Best/Worst Celebrities that went onto Broadway — Page 3

Patti LuPone FANatic said: "Globefan said: "Wendy Williams in Chicago"

I would second that. I imagine some in the cast would agree as well."

And she put a How You Doing into her song.

joevitus said: "jvoom said: "I didn't see her myself but I have a friend who will go to his grave swearing Reba in "Annie Get Your Gun" is the best example of perfect star casting ."

Online friend who saw Ethel Merman in the Annie Get Your Gun revival of the 60's (and had seenher in the original Gypsy) says Reba was better than Merman in Annie."

That is actually not saying much. I was only 16 and I remember being underwhelmed by her performance. For me, even the excitement of seeing Merman in one of her greatest roles had worn off a lot by the end of the show, because IMO she made little effort to actually act, and just planted herself at center stage whenever she sang a solo or a duet.

I will admit that in a 4 week period, I saw Angela Lansbury in Mame, Gwen Verdon in Sweet Charity, and Merman; that certainly did not help my opinion of her. For my money, to this day, Angela Lansbury gave one of the two greatest female musical performances I have seen and Verdon was amazing...I was too young to really appreciate Sweet Charity, but I still remember her dancing in general and her performance of 'If My Friends Could See Me Now' in particular.

PS -- that was no attempt to disparage reba's performance; I did not see it, but understand she was great. Given her charisma and voice, I find it hard to believe that she would not be a great Annie.

Updated On: 1/30/21 at 05:58 PM

What a fun thread, this is a trip down memory lane and it got me to remember some great performances, like Emma Stone in Cabaret or Bradley Cooper in Elephant Man. Rupert Grint really was an excellent surprise in It's only a play (the show didn't do it for me, but he really sold his character), and Jordan Fisher knocked it out of the park as Evan Hansen (and I had high hopes for him!). I have to agree that Carly Rae Jepsen in Cinderella was just awful (she couldn't sing the score at all) and I hated Cody simpson in Anastasia too.

As for people who haven't been mentioned, I'll say:

I loved Kelsey Grammer as Georges in La Cage aux Folles back in 2010.

Does Arthur Darvill count as star-casting in Once? Because I loved his performance as well. I actually fell in love with Once when I saw the replacement cast (with him) instead of when I watched the OBC.

Michael C. Hall and Darren Criss were pleasant surprises as Hedwig. I actually had a blast watching Darren, even though I walked in expecting him to be bad. I didn't know what to expect from Michael C Hall because I wasn't familiar with his work, and he ended up being quite good.

I hated Sienna Miller in Cabaret. I couldn't understand the rave she got from NY Times for the life of me.

Josh Kaufman as Pippin was an atrocity, but I mostly blame the casting director for picking a 37 year old man to play the role. It's a shame that beautiful revival closed with him in the title role.

I also really disliked Nene Leakes in Cinderella. Nene wasn't funny at all.

Updated On: 1/31/21 at 06:29 PM

When someone can’t sing well or dance and they are surrounded by A list pros (even outclassed by the ensemble) it’s really hard for them unless they have tremendous charisma and confidence. I see a lot of stunt casting where you can tell the actor isn’t embodied on stage. You see them thinking and marking. They are self conscious. Most seasoned actors are ok being vulnerable and completely show up even when they aren’t perfect. I think of Allison Janney in 9 to 5-fully committed and conscious on stage. She was having a ball and performing with abandon even though her singing and dancing were just passable. An actor can transcend limitations if they fully commit. A lot of pop stars and reality people have no ability to do anything outside the box.

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BroadwayNYC2 said: "I don’t think Kelsey Grammar applies here since he started out in the theatre"



The same could be said for Michael C Hall, who I saw do an incredible "Romeo" long before any of his TV work.

I have seen Sebastian Stan twice on Broadway, in TALK RADIO and PICNIC and both times he was pushing like an over-eager high school student.

