to force some weird vibrato-like effect to make his voice sound trained. This guy is embarrassing when he sings. Makes my ears bleed.
bc9021010001 5 months ago
I was at this performance. Stood in line for hours to get rush tix. It was completely amazing.
deaconzero 6 months ago
Oh, and did I mention his lack of musical talent, and complete misunderstanding of the purpose of an actor?
bc9021010001 6 months ago 3
I swear, he can move me to tears. Bravo! :D
OMGDave16 6 months ago
Goodness, I came here to enjoy Raul's raw emotional performance that I seen on Netflix, and I run into cynical criticisms of his performance.
AliaSparrow 6 months ago
why is this song called "Being Alive"?
Roberto97x 6 months ago
@Roberto97x
watch the whole show on youtube... or just listen to the damn lyrics.
horerfandod3 6 months ago
I still love Raul Esparza's version. It never fails to give me goosebumps :)
TheCaptainGallows 6 months ago
Love his voice, and it's a beautiful song, but the lyrics are painfully dated.
Alvildus 6 months ago
@Alvildus "... the lyrics are painfully dated ..."
Honestly I think it is the performance style that is dated -- the song itself is fairly timeless. This guy's self-indulgence, exhibitionism, presumption is hard to take. Ruins everything he's in, imho. He fulfills Broadway's insistence on being terminally unhip forever and ever.
bc9021010001 6 months ago 4
@bc9021010001 Broadway is constantly setting new standards for mediocrity. It's why British imports always seem so astounding -- the local Broadway product sets the bar very low. Wallowing around in a general indication of a fantasy of emotion is not acting -- it's just oppressive and boring, and makes people cringe and laugh nervously, and gives them a headache. And good god that dreadful vocal mess going on there. Yuck. Only on Broadway does such a mess get a pass.
freestuffffff 6 months ago 4
YouTube is an interactive portal. Marketers and publicists who can't handle feedback should buy TV time, rather than viscously attacking and stalking anybody expressing an opinion not raving about their inferior product. Publicists are an ugly lot -- always have been. The audience stifles laughter and cringes when this guy sings and acts badly. Analyzing why is a useful thing.
bc9021010001 6 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@bc9021010001 LOL. I assume you meant "Marketers and publicists who can't handle feedback should buy TV time, rather than VICIOUSLY attacking and stalking anybody expressing an opinion not raving about their inferior product." If so, I agree. Tinhorn Broadway bosses -- legends-in-their-own-minds -- prefer to tell you what to think. They hate an honest public discussion of the baloney they're selling.
bjocelot 6 months ago 2
Comment removed
funboy7979 6 months ago
How unfortunate that this video's comment thread has been flooded by pretentious bullshit and overly critical insults. Did Raul Esparza pee in your cereal or something? It's astounding how it's impossible for some people to know when to stop, let it go, and let people enjoy what they want to enjoy. If this type of theatre isn't good enough for you, stop coming back to the video. Problem solved.
AOleander 6 months ago 4
@AOleander Another pompous attempt to shut down a critical discussion of a public performance. If a performer cannot bear criticism, then he should not appear in public. This guy works all the time and is good enough in some things -- he was just miscast in this misbegotten production.
bjocelot 6 months ago
Guys, I just want to say, I've met Mr. Esparza twice and recently took a class with him, and he is NOT arrogant, and he really knows what he's doing. He's very insightful about what a song means, and he's very nice. I understand disliking him as a performer, but you shouldn't bash him as a person. He's just trying to make a living!
1441katie 6 months ago
Comment removed
funboy7979 6 months ago
@1441katie Why do you continue to mischaracterize the criticism? What people are lamenting is his miscasting in this, and his demonstrated lack of perspective on how to use what talents he has. He is not a singer, so indulging in weird singer-y affections like a laughable quivery fake vibrato make things worse. His acting style is broad brush and ridiculous -- he himself has referred to it as chewing the scenery. Many people are very nice personally but arrogant/complacent about their work.
funboy7979 6 months ago
Soooo, apparently it is the height of barbarism and poor taste to think this guy sings the hell out of this song, and enjoy it accordingly. You'd think by now I'd have learned not to read YouTube comments, but it turns out that just because a person can spell all their words correctly doesn't stop them from being a joy-sucking asshole who likes to tell people to stop having fun.
