Best/Worst Celebrities that went onto Broadway

In before people criticise her, I thought Catherine Zeta-Jones in Night Music was a good thing - she was glamorous, funny and her warm voice had a nice texture that suited the score. Even though of course I think Bernadette's Send in the Clowns was the most incredible moment I've ever had in a theatre, I will admit that a certain glamorous excitement left the show with CZJ (and Lansbury). Sadly, I think people look at CZJ's Tony Performance (which I acknowledge was a mess) and think she was awful in the role.

I'm not going to list the good ones, because I've actually enjoyed the vast majority of celebrity performances I've seen onstage. It's actually kind of rare that I really dislike a celebrity performance. So here are some of my least-favorites:

Brooke Shields - Addams Family
Michelle Williams - Blackbird
Jessica Lange - Long Day’s Journey
Keri Russell - Burn This
Mark Ruffalo - The Price
Joshua Jackson - Children of a Lesser God
Bruce Willis - Misery
Cuba Gooding Jr - Trip to Bountiful
Lucas Hedges - Waverly Gallery
Dove Cameron - Clueless

While he’ll never shed his Harry Potter image, I believe Daniel Radcliffe has proven himself to be a very strong stage actor. I thought he more than held his own in Lifespan of a Fact against a Tony winner and nominee. In fact, I thought of the three stars, he was the highlight. Granted, he had the largest, showiest role.

I will admit though, his signing voice isn’t very strong, but it’s not actively bad like some people made it out to be. He carried How to Succeed’s tunes well enough and his acting and singing were enough for me to forgive any wonky vocals.

Another good example in my book was Zachary Levi in She Loves Me. He was acting opposite some experts in musical comedy, but he never once felt out of place, and I thought he was a perfect match for Laura Benanti, being just as good as she was. And she was on fire.

I’ll also agree with the Josh Groban mention above. His vocals were never in doubt, but his whole performance was really just lovely. And the one time that he gets to speak during it proved that he’s just as strong of a performer even when not putting his top notch pipes to use. All of this is even more impressive in my book considering he never left the stage and had to work as a musician throughout.

Updated On: 1/21/21 at 02:54 PM

Deeply loved Jordan Fisher in Dear Evan Hansen and Brandon Urie in Kinky Boots (his horrible fans were a different story though).

poisonivy2 said: "I really liked Jason Mraz as Dr. Pomatter in Waitress.

I'm also not sure this really counts but Jeff Daniels in TKAM?"

Oooo yes!! I agree about Jason Mraz!!

BroadwayNYC2 said: "“Haunts me to this day."



Same here, but in a different way.

I don't know if it was her performance, the direction, the script, or a mix of all three, but I thought Emilia Clarke was dreadfully dull in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Debra Winger was clearly in way over her head in The Anarchist, though I doubt that anyone could have made that show interesting.

I didn't see her, but because I saw a Bernie meme with him put into "Favorite Son" from The Will Rogers Follies today, I'm curious how Marla Maples did when she took over Z's Favorite.

I'd also be curious to hear from those who saw Kathie Lee Gifford instead of Carol Burnett in Putting It Together.

Natasha Richardson's performance as Sally Bowles still haunts me to this day.

I didn’t see her, but I’m surprised to see Jessica Lange in Long Day’s Journey Into Night listed here under “bad.” I would have thought she’d be perfect in that role. I was going to ask if that was the general consensus, but now I see she won the Tony for it.

Updated On: 1/22/21 at 04:15 AM

Best:

- Jake Gyllenhaal (SITPWG was stunning and “A Life” was wrenching to me)

- Emma Stone (“Cabaret” - Had she opened, she’d have a Tony)

- Michael Urie (“How To Succeed” - I fell in love with him here and now anything he is in is must-see for me)

- Michael Shannon (I’ve seen every Broadway role he has every done and he has NEVER given a bad performance. I hope he gets a Tony someday.)

- Michelle Willliams (“Blackbird” was wonderful and haunting, making up for her performance in “Cabaret&rdquo

Worst:

- Zach Braff in “Bullets Over Broadway” - Not bad by any stretch, but comparatively bland and outshined by his costars

- Ricky Martin in “Evita” - Nice to look at but definitely was an oddly happy Che. Can’t help but wonder about what Raul Esparza could’ve done in the role (Ironically, he was in “Leap of Faith” just around the corner)

- Miss Peppermint in “Head Over Heels” - Groundbreaking for sure and glamorous as hell, but at times a bit vocally outmatched.

Best: Fantasia in "The Color Purple".

Worst: By the widest possible margin, John Stamos in "Nine". Utterly out of his depth. "Bells Of St. Sebastian" was an out-of-tune semi-falsettoed atrocity sung with the terrified blank expression of someone who knows they are in way over their head.

I didn't see Ally Sheedy in "Hedwig" but more than one friend has said she was even worse.

Updated On: 1/22/21 at 02:01 PM