Hardest Roles

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 9/21/14 at 9:28pm

What are the hardest, most demanding roles there are to play? Mama Rose from Gypsy and Pseudolus from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum come to mind first.

[ShakinBaconGirl]

Posted: 9/21/14 at 9:32pm

- Evita
- Fanny Brice
- Baker's Wife ( ITW)
- Diana ( Next to Normal)

But there are countless other treads about the same topic.

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 9/21/14 at 9:43pm

Francis Henshall in ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/21/14 at 9:44pm

Sir and Cocky in THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT, THE SMELL OF THE CROWD each have over 300 lines and at least 11 songs. Both are on stage for over 2.5 hours. The show demands actors play the absurdism of WAITING FOR GODOT, but to gradually evolve into characters that command our pity. No small trick.

[RENT_is_Wicked2]

Posted: 9/21/14 at 10:11pm

Big/Little Edie (Grey Gardens)
Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (Jekyll & Hyde)

[HighFlyingAdored97]

Posted: 9/21/14 at 10:25pm

Hedwig
Mrs. Lovett

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 9/21/14 at 10:50pm

The Master of Ceremonies(cabaret)
George (Sunday in the park with george)
The Witch(into the woods)
Billy Bigelow(Carousel)
Sally(cabaret)

[JPeterman]

Posted: 9/22/14 at 1:47am

Bobby Child in Crazy For You ..... 2 1/2 straight hours of singing and dancing your ass off. I saw it in Stratford Canada this summer and that poor guy was dripping in sweat 15 minutes into the show. It was a wonderful show.

Updated On: 9/30/14 at 01:47 AM

[OtherDaryl2]

Posted: 9/22/14 at 4:35pm

James Leeds in Children of a Lesser God; Hamlet; Richard III; Juliet; Lear; any of the Tyrone clan . . .

[A1st]

Posted: 9/22/14 at 5:10pm

Hedwig definitely, possibly the Genie too

[Wickedlover56]

Posted: 9/23/14 at 8:58pm

Diana-Next to Normal
Eva-Evita
Fanny Brice-Funny Girl
Elphaba-Wicked
Elle Woods-Legally Blonde
Witch-Into the Woods
Kim-Miss Saigon

[ShakinBaconGirl]

Posted: 9/23/14 at 9:43pm

I'm a bit surprised at people calling The Witch one of the hardest roles. It's a meaty role, but the Baker's Wife is much harder to pull off if you ask me.

[darreyl102]

Posted: 9/23/14 at 9:55pm

It's subjective in a way- it can depend on the performer. Some of the hardest roles may come easier to others. Some seem to be born to play the part and will say that it was easy to do, while others will say that it took alot of effort. Some scores are just plain hard, but there are some people who can sing them with ease while others struggle. It all depends on the performer.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 9/23/14 at 10:58pm

The hard part about playing the Witch is that your practically playing two parts. The old witch is a very different role from the young witch yet they have to seamlessly transform from one to the other.

[I'm a starkid]

Posted: 9/24/14 at 5:15am

When I saw Macbeth on Broadway I was shocked at the amount of time Macbeth spends on stage and what a mental/emotional transformation he goes through, I would say Macbeth as one.
Also:
Billy (Billy Elliot)
Christine (Phantom of the Opera, voice wise)
Pippin (Pippin)
Not necessarily a role, but the ensembles from Pippin and Newsies
Hedwig
Bess (Porgy and Bess)
Christopher (The Curious Incident of the Dog at Nighttime)
Although I have never seen it I imagine Matilda is quite hard for a child to play

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 9/24/14 at 8:09am

Matilda and Miss Trunchbull both seem like very hard roles to play.

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 9/24/14 at 10:10am

Valere in La Bete can't be easy.

[dreaming]

Posted: 9/24/14 at 10:41am

As much as I hated Jerusalem, I admit Rooster was hard (and Mark Rylance made me see that)

I also think Hedda Gabler is a tough role to do correctly (I've seen a few different versions)
Blanche DuBois is difficult
I think King Lear is (after sitting through enough lackluster productions I find it hard to get right)
King Berenger in Exit the King requires a lot of physicality-it's very taxing (and to Geoffrey Rush's credit he did a brilliant job)
I think BOTH the Witch and the Baker's Wife are equally difficult-the Witch has one of the toughest Sondheim songs to pull off-Last Midnight. I consider it so difficult to get right because it's truly a sung monologue. You need a real actress in the role. The Baker's Wife requires a balance of wit and heart which is tough to find.
Hedwig is hard due to the nature of the piece and the need to maintain that energy level plus a rapport with the audience.
I think Diana in next to normal and Big/Little Edie are very difficult in so many ways.
Don Quixote is very difficult vocally for a male performer


Updated On: 9/24/14 at 10:41 AM