In 30 years...

[pants2]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 6:42am

....who do you think people will say were some of the major stars of Broadway now and during the last 5-10 years? I'm just wondering who people tend to think will be looked back on as real Broadway actors (in the same way we look back on the stars of the Golden Age, or some later people like Betty Buckley) and who will be forgotten or remembered as simply having been in a show or two.

Thoughts please. Thanks!

[Piper3500]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 8:49am

many of the same from 5-10 years ago are the same stars of today anyway.

a future pick for me to become a bonafied star is Krysta Rodriguez. She is known now, but I think she is so so talented and will be one of those in everything in years to come.

there are a few right now that should be and are underrated but i won't go into that

[gcontini2]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 8:51am

How about Nathan Lane, Raul Esparza, Kristen Chenoweth (depends on where they go next), and maybe Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, and Angela Lansbury, though they cross over into a range of years before this, too...

[tazber]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 8:56am

Sutton Foster, Christine Ebersol, and Donna Murphy

[Piper3500]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 9:07am

"How about Nathan Lane, Raul Esparza, Kristen Chenoweth (depends on where they go next), and maybe Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, and Angela Lansbury, though they cross over into a range of years before this, too... "

i would say Patti, Bernadette and Angela (and even Nathan) are already there.

i absolutely agree with Sutton and think she is well known now to, but those who think not well known enough to host the tony's...well. she will be known as a legend of broadway, for men, so may gavin creel and to add (if not already) is Bebe N

[binau]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 9:16am

Sutton Foster just doesn't seem like a 'star' to me. She has had a lot of roles, but she is no Bernadette Peters.

I don't know if I'm the only one, maybe I'm a bit out of the loop not living in the US. But is she really a 'star'? I know she has had starring roles, but that's not quite what I mean.

[parislover87]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 9:28am

audra mcdonald

[slmlbl]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 9:37am

Kristin, Sutton, Audra, Bernadette, Nathan, Patti

[Piper3500]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 9:52am

hang on...am i misinterpreting the question

bernadette and patti have been stars for thirty years already or close to it. i thought this was about who is young, and unknown (ish) and would be as famous in thirty years.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 10:09am

She has had a lot of roles, but she is no Bernadette Peters

Sometimes all it takes is one role to change the very nature of an actor's performance.

Arguably, Bernadette Peters wasn't really Bernadette Peters till Sunday in the Park with George. The depth of her performance far exceeded anything she had done before. In many ways, her performance elevated the material by humanizing it, even though humanizing had not been what she was known for previously.

But the one you are all missing is...KRITZER!

I can see Sutton responding to a beautifully written role someday and combining comedy with depth of feeling similarly to what happened to Bernadette with Sunday.

[mamaleh]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 10:15am

I interpreted the question as who do we think are the current and relatively recent stars of Broadway whose legends will loom large for decades to come.

I can think of only three names: Hugh Jackman, Nathan Lane and Patti LuPone. If by "star" one means who can reliably put butts in seats out of those three, then it's just the first two.

[CAX]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 12:03pm

I'm all fired up this morning, I guess.

Interesting that there aren't a lot of names being bandied here. Does anyone else hear the death knell of the NAME theatre performer? Broadway's increasing CELEBRITY obsession is threatening to destroy the rich tradition of actors coming up through the ranks in the theater.

Funny how there's been an almost complete 180 on the theatre actor trajectory.
So many of the actors we've come to know and love (or hate) in TV, Film were theatre actors who paid dues, worked their asses off and moved up the ladder.

Now? Spend 3 mos on a reality tv show and you can headline any show you want because you'll get butts in the seats.


So, in honor of that sad reality... 30 years from now, bway stahs?


Heidi Montag who will come into her own in a one-75% plastic- woman show about the rise and fall of St. Joan (Rivers)

Snooky and The Situation... whoever the heck they are.

The Real Housewives of... You name it. They'll be reconfiguring groups and doing productions of The Vagina Monologues, Love, Loss and What I Wore and For ( In some cases not so) Colored Girls...

Kim Kardashian who will sky rocket in an inventive new production of Hello Dolly.

[Greatwhiteway3]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 1:02pm

Krysta Rodriguez???! LOL, ok Mr Rodriguez

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 1:18pm

One name I don't think will be remembered as a big star is Bebe Neuwirth. I loved her at Lilith, but she is very much a "journeyman" stage performer. Not awful, but just not a great stage personality.

I like to think that Gavin Creel will be remembered as a big star someday, simply because I love him and his voice.