scumthecourtfool 6 months ago
@scumthecourtfool "apparently it is the height of barbarism and poor taste to think this guy sings the hell out of this song"
No one has suggested anything of the sort. Some simply have different tastes & wish Broadway offered better quality. The emperor has no clothes. I like the descriptions of this guy's inexpressive voice as "kazoo in oatmeal," "laughable fake vibrato,, "Buffy St. Marie w/o the sincerity," etc. and his acting as "broad-brush, old-time-y, over-the-top, cringe-worthy."
funboy7979 6 months ago
Hate all you want on this performance, I still like it.
lttlpeppy 6 months ago
I'm still trying to figure out who his powerful "daddy" in the business is. No way he could have gotten this far otherwise. Smh. Broadway politics always mean the audience gets shafted.
bc9021010001 6 months ago 5
I see the employees sent to shill for this video have returned from their July 4th holidays, and are back at their desks doing what they are paid to do: make you believe baloney is filet mignon. Acting is not emotion. Acting is not a personal catharsis for the performer. Acting is not exhibitionism. When this middling talent figures that out he might become watchable. Until then, he is eminently resistible. This chew-the-scenery old timey shit was already old 50 years ago.
joh9ny 6 months ago 8
@joh9ny "I see the employees sent to shill for this video have returned from their July 4th holidays, and are back at their desks doing what they are paid to do: make you believe baloney is filet mignon."
And discredit anybody critical of this video. Random people who like something just like it -- they don't care what anybody thinks. This is like trying to brainwash people into adopting bad taste and very low expectations. Broadway should be way better than this, just on a technical level.
bc9021010001 6 months ago
I actually feel that this man captures the song perfectly. Sure he may not be the best singer, but he acts the heck out of it. Over the course of the song, you genuinely feel Bobby's loneliness. It may be a bit more dramatic than how Bobbys prior have portrayed it, but it still works. And it has made me cry numerous times.
HappySSFamilyFarm 6 months ago 2
@HappySSFamilyFarm " ... he acts the heck out of it ... "
Enough acting to sink the Titanic twice. Leaden, oppressive. Audience is way ahead of him.
funboy7979 6 months ago 5
"Dean Jones has the charisma and talent of a lamp."
Let's see, Dean Jones. Sings expressively, on pitch, lovely tone, in rhythm. Portrayed Bobby's character arc from something of a playboy cipher to self-examined messy human being. Looked, acted, sounded like a thirty-something New Yorker from somewhere else ready to evolve into a fuller human being. The guy in this video, not so much. Sondheim wanted Jones so badly to open the show and record the cast album, and, fortunately, he did.
funboy7979 6 months ago 8
Love how when the opinions expressed don't fit the money-making agenda, the errand girls try to shut down the discussion. Typical Broadway huckster legend-in-their-own-mind mentality.
funboy7979 6 months ago 7
Notice that those claiming to think this guy is great can never say why -- they can only keep retyping his resume'. This is the only thing publicists and agents know how to do. They don't appreciate their clients' work, only the money they make off them.
freestuffffff 6 months ago 38
@freestuffffff i pay money to be moved and enjoy a good show. not to be a critic of a performer. The people who cast the show thought he fit the role, as do I. I think he did an amazing job. And when we go see a pro athlete i'm pretty sure they suck sometimes too. Have we not seen the Yankees bullpen? I love this performance. you don't have to(obviously you dont) so don't watch it. I'm sure you're no pro critic, so stop acting like one. enjoy the damn performance, if not...don't watch. simple.
prettyyoungthing816 5 months ago
@prettyyoungthing816 Why are you and everybody else here claiming to be "a random fan" so against anyone expressing an opinion and so intent on shutting down an open public discussion of this performance? No wonder the sneaking suspicion that you are this guy's junkyard dog publicist.
funboy7979 5 months ago 4
"... if you don't type fulsome praise for the pretentious mediocrity in this video you get trashed and stalked by a particularly nasty YouTube troll. I guess the hustlers trying to sell this DVD are desperate."
