Greatest Set of Leads

I don't know why, but KISS ME, KATE is the first show that comes to mind. Those are two big roles that actors can make a meal out of, and the material/onstage workout feels about as even as you can get for a musical couple. Eliza & Higgins, too.

In terms of Sondheim, I would argue Sunday along with Sweeney have the most evenly-matched leads; in most of his other shows, one character has a leg up.

To continue rambling...

I started thinking about "what shows don't work without a pair of dynamite leads?" With shows like Guys & Dolls, Fiddler, Music Man, and the R&H canon, you can get away with mediocre high school performances and the audience still has a swell time. With some other shows (most of Sondheim, La Cage, Gypsy), the show NEEDS one or two performances that anchor it and drive it –– either because of the demands of the material, or sometimes the limitations of the material. A lot of people scoffed at Dear Evan Hansen back in 2016 because they thought it was just the Ben Platt show and so much of its success rode on his shoulders, but the subsequent Evans have shown that the material stands on its own.

Updated On: 7/16/20 at 12:37 AM