Comments on: Favorite Actress in a Musical

By: CR

CR — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:42:42 +0000

I LOVE TRACY LYNN OLIVERA. and i get so mad when she isnt in a leading role. she is phenomenal in everything she does. what a lady.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:35:31 +0000

Jesse Ball is outstanding. She does it all at the highest level of performance.

By: AD

AD — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:41:34 +0000

I love Tracy Lynn Olivera, she is so talented and so nice when i met her!

By: Marie

Marie — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:02:35 +0000

you go jess!!

By: anonymous too!

anonymous too! — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:44:05 +0000

Isn’t funny that Tracy Lynn Olivera has 137 votes, but the play she was in, Merryly We Roll Along @ Signature has only recieved 31. The audience really loved the actress not the play.

By: DON

DON — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:59:29 +0000

Brava! to all the talented women nominated for this honor, If I have to single out one individual’s superb performance, it would be, Miss Jessica Lauren Ball. She is one of the finest young actresses in our area, she impress with strong acting & dancing abilities, & her lovely clear soprano voice. She is briliant in dramatic, comedic & romantic scenes…The IT! factor what is hard to describe, well, Miss Ball abundantly possess’ I can hardly wait to see what does does next! Good luck to her and all the other local talented ladies.

By: cheryl

cheryl — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:25:12 +0000

Give me a break Sam- You don’t think that Merrily had any problems!!! For starters from where I was sitting you couldn’t hear half the show!

By: Natascia Diaz

Natascia Diaz — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 04:51:07 +0000

OK, I am writing to officially laugh at the fervent yet hilarious posts of my local posse….silly….hey listen, I’m just glad I got Peter Marks on my side…:)..seriously….we all know how difficult THAT is…and I am thrilled and flabbergasted by the audience and critical response to ROOMS. Um, btw I personally think Ms. Tracy was ROBBED of a Helen Hayes for MERRILY, which I saw. Oh my…..I fear the credibility of these “awards” is slipping with every post and every “vote”, including mine. LOL. But it’s fun anyway! Come see ROOMS! x, Natascia

By: anonymous

anonymous — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 03:21:09 +0000

Rude, phantom poster! well bully for you and your icky post. no one is denying the talent, but excuse me, but i believe anyone can post here, last time I checked. you could be tracy’s agent for all we know, or care. i mean, what if no friends and family were allowed to vote here?? how would the votes look THEN? eh? gimme a break. JUST SAYIN. BOO, ANONYMOUS. BOO.

that being said

GO LOCAL TALENT all the way!

By: anonymous

anonymous — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:20:05 +0000

Its interesting that “AN” are also the initials of Natascia Diaz’s boyfried…”just sayin”

Ms. Diaz is wonderful, but its Ms. Olivera that I am always delighted to see and who constantly wins me over in every performance she gives. She is a showstopping force of nature and at cant wait to see more of her.

By: lorraine treanor

lorraine treanor — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:13:43 +0000

I have been waiting to throw my 2 cents in here, and Sam has given me the perfect lead-in.

I created the Audience Choice Awards last year. If you remember, the categories all called for ‘Best (award title)’. But since January I’ve been thinking of the question we posed to everyone – (in the face of rising ticket and gas prices and declining attendance), – what is there about the live performance that keeps us coming back.

While we had a vigorous discussion of what was wrong and what theatres should do about it, we all lacked specifics when struggling with that intangible – what do these plays and performances mean to us. The best answer I’ve been able to come up with is that no book or movie or anything else touches my emotional life in the same way that a play does.

I don’t mean to re-open that discussion, but it underlies why I changed the tile to ‘Favorite (category)’.

We leave the tough judging and number crunching to the Helen Hayes Awards and it’s ‘Most Outstanding’ categories.

Yes – this is where audiences make the final choices. I am hoping you will vote based on which plays and performances most deeply moved you to tears or laughter. Which meant the most to you. And which were so good you are willing to fight for them.

By: Composeyourself

Composeyourself — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:04:00 +0000

It’s nice to see Ms. Olivera receive such acclaim. She’s an area local with talent. Sure, Chita is a bit of a legend, but it’s good for the community to put your support behind one of our own. Plus, she deserves the accolades. Just one person’s opinion.

By: AN

AN — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:31:40 +0000

The majority of critics who have nominated all these fine performers here have all put the scintillating Ms. Diaz at the top of thier list. Just look how they chose. Again, there is a reason for this. I’m just sayin. None of them, besides the great Ms. Rivera, were carried around the stage. ROOMS, and it’s riveting performances needs an audience that is difficult to wrangle in the dead of summer. And I agree about the inconsiderate blocking on VISIT.

