BROADWAY's next big things who weren't

Well, she did manage to win a Tony for Best Lead Actress in a Play.

Was Skeet Ulrich ever on Broadway?

Ariinda had this weird buzz probably generated by an agent that she would be a huge star.

Women like that don't really become stars anymore accept as a TV supporting player. Not sure why she never went the TV route.

Adam Guettel ("Light In The Piazza" composer)

Adam Lazar (who starred in "Light in the Piazza")

This should have more posts.

Melissa Errico

Umm, she is, r3. She's on an Amazon series, "Goliath" that's quite good.

Lisa Mordente was supposed to be "Liza" to Chita's "Judy"

Theresa Rebeck

I'm no great admirer of Rebeck, but despite the brouhaha surrounding her departure from Smash, she's had a highly successful career in TV over the years, writing and/or producing such shows as LA Law, Brooklyn Bridge, NYPD Blue, Gossip, Criminal Intent, the Russian version of Law & Order and many others. I'm sure many writers would love to have such financial success. Remarkable for such a second-rate playwright.

Lucy Simon

Jodi Benson

Dee Hoty

Wanda Richert

All those broadway gays

The entire cast of Rent

[quote]The entire cast of Rent

Jesse L. Martin has had a good career on TV, notably all those years on the original L&O. Not a superstar but solid work and has national recognition.

Helen Lawson.

Neely O'Hara. Lost it all on the booze and the dope.

Raul Esparza.

Lara Teeter.

Charles Repole.

Alice Playten.

And of course, Donna McKechnie.

Debbie Shapiro

Faith Prince

[quote]Adam Lazar (who starred in "Light in the Piazza")

Who?

Andrea MacCardle

Five years from now, Aaron Tveit.

According to William Goldman, Henry, Sweet Henry was partly intended to make a star out of someone called Robin Wilson, but instead her young co-star Alex Playten stole the show from everyone and was very hot for awhile See the youtube clip above. And among the girls backing up Playten in that clip are Baayork Lee, Priscilla Lopez and Pia Zadora.

[quote]The entire cast of Rent

Uh...excuse us?

I don't know why Nina Arianda didn't become a big star. She was supposed to be the next Meryl Streep. She was really good in Venus in Fur, Born Yesterday, and Fool for Love. Tall, leggy blonde.

For that matter, Saoirse Ronan barely made an impression in the showcase part in The Crucible (Abigail). I think that part is a trap. Abigail the evil, vengeful seductress in Act I, trying to re-seduce John Proctor, but then the character is virtually dropped. It's all chorus work after that, leading a group of girls in choreographed fits. There's no pay-off. Anyhow, Ronan had the one-two of "Brooklyn" and then "The Crucible" and now it seems pretty quiet for her.

And the simple but thrilling musical staging in that Playten clip was done by a young, barely known choreographer named Michael Bennett.

[quote]leading a group of girls in choreographed fits.

LOL

Saoirse Ronan is a well regarded film actress. She doesn't belong in this thread.

Um r8 thinks Amazon is TV

Kelly Garrett. Had the lead in Mack and Mabel but was fired because she couldn't act. Got rave reviews for her singing in Words and Music and The Night that Made America Famous netted her a Tony Nomination. Was a finalist for Evita but again was too weak an actress.

Jake Weber, anyone?

Kevin Cahoon?

Tracee Chimo?

[quote]Five years from now, Aaron Tveit.

Same for LMM, perhaps earlier, starting with the release of Mary Poppins II.

Erin Dilly, star of "Thoroughly Modern Millie."

Loved Arianda in Venus in Furs, but her face is a bit odd--great bod, but not a gorgeous face, so I suspect that gets in the way of her getting film work.

Frank Wildhorn

Linda Eder

Lindybop Mandarina

James Rado, Gerome Ragni and Galt MacDermot.

Good as it in some ways was, Hair was a dead end, not some new beginning as was constantly proclaimed at the time.

Every actress to play Tracy Turnblad.

[R19] I probably would not include Raul Esparza on this list -- he's been in 8-9 Broadway shows between 2000 and 2012, including commercial and critical hits. He has four Tony nominations. He really was the next big thing for a while.

He supposedly fled to TV after the disappointment of his last show, but even if he never returns to Broadway, he's had a good run that most would be lucky to achieve.

Does Michael Maguire belong on this list? Yeah, there were mitigating circumstances behind why his career never went any further, but all else being equal he should have had a decent career as a leading man - square-jawed handsomeness, great voice, Tony, etc.

Brian Backer : Backer won the 1981 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, and the Theatre World Award for Woody Allen's The Floating Light Bulb, in which he portrayed an Allen-like protagonist.

NPH's husband.

Brian Backer is such a weird case. He's made something like five films since Fast Times.

Bonnie Franklin, Tony nominated and then never did another show on Broadway, even after her tv series ended.

I think Bonnie Franklin replaced Kathy Bates in the original Off-Broadway run of Frankie and Johnnie after One Day at a Time ended. And although I think the TV show started years after Applause, the boost she got from the musical no doubt helped her get on Norman Lear's radar. He always hired stage actors, many of whom (Bea Arthur, Jean Stapleton) were mostly known for musicals.

Franklin also did the infamous "The Tonys are all in my head" hosting gig, and didn't she do Gypsy in summer stock or a dinner theatre or something? I don't mean the Tovah Feldshuh production, I'm sure Bonnie did it somewhere. She may never have hit the heights of Applause and One Day at a Time again after they were done, but I don't think getting a TV series at least in part because of your Broadway notoriety is what the OP was going for in his query.

What I wouldn't have given to see this: Bonnie Franklin as Martha in WAOVW.

Aaron Tveit will not be a movie star, but he's great on stage and fine on Television. Very talented and gorgeous in person.

Brent Carver ("Parade"; Tony-winner for "Kiss of the Spider Woman")

Jeremy Jordan - got lots of PR for "Newsies", but seems like he was 2 or 3 seasons ago. Also, was outsung by another male in "Bonnie and Clyde".

Nina Arianda had a good supporting role in "Florence Foster Jenkins" as the blonde who talks back to the crowd (which never happened in real life) at the Carnegie Hall concert.

Debbie Shapiro Gravitte - great voice, should have been in more shows over the years'

Howard McGillin - worked quite a bit, but never became box-office

John Lloyd Young.

Like many overnight Broadway stars he became far too picky choosing his next role and the next role never materialized. I think he's a painter now in LA.

r53, I was just going to post about JLY. (He's a supper-club singer in LA and NYC; I'm seeing him next month.)

THREAD CLOSED, PEOPLE.

John Lloyd Young did get to do the film of "Jersey Boys" though I didn't think his acting was particularly good in it. The other guys came off better, though it Eastwood directed it more like a drama with music than a true musical. I don't think Young has done much in the way of other shows though.

I was a waiter at the Tony Award nominees luncheon the year Nina Arianda was nominated. This is an annual and very quiet affair and no press is invited. The nominees can't even bring a guest. It's just for them.

Before the luncheon started they gathered all the nominees on rows of seats to have a "class photo" taken for the records. At the last minute, after everyone had been seated and waiting, Nina burst in late and seats were moved so she could be down front center.

She did not make a good impression on her peers. Or me.

That awful Jersey Boys film probably did more damage than good to JLY's career.

Robert cuccioli

Cuccioli directs and does some regionals, but I don't recall him really getting such a big press build-up even when he played the lead in "Jeckyl and Hydge". Good performer though.

Hyde

Part of it is also wanting it. A petty subculture and low pay are just simply not worth it to some people.

Susan Egan

(I remember meeting some guy on a plane who was her agent or manager. He kept going on how she had a series sitcom deal like she was the next Seinfeld or something.)

I was going to say Faith Prince, too. I liked her.

Prince was over-rated as Adelaide, but really good as Anna in "The King and I". Go figure.

Randy Becker (big in many ways)

Why didn't Lucie Arnaz work more on Broadway? She moved to NYC years ago and did quite well in every show in which she appeared. It's just that she didn't have all that many shows. I know she didn't have to work and preferred being there for her family. Was that it? Is that the reason? She has a great voice and stage presence too.

R49 "Hold me, Nick -- I'm scared!"

That fat girl from Smash. With the 3D mole.

John Lloyd Young's career peaked when he played one of the Aca-Fellas on "Glee."

I would have loved to see Patty Duke back on Broadway as an adult. Great actress. The public would have loved her in the role as the mother, Violet, in August: Osage County.

Lucie Arnaz had/probably still has a vibrato/tremolo that sounds like she is stuck in an earthquake.

Ah yes, Randy Becker's pecker. Great smooth bod with a lovely dark bush. He did the film of "Love! Valour! Compassion!", too. I think he's in the non-performing side of show biz now.

Patty Duke did return to Broadway replacing Andrea Martin in the last revival of Oklahoma.

Before the sitcom after which I could never stand her again I saw Franklin in Carousel at Jones Beach with Cullum and Towers.

A very great spectacular production unlike anything that will be seen again.

When that built to scale revolving carousel spun into view on a revolving stage(it was revolving on a revolving turntable so it was a double whammy) from the midst of the tree covered New England hills just as the moody prelude burst into the waltz I couldn't believe my eyes.

Lea Salonga

Sammy Williams

Jennifer Holliday

When Patty Duke did return to Broadway replacing Andrea Martin in the last revival of Oklahoma did the public love her?

Lucie Arnaz owns this thread. After her big hit, They're Playing our Song, she made The Jazz Singer remake with Neil Diamond and Olivier which bombed but she met and married Larry Luckinbill and started having kids right away. Couldn't do the London production of Our Song because she was pregnant. Lost out to Bernie Peters for The Goodbye Girl but replaced in Lost in Yonkers and was great. Did some tours and came back to broadway about 10 yrs ago as a replacement in a musical but she mostly does her club act and spends time with her family. I've met her and she's lovely.

Did Lorna Luft ever do Broadway?

Patti Cohenour

[quote]Prince was over-rated as Adelaide, but really good as Anna in "The King and I".

No, no she wasn't. She played Anna like a wisecracking 1940s dame. Not one ounce of British propriety. There were big pauses where she thought she was going to get a laugh and didn't. The audience was stunned into silence.

She started out as an excellent Adelaide, but as time went on, she started believing her own press and she got broader and broader with the character until it was so cartoonish and over the top that you wondered how Nathan Lane didn't pull out a hatpin and stick it in her to pop her inflated ego.

I say this, but I really like Faith Prince. I've followed her career since the original cast of Falsettoland. I think she's a great musical comedy actress, but needs good material and a good director.

John Lloyd Young also starred in an attempt at doing a gay My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It was called Oy Vey, My Son Is Gay. I haven't seen it but it had a theme song sung by Lulu.

r11, Theresa Rebeck isn't second-rate--she's third-rate, at her best.

Nina Arianda is indeed something of a cunt. She thinks she's entitled to have plays rewritten for her specifications.

Philip Casnoff. That is all.

R76. I worked with Lucie Arnaz on one her shows performing on the road with a symphony. She is gorgeous, talented, has a great voice, funny, personable, polite, professional...and yes, she is lovely.

I wish she worked more on the stage and in concert. She's very talented and one of the best good ol' Broadway broads.

Great thread, OP.

Michael Maguire went to law school about 9 years ago and now practices family law in LA.

My suggestions:

Patina Miller

Aaron Tveit

Euan Morton

Katie Finneran

Orfeh

Spencer Kayden

Veanne Cox

Bobby Steggart

Does Will Swenson own this category?

Everyone swooned over him in the HAIR revival in 2008-2009.

And then there was everything else he did...

Dan Fogler

Roger Bart

Jarrod Emick

Emily Skinner

Joanna Gleason (sorry, but it's true... I don't care how much film/TV she's done. She will never be a star.)

In the recent book on Sue Mengers they said that Mengers convinced Lucie Arnaz to turn down the mom role in Poltergeist and do some comedy. The comedy bombed and the traction Arnaz had from The Jazz Singer died down.

Sue Mengers gave her clients/friends a LOT of bad advice over the years.

Lorna Luft replaced the lead in the original Promises Promises. That is her only Broadway musical credit.

She did Extremeties and Snoopy off Broadway.

She always talks about (and it is in her bio) how she auditioned for the Grizabella in Cats and it went so well that she thought she had it but they never called. (her version, so who knows.)

