Broadway Singer Freed From Soap Opera

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/29/06 at 6:24pm

Way to go, Matthew James Morrison!

Now to twinkle those toes back to stagedom...

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 10/29/06 at 6:25pm

He's off already?

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/29/06 at 6:26pm

Out of the desert of daytime TV!

[Al Dente]

Posted: 10/29/06 at 6:33pm

And you know this how exactly nom?

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/29/06 at 6:36pm

IssaMe said so on here and I trust IssaMe because IssaMe has all the inside dope on Piazza.

Plus IssaMe threw a bird one day when someone made a joke thread that Clara and Mom in Piazza were going to be relaced because IssaMe didn't realize it was a joke so that's double reason why IssaMe wouldn't make it up.

Plus if you look in the IMDB you'll see he only has one episode listed for the soap and he would have shot a lot more of them I'd think by now.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 10/29/06 at 6:49pm

From what I understood, it was a short-term stint because he was playing the son of character played by Benjamin Hendrickson, who died over the summer, but whose character just died on the show.

The desert of daytime tv? Is that why almost everyone on Broadway has been on a soap?

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/29/06 at 6:52pm

Try rent/mortgage.

And if it wasn't true, BWW would probably have deleted the thread by now, too.

But they didn't delete IssaMe's comment.

I am so thankful he's outta there.

[IssaMe]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 7:36am

Next week's soap press will report this story - but probably not with too many details. Anyway, he's off the soap and on to other things. Which isn't exactly bad news for theater-goers!

[Feathah]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 10:20am

Why would you be thankful that's he's not on a soap opera? That's the part that confuses me. No one needs to be "freed" from an acting gig on a soap. Do we need to free Kathy Brier, Renee Goldsberry, Kerry Butler, etc? It may not be Shakespeare but it's a job and if you get a good storyline it can be great!

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 10:21am

"Freed"? Betcha that's not his take on it.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 10:28am

I'm quite sure Matt's quite upset he's no longer part of that soap. The income he garnered just doing that soap was quite substantial for a theatre actor.

A theatre actor's DREAM is to get a gig on a network television series. TR Knight and Chandra Wilson are in PIG heaven now in GREY'S ANATOMY. Their income for 2 episodes work equals what they use to make in ONE YEAR working on Broadway (if THAT, even). Though stage is their life, the realities of living is why actors 'sell out'. In their own words: "...at least we can afford now to go back to theatre work during our hiatus, and not have to worry about not being paid".

Bebe Neuwirth said it best on WILL & GRACE when Karen and Jack asked her if she'd ever play Lilith again:

"...who won't want a gig like that? They fly me first class; keep me up at the Beverly Hills Hotel; I utter a few lines in a monotone robotic voice and I'm buying a Lexus!"


Updated On: 10/30/06 at 10:28 AM

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 11:15am

Mr. Morrison is too valuable a theatrical commodity to waste his time in any damnable soap opera.

He's TOO talented to be in that prison coop!

Soap opera, all of it, is pure crap.

Understand my point of view is I can hardly bear to watch ANY TV, let alone SOAP OPERA!

I wouldn't deny anyone a paycheck in any honest line of work, however, and if they like to watch or act in soaps, that is their perogative.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 11:25am

A theatre actor's DREAM is to get a gig on a network television series.

Tell that to Sutton Foster.

Some theatre actors thrive to be great theatre actors.

Updated On: 10/30/06 at 11:25 AM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 11:32am

Being a great WORKING theater actor is much easier if you have a TVQ rating. Let's not get all unrealistically idealistic here.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 11:44am

"Great" TV is NOT the soaps.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 11:45am

You said you don't watch them, so how would you know? There are some wonderful theater actors doing wonderful work. And, some actors who don't do theater anymore, but also doing great work on daytime.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 11:48am

It's a matter of taste.

Mine's good.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 11:54am

I guess Tonya Pinkins' taste is in the gutter as she has raised 4 kids on a soap opera's salary.

THAT piece of sh*t soap gig's salary has permitted her to allow a pay cut to do "Caroline, or Change" in London (as well as Broadway).

She matter-of-factly spoke about all this on TheatreTalk when "Caroline, or Change" first opened on Broadway. There's a level of economics that judge the work you accept.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 11:59am

No one's debating that TV work pays more than theater.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 12:03pm

The snobby elitism here makes me want to hurl.

[Jane2]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 12:07pm

Been watching AMC since the day it started and I'm PROUD OF IT!

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 12:12pm

Nothing like experiencing the tingling energy of a living actor's stage presence in a theatre.

Mr. Morrison's got tons of stage presence.

You won't get that from anybody on TV!

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 12:12pm

Nah -- just some kids who are clueless to the realities of being an actor, working AND non-working.

As a friend of many-a Broadway actor, I know the 'real' deal.

I still remember TR Knight moonlighting at Bed, Bath & Beyond at the same time he was on Broadway in the revival of "Noises Off". Sucked big time, but one's gotta eat.

If that isn't a reality kick, I don't know what else is.

I'm sure John Lloyd Young is hoping he strikes gold with his ABC contract. It failed for Marissa Jaret Winokur, who also had the same contract deal with ABC after HAIRSPRAY. It didn't work out for her, unfortunately.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 12:16pm

I've never heard of an actor moonlighting in retail at the same time as they were in a Broadway show. Many MANY people live just fine in NYC on less than Broadway minimum, so that was obviously his choice in order to live in a more expensive apt., go out more, put more in savings, or whatever. It's certainly not a necessity.

[Jane2]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 12:27pm

"Nothing like experiencing the tingling energy of a living actor's stage presence in a theatre.

Mr. Morrison's got tons of stage presence.

You won't get that from anybody on TV!"

Nothing wrong with enjoying both experiences, Nom. I do!