By: Sam

Sam — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:19:07 +0000

I love seeing a local actress leading in these polls, and especially Tracy. Signature rarely utilizes Tracy’s tremendous talents, so it was nice to finally see her in a leading role in Merrily where she acted and sang her heart out. Every time they bring in a Broadway star or legend, everyone here in the DC area goes gaga over them for just “being on the Signature or Arena, or Studio…stage.” And, most of the time, the critics and people in theatre blogs are so star-struck, they they neglect to look at the production these stars are in. No one can deny that the production of The Visit looked great, but the show had problems, such as not a heck of a lot happened storywise, and the score was not what I would call “a classic” like Kander and Ebb’s other works, such as Cabaret. The NY Times wasn’t raving. When I went to see the show, I brought my entire family of 7 people, and we sat on the right side of the stage, and we couldn’t see some of the show because of the inconsiderate blocking. Didn’t anyone go out into the theatre and sit in all the areas to see if the paying audience members could see? Obviously, no one cared. I also loved Tracy’s performance, and she didn’t have two guys carrying her all around the stage. I bet if Chita was leading, John B would not be complaining. Hey, John B: call up all your friends and family and tell them to go in and vote for Ms. Rivera. The Helen Hayes Awards are a joke. These Audience Choice Awards are the only awards in town where actors and the theatre community, and we theatregoers have a say.

By: Also an Actor

Also an Actor — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:22:23 +0000

Haha, most of these ladies are good. But they’re just actors, doing their job. These accolades are so……over the top. Yes, they can sing, they can dance. Great. Let’s not go overboard.

By: John B

John B — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:09:54 +0000

Zzzzzz

By: JEN

JEN — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:22:43 +0000

Jessica Ball shines when she is on stage, all eyes are riveted to her, she is always a standout! Very impressive, superb coloratura with a wide vocal range. and her acting is so versatile. She can do it all, and do it spectacullarly!

By: AN

AN — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:13:38 +0000

Most of you have OBVIOUSLY not seen ROOMS. Go see it. There is a reason why Ms. Diaz’s performance has gotten STRAIGHT RAVES in every review. The most of any actress here. To see her tear through the emotional intensity, vocal, age, and character, and and with a PERFECT SCOTTISH accent to boot, creating a TOTAL character transformation, is staggering. and she’s not even DANCING in it! . she can TURNS IT OUT. Now THAT is what I call a powerhouse.

By: Leanne

Leanne — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:51:30 +0000

Chita was wonderful. But my vote goes to the brilliant Ms. Tracy Lynn Olivera. If you haven’t seen her (or Ms. Rivera) live on stage, you are missing something extraordinary.

By: Sandra

Sandra — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:50:14 +0000

Hands down the vote should go to Chita Rivera. Hands down.

By: Cheerleader

Cheerleader — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:21:30 +0000

“Lisa” didn’t win cheer captain, but she won our hearts!!! Vote Karissa Swanigan for DEBBIE! Yaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:26:57 +0000

Agreed about Miss Zampelli. And the whole cast of JS was fantastic as well. They all deserved nominations. But wait until justice is served at the real deal, the Helen Hayes.

By: DN

DN — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:08:30 +0000

And why isn’t Rachel Zampelli up for her star turn as Shawntell in Jery Springer the Opera? She brought down the house and brought great emotional depth to her character.

By: DN

DN — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:06:54 +0000

Agreed about Ms. Olivera. An incredible powerhouse performer. It is always a treat to watch her perform. Brava!

By: Tillie

Tillie — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:49:53 +0000

I think the absolutely Best NEW Actress in a Musical, is Jessica Ball, hands down. Her performances in Sound of Music and 1776, as well as her current role as Maria in West Side Story, in Baltimore, make her the most outstanding young woman to hit the Balto/DC musical theater scene in many years. The reviewers can’t help but rave. Plus she’s drop dead gorgeous! We’ll see her on Broadway very soon no doubt…

By: AN

AN — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:44:38 +0000

Natascia Diaz has displayed to DC audiences a power, depth and range in roles and performances that is staggering. Brava.

By: WB

WB — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:36:05 +0000

Tracy Lynn Olivera for her spectacular performance in Merrily We Roll Along at Signature Theatre. She is a wonderful performer with a voice anyone would kill to have. Ms. Olivera is one of a kind.

By: BJ Wolfe

BJ Wolfe — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:05:30 +0000

My favorite actress in a musical is Carolyn Agan, Man of La Mancha (Keegan Theatre). An actress that is hard to keep your eyes off of and with a fabulous vocal range. To my surprise, I can’t vote for her even in the audience choice awards so I am writing it here.