I always wondered why if they liked her so much they didn't use her as a replacement.

Davis Gaines Christian Borle (after Chaz Chocz Facz opens) Nick Adams Rebecca Luker Faith Prince (as noted) OBC of Hamilton, they're already done

The entire cast of BARE: A Pop Opera, except Michael Arden was smart enough to turn a failed acting career into a directing career.

[R83]. I wouldn't put Patina Miller on this list quite yet -- she hasn't been around long enough to be written off so soon. And she's a semi-recent Tony winner.

She's off doing what every young Broadway hopeful does for a few years -- try to make some real money on TV or in movies. Miller had a small part in those Hunger Games movies, and was recently in some CBS drama. I think it's likely she will be back on stage sooner rather than later.

[quote]For that matter, Saoirse Ronan barely made an impression in the showcase part in The Crucible (Abigail). I think that part is a trap.

Well, I don't know about it being a trap, but the fact that she gave a truly rotten, one-note, YELL-all-my-lines performance helped very little.

Patti L. sort of fits here.

She thought Evita would make her the next Streisand.

but it didn't happen.

[quote] And among the girls backing up Playten in that clip are Baayork Lee, Priscilla Lopez and Pia Zadora.

They truly lit up the sky... all three of them!

In that clip from "Henry, Sweet Henry," it's hilarious to compare Baayork lee and Pia Zadora. Lee (the dance captain) is doing everything she's supposed to do and is superfocused; Zadora (in the black braids and blue coat) keeps mugging and trying to steal focus form Alice Playten.

Raul Esparza is Charlie Nobody in the larger scheme of things.

Recurring roles on "Hannibal," and starring in flops like "Faith Healer," do not equate to fame. 99 out of 100 people would not recognize the name nor the face.

Colleen Dunn, beautiful chorus girl cum star when she replaced the lead in Contact. Then a failed turn in a failed Annie in the nineties. Then little else (she had health problems but I don't know if that was a factor).

Randall Edwards. Had a juicy part in Legs Diamond, moved to LA, got to play Julia Duffy's infamous frenemy "Libby" (who was mostly referenced during the first seasons until they decided to materialize her towards the end - big mistake), then was never heard from again.

Peter Ermidis played Tommy in Broadway. That was it, wasn't it? (Did he maybe die?)

You wanna see talent? Here ya go. Lucie Arnaz is the best of Broadway.

Lucie's Birthday Bash at Birdland with Michelle Lee. Fabulous.

"Nobody Does It Like Me"

Karen Ziemba and her teeny tiny titties

Years ago I saw Lucie in a one-woman show in Hartford, CT. I didn't know what to expect, thinking of her as just Lucy's daughter.

The show was quite good, I left being impressed with the performance. Like others, I wish I had seen her in a real role, however, she's made a number of decisions over the decades that have kept her off stage.

Perhaps she just didn't have the drive to be in the spotlight, but preferred family life with Larry and the children.

The problem with this thread is that it assumes that there as "big things" on Broadway anymore. There just aren't. Unfortunately, a lot of the people mentioned didn't fail on Broadway, they walked away from Broadway. Let's face it, if Lara Teeter was still around, what would he be doing?

Heather Headley

There are only three people on my must-see-everything-they-do-on-Bway list:

LuPone, Chenoweth, McDonald

They never disappoint

R103 Lara Teeter moved to St. Louis, raised a family and teaches musical theatre at the university..might be Webster. . He has done several shows at the Muny. His daughter Lara is an actress.

Kay Cole Christine Andreas Sally Mayes

So what was the deal with Mengers? People flocked to her but everything you read about her makes her out to be a nightmare.

100% macktruck hutzpah without a drop of caring or kindness except for the people who could make her a ton of money.

Then she died and it was no loss to anybody.

Phillip Casnoff was so hot in CHESS. I was in love.

Raul is a regular lead on a current network show seen by millions per week. He does not belong on this thread.

Ashley Brown does belong. Big hype by someone at Disney coming out of school and played Mary Poppins off and on for several years. Relegated to playing the Mother Abbess on the last Sound of Music tour.

Poor Alice Playten. In that clip, Ed Sullivan asks "Who are you?" His staff should have told him she was Bet in Oliver and Ermengarde in Hello Dolly.

Saw Jarrod Emick last summer in PRISCILLA, and was shocked at how bad he looked.

[r50] Saw Tveit recently in the audience of a VERY small off-Broadway theatre and, sorry to disappoint, he looked like shit. He looked drawn and considerably older than his 33 years. Even sadder, he was aiming for that "young hipster" vibe -- wool cap pulled over his head, day-growth of stubble, and that kiss-of-death for anyone over the age of 16 -- converse high tops. Instead of looking young, handsome and fashion-forward he looked kind of desperate to seem young and relevant.

Daisy Eagan

Jennifer Holliday is the prime example

Remember how Spring Awakening changed theatre forever?

Remember how Book of Mormon and The Producers changed theatre forever?

I'll tell you what changed theatre forever. Movie stars doing limited 3-4 month runs and Disney.

When I get asked this question, I always think of Judy Blazer, so talented, great voice, striking looking on stage and had the star quality to make it, but just never got the right part. That's show biz...

r85 - Dan Fogler played Jacob Kowalski in the film FANTASTIC BEASTS, AND WHERE TO FIND THEM, a five-part film series. It grossed $813 million worldwide, making it the eighth highest-grossing film of 2016.

Two Act 1 "Little Edies" from GREY GARDENS: Sara Gettelfinger & Erin Davie.

URBAN COWBOY (and GREYT GARDENS) alum Matt Cavenaugh left the business a few years ago and is either working for his dad back in Arkansas or in law school. By all reports he is very happy and has no regrets.

Fogler has lots of family money (and an undeserved Tony) . He couldn't give a shit about Broadway now.,

[R96] and [R93] I think you misunderstood the point of this thread -- it's not about theater stars that failed to find lasting fame beyond the NY stage. It is about performers who made a splash on Broadway, but didn't ultimately become enduring Broadway stars.

Patti LuPone is just about the biggest Broadway star there is, and Raul Esparza, while not the biggest star around, had an extremely successful 10+ year run on Broadway stages. Neither belongs on this list.

God Bennett was good even in simple stuff like that. Very nice.

I remember getting the obc of Promises as a boy so I had it pretty well memorized. When I finally saw the show a couple of years later I already knew how sensational Turkey Lurkey was because I had seen it on Ed Sullivan. What I didn't know was that A Fact Can Be A Beautiful Thing turned into a sensational dance number after the singing ends and in the musical break of Where Can You Take a Girl the frumpy middle aged executives did a funny jerky dance movement to get from one side of the stage to the others which had the audiences in stiches. What an entertaining show that was.

It's why I can't watch the flat footed unfunny choreography of people like Stroman and Marshall who have to try too hard.

Outside of the fiasco that was [italic]Annie[/italic] 1997, how much Broadway did Nell Carter actually do after [italic]Gimme A Break![/italic] went off the air?

R118, Gettlelfinger is/was in jail up until a few months ago.

Bennett did wonderful staging and choreography. Why was his dancing so completely forgettable in a show about dance, ACL? Music and the Mirror is one of the worst dance numbers in Broadway history. It goes on and on with no point at all and ends with Cassie flapping her arms. Now the overall staging is quite brilliant but he couldn't put the steps into it.

R106, I know that. It was my point. He walked away from Broadway.

R123 = Jeffrey Hornaday

r118: I saw that. But she returned to Kentucky to teach acting when she was arrested for theft.

Another one - Cady Huffman. She has done only minor stage work since her Tony-winning turn in THE PRODUCERS.

Would Jane Krakowski be a candidate for this?

Does C-list actor belong on this list? Just checking.

Does Randy Graff fall into this category? Made a big splash as Fantine in Les Miz; continued success in City of Angels. Still kept working on Broadway in some high profile shows, but never really broke into the A-list.

Kerry Ellis. She is best known for Wicked, teamed up with Brian May to do Broadway rock stuff then auditioned for The Voice a few years back but none of the judges chose her. She has an amazing voice and is probably well regarded in musical theatre but didn't quite manage to break into mainstream.

Read the subject title, R130. No West End floozies accepted here.

[R129] I guess Randy Graff fits, but at the time, there was much more buzz around Frances Ruffelle than there was for Graff. There was also a lot of talk about Ms. LuPone not appearing as Fantine on Broadway after having performed the role in London.

Has anyone mentioned Karen Mason? She was Norma Desmond when Betty Buckley went on vacation. The next time I saw her, she was singing a Christmas song in Macy's perfume department and forgetting the lyrics.

SHE DID NOT FORGET THELYRI cs! they were alternate lyrisc that she was sang, and she did it with class a nd aplum.

Arguably...

post-GLEE Matthew Morrison

So wonderful in PIAZZA and SOUTH PACIFIC, but nowhere else.

[quote]So wonderful in PIAZZA and SOUTH PACIFIC, but nowhere else.

Hardly wonderful in South Pacific. I found him okay if bland, and hardly the sort of voice to do justice to Younger Than Springtime. Boy-band quality, at best.

I dunno. Morrison sold a lot of tickets to Finding Neverland. He kept it afloat. I think that's kind of the definition of being a star. Now whether he can do that now...?

Not enough tickets, R137.

NEVERLAND ran for a while, but it closed at a loss for Harvey Weinstein and the Bway investors.

Matthew Morrison also successfully transformed into "daddy mode" for Finding Neverland. So at least his hot factor rose even if his star quality did not.

[quote] Saoirse Ronan barely made an impression in the showcase part in The Crucible (Abigail).

Agreed, she was at sea in that ridiculous production. And she did indeed shout all of her lines, but I think that's because she couldn't project her voice onstage, and someone told her (correctly) that she wouldn't be heard if she didn't shout. I think she had better stick to film and TV.

[quote]Does Michael Maguire belong on this list? Yeah, there were mitigating circumstances behind why his career never went any further, but all else being equal he should have had a decent career as a leading man - square-jawed handsomeness, great voice, Tony, etc.

But all things weren't equal, and there were very specific extenuating (not "mitigating") circumstances as to why his career stopped dead in its tracks. Why did you bother to ask a question and then answer it yourself? The people who REALLY don't belong on this list are people like Bonnie Franklin, who started on Broadway and then achieved great, long-term success in TV or film, which is obviously why she didn't become Broadway's next big thing. Sure, she absolutely could have come back to Broadway after her TV show ended, but I guess she didn't want to.

[quote]Lucie Arnaz had/probably still has a vibrato/tremolo that sounds like she is stuck in an earthquake.

Nice try, but you obviously know nothing about singing. If anything Lucie Arnaz has LESS of a "vibrato/tremolo" than most singers. Her singing has more of a straight-tone quality.

[quote]Raul is a regular lead on a current network show seen by millions per week. He does not belong on this thread.

Thank you.

[quote]Hardly wonderful in South Pacific. I found him okay if bland, and hardly the sort of voice to do justice to Younger Than Springtime. Boy-band quality, at best.

And Morrison was only okay, kind of miscast, in PIAZZA. But Bartlett Sher worships him, so there you go.

Randall Edwards actually got her start as Ilene Kristen's replacement on Ryans Hope. She married Roscoe Borne, divorced and is now a therapist.

But back to the thread, Cheyenne Jackson should also be here.

Kerry Butler.

r116 - Fuck off Benay, I need the softness!

[quote]And Morrison was only okay, kind of miscast, in PIAZZA.

Agreed. I mentioned South Pacific because he bothered me more there, since I was familiar with the material already. But yes: the "Italian" Morrison was cringeworthy at times.

I think Matthew Morrison won't disappear--he fills a niche--baritenor--can act and dance as well. Well-known enough to headline.

[QUOTE]I think Matthew Morrison won't disappear--he fills a niche--baritenor--can act and dance as well. Well-known enough to headline.

He has a nice cock and a hairy chest, too.

[quote]I think Matthew Morrison won't disappear--he fills a niche--baritenor--can act and dance as well. Well-known enough to headline.

Yeah, well, he himself is always the first to tell everyone that he's a "triple threat." I think Morrison is more of a tenor than a baritenor, and anyway, there are lots of both types, so I don't think he fills any niche in that way. I agree with you that he probably won't disappear, because of his TV fame, but there are lots of other guys who deserved his career more than he did -- or, at least, most of his stage roles, including SP and PIAZZA.

