Nudity as a career killer

Why is it that people who appear in "skin" shows like Naked Boys Singing, Oh Calcutta!, Let My People Come, etc. never seem to have high profile careers afterwards? I know this is a generalisation and that there have been a few (very few) honourable exceptions, especially in the OC of "Calcutta"...Leon Russom, Margo Sappington, Bill Macy, Boni Enten...but usually these beautiful people disappear after their one moment of glory. Is there a theatrical curse attached to these nudie romps? It can't be that people who are willing to disrobe are less talented than their covered up counterparts. Do producers see their resume and not take them seriously as artists (like poor Gregory Harrison's character in the "Ladies Only" TV movie)?
Or do the artists themselves feel that audiences have seen enough of them to last a lifetime?

I don't mean one-off nudity, like in "Equus". I mean those shows where the whole cast is naked most of the time.

One man's junk is another man's treasure.

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I don't expect to see any of the "Puppetry of the Penis" performers starring in a Sondheim festival in the near future.

You should! It'll make your eyes water.

I saw puppetry. well, on DVD. the extras were the best part. the replacement cast was way hotter. well, compared to the original guys...

again, I choose the pin...

bliss of bris ....classic

I suspect its more of a case of those who are willing to prance around naked for two hours oftentimes aren't always the very top of the talent pool (no offense to anyone from one of those shows -- and several of the "Naked Boys" have gone on to bigger and better shows on Broadway). The really first rate talents typically have more options than to do something like "Oh Calcutta" (which frankly didn't require the most talented singers, dancers or actors in the world, just folks willing to be naked and do those lame comedy sketches). The truly talented, but unknown, singer/dancers could get work in at least the chorus of a more "highly regarded" show, leaving the not-so-great ones to do "Calcutta" "Let My People Come" and the rest.

There are, OF COURSE, some exceptions to this, but generally speaking you're not going to find the next John Raitt or Richard Burton or Brian Stokes Mitchell in the cast of "Making Porn." For most, the nudity wasn't a career killer -- in fact, it was the only reason they made it on stage to begin with.

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Updated On: 1/16/05 at 02:53 AM

"One man's junk is another man's treasure."

Blue Wiz, I could smack you that was so funny!

CATSNY--can I get a preview?

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ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

hurry up!!!

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Diane Keaton was in Hair. Let's not forget Melba Moore. They were naked.
The cast of Take Me Out, also. Although that was gratouitous and uncalled for, those actors are still working.
It's not just about nudity. Many actors in non nude shows are as equally succesful as those nude ones. And Puppetry of the Penis...do you really call those guys actors? I think the correct term would be "Performers"

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Yes. I didn't care much for the shower scenes. The only time it was necessary was when the Homophobe gets pinned, and even then, it could have been done differently. Truthfully, Take Me Out was one of the worst shows I had seen. I left not knowing what it was supposed to be about. Was it about baseball? Was it about homophobia? Tolerance? Or was it about nudity? Either way, whichever it was about, there was no point to any of it. The only thing good in that show was Denis O'Hare. My opinion, they put in the nudity for attention - to get people to come and see the show.

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