Men in Musical Theater- Page 3

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 11:24am

"I don't think Phantom or the lead in Les Mis are "tour de force" type roles." ~ RentBoy86

Seriously? Then you need to run not walk out of musical theatre because you obviously have no idea what it takes to be third chorus boy on the right let alone carry an entire show.

[misschung]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 11:31am

In life, women are typically more willing to express their emotions. Musical theater relies on the convention that when something becomes so emotional, it must be sung. So women, who do the majority of the emotional expressing in our culture and therefore in our theater, usually get the big songs.

maybe, to some extent - at least in musical theater. But I mean in opera there are many more opportunities for emotional arias sung by men. so who knows

[Julian2]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 1:45pm

I think that RentBoy is talking about the kind of roles in (non-machine run) shows where the character/role is almost an entity unto its self. You don't announce a revival of Gypsy. You announce "GYPSY STARRING ____________ AS MAMA ROSE". I think he's saying that while there are plenty big roles for men, the women's roles tend to become more iconic in the eyes of the world.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 2:18pm

Thanks Julian. That's exactly what I'm trying to say.

I wasn't trying to say that the roles in Les Mis or whatever were easy. I'm sure they're not roles that you can just walk through, but you'll never seen " ______ in Les Mis" because the show itself sells, not the people in it, so I don't think it's a valid argument for the case I'm trying to make.

[gumbo2]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 2:37pm

So I may be in the minority here, but I will see shows because of a big male name in the lead. I went to see Norbert in DRS, JLY in Jersey Boys, Raul Esparza in Company, Michael Cerveris in Sweeney/Lovemusik. Tevye and Harold Hill are names that you'd see above the title, such as "The Music Man, starring ______"

Usually I'm much more impressed with the things that men are doing in shows, whether or not they are the bonifide STAR. Brian d'Arcy James in The Apple Tree, for instance.
Updated On: 5/11/07 at 02:37 PM

[Danielm]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 3:19pm

Falsettos and Floyd Collins are both male dominated shows with great opportunities for men to rip it up.

[AnnaK<3LMIP]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 10:38pm

Les Miserables starring Ricky Martin as Marius. ( Heh it still makes me giggle!)
Of Thee I Sing starring Victor Garber.
Nine starring Antonio Banderas as Guido Contini.
I'm just saying. But I get it RentBoy, I understand what you're trying to say. I just have to agree to disagree.


gumbo, I am with you on that one.

[misschung]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 10:54pm

"Les Miserables starring Ricky Martin as Marius."

what??

[AnnaK<3LMIP]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 10:56pm

Yep yep yep. Does it not make you giggle? But yep.

[massofmen]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 2:33am

Jekyll in Jekyll and Hyde is comparable to Mamma rose. You try singing in two different voices for 2 hours singing 24 songs and screaming and growling 8 times a week.

[Julian2]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 2:47am

The point is not the difficulty of the roles, but the iconic status that said roles can/cannot attain.

[Weez]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 3:23am

I'd take the whole "no iconic roles for men!" thing more seriously if people would throw more female examples than Mama Rose. 'Phantom Of The Opera' is a long-runner so doesn't really matter at this point, but you bet your ass that if it had closed, they'd revive it and go "OMG IT'S _______ AS THE PHANTOM!". Hell, Australia's currently got half of us all a-twitter with "and coming back to Melbourne is POTO with Anthony Warlow as the Phantom!". Don't tell me that's not a prime example of what we're talking about here.