I love and know Jeremy Jordan. He has some greatness in that inconsistent voice and a real love of old shit that old queens love. He's funny and very cute. Matthew Morrison is nothing special but he is fine in a secondary role - like in Hairspray. Morrison would prefer another TV role. Baritenor is not a real thing. Brian Stokes Mitchell is a baritone. Morrison is a weak tenor.

I now love Lucie, thanks R100!

Hey, if people can say Patti LuPone fits this category, then I'll say Sutton Foster.

I'll never forget Tony performance of the "Anything Goes" revival, where she got winded mid-performance and just stood there grinning as the chorus worked their butts off.

Patti Cohenour is currently in the ensemble of War Paint and is standby for Ebersole. Her big break should have been playing Christine when Phantom opened on bway but we all know what happened there and she was cast as alternate Christine instead. Christine Andreas should have had a bigger career but she has a special needs child and he needed her when he was younger so doing 8 shows a week was rough. She stood by for Teresa Stratas in Rags and even opened the show in Boston when Stratas was ill (side note: the producers flew Lucie Arnaz to Boston to see the show in case Stratas was using illness as an excuse to quit). If someone gives up pursuing a career on Broadway it isn't always their decision but I doubt any of them have regrets. Instead, ask the people who put their careers and 8 shows a week before their families. I'm sure there's much more regret going on there.

Ilene Graff, from OBC Sandy to singing on cruise ships!

You mean from Sandy to the National Tour of "Promises, Promises!" And then to cruise ships.

Tovah Feldshuh. She was to be the next big star. She did leverage it to marry well. Without the rich husband, she would have had to move on from the business a long time ago. Instead, she does minor productions, yet lives like a fucking queen.

After years of only knowing Tovah as Danielle Melnick on L&O, I can't see her as anything but a hard-ass character. Can she sing well? I know she was Mama Rose in a Pennsylvania production of "Gypsy", but the notices weren't good/kind. Can she be funny?

I'm sure she has a presence on stage... she's definitely theater trained, but what sort of B'way "next big thing" was supposed to be years ago?

This is a sincere question...

r153 - TOVAH FELDSHUH!

Daniel Sunjata!

This thread is more fun than any Theatre Gossip thread of the last 10 years.

Maybe it's time for another The Most Hated People (onstage and off) on Broadway threads?

Tovah is great in a sporadic occurring role on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

I think we can add Tovah to the list of actors who married, had kids and put family first. I'm old enough to have seen her in Yentl and she was fantastic. That was followed by Holocaust which was one of the first tv mini-series and also gave Meryl a huge break. She doesn't have to work (obviously) which means she can go somewhere and play Mama Rose just because she wants to play Mama Rose. And, for the record, she gives a marvelous performance in a movie called Kissing Jessica Stein.

Cheyenne Jackson definitely belongs on this list. He went from being Broadway's favorite gay pin-up and a "role" model for gay marriage to a drugged-out, tattooed mess. Judging from the Cheyenne threads here he does attract a number of fan-frau stalkers who hiss his new cult-instructor husband (the old was was dumped soon after Cheyenne publicly proclaimed his eternal love) and coo over the seedy pair's inevitable adopted infants ('THE BAY-BUZZ will save poor Cheyenne!").

You're forgetting Ilene Graff's star turn in the sit-com Mr. Belvedere.

Why should Cheyenne's personal life (tattoos?) change what he didn't or couldn't become in the world of theater? Liza Minnelli got fucked by dogs, yes canines, in front of groups of people, yet remained a Broadway star far longer than her talent warranted. Cheyenne has been involved with some men and adopted some kids. Nothing shocking there.

He is a lightweight with once great legs and butch queen charm. Don't denigrate him because of his choice of life partners or recreation. What exactly was he poised to become in the theatre world? Fags are not the only whores and drug pigs on Broadway. Cheyenne is sexy, I fucked him a few times, but not as many as Taye Diggs.

[quote]Liza Minnelli got fucked by dogs, yes canines, in front of groups of people, yet remained a Broadway star far longer than her talent warranted.

I admittedly don't read the Liza threads, but...uh...wha...?!? Is this a real story?

I've never seen Cheyenne Jackson on Broadway -- I don't live in NY -- and the first time I saw him, he played a passenger on some quirky 9/11 movie. I didn't know who he was, but he had such incredible screen presence, I looked up who he was on imdb. I wonder why he didn't have more of a movie or tv career. He has the right look and presence.

To R157 I love Tovah. have met her several times and she's a ball of fire but itsy bitsy! She's thrilled about having a whole new fan base because of The Walking Dead. Young people ask for her autograph. She also likes to play match maker and is always on the lookout for a suitable girlfriend for her son, such a classic Jewish mom!

I saw Cheyenne in a Bway revival of FINIAN'S RAINBOW. The production was a bit lackluster but he was magnificent: great voice, great presence, great magnetism.

It's hard to believe he hasn't done more. He has a sexy, masculine presence that many other leading men lack.

Before Holocaust, Tovah was on an episode of Family starring Miss Sada Thompson. I think she was one of the many women on that series that fell in love with creepy Willie.

Julie Taymor, thank God.

Cheyenne's "magnificence" didn't translate to ticket sales. After FINIAN bombed, his star fell. Though he worked for quite a while in small roles afterwards, his place as Broadway's "It" boy was taken by Jonathan Groff.

Re: Tatoos. If you are a stage actor, getting your arms covered in tats is not considered a smart career move - it can limit the roles you can otherwise be a contender for. Body makeup only covers so much.

I find Cheyenne so bland. He seems to have everything going for him to be a big star. I just don't think he has that star pizzazz.

Andrea McArdle belongs here

Tovah also got a part on Ryans Hope as Kate Mulgrew's rival. It was no contest. Mulgrew was aggressive and in your face and Tovah was a total wimp. I have to say that she's not terribly attractive or charismatic. Believe it or not, she did a talk show on one of the cable networks with an equally bland male cohost. It lasted a few weeks before they replaced them with Richard Belzer who caught on very quickly.

I admit it, I'm a matchmaker!

r160 You fucked Taye or Taye fucked Cheyenne?

Tovah was a dreadful Jean Brodie in a bad production at Cornell directed by her untalented brother, David, ER Doctor and Theatre Ph.D.

Answer: I fucked them both. I spent more time with Jackson BUTT had better times with Taye.

Tovah Felsdhuh was the original Yentl!!

Tovah was incredible in Yentl...I heard that she was down to the wire for Evita along with Julie Budd. Gettlefinger weighs 181 lbs?- what a blimp. I will add Karen Akers to the list- once Tommy Tune stopped directing shows, she was never seen on Broadway again.

Does anybody remember Burke Moses? He was in a well-received revival of "Guys and Dolls" and was Gaston in "Beauty and the Beast." Then a few years ago he was in "Gigantic" a flop about a summer camp for fat kids. Then... where'd he go?

does Betty Lynn count?

[quote]Does anybody remember Burke Moses?

Sean Baxter on ATWT

Donna McKechnie

Terri White

Tovah received a lot of publicity for being the first actress to play Dolly GALLAGHER Levi with an Irish brogue.

I saw Yvonne de Carlo play Dolly with an Irish brogue in a 1968 road company. She was wonderful.

I saw Yvonne fuck up the lyrics to I'm Still Here- but she still was wonderful

At the height of Cheyenne's star fuckery he would have legendary semi-orgies at his apartment on the far West Side, Monte would allow it all, there were so many of the "almost" famous young Broadway guys. One night the whole place was ravishing a late in the run "Link Larkin" as Chey did lines and got ready for his "train." Whoa was he fun back then...

[quote]Re: Tatoos. If you are a stage actor, getting your arms covered in tats is not considered a smart career move - it can limit the roles you can otherwise be a contender for. Body makeup only covers so much.

Yeah, that's been SUCH a problem for Michael Cerveris.

Michael Berresse looked like he had a chance for awhile.

It's not polite to tell tales out of school, r183.

But come have a seat next to me.

[quote]Re: Tatoos. If you are a stage actor, getting your arms covered in tats is not considered a smart career move - it can limit the roles you can otherwise be a contender for. Body makeup only covers so much.

[quote]Yeah, that's been SUCH a problem for Michael Cerveris.

Don't be such a snot, r184. Cerveris has two small tats - his arms aren't "covered" in them. In fact, here's a video of him easily hiding them with makeup. Starts around 1:46.

Would Tonya Pinkins qualify?

Steven Pasquale has a huge tattoo of a spread eagle on his back. Is that why he doesn't do nude scenes?

r183 That Link must be CR

r174 I had figured Taye would be more fun -- and tighter !

Scott Elliot

David Cromer

Jason Moore

Joseph Kesselring

God, I remember seeing these commercials as a kid and wanting to see the show so badly.

OP here, thanks for the responses!

Jane Krakowski is well-known enough to be "starring" in tv commercials due to that Tina Fey show. She does not belong on the list.

Ann Crumb however, is a different story. She was given some great parts - the leads in Anna Karenina and Aspects Of Love.

Now back in the "Golden Age", there was a one woman who starred in one of THE iconic musicals.........and then did 4 flops before vanishing. I cannot recall who it was though - any idea?

Would Nanette Fabray count? She never seemed to get that absolutely iconic role that would've placed her among the Mermans and Martins in the eyes of the general theater-going public.

Ann Crumb was very talented. Perhaps the best Fantine I ever saw.

[quote]Yeah, that's been SUCH a problem for Michael Cerveris.

[quote]Don't be such a snot, [R184]. Cerveris has two small tats - his arms aren't "covered" in them. In fact, here's a video of him easily hiding them with makeup. Starts around 1:46.

It was a joke, R186 (but he does have more than two tats). In any case, I think we'll be seeing less of him on Broadway. He seems to be focusing on his music more and more these days.

eta: to go back to my original post, back in the late '90's, Michel Berresse seemed on track to be the next big thing, but after that Gershwin show built around him closed so fast, he's been doing mostly bit parts, and small tv and movie gigs. He;s obviously a great dancer and a really good actor. His Mickey in Normal Heart was excellent and he did so much with his Piazza character when there was so little on the page.

Looks like he's working on a career in directing now.

What Gershwin show was built around Michael Beresse??

Fascinatin' Rhythm. Also starring Patrick Wilson, Sara Ramirez and Orfeh.

From days gone by, Lisa Kirk from the original KISS ME KATE qualifies. I think her problem was one of timing, had she been born earlier, composers would have tailored roles for her.

Mr. B.

Chad Kimball probably belongs here, although he's had good notices for COME FLY AWAY. I read an interview with him once where he said THE FOUNTAINHEAD was his favourite book. Yikes.

Is he out of the closet or in these days. I'd get in his pants in a heartbeat, Ayn Rand or no.

Susan Johnson, r194? Starred in The Most Happy Fellow but her only Broadway credits after that were Oh Captain!, Whoop-Up and Donnybrook! She had a terrific voice.

If any of you boys mention my Dolores, I WILL KILL YOU!

Who was it who played Julie in the NT production of Carousel at Lincoln Center? I feel like she was supposed to be a bigger deal.

I don't remember who played Julie but a nearly unknown young Audra played Carrie to rave reviews. I guess she's the antithesis to this thread.

[quote]Who was it who played Julie in the NT production of Carousel at Lincoln Center?

Sally Murphy

R206 Sally Murphy

Thank you!

Melissa Errico was wonderful in Kurt Weill's One Touch of Venus at Encores. And Jay released a 2-CD albums with Melissa in the lead role plus all of Weill's music.

A couple of weeks ago I found the 78 rpm set at Salvation Army for a buck fifty. Both the album and records are in great condition and it had the booklet as well.

Kenny Baker? R 2-D2?

Let me expand my earlier post at r204:

[quote]Now back in the "Golden Age", there was a one woman who starred in one of THE iconic musicals.........and then did 4 flops before vanishing. I cannot recall who it was though - any idea?

Surely you are thinking of Susan Johnson, [R194]. After a handful of supporting roles, she starred in The Most Happy Fellow to rave reviews. Critics and audiences loved her terrific, big voice and her outsized personality in all her shows. But her only Broadway credits after that were Oh Captain!, Whoop-Up and Donnybrook! They had all been expected to be hits but flopped, Whoop-Up legendarily. (Whoop-Up has a camp, corny but great score; I love the OBCR).

And then she disappeared.