Hide your kids, hide your wife ... LOL
"A shallow vibrato-like effect is a very odd aesthetic choice. ... It is an affectation, probably intended to fool the audience into thinking the performer can sing when he really cannot."
Several in the audience stifled giggles when he sang.
bjocelot 6 months ago 12
Honestly, I think I'll stay out of this debate now. Raul Esparza has a great many people who appreciate his work, or he wouldn't be headlining on Broadway. Everything is subjective, including talent. Personally I highly dislike Patti Lupone's acting and singing, despite her mass following, just as the people here dislike Raul Esparza. Fine. Youtube commenters don't run Broadway. What's to be said has been said. You like it, or you don't. This has gotten way nasty. Best move along.
poetoffire 6 months ago
@poetoffire Tell us something we don't know. Kind of basic that everyone has an opinion, and that opinions are, by definition, subjective. You're sort of like the remarkably stupid girl in class who talks forever but says nothing. Love the hit and run style of those girls who trash everyone here and then mumble something astoundingly disingenuous like, "Honestly, I think I'll stay out of this debate now."
Not surprising this guy appeals to the stupid.
funboy7979 6 months ago 3
@funboy7979 Anything to stop a public free and open discussion of this guy's lack of skill, charisma, awareness. Like so many Broadway performers now, he is merely obedient and can be relied upon to show up and turn in a broad-brush hack performance night after night. Acting by numbers pleases the overfed, gaily-dressed hick tourists maxing out their credit cards at TKTS. The rest of us dream of something more.
bc9021010001 6 months ago 2
Here we go again -- an honest critical discussion of this performance where audience members dare to talk about his lack of singing chops, ludicrous fake vibrato, egregious hammy indicating instead of good acting -- interrupted by a shill under various screen names claiming that to openly express such honest opinions is blasphemy, hate speech, personally insulting to God & country, blah, blah, blah. I'll say something nice then: he's kinda chimpmunky, visually & vocally, so old ladies like him.
bjocelot 7 months ago 6
A shallow vibrato-like effect is a very odd aesthetic choice. It does not inform a song or a character, demonstrate profundity, inspire. It is an affectation, probably intended to fool the audience into thinking the performer can sing when he really cannot. Amateur, amateur, amateur. Most high school performers these days sing better, express more, and move audiences better than this guy.
funboy7979 7 months ago 5
@funboy7979 We accept a shallow vibrato-like effect from some folk singers because their amateurishness is an intrinsic part of their persona. Broadway performers know better, and should not pretend otherwise. It's like he's doing a bad parody of Buffy St. Marie:
youtube (dot) com/watch?v=ogLXRyOacck
bc9021010001 7 months ago 5
@bc9021010001 Omg Buffy St. Marie. She can be forgiven, she's a classic and a natural. Plus she's charming and sincere. Broadway product of acting and voice coaches, not so much.
funboy7979 7 months ago 6
@funboy7979 "Careful -- deranged troll afoot;"
Worst I've ever seen on YouTube. Does not understand the interactive nature of YouTube at all. Thinks it's her personal marketing tool -- so must be from "The The-uh-tuh" where anybody who questions the various dysfunctional Broadway hierarchies (like stating the obvious about this wretched performance) gets stalked and fucked with endlessly by bottom feeding moronic minions and errand girls.
bumpyjjeans 6 months ago 6
@bumpyjjeans "Careful -- deranged troll afoot;"
"Worst I've ever seen on YouTube. Does not understand the interactive nature of YouTube at all. Thinks it's her personal marketing tool ..."
Broadway publicists -- a few are decent. But the milieu attracts the lowest kind of parasitical sleaze. YouTube glitters --- it is free money to them. They think it's one more place to get money for nothing. To them Broadway is just another commodity to hawk.
funboy7979 6 months ago 5
@funboy7979 "... comparing the mess in this video unfavorably to any other superior performer as you have done will get her stalking you, studying your YouTube history, leaving spam attacks on any video where you've posted a comment."
