Lead Replacements

[Julie Yard]

Posted: 1/9/16 at 2:51pm

I've a question spurred by someone's post. I've never revisited a show specifically because the lead changed, but I see a lot of theater fans do. I'd love to hear from folks who've gone back for the the switch and how that affected their experience of the show. I saw the Sweeney Todd revival when Judy Kaye was subbing and she was amazing, BUT I'm sure it was very different with Madame Lupone. And info about specific plays/replacements would be great for the conversation.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 1/9/16 at 4:25pm

Every time I have seen a play on Broadway for a 2nd time, it has been out of a desire to see a specific replacement actor or understudy. With limited time and money on my hands, and an abundance of shows on my "to see" list, it gives me an excuse to revisit shows that I enjoyed, but would not have gotten around to revisiting otherwise. Seeing a replacement or understudy helps make the 2nd viewing fresh. Some examples of my experiences with this:

 

Matilda - revisited to see a different girl play Matilda

Les Mis - revisited to see Alfie Boe

Finding Neverland - to see Kevin Kern (understudy)

Hamilton - to see Javier Muñoz (standby)

Hand to God - to see Bob Saget

The Last Ship - to see Sting

 

You'll notice they're all quite recent. Until last year I had a pretty strict "no repeats on Broadway" rule for myself, which I loosened once I had a bit more time to see more shows. 

Updated On: 1/9/16 at 04:25 PM

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 1/9/16 at 5:39pm

I love to repeat shows with different actors and I confess I too have recently seen a number of Matildas and Miss Trunchbulls with a bunch of diff Wormwood Parents, etc... a number of Neverland kids in various roles along with 3 different Captain Hooks, 2 Barries, 2 lead actors at Curious Incident, 3 different Lolas & 3 Charlies & Laurens at Kinky Boots.  They are the first ones come to mind (there are more for sure). I certainly enjoyed some more than others but I don't feel comfy badmouthing or even comparing one actor to another at the expense of another (not that you were asking us to) for the most part...

The biggest thing I have noticed is that the actual running time of a show may change with a different lead actor - because the applause, audience reaction to jokes, timing of dialogue, etc may lengthen or shorten a particular performance.

[steven22]

Posted: 1/9/16 at 6:15pm

I've seen a bunch of different shows with different leads but the two that come to mind are If/Then with Idina, Jackie and Jen and Next to Normal with Alice and Marin. 

Each actress added something new to the show.