#26
Posted: 5/28/07 at 5:50pm
Eriq LaSalle got kicked out of Juilliard
"Girl, this cupcake is the jumpoff"- Adriane Lenox
Question about Broadway stars being rejected — Page 2
#27
Posted: 5/28/07 at 6:23pm
"The only other one I can remember (or know of) is Eden Espinosa getting turned down repeatedly when auditioning for Eponine in LES MIS. She said in a Chatterbox interview that the casting directors wouldn't even listen to her because they thought she was too 'ethnic.'"
That seems ridiculous. First of all, Lea played Eponine and is now well-known in that role. Lea is much more "ethnic" than Eden. Secondly, they offered Eden Fantine in Les Mis, so it's not like they really turned her down.
That seems ridiculous. First of all, Lea played Eponine and is now well-known in that role. Lea is much more "ethnic" than Eden. Secondly, they offered Eden Fantine in Les Mis, so it's not like they really turned her down.
#28
Posted: 5/28/07 at 6:29pm
Actually, accocrding to Juliard, Williams was not kicked out, or asked to leave. He was told "We don't think you have what it takes for our school, we aren't kicking you out, nor are we saying don't come back." He told them to "f-off" and they now admit "We made a mistake with that one"
http://www.youtube.com/huskcharmer
#29
Posted: 5/28/07 at 6:32pm
Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, and I think Britney Spears all lost at some point on Star Search.
I could be wrong.
I could be wrong.
:D
#30
Posted: 5/28/07 at 6:35pm
Christine Ebersole went to my high school and as far as I know was in only one show, and we put on a lot of shows...
What a night! I was in more laps than a napkin!
#31
Posted: 5/28/07 at 6:38pm
Hugh Panaro went to my high school and he was only cast in featured parts in the musicals.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
#32
Posted: 5/28/07 at 6:42pm
Robin Williams was once a student with the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts In Californis until they kicked him out for being to 'wild'.
Well, now he's ALWAYS mentioned in their alumni letter.
Well, now he's ALWAYS mentioned in their alumni letter.
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>>
“I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>>
-whatever2
#33
Posted: 5/28/07 at 6:52pm
I think I read that Kelli O'Hara auditioned for Pajama Game in college and didn't get cast...
#34
Posted: 5/28/07 at 7:34pm
According to my great-aunt who went to high school with her, Ann Bancroft wasn't cast in a show until she was an upperclassman.
There's a lot I am not certain of...
#35
Posted: 5/28/07 at 7:49pm
Betty Buckley didn't get cast in a role that was written specifically for her (The Baker's Wife).
#36
Posted: 5/28/07 at 10:51pm
I just read this the other day but forget where: David Hyde Pierce went to Yale undergrad but was rejected from Yale School of Drama.
#37
Posted: 5/28/07 at 10:57pm
Julie White auditioned for Festen and didn't get it.
RIP Natasha Richardson. ~You were a light on this earth ~
#38
Posted: 5/28/07 at 10:59pm
Didn't Madonna get turned down for the role of Roxie in the Chicago movie?
I mean, Denzel Washington? Gun to my head..of course.
#39
Posted: 5/28/07 at 11:55pm
Audra just got bumped from the "Cat..." revival. Which is a mess.
#40
Posted: 5/29/07 at 2:47am
Regarding David Hyde Pierce, I don't think he was kicked out:
"Unfortunately, he soon grew bored with music history lessons and found that he wasn’t dedicated enough to practice the required amount of hours to become a successful concert pianist. Instead, he graduated in 1981 with a double major in English and Theatre Arts."
Warning: That was from Wikipedia. It's 3 am and I'm too lazy to search for a more reputable source at the moment.
"Unfortunately, he soon grew bored with music history lessons and found that he wasn’t dedicated enough to practice the required amount of hours to become a successful concert pianist. Instead, he graduated in 1981 with a double major in English and Theatre Arts."
Warning: That was from Wikipedia. It's 3 am and I'm too lazy to search for a more reputable source at the moment.
