Most Difficult roles to perform 8x's a week?- Page 3

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 9:39pm

Eliza Doolittle, for sure. Every actress that ever played it, had major vocal issues. None of them, other than Julie Andrews, even made it to the 1 year mark with the show. Nobody comes close to doing the role as many times as Julie Andrews, and the intercordal cyst that, later robbed her of her voice, was developed during this show.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 9:57pm

I forgot to say...

Lilli/Katherine and Fred/Petruchio
Freddy Benson
Brooklyn (I'd imagine)

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 10:01pm

No one has said Velma Kelly?

[acrocksyo]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 12:36am

I don't think that Peter Allen would be too hard to perform 8 nights a week because Hugh never missed a show, John Hill was his understudy and never went on, they would just close the show when Hugh went on vacation.

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 1:17am

It's insane that only 1 person has mentioned Caroline from CAROLINE, OR CHANGE! if we're talking vocals, it's unquestionably near or at the top of the list. it's also emotionally taxing and offers the performer very little down-time. it's often compared to Mama Rose in terms of difficulty, but I think Caroline is much harder to sing on a consistent basis. it might be harder to get the Mama Rose right character-wise, but Caroline needs pipes of steel. it sounds awful with a mediocre singer and even worse if the singer (strong or otherwise) has a tired voice. Tonya is a brilliant singer but when her voice was hurting, the music sounded like garbage. Just look at the Tony's that year. It's not a role that is meant to be sung by 1 person 8 times a week, and ought to be treated more as an operatic part- not to be attempted more than maybe 4 times weekly.

[thevolleyballer]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 1:36am

I would venture to say most everyone from A CHORUS LINE. It's not just about singing, and since this is probably the heaviest show, dancing-wise, I can't imagine the soreness and oftentimes pain of these people! I mean, look at the videos on Broadway.com -- how many are in some physical fitness ward?

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 1:47am

ACL is remarkably hard to get right, but it's not really too strenuos from a purely physical standpoint. I'm not disagreeing with you, and I've heard from many that it is in fact one of the hardest shows in which to maintain your performance over time. However this has more to do with attitude and state of mind than with any sort of physical or vocal strain. It's not really a dance-heavy show, and vocals have never been the highest priority. What makes or breaks the show is whether or now the actors can bring the truth night after night. The biggest challenge seems to be maintaining that necessary tension of an audition and avoiding becoming comfortable or stagnant, not whether or not you get the steps right.

[OtherDaryl]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 9:42am

James Leeds in Children of a Lesser God resulted in sore throats and incredible cramping in my arms and fingers. So many, many words and half of them are silent!

Raul in Extrmeties - OH, the intensity and physicality. And the words - so many words.

[thibodeaux]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 10:21am

Someone has mentioned Caroline Thibodeaux all ready.

Bat Boy. (I mean "Apology to a Cow"? Come on. Hard stuff to sound proper.)

Brooklyn & Paradice--hate it or love it, vocally it must be off the wall to have to do all the time.

Sarah/Mother/Coalhouse in RAGTIME.

Virtually everyone in DREAMGIRLS.

RENT.

I mean, there's a lot. :-P

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 10:39am

Jackman is on in almost every scene & most of the numbers. Besides physically taxing vocally it must be a killer

He did it 8 times a week as he has youth & stamina & is obviously a professional with not missing a performance

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 11:42am

I'm surprised no one has mentioned "The Lady of The Lake." That's one marathon of a part, and one could easily go overboard and f-up their voice while doing it.


I also have to give props to Hugh Panaro as Lestat. He was onstage 90% of the time and sang most of the songs in the show; and sounded great while doing it I might add. That isn't an easy part to play.

Posted: 10/14/06 at 11:49am

Brooklyn
Celie

[IssaMe]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 12:02pm

Any role that you don't like performing.

Other than that, talk to anyone who has tried to sustain doing "Fosse" for more than 6 months.

[StageManager182]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 12:11pm

I know it doesn't seem like it, but "Jo" in Little Women- the Musical, is one of the hardest roles out there. Even without real dance numbers, the Jo is on stage 90% of the show, and is constantly active, running all over the place. She is up and down stairs the entire show, and the songs can be quite taxing. On broadway there was no crossover, so even getting from one side of stage to the other involved two sets of stairs. And on the road you never know what you are going to get, but the show seemed to eat all the Jo's alive.

[letshearit4tammy]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 9:25pm

I'm surprised no one has said Tracy Turnblad. All those songs, plus the added weight and heat of a fat suit, the manic non-stop dancing. While the dancing isn't technical, flailing like a 16 year old on TRL is tough. Most of the Tracy's have "broken down", except for Katrina Rose Dideriksen, who lost over 50 pounds during her run in Vegas. She's, like, a size 4 now.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 9:53pm

Mama Rose in GYPSY-- Ethel Merman is said to have been exhausted at the end of Act One, sitting in her chair in her dressing room with her head in her hands, unable to talk.

[ze emcee]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 9:57pm

Mama Rose- Gypsy
Caroline- Caroline, or Change

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 10:26pm

There's really no question that Eliza is one of the toughest. It certainly has caused problems for many of the women who've played it. Andrews specifically asked Loewe to make Guenevere less taxing vocally. (And he complied. Guenevere sings a lot, but it's more lyrical, less rangy, and she doesn't have to belt.)

Having said that, the role doesn't go that high. You don't need to be a high soprano to sing it. A good mezzo could sing it. A good contralto could sing it (though she might not want to eight times a week). It only goes to G, and there's only one.

I think that what makes it difficult is the going back and forth from belting to more legit singing, the songs in which she has to constantly sing through the break, the screaming and odd sounds that are written into the role (both in singing and speaking), and the need to sing a couple of songs very dramatically. And it may not be so great for the cords to sing some of those Cockney diphthongs.

Still, Andrews is not the only person to have played the role for more than a year. I don't know how long Sally Ann Howes played it, but Margot Moser played it on Broadway for 20 months. I would bet that Anne Rogers, who played it both in London and on tour, played it for more than a year. (In fact, Rogers, much later, toured in the 1976 revival post-Broadway. That's something!) And I would bet that some of the other women who toured in it and/or played it in other countries (like Diane Todd, who toured it in the U.S. and also played it in South Africa) did it for more than a year.

Sometimes I think that the women who played it back then knew how to do it without completely wrecking themselves. I do tend to think that people don't sing as well nowadays.

It does seem odd to me, though, that someone would say "Andrews did Sound of Music and Mary Poppins after My Fair Lady." Yeah, she sounded good but she wasn't doing them eight times a week. If anything, probably part of her reluctance to return to theatre was because Eliza was such a killer.

And Marni Nixon did the role for a few weeks. To point to the fact that she played it and it didn't wreck her voice seems silly.

But it's true that it didn't wreck Howes's voice or those of some other women who did play it for a long time. I would bet that Howes and Rogers were careful not to push, they knew how to pace themselves.

[billygoatgirl300]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 10:33pm

I would also say A Chours Line. When I saw the show a few weeks ago at the stage door I asked James T. Lane who plays Richie how the cast kept up that much energy in each show and he said to me "Baby, we just pray to the Gods."