Are we nearly at the end of an era for our great musical divas? — Page 2

SouthernCakes said: "I think it’s a lot to do with casting and colleges. Most casting offices pull from a specific college/university, and those schools are churning out carbon copy performers, so honestly there’s no way to be unique in today’s market...."

I was present at a UCLA faculty meeting where the head of the acting program went off about how they only wanted people who were "equally good at singing, dancing and acting" for the then new musical theater program.

And I thought, "You are describing future members of the chorus, not musical theater stars, few of whom do everything equally well." Not that members of the ensemble aren't equally important and worth training, but that wasn't his implication.

This is soooooo true! So, a lot of the big regional theaters hire non-union ensemble members with the emphasis on the dancing (I remember when I was non/union of having to go through a dance cut first before even being asked to sing for Jekyll and Hyde at Northshore. Wtf), which then have these great credits and so forth and make it to Broadway quicker. There’s no place for the powerhouse actor/singer these days which is why our divas are Sutton Foster Or an Ex Elphaba. Bonnie Milligan should be a star but people aren’t writing those shows.

Three, four or more decades ago, the Broadway Divas were nationally recognized names in many instances. Ethel, Carol, Liza, Barbra, Bernadette, Angela and more.

Today, the names Sutton, Cynthia, Jessie, etc. don’t trigger that same recognition. It has nothing to do with their respective talents.. Times and tastes have changed and gone are the days when a Broadway cast album could dominate the charts for weeks, months or even years. National television exposure of Broadway is nothing like it used to be, either.

It’s sort of sad, isn’t it?

A current breakout star with a quirky, but emotional, singing voice and crossover appeal? Oddly enough the first person that jumps to mind is Ben Platt. I mean this as a complement. If classic diva roles spoke to gay men's repressed passions I think it's interesting that the straight Evan Hansen has been mostly played by gay men who can tap into the characters vulnerability and double life. However, like Alice Ripley before him, the role took a toll on his health. I enjoyed his recent pop concert but his patter suggests he's emotionally frail and will need self-care and a support system to sustain the type of performances he wants to give. Time will tell if Evan Hansen was the launch of a career or the peak of it.

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Updated On: 8/10/19 at 03:31 AM

Yes, but that's theatre, isn't? They will all be gone at some point and, we can delay that, but it *will* happen. And their most notable feats will only live in our memories. And one day, we will also be gone, but those seats won't be empty, as theatre lives on.