'Big' Celebs on B-way

I think if they are right for the role, can act AND sing, then I have no problem with it. But, P-Diddy and Melanie Griffith? Come on! First of all, do you really think P-Diddy fans (the majority of them anyway) are going to be able to afford to see a Broadway show?
I wouldn't want to see Mariah Carey or Britney Spears on a Broadway stage; but if someone like Catherine Zeta-Jones were to come to Broadway, I think she would be great.

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Yes as opposed to those people's fans.
If you know aything about Rap music and P-Diddy followers you would know that the Majority of them are teens to early 20s, and live in less than Middle Class Neighborhoods. These are facts; not racial observations, so please don't even try to accuse me of something like that. I've seen his fans in music stores, on tv, in my own school.
They save up to buy his latest CD, never mind when he has a concert. So do I think they are going to shell out $100+ to see him make a fool of himself on a Broadway stage when they can just meet him at the stage door for free? Most likely not.
Now as I said, this is a majority of his fans...certainly not all of them. I'm sure there are a fair amount who can afford to and will go see him.

Beleive it or not, stereotyping is what it is for a reason.
Reba fans: 40+ years old, and/or living in middle America where Country music is huge.
Rosie fans: again 40+ years old, house wives.
Boy George fans: 80's nostalgic fans mostly in their 30's
Joey Fatone fans: Teens to early 20's in age, moslty middle class teeny bopper girls obsessed with Boy Bands

Does this mean that a 15 year old girl from NYC can't be a Reba fan? Not at all. But she does not fall into the majority of people who are her fans.

Facts are facts no matter how un-bias some of you may pretend to be. There is a fine line between being racist and stereotyping. I don't hate people for there color, age, or financial status; but I certainly won't say that I don't sometimes stereotype people. Even I fall into some typical categories of people my age, color, and gender. So what!? Does it mean I drink because I'm Irish? No. But I understand why some people might assume I do, and I don't let it get to me.
This is why I like Avenue Q so much. Those people aren't afraid of the truth.

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Updated On: 12/19/03 at 11:59 PM

The thing is that big celebs only want the money. They could care less about being on Broadway and feeling the excitement!

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I really do not think that Vanessa Williams counts for a big celeb on Broadway. She is a Broadway star. She has done more than 1 musical and for longer than a couple months.

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John-

Was just going to type that. The salary that these BIG STARS are making for their runs in a broadway show are dwarfed by doing one commercial, a film, a tv movie, etc. Most of the time these BIG STARS are doing broadway because (whether or not people here might agree) they have a love for live theater and want to expand their horizons (i.e. stretching their acting chops). Many (not ALL) of these BIG STARS actually have a strong background in theater that is so often overlooked or forgotten once they are considered a "film" or "tv" star.

As for TheaterBaby's comment "First of all, do you really think P-Diddy fans (the majority of them anyway) are going to be able to afford to see a Broadway show?"

You should really think about posting a comment like that at least twice because it could easily be misconstrued as a VERY racist and judgemental remark that one could expect many a flaming posts about....

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I would use the term "big" very loosely and cautiously. It seems to me that the celebs that end up on B'way are often B-list at best,(think Jane Krakowski) in need of a major boost, or the second or third, or fourth banana in a very popular group,(think Fatone and Michelle Williams)Then you have the has-been pop stars that need to somehow keep their name out there, e.g,.Debbie gibson, Taylor Dayne, Toni Braxton, etc... Every now and again,yes, someone does it for the love of theater, but those instances are very few and far between. And before you throw Nicole Kidman at me, she was very much still just "Tom Cruises wife" when she was on B'way about 5 years ago.

I think that a lot of times, the big stars are put into shows so that the shows can make more money than they have been making. People who might not be heavily interested in theater might now go see a show with a Hollywood celeb because it is someone they recognize. In addition, I think that theater fans might go see the show again, when a star is put into it because they want to see how good the star might be. Sometimes it's fun to see a Hollywood celeb do really poorly because then you can talk to people about how bad they were. I guess it's always a gamble, some stars suck, some don't. I think it is important that the role fits the star. Those are just some thoughts.
Nick

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While Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick are indeed getting quite a weekly pay, as far as bringing a special energy to the show they can't be beat(Applegate and Stephenson actually bring me pain). I was impressed also with Stamos's passion for the role of Guido and his sadness that it didn't last longer, some of them do it for a very real love of the craft. On the other hand there was a young lady who just a season ago told a certain group of producers that they were "F'ing Crazy" to think she'd do a certain role for less than 200k a week, we all laughed and were warmed by the fact her most recent "project" fell on it's pretty lil' face!

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Star Casting is here to stay... Says a lot for what's out there!

I've said this a zillion times "When a show's success hinges too heavily on the sole performance of one or two actors...that show is forced to stunt cast, re-invest or be cast into the sea".

Just look which shows stay and go ...and why!

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I'd like to see Catherine Zeta-Jones take on the role of Momma Rose for the next revival. It's supposedly her "dream role." I wonder if she could sing the score 8 times a week?

i GENERALLY dont like it when "famous" people come to Broadway, though there are exceptions, like Vanessa Williams. Unless the person can do BOTH well, i dont think they should be hired because they are a singer and expect them to be able to act(Michelle Williams) or vice versa. and then also for "cult like following" people like Joey Fatone, all of their fans come to the shows, and they obviously dont care as long as they see the person live, get all the good seats, and real theatre fans end up with crappy seats because it may be sold out. like i dont know what i would do if Justin Timberlake was ever on Broadway! it would not be good.

Justin Timberlake most likely won't ever be on B'way, at least not while he's an actual mainstream star. When he starts declining in star power and the teenyboppers have moved on to the next "it" boy, then maybe he'll lurk around the *great* white way. Which tells me that we may be seeing Beyonce' and Britney any minute now. Combs is most likely doing this for vanity and egotistical reason's. He sure as heck doesn't need the money, so it has to be for credibility, which is something he has very little of. This is after all, the guy with a personal umbrella handler.

Updated On: 12/20/03 at 12:26 PM