MOST OVERRATED AND UNDERRATED BROADWAY STARS- Page 7

[CompletlyNakedStatue]

Posted: 1/10/07 at 3:25pm

For me...

Underrated:
DEFINITELY Sarah Uriarte Berry. she was the first person that sprang to mind.
Christianne Noll
Jason Danieley
Rachel York
Brent Carver
Julia Murney
Karen Ziemba

And though I do like most of these people, overrated:
Idina Menzel
Adam Pascal
Amy Spanger
Matthew Morrison
Ashley Brown
Patrick Wilson
Kristin Chenoweth (i kinda debated on this, i do think she is great but... at the moment, yeah, a little overrated.)

[desiree armfeldt]

Posted: 1/10/07 at 10:46pm

I am sorry, but Sutton Foster is NOT overrated. Neither is Chenoweth. Idina is not really overrated as much as she is more of a household name than some other Broadway stars.

However, I completely agree with Beth Leavel. She is certainly very underrated.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 1/10/07 at 11:25pm

>> Seanmartin, you can point out that you do know what you're talking about all you want but you still don't.

Daniel, it's a little hard to keep up when you keep changing the rules of the game.

Look, you think I dont know what I'm talking about. Fine, I dont give a cat's rear end what you think, because I spent the time watching this stuff -- and you clearly havent. I've heard The Voice in almost all of her recordings -- and you obviously havent. If you wish to consider her a Legend, be my guest. But let's understand something, okay? Merman was a Legend because she made herself one. Every role she played was her, no more, no less. Every song she sang, she pretty well dictated the meter, the key, and -- in some cases -- the orchestrations. Read, if you want, her interactions with Sondheim when he was writing the lyrics for GYPSY, and youll get a real insight as to what it was like working with The Voice.

But your anecdotal evidence aside, she was not an actress of any depth. She played herself in every role she took on, which just underscores my original point: people came to see her, not the show. Every Merman show was designed as a vehicle and not much more. Its just great fortune that many of her vehicles have turned into classics of the musical theatre.

But consider: if she was such an outstanding actress, why did she rarely (if ever) get the role in the movie version of her plays?

Bottom line: amazing voice, but overrated in just about every other category.

[HollyImposter]

Posted: 1/10/07 at 11:36pm

The only person calling Ethel Merman a legend is you SeanMartin. Hypothetically or not.

[desiree armfeldt]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 11:35pm

i agree.....she was a legend. absolutely.

[RadiGal2]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 2:28am

Um. Well, here's my two cents on the matter.... I am a big Broadway fan, but I live in Arizona...which makes being so a bit of a challenge, but it also offers a unique perspective from which to comment on this. I know all of the name mentioned so far and have seen at least clips of most of the performers, I have my favorites, but as a whole I would consider most every one of them are all largely UNDER-rated. Even the current "big" names like Patti LuPone and Nathan Lane are not immediately recognizable to a majority of the population (well I suppose if you say "You know--Timon from The Lion King" people might know Nathan; or at least his voice.) -- at least west of the Mississippi. More legendary performers like Ethel Merman and Chita Rivera might prove to be an an exception however.

Consider that big named stars such as Angela Lansbury and Jerry Orbach are more likely to be known for their roles on Murder She Wrote and Law & Order than as the long string of starring roles they had on-stage-- which in my opinion is a tragedy.

Thank God for Sirius where at least my kids constantly listen to the Broadway Channel get to hear these performers. They are eagerly anticipating seeing their first Broadway show(s) (however many we can swing) this summer .
l

[MrsVampyre]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 1:21pm

The most overrated actors to my view are:

Kristin Chenowith - She has an amazing singing voice, but her acting generally doesn't get great reviews.

Chistine Applegate - Sweet Charity should never have opened.

Hunter Foster - He can sing, but his acting and dancing appear to effected, he's not all that beleiveable in a role.

The most underrated actors are:

Harvey Firestein.. we don't see enough of him on the stage.

Sutton Foster - Very talented and gifted in both singing and acting.

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 1:51pm

I feel like some of the proformers in wicked could do so much better as they are all so talented. Having seen SJB in Pirate Queen, I was shocked (but in a good way) that she was so good. Ana Gastayer in Reefer Madness was amazing as well... and need we say anything about Norbert Leo Butz, after Dirt Rotten Scoundrels? And Cheno has redeemed herself (in my eyes) for being in the Apple Tree...

