I've noticed that lately, I've played a bunch of characters who feature prominently in Act One and then don't do much of anything later on. It's surprising how many there are.
The ones that immediately spring to mind for me are Fantine in Les Mis, Mufasa in The Lion King, and the Wolf in Into the Woods (I know on Broadway, it's the same actor[s] playing the prince[s], but in both amateur productions I've seen, they've been different actors).
Who else gets to chill backstage for the majority of an act?
In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy
Depending on how it's handled (With or without intermission), Berthe in "Pippin" comes in, sings a song, knocks the socks off the audience, and is offstage in 10 minutes.
Also, Beverly in "August: Osage County" is done 15 minutes in.
Maria in Lend Me a Tenor is in the first and last 15 minutes. I know it's on one act but broadwayislove@earthink.net is only in the last party of Everyday Rapture. Maureen in Rent gets to chill for the majority of Act 1. Updated On: 7/25/10 at 06:54 PM
Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae
Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra
Salve, Salve Regina
Ad te clamamus exsules filii Eva
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
O clemens O pia
Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray doesn't show up until the end of Act One
Teen Angel in Grease
Richard Henry Lee in 1776
"Grease," the fourth revival of the season, is the worst show in the history of theater and represents an unparalleled assault on Western civilization and its values. - Michael Reidel
Actually, if you do the "Somewhere" ballet as originally written, Riff and Bernardo appear in Act 2 during the "Nightmare" section.
In A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN, the daughter who is the central character in the novel and movie, doesn't appear until Act 2 of the musical. The entire first act is the "back story" of her parents meeting, faling in love and marrying.
Updated On: 7/25/10 at 07:20 PM
The strippers are only in Act 2 of Gypsy, although one of the actresses may double as Miss Cratchitt in Act 1.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
Big Edie in GREY GARDENS is in the Prelude of Act I and then isn't seen again until Act II.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle