Actors who were fired from/left roles- Page 3
Actors who were fired from/left roles
cliffordbradshaw2
Stand-by Joined: 3/2/15
#50Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/17/16 at 6:27pm
Please forgive if this has already been mentioned:
When "Wicked" played its tryout run in San Francisco, The Wizard was Robert Morse; Boq was Kirk McDonald; and Dr. Dillamond was John Horton. All three roles were recast for Broadway.
#52Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/17/16 at 6:42pm
Broderick did one very early reading of PARADE. He was never attached to the Broadway production.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
Sunny11
Broadway Star Joined: 9/3/14
#53Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/17/16 at 6:49pm
James Carpinello left Hairspray and understudy Matt Morrison then originated Link on Broadway.
smidge
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/06
#55Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/17/16 at 7:59pm
And, of course, the whole Christian Hoff/Pal Joey situation
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#56Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/17/16 at 8:12pm
nmartin said: "Dolores Gray was fired from Ballroom. As much as I love Dorothy Loudon, Dolores Gray would have been fantastic singing 50 Percent.
Why was Dolores Gray fired?
"
nmartin
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/3/05
#57Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/17/16 at 8:42pm
I cannot remember the full story. It was something along the lines of her not being vulnerable enough. Bennett took her out to dinner one night, and the next day she was fired. She had no idea it was coming.
I am virtually certain that I read the story in Ken Mandelbaum's A Chorus Line and the Musicals of Michael Bennett.
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#58Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/17/16 at 8:48pm
Bennett, like Fosse, were both super talented. Having said that, they were both s.o.b.'s
Poster Emeritus
#59Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/17/16 at 10:20pm
BrodyFosse123 said: "Also, I didn't know about Kelsey/Tambor. Wasn't Kelsey nominated for a Tony? I watched that season of the BH housewives and remember Camille going to the Tonys with him. So how does that work if he left after 10 days?
Kelsey was nominated because he originated the role of Georges in the revival. Tambor was his replacement who left shortly after he started his run.
"
Seems unfair to get nominated for 10 days work and bailing out.
#60Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/17/16 at 10:27pm
Phantom of London said: "Who was the guy who was going to take over from Bertie Carvel as Ms Trunchball in Matilta bu never happened?
It was Craig Bierko. He injured himself during rehearsals for the role. He got back into shape and I believe he went on for Ms. Trunchbull a few times but his shoulder injury got worse and eventually he left. Such a physically demanding role!
#61Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/17/16 at 11:25pm
Sorry that my text wasn't clear enough. Grammer opened the production, he stayed with it from April 2010 until February 2011 and was nominated for the Tony. Tambor replaced him and left the show 10 days after that. I've just edited my original post to avoid future misunderstandings.
Updated On: 4/17/16 at 11:25 PM
mc1227
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/07
#62Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/18/16 at 12:08am
musicaltheatreman2 said: "mc1227 said "Matthew Broderick from Parade in the late 90's"
I didn't know he was originally cast in Pararde? Why did he get fired or replaced? I can actually picture him playing Leo Frank when he was younger.
I recall that he mentioned this at a Chatterbox appearance. I think it was a weeklong workshop that Hal Prince decided he wasn't going to work in the role so he was replaced by someone else. He said that it was handled very strangely and he didn't realize at first he was replaced because they never officially told him.
"
The only review of a show that matters is your own.
Adair Haywind
Leading Actor Joined: 4/2/14
#64Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/18/16 at 10:54am
Natalie Mendoza left Spider-Man very early in previews after both herself and fellow cast mate Christopher Tierney sustained injuries.
Kecia Lewis was originally cast as the Dragon in Shrek during the show's Seattle tryout, but when they split the role into three soloists she declined to reprise the role for Broadway.
#66Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/18/16 at 11:01am
Poor Carole Demas had it tough. She was fired from "No, No Nanette" and replaced by Susan Watson. She was also fired from "The Baker's Wife" and replaced by "That LuPone Woman"....lol
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#67Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/18/16 at 12:28pm
The original Annie: Kristen Vigard was replaced a few days into performances during the out-of-town tryout of ANNIE. She was quickly replaced by Andrea McArdle, who was playing Pepper in the orphan ensemble. Vigard would later become McArdle's standby when the show arrived on Broadway.
