If musical theater were Hollywood...

Since I'm not very knowledgeable about the stars of theater, I wanted to know who are the A-listers, B-listers, etc. And more specifically, where Lea Salonga fits into this group because she's the reason I've started to be interested in theater. I don't know if I can give a good example of what I want. So something like this:

If musical theater were Hollywood, (theater performer) would be (Hollywood star).

If musical theater were Hollywood, Julie Andrews would be Audrey Hepburn. Or if it's just using current actresses, Meryl Streep ? I don't know). Hope you get the idea.

Updated On: 9/16/09 at 04:01 PM

If you really like Lea Salonga, that's wonderful. If you like theatre, that's also wonderful.

Why does it matter where she "ranks?"

You like her! Isn't that what counts?

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If musical theater were Hollywood, Julie Andrews would be Audrey Hepburn.

Dead?

A list stars are generally those who are experienced and currently on Broadway, or considered very attractive, or originated a fairly recent huge smash hit.

Lea Salonga is a huge star among certain small groups, specifically Filipinos, and she's very popular in smaller fandoms, like Les Miserables. Currently, most teeny bopper Broadway fans are all over the young, attractive talent in more rock/pop based musicals, and the older Broadway fans are into older standards like Patti LuPone, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Bernadette Peters.

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Tis why schmerg said MOST not ALL.

Kristin, don't worry, I'm only seventeen myself! It's the equivalent of saying, 'most teenage girls are into Twilight.' You can say, 'Hey, that's insulting, I'm a teenager, but I like to read ancient Greek philosophy,' but I was just making a generalization. Most people who recently got into musical theatre did so through recent musicals, and most recent musicals are more pop/rock styled.

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^ Don't forget that some of their most famous roles involve being blonde and covered in pink.

(Also, "popular"... I can't tell if that's a clever reference or a coincidence, LOL.)

HollyGolightly2,

Both. I haven't watched Wicked, but I've heard the song Popular. I really wanted to use a different word, so it wasn't like I was trying to be clever, but I couldn't think of a better one. Famed? Prominent? Distinguished?

I put Lea Salonga in my A-list; however, I am of the generation that grew up with Miss Saigon and was obsessed with it from the time I was 15. To most younger people, she probably is considered a "classic" star but not someone they are really into like the newer stars in more hip kinds of musicals. I think many people in their mid-30s like Lea,though, and rank her high.

Yes, exactly. I've never been great at explaining things. My point was to get to know who the big stars are in theater with a perspective that I'm familiar with - Hollywood.

My explanation for Kristin Chenoweth = Reese Witherspoon was too simplistic. I assume Kristin Chenoweth to be widely popular just like Reese Witherspoon, who is one of the highest paid actresses ever. The Hollywood Kristen Chenoweth actually isn't very famous if you don't know Broadway. Before last year I honestly didn't know who Kristen was. So "Kristen Chenoweth would be Kristen Chenoweth" doesn't work.

Updated On: 9/17/09 at 08:52 PM