'Big' Celebs on B-way — Page 2

Well, in a world where the COVER of this weeks USWEEKLY is POLLUTED by the likes of the Bachelor/ette, the concept of *star* is very meaningless.

Time was that you actually had to have talent and skill and charisma and a showbiz resume' to be famous. Nowadays, you can spear a fish, puke in the woods, and voila, you're a household name. There are no stars anymore, only celebs. It's disgusting. Also to add to the last post, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald,and to a lesser extent, Chenoweth, are what I consider to be *big* theater stars, and I promise you, you would not be able to find 3 random people out in a crowd(and I don't mean TKTS) who would know them.

TheaterB, I haven’t nor has anybody else (on this thread) called you a racist. Ignorant and uniformed (on this subject)...I might be compelled to call you that. You're right about one thing, which is that stereotyping is what we all do everyday and those stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason (they are based on some truth). I'm not arguing with you about what you said about some of P.Diddy's CD buying public not being able to afford tickets. I asked you to address what I said in my previous post about fans of his clothing line, TV show, label, restaurant patrons, etc seeing the show. I have a problem with you basing your assumption on the idea that the only fans P.Diddy has are the ones that buy his records and the idea that the only people that will see the show are the ones' that buy his records. I'm seeing the show, and I've never purchased one of his CD's. Everybody in the music industry will want to see this show. The man is a mogul. He knows how to promote himself like no other. I'm not even a fan of his, nor do I think he should be on Broadway. Still, I do have a problem with unfounded assumptions.

BroadwayNYC, down concert sales for one summer does not indicate anything about P. Diddy's ability to pull in an audience. Did P. Diddy even go on tour this summer? I don't know but do you? Even if he did, you've only addressed, like TheaterB, his music. Please consider his other business ventures and sources of notoriety.

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Updated On: 7/9/04 at 06:40 PM

TheTruth, here's the thing....
P.Diddy has defined the term "entertainer," by branching out to various other projects aside from the "rap" thing. Maybe he does this because he has SO much money that he doesn't know what to do with, OR he might really be into projects he's branching out to like the clothing line or the resturaunt business or whatever he has going for himself.

My point is this: I don't think he can act. I only believe he's going to broadway because he thinks he can do it because he's "P. Diddy." There are so many stuggling broadway actors who are unknown and believe in their artform, and who are penniless, and are striving to make it into this business. I just don't like it when "the powers that are" just pluck celebreties and commit them to a run in order to make their profit. Also, it's very hard for me to associate a foul-mouth rapper with college-educated broadway actors who have studied this craft for four years + and is stuggling to make a name for themselves.
He may turn out to be good, etc, but he just seems like the kind of person who goes home and says "Clothing Line: DONE THAT," "Broadway: DONE THAT."
It's nice try to be good at everything, but stick to what you can do best.

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My opinion on this issue is if a person is a "big star" and can act and sing , then I really don't have a problem. In fact I think in many ways it is good because it brings in alot of people to Broadway who would not have seen a show otherwise. Many of these actors got a start on Broadway, just as many actors starting on Broadway now may be big movie stars someday.

Big Broadway Celebs like B. Peters, E. Paige, M. Crawford, etc have made a name for themselves on Broadway. I would expect these broadway actors to fill up a theatre. It's where they started and where they chose to build a career on. I just don't get it when Big Celebs from other parts of showbiz like P Diddy just get into Broadway because of his connections and who he is. I believe Antonio Bandaras studied theatre before going to Hollywood.
Broadway is not Hollywood - not everyone can do Broadway. I just believe that you build a career on something you love. Don't get me wrong - I have nothing against P Diddy. But to me Broadway and theatre is something that has to be learned and practiced over and over. It means commitment. Don't mean to sound too serious about this subject.

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There seems to be two diffrent issues here: The first one regarding whether celebs have the talent for broadway and the other being whether they can bring in a solid audience.

BroadwayNYC, my post was in regard to P.Diddy being able to pull in an audience. At this time I'm not going to even speculate what his performance might be like or his motives for wanting to do this play. This controversy will definitly be good for the show.

Considering I have never heard of Joey Fatone & Michele Williams, I'm guessing they're not really "big" celebs & so the phrase is a very inexact one.

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If they're talented enough and fit the role like Hugh Jackman, then it can work well. If the show is good enough, it doesn't need a star when it opens (Rent or Les Mis).

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For those of you that don't know me and can't hear the tone...my earlier post on this thread was meant as sarcasm. Just for the record. The "big" names mentioned are really a joke, not to mention an insult to the hundreds and thousands truly talented performers who have and will grace the stages of Broadway.

Bulldog.

"he's got the odds stacked against him. if he pulls it off, and i never thought i'd ever be cheering for p. diddly but god help me i hope he does, it'll be fun to see folks eat crow."

I will definitely admit I'm wrong IF he does pull this off. I'm not above admitting when I'm wrong; I've done it before.
But, I never said anything about his acting. I've never seen him act, and therefore I would not judge him as good or bad before seeing him act. I merely feel that he may not bring in the large audiences that Producers are expecting him to bring in.

In reference to what TheTruth said, a couple of people did call me a racist...or at least said that what I said was racist. I am defensive in reguards to that because I have not said anything in this thread based on hate-filled feelings, which is what racism stems from...Hate. I based it on stereotypes, yes; but never on racist feelings.

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