One Show/Role Turning Someone into a Star

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 5:22pm

What are some performers who have became a star for one show or role?

I don't like Wicked that much, but Kristin and Idina became stars and are well known outside of the Broadway world for Wicked.

Who else?

Updated On: 7/17/09 at 05:22 PM

[hpeabody930]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 5:28pm

Lupone: Evita

Sutton Foster: Thoroughly Modern Millie

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 5:29pm

Lea Salonga

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 5:32pm

I meant more than just Broadway fame.

Chenoweth and Idina are also well known in Hollywood for Wicked as well, since it is such a smash musical.

[ggersten]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 5:44pm

Barbra Streisand (although her star would probably have shone anyways)
Nathan Lane (Guys and Dolls)

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 5:50pm

Shirley MacLaine became a star practically overnight when she went on for an injured Carol Haney as Gladys in the original production of THE PAJAMA GAME.

Hal Wallis (a powerful movie producer of the day) was in the audience when MacLaine performed and signed her to a movie contract immediately.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Updated On: 7/17/09 at 05:50 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 5:52pm

I meant more than just Broadway fame.



- Patti LuPone has been in Oscar winning movies. She starred in a hit television show in the 80's. She has also been nominated for a Daytime and Primetime Emmy.
Updated On: 7/17/09 at 05:52 PM

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 5:56pm

How about Eartha Kitt who found instant fame (and it lasted over half a century!) when she stepped onto the Broadway stage in "NEW FACES OF 1952".

(There is a DVD of the show that includes all her sizzle and all her songs from that revue.)

[philly03]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 5:56pm

LINDA EDER - Jekyll & HYDE

Even just 5 years ago she was still a pretty big/household name, thanks to people like Regis Philbin and Rosie O'Donnell...but sadly she is not as well-known anymore.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 5:58pm

Kristin Chenoweth was already quite known (and a Tony Award winner) when WICKED began its life. Idina Menzel is the one who had the star turn in the show -- not Chenoweth.

Though Michael Crawford had a long well-respected career in the UK, it wasn't until THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA that he reached global stardom.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 6:00pm

Ah, Brody. No pictures I love your pictures

[snarkywannabedreamer]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 6:17pm

well, Patrick Wilson was discovered by Mike Nichols doing "full monty" and he parlayed that into a nice film career.

[Chance]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 6:22pm

- Patti LuPone has been in Oscar winning movies. She starred in a hit television show in the 80's. She has also been nominated for a Daytime and Primetime Emmy.

Yeah, and she went topless in Summer of Sam

[SNAFU]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 6:29pm

Ellen Green, Little Shop of Horrors

[BrianIdol]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 6:36pm

Julie Andrews

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 7:10pm

Well I know a lot of people who know Chenoweth from Wicked. These people aren't into Broadway at all.

Sometimes a friend of mine will be like...Oh yeah I recognize her. Wasn't she in that Wizard of Oz musical?

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 7:24pm

Thanks, Brody. I was gonna say, Chenoweth was already a Broadway name by the time WICKED opened. She became a star in YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN. THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE was basically shaped around her talents, and well, of course she eventually dropped out of the show and it was Sutton Foster who became a star from that show. I mean the girl even had a sitcom developed for her, alas it failed miserably and it's one of the most cliched sitcoms I've seen, but still. Curiously enough, before PUSHING DAISIES came along, Chenoweth was set to appear along with Sutton Foster in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.

Going back a little, Gwen Verdon in CAN-CAN, she went on stage an unknown and by the time she finished, she was getting more applause than the star.
There's also Ethel Merman in GIRL, CRAZY and Gene Kelly in PAL JOEY.
My favorite one is of course Barbra Streisand in FUNNY GIRL, although of course she had already been developing her fame, but it was FUNNY GIRL that sped everything up.
More recent ones include Anika Noni Rose in CAROLINE, OR CHANGE (okay, not a star, but after winning a Tony she started getting prominent roles on screen and starring roles in NY), Audra McDonald in CAROUSEL, Elena Roger in the West End EVITA, and Donna Murphy in PASSION.

[jo]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 9:21pm

Hugh Jackman!

He has one of the most successful dual careers - one which started internationally with the role of CURLY in the RNT OKLAHOMA! in London.

The story goes that he was seen by one of the Hollywood producers who would eventually cast him in the XMEN series!

He debuted on Broadway (THE BOY FROM OZ) already a established Hollywood star...and will come back to the boards again in A STEADY RAIN!

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 9:23pm

Danny Kaye in LADY IN THE DARK.
Yul in you know what.
Robert Redford in BAREFOOT IN THE PARK.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 9:27pm

The story goes that he was seen by one of the Hollywood producers who would eventually cast him in the XMEN series!

And to think what might have happened had Dougray Scott NOT dropped out of X-Men

And I have to agree that Kristin got her shot to stardom with Wicked. Yes, she won the Tony for her portrayal of Sally Brown but she wasn't that well known outside the Broadway community. She had roles in TV and film but the average person didn't really know her name until Wicked. Yes, she was on her way up but the show really propelled her into what she is now.

[jo]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 9:31pm

>>>And to think what might have happened had Dougray Scott NOT dropped out of X-Men <<<

I doubt Dougray would have tread the boards as THE BOY FROM OZ, though - LOL!

Btw, Hugh's dual career also extends to TONY and OSCAR hosting

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 9:33pm

Robert Redford was on broadway with Barefoot? I never knew that! Really? Huh. You DO learn something new every day!

[Urban]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 10:10pm

It is always amusing to see Hugh Jackman on that list. And fair enough, to the world at large it was Oklahoma!/X-Men, but like alot of Australians I have been following Hugh Jackmans career since the mid-90s.

[jo]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 10:17pm

Did you see him in either Beauty and the Beast ( I have the cast recording) or Sunset Boulevard (I have the documentary featuring the theatre and many clips from the show/rehearsals), Urban?

And in one of the recent FILM FESTIVALS yearly sponsored by the Australian Embassy here in Manila, the movie ERSKINEVILLE KINGS was featured. Many people wonder how gritty Hugh can be in a role - I think his role in this movie should dispel any concerns about his forthcoming role in A STEADY RAIN.

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 7/18/09 at 9:12am

Nell Carter in Ain't Misbehavin'

Melba Moore in Purlie
(she had been in Hair, but her "I Got Love" made her a sensation nationwide)