A Broadway question:

In this blog Matt Doyle discusses a big West End Show he was cast in that didn't come to NYC.

What was it?

Would those in the know comment on Sherie Renee Scott?

Was she ever considered the next big thing and where does she stand now?

And what about him?

What Ever Happened To Him?

Speaking of Most Happy Fella WEHT to Scott Waara who won a Tony for playing Herman in the 1990s revival (against all those guys in the Guys and Dolls revival) and then disappeared forever? He looked like a young but cuter Bill Clinton.

Justin Kirk

He played blind nude Bobby in Love! Valour! Compassion! and then did lots of TV. Is he still around?

Peggy Sawyer

That's one of the big differences between winning a Tony Award and an Academy Award. When you win an Oscar, you immediately become part of an elite group for life and you're an icon. Winning a Tony is nice, but are you iconized? Not so much.

Listen to all the African American performers who won the Tony and they'll say how it affected their careers. Not at all. Virginia Capers who just won for Raisin was reduced to playing Diana Ross' mother in Lady Sings the Blues. Sheryl Lee Ralph said an agent said there was nothing they could do with her. They couldn't put her opposite Tom Cruise. And what about Sammy Williams, another "minority". A few years after winning for ACL, he was working in a flower store.

Melissa Errico is rather cra-cra. Yeah, she's nuts.

Since starring roles on the stage are so hard to come by, I think it's very difficult to sustain being Broadway's next big thing. Look at how many actors appear in hit television shows never to be heard from again--and there are a lot more TV shows produced.

Melissa Erico is sweet but, cra-cra as R222 pointed out. I follow her on Twitter and she's recently been besieged and befriended by several Raul Esparza fans/stalkers whom she met at the Mary-Mitchell Campbell gala in Feb. while they were there to fangirl over Raul. I don't think Melissa realizes that these women are the mostly insane Raul tumblrina fans as she interacts with them on social media.

Errico is a soccer mom who does concerts and limited runs though the most recent Finian's Rainbow seemed to go on forever. Still has a glorious voice. I remember when High Society hurt her career mostly because she was deemed diva-ish and a pain in the ass at that time. But, people change and her priorities have definitely shifted.

Susan Johnson only ever starred in Whoop Up, right? She was only featured in her other shows.

Maybe Sister Mother Wanda Rickert? Original Peggy Sawyer in 42nd Street - not sure if she did Cassie before or after but did she ever open another show?

r226 - She did Cassie after.....

[quote] I remember when High Society hurt her career mostly because she was deemed diva-ish and a pain in the ass at that time.

What did she do to earn that title?

Melissa also was in the short lived soap opera Central Park West with other stage people John Barrowman and Ron Liebamn and a who's who of Broadway people.

Matt Doyle's blog post above is a very fine one. It's nice to see a young man in a crazy industry have a better understanding of himself than many at such an age. And he didn't need a husband for any of it.

I believe Errico was meant to be at the centre of that soap but either pissed off the creators or she tested so badly with audiences that they changed the original plan.

Sheryl Lee Ralph didn't win a Tony. MIra Sorvino, while she did win an Oscar, is hardly an icon -- she's mostly disappeared, it seems. Interesting that Sammy Williams couldn't get like anything, even playing gay characters, after ACL. There was a big NY Times article years ago about fortunes of people in ACL and Kelly Bishop, Donna McKechnie and to a lesser extent Priscilla Lopez and Robert LuPone got the most work after it. The others, not so much.

Michael McElroy

Melissa Errico is sweet and very much has the air of a Broadway star. She's kind of crazy but she's just very high maintenance, which makes her seem crazy. It's probably based in maintaining an image somewhat rooted in insecurity. But she is talented.

Sammy Williams really didn't have a good look for tv or movies. If he wasn't so queeny, he would have ended up playing the killer in those 1970s murder mystery tv shows like MacMilliam and Wife and later Murder She Wrote

Sammy Willis sort of looked like he might drop dead at any minute. I imagine that's rather limiting in terms of castability.

I'm surprised the Tits and Ass gal didn't make it in sitcoms as a wise cracking, attractive enough second banana - a Jane Krakowski type, to use a modern example.

*Williams

Carol Haney. Ha!

[quote]I'm surprised the Tits and Ass gal didn't make it in sitcoms as a wise cracking, attractive enough second banana

Yes, you're right. It seems Pamela Blair should have had a better career. A decade later, Vicki Lewis came along and started doing the type of roles that Pam should have done in the 1980s.

Leslie Odom jr is doing a cruise ship

Just got an email

Melissa Errico was the toast of the town after "One Touch of Venus." But that only ran for one weekend at Encores. When people had to work with her for an actual run... that became more problematic. It didn't help that New York Magazine pretty well stuck a knife in her with barbs like the following: “It’s no accident,” says an actress who has worked with her, “that Melissa’s initials are M.E.”

Jeremy Kushnier got a big chance when he lead the stage version of FOOTLOOSE. Then he began to believe the publicity. And that was the end of that.

Tovah is every bit as difficult as Betty Buckley. They are perfectly matched. Put them in a stage version of FEUD.

She sounds insufferable in the article @R240.

Justin Kirk is in some new show that is about to premiere or just premiered recently. I remember seeing ads. Looked like some CSI-type thing.

The sort of Hairspray producer Adam Epstein. He hired about 10 press agents, and kept calling himself Broadway's new biggest producer. Flopped out on CRY BABY and went running to the West Coast to make films. That didn't happen either.

You know who was insufferable was Kate Miller. She got a huge opportunity to be in Moon Over Broadway with Carol Burnett. And you can see what a diva she was in the documentary. She's the one that is standing outside yelling at the press manager about her picture in front of the theater.

I saw Kate Miller in MOB before the documentary was released and I thought she was hysterically funny with great comedic timing. It was a small role but she really milked it. But, yeah, she came off really badly in that documentary as did Ken Ludwig and Philip Bosco. Carol Burnett made me like her even more than I already did (if that's even possible). What a pro.

I can't believe Tovah ever sang well enough to get far in the Evita casting process. That clip of her doing Tradition, I mean, Sarava on Merv Griffin introduces no doubt in my mind.

I didn't see it but Philip Bosco comes off badly? I've always liked him so that surprises me.

Yeah, I don't remember Philip Bosco coming off badly in that doc. It was director Tom Moore and playwright Ken Ludwig who come off like the idiots they are.

Didn't Tom Moore direct the original Grease so he gets a zillion dollars a year in perpetuity?

I remember Bosco having a hissy fit at some point and he came off a little douchy but considering the creative team was a mess he seemed justified.

I think Phillip Bosco came off okay in the film itself, but he came off like a total know-it-all asshole at the talkback after the film the night it premiered in Manhattan. Whiny and superior.

That said, on the way out of the theatre, all anyone could talk about was that blonde woman complaining about her photo outside the theatre.

A couple of years later, Kate Miller auditioned for a show I was working on. She gave a perfectly good reading, but after she had left the room, the casting agent (I think) turned to everyone and said, "That was the woman from Moon Over Broadway." Everyone nodded, laughed and tossed her CV onto the reject pile.

Educational.

Justin Kirk and Sam Trammell seemed to be in a competition as to who could do more full-frontal scenes. There was another actor with three names, though I haven't seen him on-stage.

[quote]I think Phillip Bosco came off okay in the film itself, but he came off like a total know-it-all asshole

He was probably pretty pissed off. Moon Over Buffalo was built around him. As they began doing the other casting, they wanted to find a "Carol Burnett type" for his wife. Suddenly somebody had the idea to hire Carol Burnett and when they got her, they built up her role. So he became second to her.

Watching the bootleg of Encores! DO I HEAR A WALTZ? Errico is good if a bit matronly which serves the role well.

When I saw Waltz at Encores I couldn't believe how bad the book was. Just from knowing the obc I thought it had some beautiful songs so I didn't know why it was such a dud.

Rodgers should have told Laurents his book was shit in front of the entire company rather than Sondheim's lyrics. He should have written his score to the Lean screenplay that managed to get it right.

Samish is miserable. Who goes to Venice to make other people feel lousy?

Honestly who the hell wrote Gypsy?

Ryan Steele.

Patti beat Meryl and Miss Dunaway for Evita?

Justin Kirk is 47 and still no wife. (or even a date)

I have seen few performances as thrilling as Mellissa Errico's in "One Touch of Venus".

The audience went wild. It really was something.

[quote]Leslie Odom jr is doing a cruise ship

And insurance commercials.

I wish someone had saved that clip of Tovah doing "Rose's Turn" from GYPSY wherever the hell she did it. The theater released a few promo clips and one of them was of that big number and Tovah raises her dress and flashes her panties during it. It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen. I kinda loved it. At least it was a new take. Anyway, the Broadway boards went wild and, a few days later, they re-released the promo reel without the bit from "Rose's Turn" at the end. A shame, because it was freakin' nuts.

Leslie Dennison.....was Catherine in the video of Pippin. Gorgeous voice and beautiful woman. Rhonda Coullet......starred in The Robber Bridegroom andformer Miss Arkansas. Leland Palmer Rusty Thacker

Susan Johnson, YES R214. Thanks!

Wilson James Heredia, Rent's TONY winner

Last time I saw Nina Arianda was in FLORENCE last year, doing her Judy Holliday thing as a brassy bombshell 4th wife.

She should try and get on a TV show, though she'd probably insist on a star vehicle.

R264, He's doing the weekend shift at the Westchester Ave Game Stop in the Bronx...

Is Tovah Feldshuh really the Jewish Meryl Streep?

Tovah is maybe the Grade B Jewish Streep.

Go watch "Holocaust".....Streep and James Woods became big stars because they were so good in that and had such great star quality.

Tovah is fine in Holocaust. She's good actually but she just doesn't have that "it" factor that makes you a major star.

Did Streep really not like Holocaust?

Harry Connick Jr., Lea Delaria, Daphne Rubin Vega, Daisy Egan......

In Streep's biography Not Her Again Streep didn't hate the project but was very uncomfortable shooting it in Germany.

[quote]Did Streep really not like Holocaust?

She cashed the paycheck, didn't she?

The one who REALLY belongs on this thread is Ben Harney - he won Best Actor in a musical for his stunning, fiery performance in the original DREAMGIRLS - and then seems to have quit the theater and vanished.

R75 in 2002 but only for three months and then the show closed

Ben Varney is a born again minister.

Shelley Burch and Ben Harney both quit show biz after being "born again." Burch returned but didn't work a whole lot unless it was bones thrown to her (pun intended) by Martin Charnin.

[quote]Shelley Burch and Ben Harney both quit show biz after being "born again."

Isn't Wanda Richert part of that club?

Melba Moore. She was the biggest thing around 1970 winning the Tony for Purlie. I was part of the theater scene back then and she was all anyone would talk about.

Leland palmer became a rabbi. Stephen Jeffries became s porn performer. I remember when it was between josh Hamilton, Mathew Broderick and Stephen Jeffers for s Broadway show. They chose Jeffries then it collapsed it even began, but that where Jeffries was at that time

Judy Kuhn

Streep was miserable making "Holocaust". Not exactly a "fun" shoot making a movie on that topic...plus her lover John Cazale was slowing dying of cancer.

I don't know why people are shocked that not every "star" has a 50 year long career as a major name. That's actually VERY rare. The vast majority of names that have some career success only stay at that level for a set period of time. There are no guarantees you're going to make it to A+ icon level or if you do reach a high level that you're going to stay there for very long.

Smart people realize that and plan ahead for the day they aren't bringing in 6 and 7 figure yearly incomes. But, many of them don't do that....they have expensive lifestyles and blow all their money.

Or, if they do plan ahead, we never hear about it because it reality we only see/hear the sad stories about former stars living in trailers in Hooterville.

It would be far more fascinating to list performers who became big stars on Broadway and have continued to star on Broadway. Short list~!

Nathan Lane

Bernadette Peters

Sutton Foster

Audra MacDonald

Matthew Broderick

Kristin Chenoweth

Idina Menzel

I guess any one of these people could get a show capitalized on Broadway now?

[quote]Matthew Broderick

I don't know about him. He hit it big with "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" I think he just got lazy with his career and didn't pursue stardom.

[quote]Shelley Burch and Ben Harney both quit show biz after being "born again."

[quote]Isn't Wanda Richert part of that club?

