Can you think of a show where...

[NYC_or_Bust]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 12:03am

Sorry, I love those kinds of subject lines!


But seriously, can you think of any productions in which (even in stunt casting cases) they've cast a bigger celebrity in a supporting role than in a starring one?

[heo1128]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 12:05am

The latest revival of Into The Woods....is the Witch really the star?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 12:08am

Micky Dolenz as Zoser in Aida.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 12:11am

would you consider Joel Grey a bigger star than Cheno and Idina? I would.

[Pianolin717]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 12:14am

Lance Bass as Corny Collins

[NoDecencyLeft]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 12:17am

Most recently Whoopi Goldberg in Xanadu.

Lest we forget the rotating parade of personalities that graced the stage of the 90s revival of Grease. They hit an all-time low with gymnast Dominique Dawes as Patti Simcox.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 12:24am

Katie Holmes in All My Sons. John, Dianne, and Patrick all had bigger roles, but she's clearly the NAME name.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 12:29am

NYC_or_Bust, since you have a COLOR PURPLE avatar, a perfect example is when the producers of that show cast Chaka Khan and Be Be Winans as Sofia and Harpo, and an unknown (Zonya Love) in the lead role of Celie.

[Not_the_cool_table]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 12:29am

Taylor Hicks breezing in to play Teen Angel in Grease. Talk about the easiest job in showbiz.

[MrSweetNAwful]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 12:33am

Joan Jett and the replacement Crims in the Rocky Horror revival.
Stockard Channing in the new Pal Joey.

I consider the Witch to be one of the stars of ITW, the role is pretty meaty and was originated by a Broadway Diva after all.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 12:35am

Vera is the female lead in PAL JOEY, and in this production at least, Vera has the final bow.

[NYC_or_Bust]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 12:41am

I know most people wouldn't care, but I always felt like (within the Broadway community) that Rebecca Luker was the NAME in Mary Poppins even though she was totally misused in that production.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 1:06am

^Agreed on her being the name.

Updated On: 1/20/09 at 01:06 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 1:29am

And yes, I would consider the Witch to be the starring role. DEF the starring FEMALE role.

And lest we forget....Clay Aiken?

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 1:34am

Megan Mullally in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.

[NYC_or_Bust]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 1:39am

OOOOOOOOO good one ray

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 2:17am

ITW is really an ensemble show. I think of it as having four more-or-less equal leading roles: the Baker, the Witch, the Baker's Wife, and Cinderella. Depending on the relative strengths of the performers, different characters can seem more dominant in different productions.

The Witch gets the showiest material. The true emotional center of the show is the Baker, but the women tend to excite the audience more.

Given that the Witch gets the last real solo singing, pointing out the moral of the show, it kind of makes sense that she get the last bow, as all the women who played the Witch in the original Broadway production did. The role was expanded when Peters joined the show, and to me it does seem like the star role.

Speaking of roles that were expanded, there's Moon Over Buffalo. The Burnett really couldn't be a supporting one, as originally written, and had to be expanded. But the starring role was supposed to be Bosco's.

The original production of Pal Joey had the star name as Vera. It makes sense to cast it that way. Vera is hardly a subsidiary role. She has two major solos (one of which is the best song in the show) and two big duets. The role is a bit smaller than Joey, but it's pretty big.

Two musicals that perhaps suffered by casting the biggest name in supporting roles were A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Take Me Along.

Ah, Wilderness! has often been a bit of a problem in this respect because Richard is really the central character, but they usually cast a young actor who may be established but isn't a star in the role. Starting with the original production, Nat has sometimes been cast with the biggest name.

Take Me Along blurred focus still further by casting Gleason as Sid, a showy role but really a supporting one. The role was made larger for Gleason than it surely would have been for someone less famous and dominating, and that probably harmed the show.

Both the original production and the Doyle production of Sweeney Todd cast the biggest name as Mrs. Lovett. Truth is that the role is really equal in size to Sweeney. In fact, it might even be a bit longer. But if Lansbury hadn't been cast to play the role in the original production, that might not have been the case.

It's not unusual for a star to play Malvolio in Twelfth Night, even though Viola, Sir Toby, and Feste all have more lines.

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 9:27am

Drew Lachey in Spamalot.
Clay Aiken in Spamalot, I don't think he is a lead.
Alexa Vega and Diana Digarmo in Hairspray, Penny isn't exactly a lead.
Audrey O'Day in Hairspray and Haley Duff in Hairspray
Lakisha Jones in The Color Purple

[NGeorgiaBwayFan]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 9:34am

I remember seing a National Tour of Grease with Mickey Dolenz as Vince Fontaine and Sally Struthers as the principal (can't remember character name).

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 9:38am

All the actresses who played Rizzo in the 1994 Broadway revival of GREASE!.

Donny Osmond as Gaston in BEAUTY & THE BEAST.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 9:46am

Rosie O'Donnell in pretty much everything she's done on Broadway.

Grease - Rizzo is a supporting character

Seussical - (debateable)

Fiddler on the Roof - (bigger than Harvey)

Encores "No No Nanette" (bigger than Sandy Duncan?)

[MrSweetNAwful]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 1:46pm

How could I have forgotten this one, from one of my favorite musicals:

(the late great) Eartha Kitt as Dolores in Michael John LaChiusa's The Wild Party.


[edit] Granted she had two solos (one being the eleven o'clock number) and the show is more of an ensemble piece, the role was trimmed down from it's original incarnation (but Kitt stayed with it regardless) and Queenie, Burrs and Kate's (maybe Black's) parts are a kinda larger.

Updated On: 1/20/09 at 01:46 PM

[BNN]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 1:49pm

I love using Follies, so I'll throw in Yvonne De Carlo as Carlotta in Follies. She certainly was the only BIG name in the cast, but that's not say the leads weren't known in other circles.

[linklarkinlovesme]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 2:22pm

Mario Lopez in A Chorus Line.

[misto625]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 4:00pm

How is the role of Golde bigger than Tevye??

Other Examples:
Jacob Young as Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast
Meshach Taylor from "Designing Women" played the role too
Melanie Brown and Tamyra Gray as Mimi in Rent
Frenchie Davis in Rent
Jerry Mathers as Wilbur Turnblad in Hairspray
Many others