Pop Star McKnight to join Chicago cast...

[catstagestud]

Posted: 7/13/07 at 12:21am

Brian McKnight, the pop star whose hits include "Back to 1" etc. will make his B'way bow in Chicago this fall as per playbill.com. Here's the link. I love his voice, hope he can act it.

Cheers,

Christopher
McKnight to join Chicago Cast

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/13/07 at 12:25am

Hmm. Interesting.

Though I don't really like when they stunt cast Billy. It's far more exciting when they stunt Roxie.

[catstagestud]

Posted: 7/13/07 at 12:29am

The one time I saw the show I saw Charlotte D'Amboise as Roxie, Roz Ryan as Mama and somebody who I can't remember as Billy. I missed Wayne Brady by three performance. Boo! I own a couple of McKnight's albums and really like him. Hope he's good in the role, would definitely see him if I had the opportunity (which I won't :-P )

Cheers,

Christopher

[little_sally]

Posted: 7/13/07 at 12:30am

That is really exciting. I think he's going to be a great Billy.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/13/07 at 12:31am

Wow, I like McKnight and all, but is he really a "draw" to tourists? This show just should close. They've made a TON of money off of it and now it's just lost all artistic value. Just close the show before you loose anymore dignity.

[Funny Face]

Posted: 7/13/07 at 12:35am

They could cast Tinkerbell the dog in that show and it wouldn't surprise me at this point.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 7/13/07 at 1:10am

RentBoy86, they're clearly hoping to replicate the box office success of Usher (it was relatively significant) and draw of the "urban" audience. (Probably my favorite horrible euphemism.)

Updated On: 7/13/07 at 01:10 AM

[jv92]

Posted: 7/13/07 at 12:00pm

God, as if Usher's falsetto wasn't bad enough.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/13/07 at 1:19pm

Tinkerbell has already played both Roxie and Velma (like Ruthie Henshall), so I doubt she'd return to CHICAGO again, but you never know (right Charlotte? Bebe? Brenda? Bianca? Belle?).

[Dark_Angel]

Posted: 7/13/07 at 1:28pm

Although I am a fan of McKnight's I can't picture him singing "Razzle Dazzle"...or "We Both Reached for the Gun" for that matter...or even "All I Care About Is Love"....Hell, I don't picture him in this at all.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/13/07 at 5:04pm

Why should it close though? They are doing better than most long-running shows and have managed to avoid the staleness that is currently present at shows like RENT. If they can bring artists like Brooke Shields, Usher, and Bebe Neuwirth I don't see how they are losing their dignity.

[KChenowethfan]

Posted: 7/13/07 at 8:53pm

I happened to go on the Warner Theatre (DC) site to see if we actually got any decent tours and saw that Chicago will be here. It noted Brian McKnight was "starring" making it sound like he was going to be in the tour cast.

http://www.warnertheatre.com/calendar.asp

Talk about misinformation. (Not that I even know who he is or planned to even see the tour)

Updated On: 7/13/07 at 08:53 PM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/13/07 at 10:13pm

For ALL the obvious reasons, in order to prep 'stars' for the Broadway company of CHICAGO, the Weisslers generally have the 'stars' perform several weeks in the US Tour in order to get their feet wet. This has been a regular tradition with CHICAGO -- having the 'stars' do the US Tour before going into the Broadway production.

Lisa Rinna has done this. Paige Davis has done this. Sandy Duncan has done this. Charlotte d'Amboise has done this. The list is endless.

This is obvious the case with Brian McKnight in order to 'get him ready for Broadway'.

[KChenowethfan]

Posted: 7/13/07 at 10:43pm

Ah, ok. I didn't know that. I don't follow Chicago (saw it once, liked it, and that is about it).

In the past, Warner Theatre would use some dubious advertising tactics so I wrongly assumed this was another one. For example, they would note a show was "direct from Broadway" when it was the gazillionth non-equity tour. I realize this is common in a lot of theatres that house tours though.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/13/07 at 11:01pm

That 'Direct from Broadway' slogan isn't any part of each theater's doing. That's part of the Broadway Across America misleading marketing. Nothing we can do about as it's been going on for decades, unfortunately.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/13/07 at 11:19pm

Tinkerbelle is SO Cute.

[Bellichka]

Posted: 7/14/07 at 2:53pm

Wow, I didn't know they make stars do some of the U.S. tour first... is Chicago the only show that does this?

[Virgo]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 7:17pm

He starts on October 18th.

[BrianIdol]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 7:32pm

"this show should just close"

-exactly

[CJR]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 10:04pm

Awe I actually like Brian McKnight. I can't say that Im wigging out about him joining the cast... but people far less suited for the role have been cast (and surprisingly pulled it off!).

I'll be interested to see what he does with it!

[clarky]

Posted: 12/18/07 at 6:41pm

Did anyone see him? How was he?

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 12/18/07 at 8:22pm

What about Sharon McKnight as Mama Morton?