She calls herself a Reverend, I believe, and is very new-age-y. It would seem she had (according to her ex-husband) some severe drug and mental problems a few years back, before she moved away from Florida (I believe). Her FB page at that time was super paranoid and creepy. She threatened suicide, talked about taking "molly", and was extremely homophobic. She later claimed she had been hacked (for months?), and seems to have settled down since she moved to a flyover state. I haven't looked at her page for awhile, but last I looked, it was pretty wacky.

One Touch of Venus was written for Marlene Dietrich, who eventually said no. Kurt Weill wase desperate for a hit musical, financially and otherwise. So, it very good luck that Mary Martin agreed to star in Venus. All the creative people connected with Venus were concerned that she would not tour with Venus after Broadway. But, Martin did tour.

Melissa Errico had none of those advantages (a major Broadway star coming to the rescue), plus she apparently has the reputation as an unpleasant person.

Charlotte d'Amboise. Sweet Charity was supposed to be her well earned break after Christina Applegate had her break. In her foot. Unfortunately, as much as I love her, Charlotte can't carry a show. A great Roxie but Roxie isn't a Charity or a Mame. She shares the load with Velma and Billy.

Isn't Martin Charnin Jewish? How do they handle the religious differences?

R287, she was dreadful in that Roxie compilation, easily for the worst of all the actresses. Melanie is the best.

[quote]Yes, you're right. It seems Pamela Blair should have had a better career. A decade later, Vicki Lewis came along and started doing the type of roles that Pam should have done in the 1980s.

Pam was in 1982's [italic]Annie[/italic] film along with fellow [italic]A Chorus Line[/italic] original Broadway cast member Wayne Ciliento, and you'd think based on that they would have at least been considered for the movie of the latter; after that, she and Audrey Landers both did [italic]Cosby Show[/italic] guest shots in separate episodes.

R277 Wanda was a drinker. Did she quit when she found GOD?

Shirl Conway

When Mary Martin starred in One Touch of Venus in 1943, she was coming from a more or less failed film career as a contract player at Paramount. Her prior Broadway experience was bringing the house down nightly in Leave It to Me as a supporting player singing My Heart Belongs to Daddy.

Kurt Weill was probably lucky that Dietrich turned him down, Her controlling ways and vanity would have likely made Venus an entirely different show.

Pamela Blair didn't work at it. She thought she would waltz into Hollywood and get a sitcom. She left the LA ACL after only a few months to return to New York. If she had stayed and auditioned, more might have happened for her. She probably needed a better agent as well but that never happened.

[quote] Pamela Blair didn't work at it. She thought she would waltz into Hollywood and get a sitcom. She left the LA ACL after only a few months to return to New York. If she had stayed and auditioned, more might have happened for her. She probably needed a better agent as well but that never happened.

Gee, who does that sound like?

Patti Murin

Steve Kazee (Steve Cra-zy) -- had a nervous breakdown when his mom passed away a week before he won the Tony award. He dropped out of the show and never returned. He's done some TV work since, but nothing of note.

[quote]She left the LA ACL

Did most of the original cast also travel to London with the show or did they recast?

R297 He showed his ass on Shameless.

Didn't Kazee also break up with Megan Hilty at the same time after a long time together ? Poor guy. He was wonderful in ONCE and pretty godawful in 110 in the Shade.

How can an actor be so good in one show and so terrible in another, R300?

R298, none of the original cast went to London. That was the international cast that went to Canada and then London. When equity had to replace the Americans with British actors, Bennett tried to get Donna into it and it created an international incident. She got death threats. Bennett had originally hired Elizabeth Seal to play Cassie but fired her when he saw how little she accomplished. Some saw it as a means to get Donna into the show. Donna never did the role in London and Bennett said "I hope this city finds something else to talk about."

How did Elaine Stritch get to do Company in London but Donna couldn't play Cassie?

Stritch had dual citizenship through her marriage and was a member of British Equity.

[quote]Stritch had dual citizenship through her marriage

How was that possible? John Bay was from Chicago.

R297 that is not what happened with Steve. Get your facts.

[quote]How can an actor be so good in one show and so terrible in another, [R300]?

Well, one show was directed by John Tiffany, the other by Lonny Price. So...um...

Craig Bierko

[r306] "Despite the success, it has been a painful year for Kazee. He broke up with his longtime girlfriend, stage and TV actress Megan Hilty, who plays Ivy on NBC's Smash. Then his mother, Kathy Kazee, died just as Once was opening on Broadway. He briefly left the production to be with her in her last days. When he came back to Once, he had to lead a story in which his character deals with his mother dying, eight shows a week."

And, from the May 16, 2012 NY Times profile: "As it is", said Cristin Milioti, his Tony-nominated co-star, “Steve can be a pretty dark guy.”

Being an Oscar winner does not make you an icon. I think the best thing about as far as winning goes as an actor, is that for the most part you will have guaranteed work in the industry for as long as you want it. Louise Fletcher never became a big star after winning the Oscar for One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest, but worked steadily for 40 years. Ditto Linda Hunt who has worked non stop for the most part since winning the Oscar in 1984. She made a mint from doing voice work and will be going into the 9th season of a hit tv show. Sometimes working steadily and making a great living is the reward.

R310, because of Linda Hunt's appearance, there is little more she could have done than voice over work. Pauline Kael proclaimed her an acting genius but she's also an amazing professional and everyone loves working with her.

She actually worked pretty steadily in film and TV R311 over the years. Her win was one of the best and what the award was initially made for as far as rewarding character actors. These days the category is filled with established stars who often agree to category fraud in order to win/get nominated. Hunt was nominated for a Tony in 1984, I think. She really does have a "voice of God".

Cliff Gorman.

His performance in Lenny is the stuff of legends. Then ham-it-up Hoffman gets the role in Fosse's typically lousy movie and Gorman except for a supporting role in Chapter Two falls off the map.

I always loved that Fosse cast Gorman as (sorta) Hoffman playing (sorta) Bruce in All That Jazz.

Thanks for the comments on Martin and One Touch of Venus. I was paying too much attention to Martin turning down "Oklahoma" partly because the lead female role was not large enough.

Mimi Hines, Bab's replacement in "Funny Girl",

Alyson Reed, of the 1987 "Cabaret" revival (and Cassie in the film version of "A Chorus Line")

[quote]Melissa Errico had none of those advantages (a major Broadway star coming to the rescue), plus she apparently has the reputation as an unpleasant person.

R286, she may have "a reputation " for being an unpleasant person, but I have found her to be quite the opposite. She is, however, very quirky, but not in a bad way. I've worked with her professionally for years, and she's really quite sweet.

I remember seeing Pam Blair on Johnny Carson when ACL was in LA and thought she would be perfect as the wise-cracking sexy neighbor on some sitcom. Oh well.

Kazee was also excellent in the horrible "to Be or Not to Be" with Jan Maxwell.

Pam Blair was Mrs. Don Scardino. He seems to have given her some very bad advice if not intentionally sabotaged her career.

Pam Blair was Broadway pretty but not Hollywood pretty.

There, I said it.

Speaking of A Chorus Line, everyone acted as though Jessica Goldyn, who played Val in the revival, was going to be the next huge triple threat star on Broadway. Since, she's been in a handful of Broadway flops (in the chorus), regionals (mostly as Cassie) and tours.

Pam Blair did a commercial for some fast food fish in Los Angeles. At the end, she bursts into song. It's funny but I agree, her face lacked interest on camera. However, she had to audition like everyone else and she left LA and ACL before pilot season.

Jessica Lee Goldyn is in the chorus on Dolly. Is she still dating Bob and Gwen's grandson?

Poor Pam Blair. She was in the original cast of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. She was supposed to be the lead whore, but her role got cut to shreds. She was supposed to have the solo "Bus From Amarillo" but Carlin Glynn liked it so much that she took it for herself leaving Pam without a solo. She was quite pissed off that Susan Mansur had a solo with the throwaway character "Doatsey Mae" and Pam didn't have anything.

[quote]Re: Tatoos. If you are a stage actor, getting your arms covered in tats is not considered a smart career move - it can limit the roles you can otherwise be a contender for. Body makeup only covers so much.

I fully agree, but don't you think it applies to screen actors as well? Producers aren't going to pay big bucks to CGI-out distracting tattoos.

[quote]Steven Pasquale has a huge tattoo of a spread eagle on his back. Is that why he doesn't do nude scenes?

He took his shirt off briefly in “The Bridges of Madison County,” but come to think of it, I don't remember if he ever presented his back to the audience.

[quote]Does anybody remember Burke Moses? He was in a well-received revival of "Guys and Dolls" and was Gaston in "Beauty and the Beast." Then a few years ago he was in "Gigantic" a flop about a summer camp for fat kids. Then... where'd he go?

He had vocal problems from the beginning – I mean, from his first role on the New York stage – and they have gotten much worse since then.

[quote]Yeah, I don't remember Philip Bosco coming off badly in that doc. It was director Tom Moore and playwright Ken Ludwig who come off like the idiots they are.

You took the words right out of my mouth. Bosco does not come off badly in the doc. He stands up to Ludwig and Moore, so he actually comes off as more of a hero.

[quote]"As it is", said Cristin Milioti, his Tony-nominated co-star, “Steve can be a pretty dark guy.”

That comment is a real howler, considering the source. Did she go on to discuss her own, umm, history?

Sadly, Burke Moses also got fat.

Steve Kazee has a great chest. He can come be dark at my house.

I still want to know the story on Chad Kimball. He fell fast and hard, didn't he?

[quote]I still want to know the story on Chad Kimball.

I think what did him in was playing Huey in Memphis as special needs.

Chad had to go into witness protection to avoid Wayman and his awful breath.

She's had a respectable career, but Judy Kaye has to be listed. After "On the Twentieth Century", she was pegged as the next Broadway megastar. Never happened. Doesn't help she is not an attractive woman.

R331 yet she won another Tony a few years ago.

Chad Kimball got addicted to prescription painkillers during Memphis. Just saw Burke Moses in a concert - not fat at all and sounded great.

[quote]Pam Blair was Broadway pretty but not Hollywood pretty. There, I said it

Diff'rent is nice but it sure isn't pretty. Pretty is what it's about

I never met anyone who was diff'rent who couldn't figure that out.

Sigh...a real theater thread w/o "IT WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED" mucking it up with his insanity....

How divine.

Someone made this list up above suggesting they are current "Broadway Big Things" though they left on Patti LuPone for some odd reason.

Nathan Lane

Bernadette Peters

Sutton Foster

Audra MacDonald

Matthew Broderick

Kristin Chenoweth

Idina Menzel

I'll disagree about Sutton Foster....she is a big B'way name but that's it. Zero name recognition out of that world. In reality, she's at the same level as Borle and other working B'way stars. They're B'way A- list at best...you have to have some value in the greater world to move up.

Audra barely qualifies. She's never really had much success outside B'way. Her 32 Tony Awards are the only reason she might really belong on the list.

Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick are always on the major network talk shows as actually guests, not stunt singers like Audra, they really are the proven stage actors who are also major stars on every level, agreed about Sutton too, she vanishes on her tv show against real screen actors.

R334, and the irony is that Nancy Lane, who sang those lines in the OBC had a very nice career as a sitcom actress. She now does voice overs and her kids are performers as well.

Thanks r338 , you're a gem!

[quote]and the irony is that Nancy Lane, who sang those lines in the OBC had a very nice career as a sitcom actress.

She was great on Rhoda as the kooky Tina. It's too bad they didn't spin that character off to her own series.

R339 that is NOT the original cast of Chorus Line so who the hell is that?

The "At The Ballet" ladies 15 years later. Kay Cole still had that beautiful belt.

I saw Pam Blair in that flop King Of Hearts. she was the female love interest oppoisite Scardino and she was pretty bad......but the sets were the most amazing and stunning I have ever seen on a Broadway stage- by Santo Loquosto.

What happened to Crista Moore? Got great reviews in Tyne's Gypsy but nothing big happened after that (except the musical BIG ... she had the female lead but it flopped)

[quote]Just saw Burke Moses in a concert - not fat at all and sounded great.

I'll take your word on the "not fat at all" part, but I don't believe the "sounded great" part. Very unusual for someone with major vocal problems to learn how to overcome them at a much older age.

r344 - Crista Moore - Good addition to this thread.