[stagegrrrl]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 2:07pm

if i have to see melissa errico suck the life out of one more theatre i am going to turn in my equity card.

[skingdom]

Posted: 2/26/07 at 12:46pm

i agree that kristin chenoweth is not overrated either...she fills every moment onstage with something interesting and vital.

[Zeitoujo]

Posted: 2/26/07 at 2:04pm

under: SUTTON FOSTER and John Lloyd Young
over: celia keenan

[skingdom]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 5:13am

sarah uriarte berry? really? what exactly do you see in her?

[ahmelie]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 6:55am

Okay, Barbra is not a Broadway star/legend. She did Wholesale and Funny Girl and that's it, she is a movie star.

And I am thoroughly surprised by the amount of people who are saying that Patti's overrated. I'm not going to disagree but it's interesting how people say that legends cannot be touched/said to be overrated, and she is a Broadway Legend in many definitions of the word.

Anyways
Overrated- Angela Lansbury.

Nah, just kiddin'

Posted: 2/27/07 at 8:08am

Over-Rated:

Patti LuPone
Betty Buckley
Bernadette Peters

Compared to them, everyone else is under-rated

[skingdom]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 8:27am

i dont know if she is considered underrated becuase she constantly works, but someone i love is Donna Lynne Champlin.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 11:37am

Merman was a legend the way Jolson and Cantor and Gaxton and many other stars of the 30's and before were legends. They were self-made stars who then managed through caginess, bravado and, yes, talent, to hold onto that brass ring they had grabbed for most of their lives. This was an incredible accomplishment and for that, they deserve their niches in the pantheon of theatre.

Barbra, on the other hand, is not a legend. I have always felt she is one of the few who have attaioned almost god-like (as in Greek god) status in the entertainment industry. She doesn't as much cling to her fame as she self-radiates it. That's a far higher level of accomplishment.

[broadwayguy4]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 1:31pm

Overrated - Barrett Foa. Just a pretty face that sings off pitch and out of the side of his mouth. The only time he pulls off being a so so actor is when he is playing snobs and spoiled brats, which he happens to be. The only people that think he has talent are those that think he is hot. Friends of mine went to see him in Spelling Bee and thought he was retarded.

Posted: 2/27/07 at 1:32pm

Bitter much, broadwayguy?

Posted: 2/27/07 at 2:25pm

BroadwayGuy4 said:

"Barrett Foa. Just a pretty face that sings off pitch and out of the side of his mouth."

I'd still like to meet him. I do a double take everytime I walk by a picture of him outside a theare

[skingdom]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 3:06pm

ouch.

[Matthewjames]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 8:37pm

If you can walk on stage and take a crap onstage, but riff while you are doing it and still get a standing ovation you are over freaking rated

sorry wicked fans

and seriously with musicals like Rent and wicked you either get someone that can sing but can't act
or can act but can't sing

and you can't do one show and be considered a broadway star or underrated

[FutureAladdinOnB'Way]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 8:45pm

Overrated: Anthony Rapp...I'm sorry I know a lot of people love him and he is a great performer I just think he gets WAY too much praise...
Under: Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Angela Lansbury, Ethel Merman, CAROL CHANNING*, Donna McKechnie, Joel Grey, Nathan Lane, Mathew Broderick, Norbert Leo Butz, Sherie Rene Scott, Idina Menzel, Ashley Brown(wtf people she's new...cut her some slack...she has talent!! I'd like to see anyone who thinks she is overrated try and star in a Broadway show by their Early 20's), Adam Pascal, Joanna Gleason ...need I go on?

Posted: 2/27/07 at 8:52pm

"Overrated: Anthony Rapp...I'm sorry I know a lot of people love him and he is a great performer I just think he gets WAY too much praise"

What has he done since the Rent movie to make him so overatted?

[FutureAladdinOnB'Way]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 8:58pm

Have you not noticed how many Anthony Rapp freaks there are just because of his role in RENT...They think Anthony Rapp is the best and he's not

[purpleprince101]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 9:03pm

Kerry Butler is underated