Any other actor who has done this role has been far superior, from Dean Jones, to Boyd Gaines, to John Barrowman, Adrian Lester, Julian Ovenden, Neal Patrick Harris. They all brought something marvelous -- this guy brings an oppressive exhibitionism. Yawn.
bumpyjjeans 6 months ago 7
@bumpyjjeans Haha. You're inviting the psycho YouTube troll to stalk you. Let me join you then: even most of the kids in the college production videos of this number are better than this guy. He seems like a nice guy -- even has said he often chews up the scenery. That begs the question -- if you're aware of it then why do it? Bad acting can be saved by wonderful singing & vice versa. But this guy strikes out on both counts, and does not seem to care. That is what is called arrogance.
joh9ny 6 months ago 3
This has been flagged as spam show
@bumpyjjeans "... comparing the mess in this video unfavorably to any other superior performer as you have done will get her stalking you, studying your YouTube history, leaving spam attacks on any video where you've posted a comment."
You see, his career is so fragile and Broadway goons so aware their product sucks, any mention that this guy is tedious, shallow, not great, amateur-level gets them on the warpath.
freestuffffff 6 months ago 5
This has been flagged as spam show
@bc9021010001 "We accept a shallow vibrato-like effect from some folk singers because their amateurishness is an intrinsic part of their persona. ... It's like he's doing a bad parody of Buffy St. Marie."
Buffy St. Marie with adenoids and pneumonia plus cloying narcissism.
bjocelot 6 months ago 2
@funboy7979 "A shallow vibrato-like effect is a very odd aesthetic choice. It does not inform a song or a character, demonstrate profundity, inspire."
Yup -- people force a vibrato-like quiver when they want to sound like a singer when they are not a singer. It is a cheesy affectation, and invites laughter every time he opens his mouth to sing. Combine that with an exhibition of a fantasy of deep emotion and you have a truly cringe-worthy performer. He should really step back and assess.
bjocelot 7 months ago 5
Yup, leave a comment critical of this guy's awful singing voice, old-fashioned bad acting, incredible arrogance and you get harassed and stalked by the junk yard dog of a resident troll who haunts this video. This is what it takes apparently to keep the public fooled into thinking this mediocrity and amateurish posing is the best Broadway can aspire to.
funboy7979 7 months ago 6
@funboy7979 harrased? All I said was that I disagree with ya'll. And how do you figure he's arrogant?
InspectorKaramazov 7 months ago
@InspectorKaramazov Oh, so now it's all about you? Do I know you?
funboy7979 7 months ago
@funboy7979 Yes, I'm the one whose feelings that no one gives a shit about, as one of you so poetically put it a few pages back. :)
Really, I don't see any harrassing being done, only the same three posters agressively asserting how much they hate this performance and insulting anyone who disagrees with your negativity.
I don't know why I'm bothering having this conversation.
InspectorKaramazov 7 months ago
@InspectorKaramazov "I'm the one whose feelings that no one gives a shit about, as one of you so poetically put it a few pages back."
We are trying to have a serious discussion here, and you interrupted to talk about your hurt feelings and to give people permission to express an opinion. This discussion is not about you, your feelings, your cat, your diet, or anything else about you personally, and nobody asked for your permission to express an opinion. Got it now?
bc9021010001 7 months ago
@funboy7979 Haha. She's gonna dog you to death now until you type over & over that this mess in the video is " just really really great." Broadway truly is the sleaziest, most tedious, least interesting collection of fools in show business. This is why they keep importing British shows & actors. American theater is all about politics -- sexual, economic, cultural, etc. This is why instead of talented stars we get fabricated nonentities acting like actors -- like this charisma black hole.
bc9021010001 7 months ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
...I'm a troll? And a publicist? And a groupie? And a shill?
lol, thanks for informing me.
InspectorKaramazov 7 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Now he will use walterglanz or zoooooooooopertrooooooooper or funboy for his response. He likes to mix it up, thinking people won't notice the same tone in all of his comments (He says more or less the same thing everytime).
walterglanz=funboy=bumpyjjenas=bjocelot=zoooooperdoooooooooper=BC9000etc=jupiterdingo=speeHIPOCRASY there are more but I can't remember them right now
415jln 7 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Another example of people who discovered the troll:
taboos.com/sexual-taboo/draw-the-lines-on-pornography-ravi-zacharias
I actually had forgotten about some of his names, like zoooooooooopershit and spellhipocrasy!!
415jln 7 months ago