Best/Worst Celebrities that went onto Broadway- Page 3

[Globefan]

Posted: 1/25/21 at 10:31pm

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. 

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 1/30/21 at 1:03am

Al Roker pleasantly surprised me when I saw him in Waitress. I went in with no expectations, and I loved him in the role of Ole Joe!

[Jarethan]

Posted: 1/30/21 at 5:58pm

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

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 1/31/21 at 3:52pm

Among the worst were Jake Shears and that Pentatonix girl in Kinky Boots. I think the horse had left the barn on the show by then. It was about to close and it showed. Jake is among those pop stars that can’t really sing well and doesn’t know what to do without the bells and whistles of boas, disco balls and distractions from his voice. His range is really limited without sweetening. His acting was rough and he seemed uncomfortable the whole show. The Pentatonix girl was stiff too. The theatre was 2/3 empty. I was waiting outside the theatre after the show and she came out. She walked up to me and asked me if I was waiting for her and wanted a photo and autograph. I said no. I truly didn’t know who she was. She seemed irritated.

[helvizz]

Posted: 1/31/21 at 6:29pm

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

[ACL2006]

Posted: 1/31/21 at 7:59pm

In regards to Kinky Boots, apparently Conor Maynard was horrendous. Everything had to be sung lower, he had terrible etiquette and frequently called out.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 2/1/21 at 10:17am

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.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 2/1/21 at 12:08pm

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

[George in DC]

Posted: 2/1/21 at 12:38pm

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.

 

[kylegfil_]

Posted: 2/1/21 at 2:32pm

Best off the top of my head: Saoirse Ronan in THE CRUCIBLE, Sara Bareilles and Jordin Sparks in WAITRESS, Andrew Garfield in ANGELS IN AMERICA, Daniel Radcliffe in THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT.

Worst: David Cook and Tyler Glenn (I am a fan of him/his vocals Neon Trees) in KINKY BOOTS both stressed me out vocally, but Jake Shears is probably the worst male performer I have ever seen on a Broadway stage.  His performance was embarrassing.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 2/1/21 at 5:34pm

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.  

[sharthnade]

Posted: 2/2/21 at 10:08am

From my point of view, there are many artists who are worthy of the title of the best. But in my personal top spot, Jordan Fisher in Dear Evan Hansen comes first.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 2/2/21 at 10:21am

to be counted among the righteous: Kathleen Turner

 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 2/2/21 at 11:03am

In a way, it also feels a bit off to include people in this thread who have done a fair amount of theatre at this point, even if they started onscreen. In particular, I'm thinking of people like Jake Gyllenhaal and Daniel Radcliffe - both actors who came to the stage when they were already movie stars. But they've shown dedication to the art of stage acting, and have proved themselves extremely capable, to the point where I genuinely consider them to be stage actors in their own rite. I'm sure there are other examples of people like this, but these are the 2 that I think of first. Most other celebrities who have done stage work either started onstage before being famous, or they give stage acting 1 or 2 tries before moving on (not that there's any shame in that).

[unclevictor]

Posted: 2/2/21 at 11:22am

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

Worst... Keke Palmer in Cinderella

Worst...Oak in Great Comet

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 2/2/21 at 11:31am

Don’t feed Oaks ego by calling him a celebrity. Lol.

Maybe not the best, but John Mulaney and Nick Kroll were both highly successful in their outing of Oh, Hello. Wouldn’t be shocked if either of them return to Broadway in something with more substance.

Worst, probably Bruce Willis in Misery.

[QueenTwinnied]

Posted: 2/2/21 at 3:38pm

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

[Dollypop]

Posted: 2/5/21 at 11:50am

No one has mentioned Melanie Griffith's dreadful performancs as Roxy Hart?

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 2/5/21 at 4:56pm

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)

 

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 2/6/21 at 12:45pm

blaxx said: "To me, this is either the worst or the best, depending on your level of schadenfreude.

I'm unsure if he was bored, embarrassed, confused, lost, hungover or a combination of them all.

http://youtu.be/uFatMjn_lYU"

I would have to side with not good.  Wasn’t that guy a singer too? I guess one can forgive the acting, but the voice...pretty weak.  
I did an amateur MTI production of the show with non-professional kiddos and our Jojo not only melted the hearts of the audience, he was so cute, but he had a sweet and admirable voice considering he had never done anything like this before. i was more moved by that performance than this. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 2/6/21 at 4:03pm

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.

 

 

 

 

 

[fosterfan2]

Posted: 2/6/21 at 5:57pm

Dollypop said: "No one has mentioned Melanie Griffith's dreadful performancs as Roxy Hart?"

What were they thinking?!

 

[Claude Perkins]

Posted: 2/7/21 at 2:46pm

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.

[sppunk]

Posted: 2/7/21 at 4:38pm

All my ‘best” have been mentioned so I’ll add a nam to the miss. And one that to this day shocks me.

I absolutely hated Tom Hanks in Lucky Guy.

It was like watching someone just read lines off cards, zero emotion.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 2/7/21 at 8:27pm

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