Doesn't Bernadette Peters veer wildly from sounding fine (assuming one likes her voice) to sounding shot?

[quote]Doesn't Bernadette Peters veer wildly from sounding fine (assuming one likes her voice) to sounding shot?

True, but I guess that's a special case. I've never been able to figure out why her voice does that. Maybe an intermittent problem like acid reflux? Anyway, sorry to say I have never heard Burke Moses sound good, from the very first time I saw and heard him onstage about 25 years ago.

Alec Timmerman - does web design now

Thanks for the update on Chad Kimball. Yow, prescription painkillers must have been nasty (and I agree about his special needs characterisation). Did he ever come out of the closet or is he still a Christian repentant?

Why are we all forgetting the almost legendary, sure to be a superstar, Daniel McDonald?

Kathleen Rowe McAllen from Aspects of Love.

R351. Well, a brain tumor tends to get in the way.

Andy Karl wouldn't have let a brain tumor stop him!

Certain ATCers obsessed with hot young white Broadway boys are please that Andy won't be able to run away when he spots them approaching.

Is Andy "The New Cheyenne"?

Brian Stokes Mitchell?

[quote]I'll disagree about Sutton Foster....she is a big B'way name but that's it. Zero name recognition out of that world. In reality, she's at the same level as Borle and other working B'way stars. They're B'way A- list at best...you have to have some value in the greater world to move up.

Sutton Foster has a successful TV series on TVLand.

There aren't enough shows to sustain Broadway's next best thing. Many actors move on an do some TV to make a living. Acting is a tough profession.

Nina Arianda should've been a bigger thing. I see in her small roles in TV (Hannibal) and films (Florence Foster Jenkins) and she's a ball of fire.

Mary Ann Plunkett

Jill O'Hara

Speaking of which, R360, Robert Lindsay deserves a mention. Yes, he's had a career on TV and in London but the reaction he drew for "Me and My Girl" in the States suggested he was the new Alfred Drake. He did that horrible movie "Bert Rigby" and disappeared from US consciousness.

If Robert Lindsay counts, then so does Julia McKenzie but it seems wrong to include people who had other options (West End, TV/film) on a similar level.

Broadway Stars-to-be who subsequently could only get bit parts in TV/movies or leads in flop shows or soaps do count for the thread subject, imo.

Bump

R345 he really did sound FINE! Not out of tune and good tone.

What's Carmen Cusack doing?

Meghan Hilty

R366 Great work! You managed to misspell BOTH names!

Sutton Foster (and I'm not a fan) has originated leading roles on Broadway in:

Thoroughly Modern Millie

The Drowsy Chaperone

Little Women

Young Frankenstein

Shrek

Anything Goes (a revival , but nonethless)

She's won 2 Tonys.

That's a resume worthy of Broadway Golden Age stars Mary Martin and Ethel Merman. Even I can't deny that's a huge accomplishment for any actor hoping to make a career on Broadway.

All true but Sutton still hasn't learned how to dress or brush her hair.

When will that Chita Rivera stop dancing in the chorus and actually DO something with her career!!!

Anika Noni Rose

I saw Sutton Foster in Millie and I'm an old guy. As a boy I saw the original Dolly with Channing and Burns. I've seen a lot of Broadway musicals since then.

Despite being game Sutton's performance was the most insipid, banal and pointless attempt at being entertaining I've ever seen on the professional stage. Andrews in the film is practically comparable to Olivier in Hamlet. She's got the singing chops and could charm entire armies. I know I'm in the minority but if anyone asked me to describe a black hole I would say Sutton Foster in a musical comedy.

Any opinions on why Sutton has had so much success?

Lots of today's performers all suffer from being churned out of triple-threat programs. They're so bland and homogenized and cookie-cutter perfect. They sound like digital music. Perfect to slot into a film-to-stage musical that makes up most Broadway rides these days.

R374 nailed it

Karen Olivo

I think Sutton Foster fills a slot--soprano belt (think Disney princess roles), with good legs and extension. Decent sense of comic timing, reasonably pretty. With the Disneyfication of Broadway, it's not surprising someone like her gets starring roles,

But, yeah, not memorable.

Hunter Foster and Jen Cody

I'll cut you , R378!!!

Sutton wouldn't have any sex appeal even if she performed in the nude.

Did Cuddles go up for Hello, Bette! ? I'm sure she's played Minnie Fay in the regions.

Thoroughly Modern Millie: a B list show. It's OK but not really in the canon of great shows. Modest hit.

The Drowsy Chaperone: charming sleeper. It's the only original show what's worthy of being remembered.

Little Women: Minor show

Young Frankenstein: flop

Shrek: flop

I have nothing against her but even with 2 Tonys, she's not in the canon of great B'way stars. Unless she pulls out some actual good shows/huge hits she'll be a footnote in 20 years.

Sutton Foster fills "the girl next door" role. She's not meant to be sexy. She's like Judy Garland without the voice, the presence, the acting ability and the gay husbands.

I said I wasn't a fan of Sutton's.

But in a thread about Broadway performers who never had any decent follow-up to their original success, she is the rare exception.

Tyne Daley did 'Gypsy' and then had to grow crawling back to television.

Ahrens and Flaherty.

Thread CLOSED!!!

R386, perfect addition. There must be some others, but from the Golden Age of Broadway, who only had one hit show to their name.

Brian Stokes Mitchell has no place on this list - though he now may be in the late stage of his career - he was definitely A-list.

Meredith Willson - one hit show (but a BIG hit): THE MUSIC MAN. Nothing he did afterwards came close to it. "Unsinkable Molly Brown" was a more modest hit (ran for two years), but "Here's Love!" was a flop and "1491" (the Columbus musical) never made it to Broadway.

Molly Brown was a pretty big hit, if nowhere near the success of Music Man.

It got an Oscar nominated movie and is constantly performed in the original and rewritten versions, even this summer at The Muny.

Lilo was supposed to be the breakout star of CAN-CAN. Some redhead stole the show instead.

"I know I'm in the minority but if anyone asked me to describe a black hole I would say Sutton Foster in a musical comedy. "

And it's a shame because she has moments but not enough magic nor depth.

Molly is not in any way comparable to Music Man in ANY of its versions or re-writes. Have you SEEN any of those rewrites R389?

Snoozer, that they're still trying to push to Bway.

And just one great song.

And we all know what one THAT is.

Didn't it try to get done at the Roundabout a few years ago?

Ah cher r390 - but zay ADORED my Pousse-Cafe!

I don't like Molly Brown as a movie but it has one of the all time great numbers in a movie musical 'He's My Friend' and that isn't even from the stage show.

It's pretty much a where the hell did that come from moment in an otherwise dull silly movie with Reynolds practically chewing up the entire Rocky Mountain range with her god awful acting. And I say this as a fan of hers.

It's arguable whether or not Brian Stokes Mitchell belongs on this list, but I would say he was "A" list for only a very brief period.

Didnt love that song R393. This is the only winner:

Whatever happened to Daniel Breaker? He was extraordinary in PASSING STRANGE , but went from that to playing the donkey in SHREK to......what?

Ditto Coleman Domingo.

Poor Debbie had a miscarriage just prior to shooting. I wonder if she was a little out of her mind at the time.

[quote]Ahrens and Flaherty. Shows CLOSED!!!

FIFY!

[quote]Ahrens and Flaherty. Shows CLOSED!!!

I will find you and punish you.

[quote]Whatever happened to Daniel Breaker?

Not 100% sure, but isn't he in one of the Hamilton companies?

Carole Demas

Janie Sell

Malcolm Gets

Scott Waara

Mark Baker

Carolyn Mignini

Anne Marie Bobby. Poor thing was cast as Eponine but chose SMILE instead.

Does Billy Crudup belong on this list? I think Broadway wanted him to be the next leading man, and he's worked steadily, but he's never become an A-list, recognized star.

R402 Frances Ruffelle was always slated to come over for the original Broadway cast. Was Anne offered a replacement?

Daniel Breaker co-starred with Sanaa Lathan in the superb off-Broadway By The Way, Meet Vera Star in 2012. Then he vanished. He was sexy and hot.

Daniel Breaker is (was?) married to director Kate Whoriskey. Didn't she direct Sweat?

Michael Hayden was so hot in that Carousel revival over 20 years ago. I believe he did a few plays and then faded.

Where is he today and why did he not break out bigger, he was very sexy.

r404 Cameron wanted Frances to come over but Equity was giving him a hard time. John Caird was her lover at the time and he wanted her in the cast as well. Equity balked. They cast Anne Marie Bobby and then she quit for SMILE. So then Cameron begged equity and they allowed Ruffelle to come over.

I saw original Les Miz three times when it first opened and Frances was always out. I saw Kelli James who was amazing.

I've seen regional productions of Colman Domingo's plays, Dot and Wild With Happy, in the past year or two. He's probably getting some cash flow from those. I believe he appeared in the Off-Broadway premiere of one or both of them - since they have black gay male leading characters, it would make sense if he did both. He's also on the Walking Dead spinoff and shows up sometimes in films (The beginning of Lincoln, for one).

He was wonderful in The Scottsboro Boys and I'm sorry he hasn't been on Broadway since (that I can recall offhand), but he's hardly faded away.

To clarify, Colman wrote the plays I mentioned above, Dot and Wild With Happy. Forrest McClendon (his fellow "minstrel" in Scottsboro) actually played the lead in the Wild With Happy production that I saw. Forrest could be talked about here - even though his show flopped, he got a Tony nomination, though Colman certainly stood out over him. I think Forrest lives in Philly so may have chosen to stay there. Colman obviously either stayed in NY or did the bicoastal thing so he could do T.V. and film.

Who's to say Bobby made a mistake. Randy Graff never became a Broadway star.

For that matter, no one in the original Broadway cast of Les Miz went on to any lasting fame except for maybe Judy Kuhn. And that would depend on how you define Broadway star.

Randy Graff went on to win a Tony. Kuhn did not.

A few of the younger next big things who weren't:

Justin Bohon- Went from Will Parker in Oklahoma! to Bobby in The Boy Friend at Bay Street (as I recall the NY Times review didn't even mention him) to a bit part in the producers. At the time of OK! he was being built up as the next big thing. Working in Book of Mormon, but did not have the career that was anticipated.

Anne Morrison- was considered the big "find" of all the young actors in Merrily. Did Goblin Market Off- Broadway. Moved to LA. Disappeared until LoveMusik.

Jonathan B. Wright- Must have had a great press agent because he got a lot of press during Spring Awakening, but dropped from sight.

Anne Marie Bobby starred in all THREE 'Children of the Bride' made for tv movies, with Ms. Rue McLanahan and Kristy McNichol, she played the troubled, chain-smoking daughter, Anne to McNichol's sister who was a nun. The orignal also starred Mistah Patrick Duffy and then his role was played in the subsequent films by Mistah Ted Shackelford. Seriously, if I could have anyone's career it would be Anne Bobby's. Also, I always got her confused with Hallie Tood, Millie Helper's real life daughter and Rue McLanahan's fictional slutty niece Lucy.

R416, your use of the fake word "Mistah" is deeply irritating, especially when it's used in conjunction with Anne-Marie Bobby.

Could we add Trini Alvarado to this list?

[quote]Does Billy Crudup belong on this list? I think Broadway wanted him to be the next leading man, and he's worked steadily, but he's never become an A-list, recognized star.

Because he is one of the most charisma-free actors I've ever seen. He's earnest and "method-y", so of course rather dull.

Billy Crudup has had many chances at major stardom on stage and in film and has never quite attained it. I'm not sure he's even interested.

He was supposed to play Prince Hal in Lincoln Center's glorious revival of Henry IV but backed out at the last minute because of the trauma of leaving Mary-Louise Parker and their baby for Claire Danes. He was replaced by Michael Hayden....another bad career move? Ultimately the production was stolen by Kevin Kline's Falstaff and Ethan Hawke's Hotspur.

Was Trini Alvarado a stage actress? She had a modest Hollywood career that never brought her to the A list. She is a lovely lovely actress.

I've seen Alvarado (who was in Runaways on Broadway) on the Upper West Side with her kids, I think she married well and is raising a family.

I tend to lump Billy Crudup in with Patrick Wilson. Both are good looking and can act but both have lacked the goods to make it as a star.

Chris Sieber was an up-and-comer, but his startling weight gain of a few years ago hurt him a bit. Thankfully, he's lost a lot of those extra pounds in the past years so.

