Are there any broadway casts who have had a Big reputation?

[broadway guy]

Posted: 4/18/13 at 7:43pm

Im not sure im wording this right. What i mean is, Are there any broadway ensembles that as a whole are very unkind to new people in the cast? Or casts that have a repuation ( good or bad). For example: I know the RENT cast had a bad reputation of always going out of character during performances. I know the WSS cast got screamed at a few times by the creative team. What others?

[darquegk]

Posted: 4/18/13 at 8:48pm

Les Miserables's ensemble at large, production to production, has a reputation for horseplay- there are tons of stories of them goofing about and having cast in-jokes onstage.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 4/18/13 at 9:25pm

I have heard from many cast member of the original production of Les Mis (from alums of both the Broadway and national tours) that part of the reason for all of the in-jokes is that the blocking for the ensemble was very open/undefined. For a lot of the bigger crowd scenes when they were being essentially background they were given a very basic outline of their staging, but very few specifics. Supposedly the original intention was to keep the crowd feeling organic, but it of course led to a lot of the goofing around and in-jokes that went on.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 4/18/13 at 9:26pm

Which ultimately led to a LOT of people being fired.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 4/18/13 at 9:36pm

Also very true, ghostlight.

And not that I'm defending the actors who ultimately ended up going over the top with the onstage fooling around, but I can't say I'm surprised that it eventually happened. It can be hard to maintain a show when their directions are along the lines of "enter here and make up some business that makes sure you are at this point by this line." It was really a recipe for disaster.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 4/18/13 at 9:44pm

No, I didn't think you were. Sorry if it came across that way - and I agree with you that the lack of direction made such shenanigans more likely.

There's an awful book, called "Making It on Broadway", where many of the cast members talk freely about screwing around in Les Mis (one of the co-authors was in the show, so there's a disproportionate amount of Les Mis stories in the book).

I always wondered what the hell they were thinking to admit to something like that in print - with their name attached.

[DAME]

Posted: 4/18/13 at 9:45pm

There is the infamous -I am editing her name - Les Miz story . It involved urine.

Updated On: 4/18/13 at 09:45 PM

[Johnnycantdecide]

Posted: 4/18/13 at 9:46pm

DAME... please share this story!

[OperaBwayLover]

Posted: 4/18/13 at 9:59pm

Yes, please share!

[DAME]

Posted: 4/18/13 at 10:07pm

poof.. gone.

Updated On: 4/18/13 at 10:07 PM

[DAME]

Posted: 4/18/13 at 10:08pm

.

Updated On: 4/19/13 at 10:08 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 4/18/13 at 10:15pm

Lea Michele?

[DAME]

Posted: 4/18/13 at 10:18pm

Original Cast.

[FindMe12]

Posted: 4/18/13 at 10:26pm

Donna Vivino

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 4/18/13 at 10:28pm

If you google it you can find an older thread that tells the story.

[DAME]

Posted: 4/18/13 at 10:29pm

Yes.

[broadway guy]

Posted: 4/19/13 at 8:52am

Oooh fun.