Great performances of weak roles

Not every role is great, but some performers are able to bring out the very best in parts that usually just dont work

The best example I could think of was Laura Osnes as Hope Harcourt in the most recent revival of Anything Goes. In a show filled with punchlines, Hope Harcourt, despite being on the largest roles, has about one joke. On top of that, the role can easily come across as a buzzkill, bringing down the upbeat comedic nature the show. In the hands of the wrong actress its very easy for the role to come across as boring and unlikeable. However, when Laura Osnes stepped in to play the part, she really made the most of such a thankless character. Due to a combination of Osnes beautiful singing, dancing, great chemistry with her leading man (Colin Donnell also did a wonderful job in another thankless role, although Billy is without a doubt much better written than Hope) and her own genuine likability, her version of Hope was the by far the best interpretation Ive ever seen. The biggest problem with Anything Goes (besides the Chinese jokes in the ending scene) is that it feels unrealistic that Billy would go through so much trouble to fight for Hope when he had the infinitely more lovable Reno pining for him. Thanks to the romantic spark between Osnes and Donnell, as well as her ability to expertly downplay her roles unsympathetic moments, Billys pursuit of Hope actually made sense for once. While theres only so much to be done with the role, Osnes felt like a genuine standout, working wonders with a part many would have no interest in.

What are some other situations where a strong performer was able to completely elevated a character as written?

Um, let's think like straight boys for a minute: Billy has a choice between the fabulous, but middle-aged Reno, and the youthful Hope who is both beautiful and sings some of Porter's loveliest songs.

Whom does the straight man prefer? (I'm not saying I understand it, but I've heard more than one straight man say he found Patti LuPone "repulsive"as Reno Sweeney. Said one, "Her mouth was so large that when she belted, it was as if she were trying to swallow the entire audience." I'll leave that one for the Freudians to explain.) My point is that Hope is not so thankless a role for a soprano ingenue as the OP makes her appear. I'm sure Osnes was great, even though she plays straight-woman to the clowns for most of the evening.

Beth Leavel was great as Florence Greenberg in Baby It's You. The whole show was ill-conceived, allowing only 30 seconds to 2 minutes of most of the dozens of the songs licensed for the show. The show would introduce a plot point and then jump to a brand new location and time in the story and never bring it up again. Still she found a way to make a compelling portrait of a talented songwriter out of very inconsistent material. The end of Act I (Soldier Boy) was particularly effective. It was also one of the only full length songs in the show and one of the few times she just got to sing a song on her own.