Ann Runolfson- one of the best vices I have ever heard....she was stand by for Julie in Victor/Victoria.

Trini Alvarado did a lot of off-Broadway. She was in the 1980s revival of Godspell and she played Anne Frank in "Yours Anne" the Anne Frank musical.

The Anne Frank musical? That sounds about as unlikely as a 9/11 musical. Oh wait...

[quote]Chris Sieber was an up-and-comer, but his startling weight gain of a few years ago hurt him a bit. Thankfully, he's lost a lot of those extra pounds in the past years so.

And put those extra pounds right back on! He's a real Tracy Turnblad these days.

James Carpinelli

The original Tony and Maria.

r423 I saw Anne Runolfsson as the lead in ASPECTS OF LOVE. Brilliant!

R428 Well, Carol Lawrence and continues to have a steady career (she may be retired by now), as did Larry Kert, until that pesky AIDS thing got in the way. He did not have as strong a voice, but his dancing was great (as, apparently, was his ass).

In Yours Anne I hope they put the holocaust ballet in the second act. So many musicals put it in the first which makes no sense.

Alan Campbell sort of disappeared after Sunset Boulevard. He wasn't great but good. He could have at least ended up as one of the recycled Billy Flynn's in Chicago.

But neither made good on being the next big thing. And neither got a foothold in TV/movies.

Lawrence quickly became a matinee alternate to Mary Martin and doing the likes of Funny Girl in stock.

Kert got to play Bobby in the original Company but only after Dean Jones jumped ship. He appears to have got little of a career boost from it even though he got to open the show in London. Stritch got two Brit sitcoms out of her efforts.

Carol Lawrence never became a movie star but she was a constant presence in TV variety hours of the late 1950s and into the 1970s, everywhere from Ed Sullivan to Garry Moore to Carol Burnett to Mike Douglas. She was a gorgeous woman with a truly beautiful voice.

I always assumed that her marriage to Robert Goulet and raising their two sons was a reason her career stalled. What do those two sons look like now? They should have inherited some very genes.

Lawrence also filled in for Chita in Spider Woman in Chicago when Rivera had a leg injury. She was not the triple threat Chita is, but she garnered respectable reviews. I just think she never became a "Big Lady" type and that was the trope on Broadway when she would have been at her height (from Dolly on).

I was always surprised by how think Kert's voice was, given that he was the original Tony, but I assume that he was cast for his dancing (and maybe, given Robbins and Laurent, for his ass). He sounds near death (as he was) on the studio recording of "Rags."

I saw a bootleg clip of Kert in La Cage opposite Harvey Evans. No charisma, no acting chops. Evans was very likable, radiated sincerity.

Kert does at least sound good singing Being Alive on the London Company, though with much less impact than Dean Jones.

Chita Rivera could never act or sing and these days can barely walk.

Compared to the ingenue sopranos who created leads in Oklahoma, Carousel, Guys and Dolls, The Most Happy Fella and so many other Golden Age musicals, Carol Lawrence did very well. She starred in 2 big musical follow-up flops after West Side Story. Saratoga and Subways Are for Sleeping.

Jan Clayton, Carousel's original Julie Jordan, played Magnolia in the first major reconceived, non-original-cast-resuccitated revival of Show Boat the next year, and was one of the mothers on Lassie (maybe even the first?). Even if most people remember June Lockhart from that show (and our own Cloris Leachman, who was a vacation-replacement Nellie Forbush, got in there for a season on the dog show, I think!), Clayton didn't fade as thoroughly as the other ingenues you mention did into marriage, motherhood, keeper of the flame status (Jo Sullivan Loesser of Most Happy...), or obscurity. She even co-authored a book on Rodgers and Hart in the 70's, though she (and Terry Saunders, filmdom's Lady Thaing) were mere understudies or replacements in minor roles in - yes - the original Follies.

Also, I flipped through Lawrence's memoirs in my college library (Somehow I didn't come out until I had almost graduated!), and she certainly made it sound like the Goulet marriage derailed her career. I mean, they did Carousel in stock and her Julie got better reviews than his Billy! Who knows what might have happened if he hadn't raped her to get her pregnant so she would leave the show early. I kid you not, that is what she said happened (in so many words). I doubt Goulet was that great a husband, and it may even be true, but one wonders what the resulting child thought when he read that part of the book.

Jan Clayton was an alcoholic, which kind of killed her career, but you can see in that old TV clip of "If I loved you" that she was a magical Julie.

[quote]Compared to the ingenue sopranos who created leads in Oklahoma, Carousel, Guys and Dolls, The Most Happy Fella and so many other Golden Age musicals, Carol Lawrence did very well.

I played Heidi in the Follies revival I was billed as "Also Starring"

r442 Joan you played Heidi for about 2 performances before you were replaced. Then retreated to your manse in Rockville Center.

Joan Robert was the ingenue in "Are You With It?" I played Bunny LaFleur, Queen of the Carnival.

Jan Clayton lent her name to a women's residence/ sober house here in Kansas City.This was for women who had recently gotten out of in patient treatment. It was called the Jan Clayton House and was in operation when I moved here in the 70's. She wasn't originally from Kansas City so I don't know the connection. By the way, Clayton understudied Dorothy Collins in" Follies."

Jan Clayton was so depressing as the mom on Lassie.

R443, it's Rockville CENTRE. If you're going to be a smartass spell the name of the goddamn town correctly.

I went to high school with Jan Clayton's son. They showed some movie of hers in a class and the teacher said Clayton was "a has been." Even her son laughed. At that time, she was doing commercials on LA TV for some weight loss center. The tag was "Robert Redford, eat your heart out."

I saw Larry Kert in Rags. Very miscast and wooden. And, you can catch him in the restored Happy Endings production number with Liza in New York, New York (one of the most depressing movies ever made).

HAMILTON

Marilyn Michaels was in the first touring company of Funny Girl but only gained fame as an impersonator.

I hate to say it, but Montego Glover, Chad Kimball's Memphis leading lady, probably belongs on this list. I have seen her perform elsewhere and she is so talented. I hope she gets another role showing her talents.

What about Savion Glover?

[r402] Not according to Frances Ruffele:

Oops -- meant for [r404]

WEHT the dreamy Paolo Szot of SOUTH PACIFIC?

Paulo Szot is a legit opera singer, r456. Since South Pacific, he has sung lead roles in major houses like the Met and La Scala.

Will Laura Osnes or Christy Altomare or Gideon Glick ever star in another Broadway show?

Hasn't Laura already starred in several? Granted, some were as replacements, but still.

There are definite rumblings that the recent Lincoln Center concert of Crazy for You with Laura and Tony Yazbeck will be spun off into a Broadway revival. She tends to take a bit more time between projects than she used to (Not sure if that's her choice or not), but I doubt she'll be forgotten if/when Bandstand closes. Christy will be gainfully employed for another year, easy. Anastasia is doing very well with twenty and thirty-something women who remember the movie and happily bring their mothers and daughters. The line to get in at showtime is not as long as Hello Dolly's next door but certainly more substantial than you might expect. I don't know if Christy will become another Idina but, lack of Tony nomination aside, she probably will be smiled upon by producers once she leaves a proven hit.

Gideon - who knows? He's the only one who, for better or worse, might be worth mentioning again in this thread in a year or two. But it's too early to say for sure.

Larry Kert sounded very good vocally as a replacement on Broadway in "Side by Side by Sondheim" as part of a great cast; along with him was Nancy Dussault, Georgia Brown and Hermione Gingold. He also looked very hot in a Tarzan outfit (I think bare-chested, but at least showing some upper body skin) swinging on a rope at one point in a musical revue called "Music! Music!" at City Center which also starred Gene Nelson and Donna McKechnie. Kert sounded in decline by the time of "Rags" though which I caught during previews. The part was sort of an under-developed one, sort of similar to the one Steven Keats played in the movie "Hester Street". Btw, Keats was a replacement in the original Broadway nudie revue "Oh! Calcutta!".

Gideon should find a TV series. It's a pretty good time for nerdy/funny gay boys on TV.

Kert was also in the touring company of SBSBS with Gingold, Millicent Martin and some bitch named Barbara Heuman. I saw it at the then, Huntington Hartford Theater. It was the best cast. Kert did "Something's Coming" before the finale and the audience began applauding when he came onstage. Even after all those years, he could still rock the song. Martin then brought the house down with one of the best, "I'm Still Here".

[quote]WEHT the dreamy Paolo Szot of SOUTH PACIFIC?

He's also doing lots of cabaret lately.

[quote]WEHT the dreamy Paolo Szot of SOUTH PACIFIC? He's also doing lots of cabaret lately.

Is he charming?

I actually saw him this past weekend, and the audience seemed completely taken with him. Billy Stritch and a couple others played for him, and it was entertaining enough. The older ladies were MAD for him.

It's alarming how charming Paolo is!

Some years ago he did one of the Lincoln Center "American Songbook" concerts and he announced at the beginning he was going to devote a lot of the concert to the "SOUTH American Songbook" and proceeded to sing LOTS of Jobim, Dori Caymmi and other Brazilian songwriters from the '30s to the '60s. The audience of old ladies were exceedingly grumpy (expecting "if Ever I Would Leave You" etc.) but I was in heaven.

[quote]Will Laura Osnes or Christy Altomare or Gideon Glick ever star in another Broadway show?

Isn't Osnes in Bandstand on Broadway right now (for the moment)?

I think that's why r458 mentioned her, r469.

Bandstand is awful.

We've seen all those kids in our audience at 54 Below! Try the veal. We're here all week.

R 461 AND Steven Keats was in the off Broadway reboot of Rags with other next big things that weren't - Ann Crumb, Jonathan Kaplan and Crista Moore. I believe he took his own life shortly after that. Sad.

Eve Harrington. It was all downhill after the Sarah Siddons Award.

Ann Crumb! Talented woman!

indeed r475

no one from last night yet lol?

R477 Andy Karl is a strong possibility for the list

Any other season, Karl would have won the Tony. I don't know why they rushed to bring GD over.

What's the story on Sandra Church? She played Gypsy to Merman's Mama Rose, then did Under the Yum Yum Tree and was done.

R480 Turned her focus to painting where I understand she was quite successful

What do you mean 'who weren't'? I did Phantom over 2,000 times and now I'm booking funerals.

Jennifer Holliday. With "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" winning her a Grammy, a smash radio hit and her Tony performance, she was poised to be a household name, and was for a short time. Then, her solo albums were a flop, despite big money spent on them, and she never originated another Broadway show, or did TV or film. Now, decades later, her career hinges only on trotting out that one song, and complaining that she wasn't cast in the movie or stage revivals. The most publicity she's gotten in years was when she was going to sing at Trump's inauguration, and met with backlash, she withdrew and apologized on "The View." She was, by most accounts, terrible as the second replacement for Shug in the recent "Color Purple" revival.

There's definitely alot more actors than roles to do. I think you have to be very talented and very lucky and have the discipline to stay on top and luck is a big factor in it too.

Who stays on top for 40 years right? Maybe 100 actors worldwide or something, not more!! It's the exception to the rule that makes the standard but it's not the standard at all

I think the main trick is to just be legitimately good. Broadway is like Hollywood in that way. Instead of looks, a lot of performers coast by on having a good voice or being a great dancer and when their voice changes or they can't dance like they used to, what's left for them, especially if they aren't good actors? Y'think they'll get cast in straight plays? Not if they aren't good actors.

A lot of people are in the business for the fame and when they don't get it by the time they're in their 30's, they, mercifully, retire, and stop crowding all the real talent. You see that less so on Broadway at least. Although their standards have dipped considerably in the past 20 years or so, you still have to know what you're doing in at least one of the big 3 - singing, dancing, or acting. The issue is that everyone's been trained the same and they're all alike and kinda bland. I don't think we'll ever get another Merman, Channing, etc. They were far too unique to make it these days.

I'm sorry but Jennifer Holiday was dreadful in Dreamgirls. The replacement Effie's were so much better and i can't wait to see Amber Riley because I love the way she sings it. Holiday will keep playing Effie til she's an old lady because that's all she's got to hang onto.

Amber is FABULOUS in the role. But she does like 2 shows a week.

Amber has three standbys in DG. Maybe she can get away with that shit in London but not on Broadway honey,

Dump Amber for Cynthia Erivo!

