Bebe Neuwirth, a true triple threat, said that TV/movie stars would get the roles that everyone knew she'd be perfect for (paraphrasing here, not her exact words) and so she went away, did TV, and came back to NY and was able to get those roles.
I mean just look at the SWEET CHARITY revival that went through three leading ladies before settling on a fourth TV/movie star (Marisa Tomei, Jane Krakowski--the only one of the bunch who would have been perfect for the role, and Jenna Elfman all were attached to workshops/out-of-town productions of the revival before Applegate came to save the day). Not one actual Broadway star, apart from Krakowski, was cast in the role at any point. The Weisslers preferred to go through a plethora of Hollywood actresses first. Speaking of Krakowski, she kept getting featured roles on Broadway until she went away to LA, did ALLY MCBEAL and a couple of movies, and was able to get cast as Mabel Normand in LA, Carla in NINE on Broadway, and Miss Adelaide in London.
Only a handful of Broadway performers are able to get leading roles without having TV fame: Donna Murphy, Michael Cerveris, Victoria Clark, Tonya Pinkins, Raul Esparza, Julie White, etc.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"