Recommended TV shows with lots of theater actors

As I wait patiently for the next season of The Gilded Age and Poker Face I thought we might help each other by reporting on TV shows where we were surprised to see more than a few stage actors in shows that we would recommend.

I’ll start. Recently I was rescued from my show hole by watching Presumed Innocent on Apple.  I had seen the 1990 thriller with Harrison Ford but had forgotten many of the details so I decided to watch the new 8 episode remake with Jake Gyllenhaal.  The teleplay is by David E. Kelley and Shar White and it keeps you on the edge of your seat.  I was very happy to see some of my stage favorites including Ruth Negga (Macbeth, Hamlet), Gabby Beans (The Skin of Our Teeth and Jonah), Nana Mensah (Jaja’s), Noma Dumezweni (Harry Potter), Mark Harelik (Piazza), husband and wife Bill Camp and Elizabeth Marvel, Peter Sarsgaard and Lily Rabe.  It feels like there could definitely be a season 2 and I’d want to see all these actors come back but there is definite room for Gabby Beans to take on a lead role.  I’ll be there.

I also enjoyed exploring the frayed American dream especially in season two of American Rust (on Prime)which was adapted from Philipp Meyer’s best selling novel. It follows police chief Del Harris (Jeff Daniels) on his encounters in a Rust Belt town in Pennsylvania.  Maura Tierney also stars as his love interest.  There are so many stage actors in this series including David Alvarez (Billy Elliott, Spielberg’s West Side Story), Rob Yang (Catch as Catch Can), Kyle Beltran (A Case for the Existence of God, Choir Boy), Tom Pecinka (Stereophonic), Luna Lauren Velez (surprised to read that she was a Witch understudy for Into the Woods), Christopher Denham (Red Light Winter, Kindness), Amelia Workman (The Lucky Ones), Emily Davis (Is This A Room), Zenzi Williams (Jaja’s), Caitlin Houlahan (Girl from the North Country, Waitress), Gordon Clapp (To Kill a Mockingbird, Glengarry Glen Ross), Dallas Roberts (Peter and Jerry). David Cromer’s cameo in season one is simply unforgettable. 

Have any TV recommendations with a cast made up of many stage actors?

HACKS is the best comedy on TV, for my money. Jean Smart, Chris MacDonald, J. Smith Cameron, Jane Adams, Helen Hunt, Jefferson Mays, Harriet Harris, Carl Clemons-Hopkins was in the original Chicago production of HAMILTON, Laurie Metcalf plays a butch tour bus driver named Weed for two episodes, Christopher Lloyd plays Fatty Arbuckle's grandson who penned an awful script based on his grandfather's life.

I assume you've already seen SUCCESSION? That and GILDED feel like the American equivalent of DOWNTON and THE CROWN, as in "let's give every great thespian something to do."

You might like THE BEAR and though it doesn't have the theatre-actor-density of some of the others, it has people like Liza Colon-Zayas and Oliver Platt and brief appearances by Mulaney, Olivia Colman, etc.

One of these days I will catch up with RIPLEY and SHOGUN.

Updated On: 8/14/24 at 10:15 PM

ErmengardeStopSniveling: HACKS is the best comedy on TV, for my money. Jean Smart, Chris MacDonald, J. Smith Cameron, Jane Adams, Helen Hunt, Jefferson Mays, Harriet Harris, Carl Clemons-Hopkins was in the original Chicago production of HAMILTON, Laurie Metcalf plays a butch tour bus driver named Weed for two episodes, Christopher Lloyd plays Fatty Arbuckle's grandson who penned an awful script based on his grandfather's life.

I assume you've already seen SUCCESSION? That and GILDED feel like the American equivalent of DOWNTON and THE CROWN, as in "let's give every great thespian something to do."

You might like THE BEAR and though it doesn't have the theatre-actor-density of some of the others, it has people like Liza Colon-Zayas and Oliver Platt and brief appearances by Mulaney, Olivia Colman, etc.

One of these days I will catch up with RIPLEY and SHOGUN.

I completely agree with you about Hacks. Just a great show and I was so glad that J. Smith Cameron joined. She’s perfectly cast as Deborah Vance’s sister. 

I devoured The Bear. Have been a Colon-Zayas fan since I saw her in Our Lady of 121st Street. 

Good reminder to get back to watching Succession. I think I stopped watching after a while because the pacing was so nonstop and it felt like I needed a break.  

If you’re in the mood for a 30 Rock-type comedy, Girls 5 Eva is, imo, very underrated and very funny - and packed with theatre actors from the main cast down to bit parts. 

This might be obvious but I just got done rewatching SMASH! American Sports Story isn't out yet but has a ton of broadway talent in the cast. 

Plannietink08 said: "I'm watching Nurse Jackie for the first time and almost every episode has a theatre actor pop up in supporting roles."

One of my all time favorite TV series. A sequel series is in development at Amazon Prime.

Huss417 said: "I'm surprised no one has mentioned all the Law & Order franchises. All the episodes would keep someone busy for a very long time. :)"

Was going to mention that.  There used to be a joke that if you looked in your playbill and saw an actor without a Law & Order credit they either just got off the bus or weren't any good.

If we're factoring in classic shows, Murder She Wrote had a murder's row of theatre vets throughout its run (pun fully intended)

Another vote for HACKS - incredible show! Phenomenal performances by both female leads.

I've also been re-streaming PUSHING DAISIES on Amazon. Many Broadway performers as guest stars. I would love to see a PUSHING DAISIES musical on Broadway (there was idle talk at one time). I'd prefer that over BETTY BOOP. 

And speaking of BETTY BOOP, I didn't really notice when the show originally aired on TV (perhaps because of the absence of HD?), but on re-watch, I'm currently struck by how prominently Kristen Chenoweth's bosom is featured onscreen. Just an observation... 

 

 

Huss417: Plannietink08 said: "I'm watching Nurse Jackie for the first time and almost every episode has a theatre actor pop up in supporting roles."

One of my all time favorite TV series. A sequel series is in development at Amazon Prime.

Thanks for the info. I had no idea that there was a Nurse Jackie sequel in the works. I will definitely watch that when it arrives. I love Falco and was sorry that the short-lived Tommy didn’t make it. It only lasted a year in 2020 when everyone was focused on other pressing issues. She was great as the tell like it is LA police chief with a girlfriend played by the always superb Katrina Lenk. Thomas Sadowski was the power hungry politically motivated mayor.

 

re: The Bear

I first saw Ebon Moss-Bacharach in Lost Girls at MCC.  

jbird5 said: "Meghann Fahey from White Lotus was also in the cast. She of course understudied Next to Normal."

I'm pretty sure she was the full-time Natalie during the latter part of the run. I know she played the role in the final performance at the Booth.

If you like horror, I recommend Evil on Paramount+.  They've had Brian Stokes Mitchell, Danny Burstein, Annaleigh Ashford, Christian Borle, Santino Fontana, Norm Lewis, and Jenn Collela to name a few.