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to be counted among the righteous: Kathleen Turner

Worst.... Diana Degarmo & Ace whatshisname in Hair. They were embarrassingly bad.

Worst... Keke Palmer in Cinderella

Worst...Oak in Great Comet

Surprised no one has mentioned Ingrid Michaelson, who was fantastic as Sonya in TGC.

Most of these are from my high school/middle school years when I lived in New York and saw Broadway shows regularly -

Best:

Martin Short, Little Me (brilliant)

Jerry Lewis, Damn Yankees (I was twelve, and it was one of the first shows I ever saw, but I remember loving all of it)

Billy Crudup, The Elephant Man (not a surprise since it was a non-musical and he's a great actor, but still)

Jennifer Jason Leigh, Cabaret

Worst:

All four leads in the 2001 revival of Follies (NONE of them could sing the score, although Treat Williams was great decades earlier in the Hair film, as was Blythe Danner in the 1776 film)

Jack Wagner (classic desperate C-list celebrity casting) in Jekyll and Hyde (and Hasselhoff too of course)

Ana Gasteyer in Wicked (not "bad," but too old and barely sufficient vocally)

Brent Spiner, 1776 (again, not bad, I just wasn't a fan...he is also may not count since was on Broadway before Star Trek)

Ricky Martin in Evita (I actually liked Elena Rodger better than him, because at least she was compelling to watch...Martin was just totally bland)

henrikegerman said: "to be counted among the righteous:Kathleen Turner

I agree with you. Kathleen Turner was great in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Indiscretions (although that was stolen by Eileen Atkins and a very young and very naked Jude Law) and especially Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. I even thought that she was great in the much maligned High.

I thought that Sandy Duncan was better, but I was nevertheless very surprised by the quality of Twiggy's performance in My One and Only.

I have always been a big fan of Julianne Moore's, but I was disappointed in her Broadway debut performance in the play whose name I can not remember, but which played at the Music Box, and co-stared Bill Nighy.

Jessica Lange was terrible in Streetcar (you could not hear her most of the time) and pretty mediocre in Glass Menagerie, but ended up giving a great performance in LDJIN. I guess she needed to learn how to act on stage and manage her voice, etc.

Debbie Reynolds was wonderful in Irene, which was an enjoyable -- if not very good -- production hoping to strike lightening the way No No Nanette did. It ran a lot longer than it probably should have because of her performance. Alas, she never went anywhere on Broadway after that.

I thought that Melanie Griffith was excellent as Roxie, but will acknowledge that she was playing someone who was a no-talent. Which brings me to the performance that surprises me to this day. Antonio Banderas in Nine. It is rare that I tear up in a show, but he made me tear up towards the end of the show, when Guido is a lost soul. I never really liked him before this, and was truly amazed by the depth he brought to the role.

Other positive ones that come to mind: Lauren Bacall in Cactus Flower. Three hits in a row. Didn't see her, but Rosalind Russell in Wonderful Town. Others have mentioned Daniel Radcliffe and Jake Gyllenhaal, and I am in wholehearted agreement. Alexis Smith in Follies. Natalia Makarova in On Your Toes; she didn't sing, but proved to be a terrific commedienne as well as dancer -- I don't know why she never appeared in anything else. Denzel Washington surely belongs high on any list like this; he even had the guts to take on Shakespeare and do pretty well.

A friend and I had matinee tickets in the balcony for The Cripple of Inishmaan with Daniel Radcliffe. Once we were seated I looked around and said "oh, oh!" to my friend. The balcony was heavy with young girls who were obviously there to see Harry Potter in person, so I anticipated the worst knowing the basic outline of the play. During the long scene with just Daniel onstage in bed, alone at night bemoaning his lot in life I suddenly noticed something that made me pause. I realized I had never experienced a full Broadway house so unbelievably quiet. Not a sound, not a word besides Daniel's dialogue. It's still one of my strongest Broadway memories.

Another loathsome performance: Zsa Zsa Gabor replacing Julie Harris in FORTY CARATS.

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