News on your favorite shows, specials & more!

Actors being fired / replaced

Burke4 Profile Photo
Burke4
#1Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 2:48pm

Last night I had the chance to see The Standby's. One of the things that stuck out the most to me was (spoiler) Alena Watters being replaced in Bette Midler's Las Vegas show and being offered the swing position, thus firing the current swing, only for them to get rid of her (and the swing position) completely a short time later. What are some other instances where someone has been completely fired from a show or 'down graded' to a lesser role or position that you know of?

LarryD2
#2Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 2:54pm

There are many instances of people being fired/replaced in previews or in rehearsals, but speaking specifically to your question of someone being demoted, one that comes to my mind immediately is Kecia Lewis in SHREK. She was played the role of The Dragon in the musical's out-of-town tryout; between the tryout and Broadway, it was decided that The Dragon would no longer be played by a single actor but would rather be a puppet voiced by the chorus. Lewis was offered a spot in the chorus, but she declined.

Emmaloucbway
#3Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 2:59pm

Jeremy Jordan in Finding Neverland.

ChrisTyler12882 Profile Photo
ChrisTyler12882
#4Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 3:08pm

Jeffrey Tambor in the most recent revival of La Cage.

evic
#5Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 3:09pm

Natascia Diaz And Solange Sandy in Christina Applegate Sweet Charity revival.

haterobics Profile Photo
haterobics
#6Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 3:14pm

"Jeremy Jordan in Finding Neverland."

Umm, he was hired to do the out of town preview, and was never fired or replaced the entire time.

HighFlyingAdored97 Profile Photo
HighFlyingAdored97
#7Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 3:16pm

Samantha Hill replacing Charlotte Maltby as Cosette in Les Mis


"The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world." - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

ShakinBaconGirl Profile Photo
ShakinBaconGirl
#8Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 3:23pm

- Lupone in Sunset Boulevard.
- Ellen Foley as The witch in Into The Woods
- Kristen Virgard as Annie in Annie
- Jeffrey Tambor in La Cage aux folles
- Erin Dilly in Thoroughly modern Millie.

Updated On: 12/11/14 at 03:23 PM

evic
#9Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 3:26pm

Roger Rees-The Red Shoes
Joanna Pacitti-Annie

Johnnycantdecide Profile Photo
Johnnycantdecide
#10Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 3:33pm

Pat Caroll, Erin Dilly. Tony Pinkins, and Jim Stanek all vanished from Throughly Modern Mille.

LarryD2
#11Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 3:39pm

Carolyn Mignini - GUYS AND DOLLS ('92 revival)
Dorothy Loudon - DINNER AT EIGHT
Jack Noseworthy - LESTAT
Jasmine Guy - THE VIOLET HOUR
Mary Tyler Moore - ROSE'S DILEMMA
Annabelle Gurwitch - WRITERS' BLOCK (which inspired her book and documentary FIRED)

Burke4 Profile Photo
Burke4
#12Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 3:42pm

Here's a link to a Barbara Walters episode of Turning Point regarding the firing of Joanna Pacitti from Annie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEp-wtqpwCU

Burke4 Profile Photo
Burke4
#13Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 3:43pm

If memory serves me correctly, wasn't someone fired and replaced by Tory Ross in Cry-Baby?

Sutton Ross Profile Photo
Sutton Ross
#14Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 3:44pm

Matt Caplan was replaced by Stark Sands when American Idiot went to Broadway.

haterobics Profile Photo
haterobics
#15Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 3:45pm

I never saw Stark, but Matt was so good. I saw him three times.

Sutton Ross Profile Photo
Sutton Ross
#16Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 3:47pm

I missed American Idiot completely, wished I could have seen it.

haterobics Profile Photo
haterobics
#17Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 3:50pm

Check out the Broadway Idiot documentary, you get to see a lot of what it was like... plus, it's a really good doc.

LizzieCurry Profile Photo
LizzieCurry
#18Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 3:58pm

Pat Caroll, Erin Dilly. Tony Pinkins, and Jim Stanek all vanished from Throughly Modern Mille.


Yeah, but 3 out of the 4 actually made it on stage before an audience in La Jolla.


"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt

Elfuhbuh Profile Photo
Elfuhbuh
#19Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 4:10pm

The infamous case of Steve Harley being cast as the title role in Phantom of the Opera, only to have the producers realize that his rocker voice just wasn't working and deciding to cast Michael Crawford instead.


"Was uns befreit, das muss stärker sein als wir es sind." -Tanz der Vampire

Emmaloucbway
#20Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 4:48pm

haterobics: oops, sorry. Should I delete that post?

Also, how about Craig Bierko in Matilda? Wasn't he fired/replaced?

Sutton Ross Profile Photo
Sutton Ross
#21Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 4:50pm

No. He got injured.

Mr Roxy Profile Photo
Mr Roxy
#22Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 4:59pm

Larry Kert replacing Dean Jones who walked away from the original Company.


Poster Emeritus

 Musical Master Profile Photo
Musical Master
#23Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 5:15pm

The infamous Faye Dunaway firing of the LA production of SUNSET BOULEVARD is more infuriating and sad than the Patti LuPone scandal.

loliveve Profile Photo
loliveve
#24Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 5:24pm

"Jeremy Jordan in Finding Neverland."

"Umm, he was hired to do the out of town preview, and was never fired or replaced the entire time."


Actually, apparently he was replaced. Jeremy Jordan was offered the role for the FN workshop "but then they reneged and informed [him] that Matthew Morrison would be doing it. Afterwards, he was offered the out-of-town production at A.R.T. but wasn't guaranteed the Broadway production."


Jordan replaced by Morrison

LarryD2
#25Actors being fired / replaced
Posted: 12/11/14 at 5:27pm

Dunaway never should have been hired in the first place. They set her up for failure, then blamed her when she failed. As it was with Patti's firing, it was a very poorly handled situation.

(The first person who was approached to replace Glenn Close in LA was also a non-singing film star, like Dunaway. She wisely turned down the part, knowing that vocally she couldn't do the role justice. Perhaps Dunaway should have done the same--but the fact remains that neither should have been offered the role in the first place.)


Videos