Performers with a(n) (almost) spotless performance record- Page 4

[NYC4Life]

Posted: 7/9/06 at 6:17pm

You are correct about jane krakowski she had a perfect record. Love that woman!

[Becky]

Posted: 7/9/06 at 6:56pm

Just wondering, how exactly do you know that a performer has never missed any performance? I mean, it's not like you're seeing every performance, right?

Sometimes it's mentioned when someone is delivering a final curtain call speech for a departing performer, sometimes it's mentioned in the press, online, etc. There are many ways to hear about an attendance record - good and bad.

[AlmostFamous]

Posted: 7/9/06 at 7:20pm

"Oh yes, they did....

Headley rarely missed, but she was an exception. None of her sucessors ever did an eight show week (for Maya Days and Simone, there was never an "official" show they missed). Toni Braxton, Michelle Williams, and Deborah Cox only did 6 shows a week.

The rest of the cast (and replacements) were decent, but not great. The exceptions were two Amneris'- Menzel and Felicia Finley, both of whom were very rarely out. "

I was talking more along the lines of the ensemble!

[JbaraFan1]

Posted: 7/9/06 at 10:23pm

Margo, if you're referring to when you saw the show in Feb. 2005 (yeah, I searched the board, lol), then if I'm not mistaken, that's right at the time Greg missed a couple of shows due to a very nasty viral sinus infection. He was actually in bed for the majority of two days.

ETA: Yeah, the timing does work out. He was back in the show Feb. 11 (day after you saw it, Margo), but still sounded a bit concerned about the upper register of his voice.

Not saying he's perfect (dang close though in my book!), but if Greg Jbara misses a show, there is a very good reason for it. He never does it lightly. And as Mamie has pointed out, he worked into his contract so he would have time with his family, and that's because his priorities are straight. Remember his two children are very young, and Greg doesn't relish missing the number of bathtimes and bedtimes that he has to due to evening shows and the time those get out and he can get home at night. Greg finds a good balance, I think, between being a professional (in every sense of the word) performer *and* a great husband and father. As a result, I think not only Greg's fans, but more importantly, his family benefits. Those two boys know how much their parents love them. Updated On: 7/9/06 at 10:23 PM

[Dre2387]

Posted: 7/9/06 at 10:32pm

as far as I know, David Hyde Pierce didn't miss that many performances of Spamalot, if any at all. I do remember reading an article where the director had to come and talk to them about Sar missing so many and he actually said that Daivd got the gold star cause he rarely missed any.

and Greg jbara of course.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 7/9/06 at 10:57pm

I think it should be mentioned that some of these scheduled absences are for other work. I don't think Idina Menzel was out at all (maybe once or twice at the most?) before her "vacation" almost ten months into her Wicked run; she went to film Ask the Dust and actually returned to NY during a matinee performance and performed that night.

As far as Sutton Foster goes...she definitely wasn't out a lot for Millie...she had sporadic absences. Also, she performed--cartwheels, tumbles and all--in The Drowsy Chaperone with a broken wrist pre-Broadway. I think that deserves some credit on her attendence record.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 7/9/06 at 11:26pm

I'm totally threadjacking, but Margo, does that mean you got to see Joe Cassidy go on for Andre?

I adore Greg, but I regret never being able to see Joe's Andre.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 7/9/06 at 11:28pm

Brian Charles Rooney. And with that crazy countertenor.

[Malki5]

Posted: 7/10/06 at 12:23am

I have seen DRS 4 times and with 4 different casts. The only constant was Greg Jbara. I remember when Jonathan Pryce hurt his leg and Greg called him his hero for not letting it stop him from performing.

Also, Hugh Jackman never missed a performance in The Boy From Oz. When he went on a planned vacation the theater was dark.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/10/06 at 12:48am

Not sure who I saw as Andre, but I imagine it was whoever the main understudy was.

[cmleidi]

Posted: 7/10/06 at 1:26am

"As far as Sutton Foster goes...she definitely wasn't out a lot for Millie...she had sporadic absences. Also, she performed--cartwheels, tumbles and all--in The Drowsy Chaperone with a broken wrist pre-Broadway. I think that deserves some credit on her attendence record."

Not to turn this into an-Anti Sutton Foster message, but she did miss a lot. Somewhere in my basement, I have the actual number of performances up until December of 2003 that she missed when I was present because I got into it with the theatre about a ticketing issue. Her absences were a factor in the issue, and I actually received two free tickets and some Millie merchandise after I was able to prove the theatre's misconduct. The whole sitution was so annoying that I vowed never to see Foster in another musical. Didn't keep to that vow because Maureen McGovern was too tempting, and by the time of DROWSY CHAPERONE, I no longer cared.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 7/10/06 at 3:15am

I was going to mention Seldes.

