The single most incredible moment I have ever experienced in the theater was in the early 80s when I saw CATS in Boston. When Laurie Beechman stood up and sang that final verse of MEMORY, it was as if a jolt of electricity hit every audience member at the same time. Absolutely GOOSE-BUMP INDUCING!! In over 30 years of going to the theater, that moment has never been equaled or surpassed.
I know what you mean, that was my experience when I first heard "Memory" belted live in a theater. It's something I'll never forget. Do you have the same or similar experience listening to this clip?
My only exposure has been RUclips and the CDs and the video, first Griz I heard was Betty she was amazing, but then I saw the video with Elaine Paige and she was astounding, maybe it was I was finally seeing and hearing Memory in context but it was riveting, even though it wasn't live you could feel Grizabella's pain and sorrow and when she pleaded touch me, you want to touch her and show her some compassion.
OH...MY....GOD.....in more than 30 years, I have not been able to find the words to describe that moment, and reading your description nailed it on the head, especially the part about the moment never being equaled or surpassed. The one thing I remember when she hit that note, everything faded away around me except for her. I've never experienced that before or since. Thank you for giving words to it!!!
I was a kid when I saw Cats with mostly the OBC. I know the phrase “blew the lid off the place”. I was literally aghast by the power and emotional sense Laurie made of the role. It was like King Lear. She made it work, and made it feel like it was something that she was experiencing once in a lifetime. I remember not being able to process the fact that she did this eight times a week.
Some eerie stuff listening to her. Last school year I had a scholarship under her name at SUNY Oneonta which was funded by her husband Neil Mazzella who of which attended there.
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The single most incredible moment I have ever experienced in the theater was in the early 80s when I saw CATS in Boston. When Laurie Beechman stood up and sang that final verse of MEMORY, it was as if a jolt of electricity hit every audience member at the same time. Absolutely GOOSE-BUMP INDUCING!! In over 30 years of going to the theater, that moment has never been equaled or surpassed.
I know what you mean, that was my experience when I first heard "Memory" belted live in a theater. It's something I'll never forget. Do you have the same or similar experience listening to this clip?
My only exposure has been RUclips and the CDs and the video, first Griz I heard was Betty she was amazing, but then I saw the video with Elaine Paige and she was astounding, maybe it was I was finally seeing and hearing Memory in context but it was riveting, even though it wasn't live you could feel Grizabella's pain and sorrow and when she pleaded touch me, you want to touch her and show her some compassion.
OH...MY....GOD.....in more than 30 years, I have not been able to find the words to describe that moment, and reading your description nailed it on the head, especially the part about the moment never being equaled or surpassed. The one thing I remember when she hit that note, everything faded away around me except for her. I've never experienced that before or since. Thank you for giving words to it!!!
I was a kid when I saw Cats with mostly the OBC. I know the phrase “blew the lid off the place”. I was literally aghast by the power and emotional sense Laurie made of the role. It was like King Lear. She made it work, and made it feel like it was something that she was experiencing once in a lifetime. I remember not being able to process the fact that she did this eight times a week.
I bet she would have made a great Norma Desmond =-(
She has a special singing timbre and good acting through her voice for Grizabella. Truly sad to know that she isn't alive anymore.
Some eerie stuff listening to her. Last school year I had a scholarship under her name at SUNY Oneonta which was funded by her husband Neil Mazzella who of which attended there.
She would have made an awesome Donna in Mamma Mia or Lucy in Jekyll and Hyde