Zeppie2022 said: "Sutton Ross said: "Yeah, he very much did not become famous because he was in Next to Normal. But, I do feel people know him for extensive television work and he's very recognize on any stage in the world.
Next to Normal led to him being a Broadway leading man (Catch Me If You Can) and helped him get TV roles. He had been in other successful Broadway shows but being "Gabe" in Next to Normal was his breakout role.
When my wife and I saw 'Catch Me...', we did not like it. One of the reasons we did not like it, though far from the main reason, was the amount of screaming that came out of the mouths of a lot of young women / girls (seemingly throughout the theatre) every time AT came on stage (particularly, though not exclusively when he was shirtless). Those young women are 10ish years older, and I have no doubt that a lot of them would purchase tix to see him in JIT, just as they did for Sweeney and every time he returned to MR. I think he has proven that he sells tickets.
That Lea Michele sells more tickets is neither here nor there. Were I to get tickets for Chess again (if I had the opportunity), I would not buy them for a performance that Lea was missing, even though I personally think AT gave the best performance in the show; that said, if Lea were not in the show in the first place, I would have bought tickets to see Chess, and AT would have been a definite positive factor.
Years ago, Richard Burton was in several shows without Liz Taylor, and they solld out every performance. He then appeared with Liz in a badly received production of Private Lives. When Liz missed performances, it died at the box office (and quickly closed). That does not mean that Burton was not still a box office attraction...it simply meant that the audience's view was 'why see it with just Burton when, for the same price, you can see it with Burton AND Taylor?" In that scenario, he was not enough to sell tickets. I think the grosses when LM was out were reflective of the Taylor / Burton scenario (albeit without the gossip appeal )...why see only Tveit when, if you go to a different performance, you can see both. I am not suggesting that AT and LM are strs comparable to LT/RB...just the idea of 'why see one when you can see both at another performance?
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