It's funny, back when I first started seeing her, I thought she was a pretty silly actress. But later I thought she gave wonderful performances in Richard III, Three Tall Women, The Play About the Baby, Play Yourself and some other shows.

Len Cariou has missed about four performances over his entire career.

Going back there's Lunt and Fontanne. I think that she never missed a performance in her entire career and he had missed only one prior to The Visit, the last show he was in, when he became very ill and had to miss a few performances.

Victoria Clark did miss a few performances in Piazza that weren't scheduled absences.

[TomMonster]

Posted: 7/10/06 at 3:34am

Again, we're kinda off topic, but I'll add to it any way...

Funny story about Len Cariou during Sweeney: During the parlour scene with the Beadle and Lovette (Sweet polly...when he's playing the burnt harmonium) Len was late on his cue due to watching a game on TV in his dressing room. Jack Eric Williams (the original Beadle)improvised many extra verses of the song until Sweeney showed up. Angie just turned to him and said: "So nice of you to show up, Mr. Todd!"

Miss you Jack (RIP)!

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 7/10/06 at 3:48am

He told a similar story about himself in an ATW seminar on CUNY: During The Dinner Party, shortly after the opening he got so involved in a discussion with the doorman about what to do with all the flowers in his dressing room that he missed an entrance. As it turned out it was in a scene in which he was on briefly and had few lines, none of which was essential, so John Ritter and Henry Winkler just went on without him.

Yes, very sad about Jack Eric Williams.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/10/06 at 7:00am

Does it make a difference if they were missing for "other work"? They're still absent for THIS work, which people have paid to see. And if this discussion is about "how many," then qualifications don't make any sense.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 7/10/06 at 9:51am

When I saw Millie on a Tuesday night in August 2002, Sutton was out.

[Charlayne Vivika]

Posted: 7/10/06 at 10:19am

I have NEVER missed a performance. I broke my foot a couple years back and kept right on dancing till they could get me to a doctor. I believe in Ethel Merman's work ethic!!!

[JbaraFan1]

Posted: 7/10/06 at 12:36pm

Does it make a difference if they were missing for "other work"? They're still absent for THIS work, which people have paid to see. And if this discussion is about "how many," then qualifications don't make any sense.

Gee, Rath, when you put it that way ... got a point; can't argue. :)

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 7/10/06 at 1:23pm

"Does it make a difference if they were missing for "other work"? They're still absent for THIS work, which people have paid to see. And if this discussion is about "how many," then qualifications don't make any sense."

Yes, it does. Because it's not just "taking off."


Then again, I don't get the obsession with attendence records for performers ANYway; it's just like playing some game about who has the best immune system.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/10/06 at 1:27pm

Then I don't understand the discussion.

It's not "spotless" for your stage job if you're not there because you have a film or TV job. You're still not at the stage job, and isn't that what the original topic was?

If you take a day off from your office job because you have an acting job, it still counts as an absence at the office job just as much as if you were ill or on vacation.

Updated On: 7/10/06 at 01:27 PM

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 7/10/06 at 1:46pm

...which is why I said I don't understand this obsession with attendance records.

From the way you're looking at it, someone absent because of death in the family, health reasons, or obligations with a different job is the same as someone forgetting to show up for an added performance during the week or just deciding to skip a show because they didn't feel like going on that day. I don't think it should all be the same. One is understandable while the other is just plain unprofessional.

[boxers7]

Posted: 7/10/06 at 6:13pm

Charlayne - I was just about to post that!

[tabbynyc]

Posted: 7/10/06 at 6:15pm

Hugh Jackman. He performed sick a few times. I was at a performance & there were glasses of water all over the stage for him to drink in between songs; which were normally not there. Also, he had a stress fracture in his foot & just changed the dance routines to continue performing.

David Hyde Pierce also only missed on scheduled days off.

Bernadette Peters

[JbaraFan1]

Posted: 7/10/06 at 7:01pm

I hear (and agree somewhat, actually) with what both of you are saying, Rath and BroadwayGirl107.

I think (if I'm understanding) that Rath's point is that if we're simply discussing near-spotless to spotless performance records with NO qualifications whatever, then even if a reason for missing a show is an absolutely valid one (sick/vocal rest; *scheduled* vacation; granted time off for other acting work, etc.), that even those reasons affect whether *the record itself* is spotless or not for that performer.

I don't think (again, if I'm understanding) that Rath is saying all reasons for missing are the same, regardless. Just that, per this discussion, a show missed is a show missed, period.

I totally agree, BroadwayGirl107, that some reasons for an actor missing are professional while others certainly aren't.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/10/06 at 11:42pm

Thanks, JF1. You are correct.

The problem becomes, one person's "sick" isn't the same as another's. If we're not counting sick time, weddings, funerals, etc., then what exactly are we counting? "Scheduled" time off? Again, still time off. Either count it all or don't bother.