#68Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/18/16 at 12:30pm
Stephanie J. Block in Wicked comes to mind immediately. That one's still gotta sting.
yankeefan7
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/14/12
#69Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/18/16 at 2:14pm
"Timothy Nolen - Michael Crawford's replacement in the original Broadway Phantom back a year or so into its run "
I remember that my wife and I missed seeing Michael Crawford by a couple of weeks. It was our first "date" out alone after our oldest daughter was born. If memory serves me correctly, he was pretty good.
#70Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/18/16 at 2:15pm
Richard Dreyfuss in the Producers London
eeek! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1474501/Star-quits-musical-after-TV-gaffe.html
Broadway61004
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/14/11
#71Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/18/16 at 2:32pm
Henry Goodman was the first replacement for Max in The Producers before being fired after a month (and being replaced by Brad Oscar, who of course went on to play the role for years).
Also, Melora Walters in the short-lived Match, although I don't remember the circumstances there.
Jallenc32
Stand-by Joined: 8/26/14
#72Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/18/16 at 2:54pm
Don't forget the drama that as Thora Birch being fired from the off-Broadway revival of Dracula. That was a mess.
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/actress-thora-birch-fired-from-dracula/?_r=0
toofunktastic2
Stand-by Joined: 4/9/15
#73Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/18/16 at 3:32pm
MoDance0934 said: "Phantom of London said: "Who was the guy who was going to take over from Bertie Carvel as Ms Trunchball in Matilta bu never happened?
It was Craig Bierko. He injured himself during rehearsals for the role. He got back into shape and I believe he went on for Ms. Trunchbull a few times but his shoulder injury got worse and eventually he left. Such a physically demanding role!"
He actually couldn't do the role in full as far as I can tell. When he went on they added a character, called Leon Grunchbunkle or something like that, who did the Amanda Thripp throw, and someone else did the jump over the vault in Smell of Rebellion.
#74Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/18/16 at 4:31pm
"Many. The four that come quickest to mind left roles for very different reasons:
Dean Jones, COMPANY
Madeline Kahn, ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Judy Kuhn, SHE LOVES ME
Bette Davis, NIGHT OF THE IGUANA"
Because despite the thread title, many people will assume these actors were all fired (I mean, few actors leave a Broadway show willingly), let me clarify three of the above:
Dean Jones was going through his own divorce during Company and was an emotional wreck. He asked Hal Prince to let him out of his contract. Prince agreed provided that Jones opened the show.
Madeline Kahn was more or less fired from On the Twentieth Century, but it was through some sort of "mutual agreement" with Harold Prince to leave the production. She did not enjoy being in the show and I think wanted to leave.
Judy Kuhn was not fired from She Loves Me, she just didn't do the commercial transfer and had unfortunately left by the time the cast recording was made.
jonartdesigns
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/04
#75Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/18/16 at 6:32pm
Steven Pasquale had to pull out of The Light in the Piazza and South Pacific due to conflicts with his Rescue Me schedule. Interestingly both times he was replaced by Matthew Morrison.
Another small world coincidence is the departures of Craig Bierko in Matilda, and Jeffrey Tambor in La Cage. Both actors departed suddenly and were replaced by their understudy, Chris Hoch, before Christopher Sieber took over full time.
"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
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#76Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/18/16 at 8:13pm
Helen Lawson had Neely O'Hara fired from one of her shows because she was intimidated by her talent.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
#77Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/18/16 at 8:29pm
Speaking of the La Cage dismissals, here is an article about Robert Stack. http://nypost.com/2011/03/04/laurents-livid-stack-attack/
#78Actors who were fired from/left roles
Posted: 4/18/16 at 8:39pm
TFMH18 said: "Stephanie J. Block in Wicked comes to mind immediately. That one's still gotta sting. "
I'm pretty sure she still gets checks from them so that probably softens the blow.
I like a good rhyme more than a good time
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