She wasn't just "up" for the role. She was in the final three.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
As LJ and somethingwicked have shown in their posts, Patina has had no trouble getting work pretty much from the moment she graduate university. She'll be fine.
Final 3... went to an audition and never heard from them... NONE OF THAT MATTERS.
Ok then. Call me when you're thisclose to landing an Oscar-winning role (as a complete unknown, up against some of Broadway and Hollywood's biggest talents) and tell me it doesn't matter.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
Bobbybaby, either Patina beat you out for a job somewhere or you're just an idiot. I'm not sure which.
Ljay and somethingwicked have already pointed out that Patina has been continuously employed since arriving on the scene, never once being unemployed. Her role in Sister Act, despite your claims, has been almost universally well-received by the industry and has only served to raise her profile.
Couple this with her fantastic work ethic. Deloris is arguably the most demanding role on Broadway right now- she's onstage almost the entire show, sings in 10 numbers, dances, and has to carry the show. Aside from her weeklong vacation, Patina has called out of about 5 performances. That's a stellar attendance record.
So yes, between her reliability, talent, and absolute star quality, Miller will have no trouble working in NY in the future.
In this business, ALMOST counts for a lot. It means that even though you didn't make the cut your name and face will still be remembered by the right people. This is a business about who you know and the connections you have made. When getting down to the final three, you have made connections, directors and producers will remember you.
Also keep in mind, once you are down to the final three, it is less about talent, and more about how you look compared to others up for various roles. If you don't have talent, you don't make it that far.
Deloris is the most demanding role on Broadway? That's a laugh. Clearly you're not aware that we have a Reno Sweeney (who manages to tap her face off AND look attractive doing it and then belt her face off), a Bess (with today's musical theater voices, one of the hardest roles to sing), and an Elphaba (a role known to butcher voices left and right) on Broadway right now.
Clearly, I am. All 3 of the roles you've mentioned have generous amounts of off-stage time built in to them. Deloris doesn't. Reno gets entire scenes where she's off-stage. The role of Elphaba is about being able to sing 3 big songs- none of those roles have anything on the stamina required to play Deloris.
I will concede that when Evita does open (but it hasn't yet), the titular role in that show will become Broadway's most demanding, but right now, no contest. None of those other roles have to carry the show the way Deloris does (because all get to rely heavily on co-stars, be they Porgy, Billy, or Glinda).
Patina is from my home state of South Carolina and attended the SC Governor's School for the Arts. I remember hearing about her and saw some clips of her performing there. I thought OK, she's fine and I hope she can develop into a good performer. I had no idea she had received a full scholarship to Carnegie Mellon and received a BFA in MT. From the clips I have seen from SISTER ACT, I thought she was giving a wide open take on the role. Even the schtick and frenzy, I attributed to lack of proper training, direction, and just her interpretation, but while schtick is schtick, with her training at a prestigious university for MT, I am surprised the schtick was not a little more refined and her vocal technique a bit better (too much screaming). All I can say is please refine your schtick. And one other thing, it has been said Tisch MT graduates often lack acting skills. What about Carnegie Mellon? I read the threads here on Cap21 and the best (opinions) schools for MT in the country in an effort to understand if "lack of acting skills" of MT graduates is pervasive in fact or opinion. I still couldn't wade through the bias about this from the threads.
"Patina is far too ugly to play Deena in Dreamgirls, lol. Deena is supposed to look like Diana Ross, not a bulldog.
And she's not fat enough to play Effie. The fact that she was "up" for Effie seems stetched... like they would have had to do in post to make her look appropriate."
Those comments were very harsh and unnecessary. Patina is a remarkably talented young woman.