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
#41
Posted: 5/29/07 at 10:08am
I have this book and it has fabulous stories of botched auditions and actors not getting the role
"Making It on Broadway: Actors' Tales of Climbing to the Top"
I think there's a story in there about how Brian d'Arcy James was living on a cousin's couch, auditioned for a role in Jesus Christ Superstar, got it, but when they couldn't get ahold of him (because he didn't have a phone), gave it to someone else.
~*Sara*~
Who would play you in the movie? "Taye Diggs." --Brian d'Arcy James
"Making It on Broadway: Actors' Tales of Climbing to the Top"
I think there's a story in there about how Brian d'Arcy James was living on a cousin's couch, auditioned for a role in Jesus Christ Superstar, got it, but when they couldn't get ahold of him (because he didn't have a phone), gave it to someone else.
Who would play you in the movie? "Taye Diggs." --Brian d'Arcy James
#42
Posted: 5/29/07 at 10:21am
DHP wasn't kicked out of Yale Drama. He was originally a Music and English Arts major. He only acted as a hobby and hadn't really thought of it as a career. His first choice was to be a Classical Pianist. He entered Yale School of Music, but found sitting in a room with a piano 20 hours a day boring. He's said many times that he wasn't talented enough to be a Classical Pianist. On the advice of his music professor, he switched his major from Music to Theater Arts (keeping English Arts in case theater didn't work out either) and well the rest as they say...is history.
#43
Posted: 5/29/07 at 10:52am
the 'ganarea' kid in chorus line didnt get into boco or nyu...
i only know this because i know someone who knows the family really well...(reliable source)
it didnt matter tho becuase we went straight into la cage... and now iv heard hes the best dancer in chorus line...
i only know this because i know someone who knows the family really well...(reliable source)
it didnt matter tho becuase we went straight into la cage... and now iv heard hes the best dancer in chorus line...
#44
Posted: 5/29/07 at 11:26am
You should watch Annabelle Gurwitch's documentary "Fired". She got the idea after she was fired from a Woody Allen play. She interviews many people in the entertainment business who tell stories about being "fired" or rejected by jobs. Some of them are Broadway and theatre related. Good stuff :)
#45
Posted: 5/29/07 at 12:42pm
Christine Ebersole went to my high school and as far as I know was in only one show, and we put on a lot of shows...
I think that might have had more to do with her not yet discovering that she wanted to be on stage than being rejected. Before she went onstage, she played violin in the school's orchestra.
I think that might have had more to do with her not yet discovering that she wanted to be on stage than being rejected. Before she went onstage, she played violin in the school's orchestra.
It's like writing "Norma Shearer for the win!" in a Joan Crawford biography.
#46
Posted: 5/29/07 at 1:00pm
"the 'ganarea' kid in chorus line didnt get into boco or nyu..."
Do you mean Gonorrhea? And that would be Paul McGill.
"i only know this because i know someone who knows the family really well...(reliable source)"
I think the issue many people here seem to keep forgetting is that he may not have been accepted because there were other students who were, *gasp*, better than him. The entertainment industry is not about who is the most talented (Pauly Shore, anyone?). It's really mostly luck and who you know. There are many more talented people out there than we'll ever know. Schools, on the other hand, are definitely more about fostering and molding talent.
"it didnt matter tho becuase we went straight into la cage... and now iv heard hes the best dancer in chorus line..."
He's one of the better dancers, yes, but not THE best. I would argue Tyler Hanes is the best dancer in the show. But even if anyone disagrees, Ken Alan would be next, in my opinion.
Do you mean Gonorrhea? And that would be Paul McGill.
"i only know this because i know someone who knows the family really well...(reliable source)"
I think the issue many people here seem to keep forgetting is that he may not have been accepted because there were other students who were, *gasp*, better than him. The entertainment industry is not about who is the most talented (Pauly Shore, anyone?). It's really mostly luck and who you know. There are many more talented people out there than we'll ever know. Schools, on the other hand, are definitely more about fostering and molding talent.
"it didnt matter tho becuase we went straight into la cage... and now iv heard hes the best dancer in chorus line..."
