"Replacement" cast members who were better than the originals

Jill Paice for Lauren Ward as Miss Honey

They were both wonderful, but Marin Mazzie over Alice Ripley in Next to Normal. Also, Van Hughes over John Gallagher, Jr. in American Idiot.

Bernadette Peters in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

Jonathan Pryce in DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS

Heather Headley in THE COLOR PURPLE

Ben Platt in Book of Mormon

Marin Mazzie and Daniel Dae Kim over Kelli O'Hara and Ken Watanabe in The King and I

Sara Bareilles over Jessie Mueller in Waitress

Based only on the night I saw Kahn, Judy Kaye over Madeleine Kahn.

I loved Madeleine Kahn and many here saw her on nights when she was brilliant. And that's theater, folks! But Judy Kaye taught me something very important about musical comedy, in particular: it's not enough to have the skills, you also have to act like you want to be up there. OTTC was always a great party with Judy Kaye!

Jonathan Pryce in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Do original vs. revival productions count? If so, I thought Jon Jon Briones, Eva Noblezada, and Alistair Brammer were better than Jonathan Pryce, Lea Salonga, and Simon Bowman in Miss Saigon.

Updated On: 6/8/17 at 10:26 AM

I agree about Bareilles. I thought she was better than Mueller by leaps and bounds (I should note that I do NOT love Mueller and think she absolutely CAN do wrong). Bareilles naturally was everything Mueller was visibly trying hard to be.

And I agree about Heather Headley in The Color Purple. I didn't even realize what that the role had that much potential for depth and dimension until she did it.

I would also add Kevin Kern in Finding Neverland. Much better than Matthew Morrison. He technically wasn't a replacement, but it sounds like he might as well have been based on how often Alfie Boe called out.

I didn't see Michelle Williams in Cabaret, but I LOVED Emma Stone in the role, and the consensus seems to be that Williams was awful (which doesn't surprise me, given that I didn't enjoy her over-the-top performance in Blackbird, or even really Manchester By The Sea for that matter). Stone's singing was only passable, but her acting was electric.

I thought Rob McClure was a better fit for Nick Bottom in Something Rotten than Brian d'Arcy James.

I'm also not a bit fan of Idina Menzel, so though I've only seen bootlegs of her as Elphaba, I definitely think she's ben surpassed by tons of her replacements.

Updated On: 6/8/17 at 11:45 AM

Also preferred Sara Bareilles in Waitress.

I liked Michael C Hall and, obviously, John Cameron Mitchell in the Hedwig revival substantially more than Neil Patrick Harris. But, again, I acknowledge it's not fair to pin NPH's Hedwig against JCM's Hedwig.

I thought Nick Jonas was excellent in How to Succeed. He was far better than Daniel Radcliffe, who, in my opinion, should solely stick to plays. Nick Jonas really surprised me with his acting, his singing was incredible, and his dancing was very energetic.

I also think, with the exception of John Lloyd Young, that the 2015 cast of Jersey Boys was far better. Richard H. Blake, Quinn Van Antwerp, and Matt Bogart were the best 'Seasons' in my opinion. They were lively and their movements were more crisp and uniformed than the OBC's. Though John Lloyd Young was the best Frankie Valli in my opinion, Mauricio Perez did a stellar job when he understudied and alternated.