Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
#1Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 2:33pm
Have you ever seen a show that had a child or children in it, and you couldn't stand the performance(s). My example is Harrison Chad.
I first saw him on Broadway in Les Mis and he was so stiff and lifeless I couldn't believe he'd gotten into the show. Recently I obtained a recording someone did when he was in the show and it was even worse.l
Then I saw Caroline or Change, and instantly recognized him when his performance in that one was just as stiff.
Does he have a parent who works in the industry or something?
Any other examples?
Wynbish
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/27/12
#2Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 2:39pm
Not Broadway, but I've seen many a Winthrop who overdoes the lisp.
But they're all so cute!
Updated On: 8/27/12 at 02:39 PM
#2Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 2:40pmI played Winthrop in an regional once. I started out overdoing the lisp, but then the fear of God was put into me.
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#3Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 2:43pmThat explains almost everything...
#4Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 2:50pmHow does my playing Winthrop at age 11 explain anything relevent to this board?
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#5Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 3:24pm
I've often wondered if the various actors who played "Little Boy" in the various companies of the original production of RAGTIME were specifically directed to speak in a really stilted, unnatural way, or was it just a case each new one imitating the previous one.
#6Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 3:43pmI don't remember their names, but I found the two kids who played the child leads in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang very irritating. Whenever they sang it always sounded like they were whining.
The adult
Swing Joined: 8/27/12
#7Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 4:56pm
. This is a true up and coming star watched him yesterday eve with his sister at the bernie grant theatre very good joy to watch now dylan s at the globe one to watch
Updated On: 8/27/12 at 04:56 PM
#8Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 5:11pmI saw your related post on the West End board. Very interesting.
The adult
Swing Joined: 8/27/12
#9Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 5:25pmThank you sir it's true and thanks taking time to reply kids are the future we seek alot as adults a child learns and grows all kids should be helped,supported and more print on these rising stars
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#10Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 5:43pmWho's the guy in the Bermuda T-shirt?
The adult
Swing Joined: 8/27/12
#11Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 6:08pm
Mackenzie crook
And dylan standen
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Updated On: 8/27/12 at 06:08 PM
Quiche2
Broadway Star Joined: 7/20/12
#12Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 6:35pmPatrick Kennedy as the Addam's tour Pugsley. He is an awful actor. Luckily, Pugsley isn't a very big part, so I didn't have to sit through his awful performance too much.
The adult
Swing Joined: 8/27/12
#13Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 6:41pmCheer yourself up go to the globe great place great show, b market real close too fan place
#14Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 7:00pmThese are kids you're talking about. You could stand to be a little kinder.
#15Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 8:01pm
How does my playing Winthrop at age 11 explain anything relevent to this board?
I think Diva was making a gay joke about your "overdoing the lisp". It was just a joke and, to my eye, not malicious. I probably would have posted it if he hadn't.
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#16Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 8:03pm
I would say that very often I dislike child actors in bway shows. 90% of the time, the directors seem to use them just to BE cute. I would like to think that the weak performances I see so often are the director and writer's fault -- they can't ALL be bad, right? After all, many movies seem to turn out decent performances by child actors.
Example: the role of Les in Newsies. HATE it. There is no purpose for him and the ridiculous lines the poor boy has to say are all "cute".
#17Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 8:04pm
I've often wondered if the various actors who played "Little Boy" in the various companies of the original production of RAGTIME were specifically directed to speak in a really stilted, unnatural way, or was it just a case each new one imitating the previous one.
It could be, Jon, and I've only seen the show twice. But my memory of his opening lines and any speeches about the passage of time is that they sound literary rather than dramatic (i.e., written speech rather spoken) and it may be that the stiltedness is inevitable. By contrast, he doesn't sound stilted to me during "What a Game!".
JakePinckes
Chorus Member Joined: 7/10/12
#18Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/27/12 at 8:16pmI actually really like the role of Les in Newsies, he added a nice comedic touch to the show and Lewis Grosso (Les at the performance I saw) was actually really talented. I dont feel he was unnecessary at all. I hate the kids who play Michael and Jane Banks, their fake british accents are atrocious. I also didn't really like Young Simba and Young Nala because the actors I saw made me feel like I was watching an elementary school play, so I like the second act better. But "better" in The Lion King is just a step up from awful, well because that show isn't the best :)
#19Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/28/12 at 3:34pmI hate hearing him say "And I've got a date" on the recording. To me it was just "let's make him cute" crap. I felt the portrayal was better in the film such as the film was.
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#20Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/28/12 at 3:41pm
I think in the past 25 years, the truly great kid performances have been limited to Daisy Eagan in Secret Garden and Anna Kendrick in High Society. Period.
I didn't see Falsettos in 1992, so I can't judge the Jasons.
Updated On: 8/28/12 at 03:41 PM
#21Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/28/12 at 4:09pm
Personally, I think putting your kid onstage can be one of the worst things you can do. For the few for whom things work out, there are 1,000 who fall apart when they can't translate it into an adult profession. Stage kids are generally taught to act in a very artificial way, so that they can be relied upon to do the same thing each night. That approach doesn't work so well for adults.
My worst memory of kids onstage (out of many) were the little artificial robots in the musical Big.
Watch that Annie documentary, if you want to see the tragic after-effects of being a child actor.
#22Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/28/12 at 4:19pmI agree about Harrison Chad in Caroline, or Change. His singing was very good, but his acting was nonexistent.
#23Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/28/12 at 4:27pmWhere Harrison is concerned I could accept it if he just wasn't that good of an actor. To me, both times I've seen him, it's as if he has not received any acting training at all. Which is why I wondered if he is related to someone in the industry.
#24Child Actors on Broadway (or elsewhere)
Posted: 8/28/12 at 4:29pm
Jon, you are right about Kendrick and Egan.
The top of my list was Molly Ephraim in the 2002 "Into the Woods"...she made me angry.
"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS
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