He's one of the better dancers, yes, but not THE best. I would argue Tyler Hanes is the best dancer in the show. But even if anyone disagrees, Ken Alan would be next, in my opinion.
#47
Posted: 5/29/07 at 1:26pm
"It's really mostly luck and who you know."
IT SERIOUSLY IS. It is amazing how some schools tell you that you're amazing and have an incredibly interesting IT factor while others will tell you how dull and regular you are. It is seriously all chance.
IT SERIOUSLY IS. It is amazing how some schools tell you that you're amazing and have an incredibly interesting IT factor while others will tell you how dull and regular you are. It is seriously all chance.
"I chose and my world was shaken. So what? The choice may have been mistaken. The choosing was not."-Sunday in the Park with George
#48
Posted: 5/29/07 at 1:49pm
Fosse, I think every theater student is smart enough to know that if someone's better, usually they'll come out on top. The point of this thread was to find interesting stories about people who were rejected from top schools or didn't land roles earlier in life, but have since gone on to huge things. It serves as a lesson to never give up, because even if you're rejected from BoCo, you might be playing a lead on Broadway soon after :)
This is fun for me to read, as a recent grad and going into college next year, because I got rejected from a few BFAs and would like to think I might be playing Elle Woods on Broadway one day ^_^ or whatever. And then maybe those schools will be thinking... "Hmm. Perhaps we had something great on our hands and we didn't even know it because we accepted the daughter of our admissions director instead...."
Just dreams, of course.
This is fun for me to read, as a recent grad and going into college next year, because I got rejected from a few BFAs and would like to think I might be playing Elle Woods on Broadway one day ^_^ or whatever. And then maybe those schools will be thinking... "Hmm. Perhaps we had something great on our hands and we didn't even know it because we accepted the daughter of our admissions director instead...."
Just dreams, of course.
"Love all; Trust a few; Do wrong to none." --William Shakespeare
#49
Posted: 5/29/07 at 2:24pm
Sir Antony Sher was turned down by RADA, Central, and Guildhall. He later became a RADA company member.
Mandy Patinkin, Alan Tudyk, and Robin Williams all left Julliard early.
Parker Posey was cut from North Carolina School of the Arts...Jada Pinkett Smith, Danny Hoch, and Jennifer Ehle all left NCSA early even though the school still use their names to promote themselves.
Mark Ruffalo was fired from a Beth Henley play in L.A. and famously went on nearly 800 auditions before he made it.
Sigourney Weaver graduated Yale Drama School but was told when she graduated that she had no talent and should give it up. She was later fired from Nicol Williamson's MACBETH.
Michael Keaton was fired from PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO.
Eric Stoltz fired from BACK TO THE FUTURE.
Harvey Keitel fired from APOCOLYPSE NOW.
Judy Garland fired from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN.
Rebecca Gayheart was fired from FIREFLY.
Mandy Patinkin, Alan Tudyk, and Robin Williams all left Julliard early.
Parker Posey was cut from North Carolina School of the Arts...Jada Pinkett Smith, Danny Hoch, and Jennifer Ehle all left NCSA early even though the school still use their names to promote themselves.
Mark Ruffalo was fired from a Beth Henley play in L.A. and famously went on nearly 800 auditions before he made it.
Sigourney Weaver graduated Yale Drama School but was told when she graduated that she had no talent and should give it up. She was later fired from Nicol Williamson's MACBETH.
Michael Keaton was fired from PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO.
Eric Stoltz fired from BACK TO THE FUTURE.
Harvey Keitel fired from APOCOLYPSE NOW.
Judy Garland fired from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN.
Rebecca Gayheart was fired from FIREFLY.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
Updated On: 5/29/07 at 02:24 PM
#50
Posted: 5/29/07 at 3:17pm
The thing that you have to understand about Julliard is that they give offers to several students with the intent of cutting down the class. They might start a freshman class with 20 students with the full intention of ending up with a senior class of 10.
Kelsey Grammer was asked to leave Julliard.
Kelsey Grammer was asked to leave Julliard.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
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