How About No Stunt Casting? — Page 2

That's what I meant, Em. Her all around package was the best. I just love Maya's voice. She was the only redeeming quality of "JCC".

I dunno. I think there's a distinction between stunt casting and the casting of people who have fame in other mediums- call it star casting. A stunt is usually someone with little or long-ago musical theater experience, used blatantly to boost sales when a show is dropping off the radar. Star casting is when a person is honestly cast for a combination of their particular talents being well-suited for the role and their name. Both stunt and star casting can work or fail miserably, but there is a difference. To me, at least. :)

Susan Lucci in Annie Get Your Gun? Terri Hatcher in the Cabaret tour? I actually heard both of these women on chat shows saying they had never sung a note before, they were taking singing lessons to prepare. to which i'm thinking WTF.

Rosie O'Donnell in Grease? and then it became Rizzo de jour for awhile. Oy.

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I have to agree with what some people have already said. I don't care if it's stunt casting or not, as long as they can do the job. I have seen some people who were considered as stunt casting and they did an incredible job.

What annoys me more than the stunt casting itself are the people who moan about these performers without even having seen them or even consider giving them a chance.

If they can pull it off, good for them.

QM

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I agree, star casting is a different thing and has always existed on Broadway. But usually those stars were experienced actors who could at least interpret a musical theatre script with expertise and bring enormous presence to the project (Bacall, Katherine Hepburn) or perhaps reveal a hitherto unknown singing voice (Maureen O'Hara, Paul Sorvino). Stunt casting is putting one hit wonder pop singers with no theatre experience in a lead role and expecting them to carry a show.

But, Mary Stuart Masterson falls into that category you just mentioned. Known for her film, not many knew that she has a beautiful singing voice, and Nine opened that up to people.

Joey MacIntyre, on the other hand, who I believe was wonderful in Wicked, has had theatre experience. He was in Tick Tick Boom, off broadway, which I find wonderful, cause obviously, he wasn't doing it for the money. Before that, he was in the film, The Fantastiks. I can't call him a stunt cast, because he is not the name that brings people in to see the show.

I like Joey Fatone, also. I don't see anything wrong with him, as a stage actor.

Drew Lachey, on the other hand was a bad casting choice. Though, he had his moments in the show, he had a flat personality and a voice that stayed on one level.

Working on Broadway is hard work. You can't knock these pop stars who get up on the stage and perform 8 shows a week. It shows that they are dedicated and enjoy this line of work - with one exception - Joan Jett in RHPS, who couldn't hack it.

Grant it, Toni Braxton is awful, but Deborah Cox was amazing. It's all a matter of opinions on the performers themselves. There are many Broadway actors who I don't like. But I don't use "stunt casting" as an excuse not to like certain people. Noone is forcing me to see these shows. If I don't like them, I don't see them.

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MEF, I may have misread, but you thought Maya was stunt-casting in Aida? She was really early on.
ETA - sorry, I did misread, you guys were talking about JCS. Anyway, even if she was popular in London, at least the way I define it, it would depend on how well known she was wherever the production was taking place. If nobody'd ever heard of her, what's the difference?

There are many Broadway actors who I don't like. But I don't use "stunt casting" as an excuse not to like certain people.

Justice makes a really good point. I don't like the idea of stunt casting as a whole because most of the times I've seen it done, it's been pretty bad. But there are good instances, so I don't think it's okay to assume that just because someone is stunt cast, they'll be bad, at least without knowing something about his or her background. At least then there's something upon which to base your judgement.

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Updated On: 2/26/05 at 09:51 PM

I saw, and I edited. Sorry.

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Still, if people didn't really know of her, how much help would she have given to sales?

grey area, I guess....

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stunt casting that has worked:
-Chicago
--Vicki Lewis
--Tom Wopat
--Kevin Richardson
--Wayne Brady
--Paige Davis (i know she did it before on tour but still)
--Jennifer Holliday
--etc.

-Rent
--Frenchie Davis

-Wonderful Town
--Brooke Shields

-Wicked
--Joey McEntire
--Ok this one i was off on

-Into the Woods
--Vanessa Williams

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Updated On: 2/26/05 at 10:28 PM

I am against it, but if it saves the show, then more suited people for the role will join the cast...

But this is the point I'm trying to make: how are we defining if something "worked?" A casting job would work financially and draw in crowds, but the actor could be horrid and you could say that it's still working because it's doing its job - drawing in money. OR, you could say that it works when the actor pulls off the role well.

BSo - stunt casting doesn't have to be a NON Broadway star. It can be anybody who's a name big enough to make people simply want to see THEM. How is Joey Mac not?

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