Donna Muphy IS Tuesday night Effie!

[quote] Donna Muphy IS Tuesday night Effie!

That's my gig, bitch!

I am listening to the Roundabout Revival of DROOD. Was that like everyone's equity showcase? That whole cast got work after that show. Sounds like a great show. Sorry I missed it.

With all its multiple endings and large cast, I doubt DROOD was ever produced within the restrictions of Equity showcase code.

Why even bring up showcase contract in relation to it?

r494 I believe 493 means "like a showcase" because it was done in NYC and pretty much every player in the show picked up another job immediately after. I don't think he is questioning the equity contract. Sheesh.

r495 is correct!

I do not get why if someone means "showcase" they would bring up "Equity showcase." Kind of like asking for an apple martini when you want an piece of fruit, rather than a drink.

But whatever.....

That Drood production was like an understudy dress rehearsal of the original cast.

The Drood original cast ensemble was great too: Donna Murphy, Judy Kuhn, Rob Marshall. I saw Alison Fraser as Helena Landless. BRILLIANT! I really enjoyed both productions...original and Revival.

I enjoyed the original so much more. It now seems practically a golden age cast. Papp did know how to pick them.

I'll never forget how Cohenour was so lovely, maidenly and sweet and then hilarious.

And the way Rose could effortlessly command an entire theater was thrilling. He also could remain on stage and disappear at will. Remarkable.

[quote]I'm sorry but Jennifer Holiday was dreadful in Dreamgirls.

Jennifer Holiday was NEVER an actress. She was a black girl with a big, belty voice. In pre-Broadway workshops of Dreamgirls, Effie's role ended in Act 1 and the show went in a different direction. At one point, one of the workshops ended and they let Holiday go. Then they realized they needed her again, and she was smart enough to demand more material and a presence in Act 2. Michael Bennett knew she couldn't act, but knew he needed the voice. So he hired her for the Broadway show and tried to teach her to act by giving her line readings. You can hear in various formats some of her poor line readings because she never got better.

Anyway, it's very telling that out of the original three girls, only Loretta Devine makes a cameo in the movie. And it's a beautiful little spot for a very talented actress. I don't know whether the movie production team offered cameos to Jennifer and Sheryl. My guess is they didn't offer Jennifer and Sheryl couldn't be bothered.

Wasn't Nell Carter involved at one stage (to play Effie)? I believe Sarah Dash of Labelle was also part of workshops, as one of the other Dreams - funny considering her bandmate in the Bluebelles left to join the Supremes as Flo/"Effie's" replacement.

R501 I heard Sheryl Lee was offered the role of Deena's mother in the movie and passed. Loretta's cameo is, pardon the pun, Divine. I watched clips of Holiday in Color Purple on youtube and it was painful.

Holliday has the weirdest of mentions in the movie. Ken Page says something like "now Holliday, she was a great singer but a bad tipper." The mention is about Billie, I guess, but anyone familiar with the show knew it was about Jennifer.

Michael Bennett badly wanted Cheryl Barnes for Effie. She had just come off a big hit singing "Easy to Be Hard" in the movie version of "Hair" and moreover, Bennett couldn't see Obba with Jennifer. Cheryl did workshops and might have done it on Broadway but they wanted her to riff the songs like Holliday so she quit. Barnes would later do the role in LA to great acclaim. A very different Effie but far better sung. Barnes really gave the non-hits in the show full presence.

Why didn't Dreamgirls go to London back then? Sheila Ferguson could have used the gig.

I remember many years after WSS Kert was on Johnny Carson(the 70s or 80s) and sang Maria.

He totally hit it out of the park after so many years. It was great. No matter who he was fucking he deserved the role.

I'm not sure though if he wasn't a bit of a handful. I remember when his nightclub act opened in the 70s. It was reviewed by Stuart Klein on the 10 o'clock news on channel 5. Yes really.

Klein noted that Kert reprimanded a musician in the combo in front of the audience and said to all of us at home 'very unprofessional.' Ouch.

Laurents hated that Larry Kert was a mincing prisspot as Tony. Read the book. Self loathing.

I just saw Nina Arianda on Netflix as Dev's hot date in Master of None. The date turns out to be a nightmare. She made enough of an impression that I looked up who played "Alice", and when I saw who it was, I thought "No - how can that be? She's too old for the role." She played a waitress, social media disaster, young millennial. She definitely had a great figure, but the entire performance came across as something Jennifer Lawrence would do in her sleep. She even looked like Lawrence a bit in the eyes, and sounded like her, but the rest of the face was Lisa Kudrow. It was a flashy role - a sexy, seemingly soft-spoken waitress turns out to be aggressively crazy. Flashy writing, flashy performance. But after it was over I started thinking she has that Streep thing where you have no idea what her personality is, and she never stops acting. I think she tends to get roles where she has to act from start to finish and never just "be". A lot of people can't do what she does - don't have the technique - but IMO her inability to just live in the skin of the person she's playing and breathe is what has held her back. It's almost impossible to imagine her turning it off and just "listening" and supporting another actor, for instance.

Nina A was brilliant in VENUS IN FUR. I wish she would find another vehicle.

R509, how many vehicles does one actress need? After Venus in Fur she starred in Born Yesterday and then she starred in Fool for Love. Showcases all three.

I think maybe she's won so many plaudits because she's the opposite of so many actresses in her age group. A lot of them can go intimate, "believable", earnest, small - she can go huge, she had comedic technique, she knows how to set her own stuff up. Her problem is she can't take it down and be intimate and connected, which is needed for films.

She had a small part in my masterpiece, "Florence Foster Jenkins." But there can only be ONE star in my pictures.

Whatever happened to big-dicked Johnny Galecki of THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED?

Norbert Leo Butz is busy with TV and hasn't been seen on Broadway since BIG FISH in 2013.

"Whatever happened to big-dicked Johnny Galecki of THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED?"

His home burned down last week.

And his dick was pretty huge SOFT on Broadway.

Speaking of Cheryl Barnes, where is she now? When I saw Hair in the movie theater, the audience burst into applause at the end of Easy to Be Hard.

Michael Bennett wanted Cheryl to play Effie in DREAMGIRLS. I love her and Sharon Brown. WEHT?

There was some benefit at the Shubert Theatre in NY in the early 80s for something I think to do with New Mexico charity as Greer Garson, who lived there, was involved. I remember seeing Christopher Reeve and others there. Cheryl Barnes had just come off of "Hair" and sang, and for some reason just wasn't connecting that night -- I don't recall if she started her song over, but it just sort of petered out. Perhaps theater people who were present thought perhaps she couldn't be reliable or carry a show based on seeing her in person? I also remember Mandy Patinkin sang some song of his he had written, and it was as you might expect, some sort of very angry, may political rant that droned on and built without much of a melody.

Remember when Broadway was the the next big thing? Then radio, television, movies, cable, Betamax, VHS, laserdisc, DVDs Amazon, Netflix and YouTube were. Get over yourselves: one tiny district in ONE city in the ENTIRE WORLD. One episode of a shitty network TV show is seen by more millions in one airing than a hit show is seen over YEARS. Broadway's next big thing should wish to God their next big thing ISN'T BROADWAY if they want anyone anywhere to know they exist. Thank God Tituss Burgess isn't Broadway's next big thing: he'd have no money and no one would know who he is.

Cheryl won Star Search, performed in LB "Dreamgirls" and happily retired. She already had minor Broadway experience in "The Magic Show" so performing onstage was not alien to her. Believe it or not, she is currently living in Barstow (yes, outside of Vegas). She worked just enough to make a living and was never that concerned with being a star because the business side frightened her.

"One episode of a shitty network TV show is seen by more millions in one airing than a hit show is seen over YEARS. "

I recall an interview with Fran Lebowitz speaking of the huge influence of Charles Ludlam, and how his death was a huge blow to the culture, even though she said his audience never went beyond small Off-Broadway theaters.

So technically what you say is very true OP, but a publication like New York Magazine with a small subscription base, had a greater influence over the culture than an episode of Hawaii 5-0 or TV Guide back in the day.

It all comes down to WHO your audience consists of - if it is a flyover country citizen watching CSI on a weekly basis then the quantity of viewers, and those viewers themselves, mean very little. However if it is the far-lower rated Mad Men or Sex In The City on HBO (both NYC-set shows btw) then you get an influencers watching your show.

Trump's win upset the apple cart, so-to-speak, but the imminent consequences of his continuing self-destruction will shortly revert things back to a semblance of normality.

R520, it's ridiculous snobbery to think that the subscription base of New York never watched Hawaii 5-0 or looked at TV Guide.

Broadway itself was considered low brow compared to opera and ballet. The audiences that attend Broadway shows back then aren't a whole lot different than now. Tourists.

[quote]Barstow (yes, outside of Vegas)

Barstow is over 150 miles from Vegas. Hardly "outside of."

Oh I agree it is snobbery,or elitism - but alas, all I wrote at r520 is true.

[quote]The audiences that attend Broadway shows back then aren't a whole lot different than now. Tourists.

Not really. As everyone but you seems to know, the percentage of tourists among Broadway audiences has grown hugely over the past few decades, while the percentage of the audience that lives in NYC and its close environs is far smaller.

[quote] "One episode of a shitty network TV show is seen by more millions in one airing than a hit show is seen over YEARS. "

A live theatre has a legal and physical limit to how many people can fit in at a single time. TV can reach the whole world at once.

Shorter R520 = only the tastes of rich str8 white 1%ers matter.

Broadway, who cares, the only reason the whole thing exists is so Bernadette Peters can have a job.

[quote] I went to high school with Jan Clayton's son. They showed some movie of hers in a class and the teacher said Clayton was "a has been." Even her son laughed. At that time, she was doing commercials on LA TV for some weight loss center. The tag was "Robert Redford, eat your heart out."

Imagine being a HS teacher and so full of bile and nastiness that he/she is willing to refer to an actress who had professional career many only aspire to as a "has been" in front of her son. What a nasty bitter cunt. The son probably laughed to project some dignity. Especially factoring in the alcoholism. Vile.

[quote] A couple of years later, Kate Miller auditioned for a show I was working on. She gave a perfectly good reading, but after she had left the room, the casting agent (I think) turned to everyone and said, "That was the woman from Moon Over Broadway." Everyone nodded, laughed and tossed her CV onto the reject pile.

And the runner up for Cunt of the Universe is the "Casting Agent" and everyone in that room who wasted Kate Miller's time auditioning her just so they could get a cheap laugh. Btw, the use of the term "casting agent "signals an amatuer and no casting professional will describe themselves or tolerate being described as such. The joke is on you foul cunts for treating an actor in such a reprehensible manner. I don't know Kate Miller but I agree she came off poorly in that documentary but that does not excuse this behavior.

Sammy Williams was lovely in ACL but was simply not castable in anything other than a certain type of gay role. This was the mid-70s and all the gay roles were marginalized in film and television. He was not able to play anything else.

Randall Edwards quit because as she aged, she became unemployable. She was blonde, bubbly and her presence in the business was one of youth. Talented though she is, aging igenues don't have many options unless they age into a look that is bookable.

When I started in the business ( I was behind the scenes) ALL the top agents and casting directors went to every play and musical in NY. Every single one. I mean off and on Broadway, not showcases. Now very few do and it has impact on casting because theater actors aren't covered the way they used to be.

Sammy Williams looked like he was going to drop dead of AIDS at any moment. As someone said upthread, it limited his casting opportunities.

(quote) A couple of years later, Kate Miller auditioned for a show I was working on. She gave a perfectly good reading, but after she had left the room, the casting agent (I think) turned to everyone and said, "That was the woman from Moon Over Broadway." Everyone nodded, laughed and tossed her CV onto the reject pile

As someone who has had a pretty solid career as a casting DIRECTOR, I can assure you that, while you, the casting director and your creative tema are not the biggest assholes on the planet, you are all solid minor league players. Whoever that asshole casting "agent" was who wasted Kate Miller's time and talent by bringing her in only to humiliate her in front of a creative team belongs in a "reject pile" him or herself.

You didn't like her in MOB fuck off then, don't bring her in. Don't waste her time. Shame on you all

Yaaaa! My thread is back!

agree anyone who snarks on someone who has been on Broadway or done professional work, even if they aren't a star, needs to show their resume and let us consider the contrast.