Actress Merle Dandridge -Once on This Island

I've seen her a few times, but never actually on Broadway. I saw her as The Lady of The Lake in Spamalot on tour, and Joanne in RENT on tour. I also saw her in Hugh Jackman's mostly-one-man show before it went to Broadway. Originally, he had Merle Dandridge and Angel Reda as his 2 back-up performers, and they sang "Take Me Or Leave Me" while he changed into his Peter Allan costume, and they KILLED it. As I understand it, he replaced both of them when the show when to Broadway, opting for a larger, more anonymous ensemble of women. 

It's been something like 6 and a half years since I saw Hugh Jackman's show, and I haven't seen Merle onstage since. Still, I remember her being very good in all 3 shows I saw her in, particularly in Spamalot. I haven't been keeping up with her career in the intervening years, so I actually wasn't aware she's been doing TV, but I'm excited to see her back onstage. 

Honestly Merle is the part of Once on This Island Im most excited about. I saw her as the Lady of the Lake when the tour of Spamalot came to Boston. I was in the front row, and she absolutely killed it. Incredible voice, incredible comedic timing. I cant wait to see what she does with Papa Ge. She has a wonderful stage presence.

She's also found a lot of work as a voice actress and in videogames. She had a great role in The Last of Us (which Id argue has the greatest storytelling in the history of gaming). Her character appears in the final scene of the game, and there's a hysterical video you can find on youtube where the director, knowing her musical theater background, secretly told her to sing all of her lines during one take of the scene, completely catching her co-star Troy Baker off guard. (The actors did motion capture performance for all their scenes). For those that have played the game and know just how devastating the final scene is its definitely worth watching Merle completely upend everything with a musical moment and watch everyone try to keep a straight face.

Merle Dandridge has an outstanding voice. I saw her in the title role in Aida (outstanding), as Joanne in Rent (also outstanding), and in Spamalot on Broadway, where with the exception of maybe Sara Ramirez, she was the best actress to ever play that role.

Her voice is stunningly pure and full. She’s also a great actress, and found a lot of depth in Aida. She had great comedic timing in Spamalot as well.

I know she took a break from the stage for awhile and went off and made a lot of money doing various voiceovers in video games. I’m glad she’s found her way back to Broadway, though.

adamgreer said: "Merle Dandridge has an outstanding voice. I saw her in the title role in Aida (outstanding), as Joanne in Rent (also outstanding), and in Spamalot on Broadway, where with the exception of maybe Sara Ramirez, she was the best actress to ever play that role. "

Yes, I saw her close Spamalot on Broadway. I've seen clips and things of Sara Ramirez, and also saw Hannah Waddingham and Marin Mazzie on Broadway. I would definitely put Merle Dandridge at the top of my list with Sara Ramirez.  She definitely is a positive spot for me wanting to see Once On This Island.

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Here to say Merle is great in Once On This Island! Had never seen her in anything else before but left going "who was that woman?!" And a bonus, she entered and exited the stage right by me and my friend multiple times and she also sat/stood there so we got to hear her voice up close. 

As I said in the OOTI thread, I saw the show this weekend. It was great to Merle again. I wish the role had been a bit more meaty to really showcase her talents, but she still seriously killed it (no pun intended). She had an incredibly powerful stage presence. At the stage door, she seemed genuinely happy to hear I had seen in her in those other shows several years ago. After I told her, she stopped and asked my name, and chatted with me for a minute before moving on to the rest of the crowd. She seemed like a very sweet lady (though of course I don't judge people for choosing not to spend time to talk to fans).