Robert Cuccioli Question

My wife knew Robert during his HS days at St. Mary's on LI. We went to see him in "Jekyll & Hyde" in 1997 and thought he was great; he would receive Tony nomination. He never appeared on Broadway again until 2011 in the disaster of a musical "Spider Man". My question is why he could not appear on Broadway again in almost 15 years and then somebody like Christian Borle constantly gets roles. Borle is great but it seems the minute he leaves one show he is cast in another.

Broadway is not every performer's goal and it does take effort to continually work there. There are many, many examples of performers who have had some prominent Broadway roles - sometimes even picking up a Tony award in the process- but then have never returned, for any number of personal or professional reasons. It's a demanding profession that requires you to live within easy commuting distance of NYC and also to give up a lot of your life.

Updated On: 11/15/24 at 12:25 PM

I saw Mr. Cuccioli twice in Jekyll and Hyde and also find it odd that so far, he has made it back to Broadway only once, and that was to Patrick Page in Spider-Man (a gig that I doubt many people wanted). I think that although J&H has a huge fanbase, and Cucciolli was acclaimed in the role, the show was considered by those in the industry as a flop both artistically (terrible reviews) and commercially (despite a run of three years or so, it never recouped). I imagine that he was not getting a lot of Broadway offers and decided instead to focus on regional theatre, where he has always worked consistently. He actually took up Shakespeare and has had a lot of success as a classical actor.

everythingtaboo said: "Wasn't there an actor that one day was winning a Tony Award and then next month in a costume doing a birthday party?"

I don't remember those specifics, but I do remember original castmembers of HAIRSPRAY being hired to perform at a bar mitzvah (including Matt Morrison). But that was because of their association with the show.

I recall Joe Iconis doing freelance graphic design work right up until BE MORE CHILL opened? I don't know if he's dipped his toe back into that world post-BMC. It's a tough biz, and people have bills to pay. Some people also like doing side hustles to keep them grounded. Top billing Monday, Tuesday you're touring in stock...etc.

''Wasn't there an actor that one day was winning a Tony Award and then next month in a costume doing a birthday party?''

I think that might've been Scott Wise, 1989 Featured Actor in a Musical winner for ''Jerome Robbins' Broadway.'' Wise said he loved winning the Tony, and it was a rare feat to do so as a dancer. But winning a Tony also set up higher expectations, and Wise has mused that perhaps his acting skills weren't enough to go toe-to-toe with other performers who WERE stronger actors. At any rate, Wise would go on to be Tony-nominated twice more: for ''State Fair'' and ''Fosse.''

Getting back to Cuccioli, it might be remembered that he won the Outer Critics Circle prize and the Drama Desk for Outstanding Actor in a Musical for ''Jekyll & Hyde.'' In the past, that was a good omen for winning the Tony as well. But in this case, I believe Cuccioli didn't win because he was in ''Jekyll & Hyde,'' which wasn't a critics' darling. After all, the Tony nominators only gave it 4 nominations, snubbing it for Best Musical, Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse's score, Linda Eder, etc. Tony voters weren't going to give anything to ''Jekyll & Hyde,'' so they awarded Actor in a Musical to James Naughton in the more acclaimed ''Chicago'' revival. It would be Naughton's second Tony; his first was for ''City of Angels.'' Trivia: Cuccioli won the Outer Critics and Drama Desk prizes OVER Naughton, but clearly, the Tony voters disagreed.

Also, ''Jekyll & Hyde'' might not have been beloved by critics or Tony voters, but audiences fell under its spell. It ran for over 3-and-a-half years, racking up 1,543 regular performances. Meantime, the 1997 Best Musical Tony nominees were: ''Juan Darien'' (49 performances); ''The Life'' (466); ''Steel Pier'' (76), and ''Titanic'' (804). That means ''Jekyll & Hyde'' outlasted all four of them, AND ran longer than all of them put together!

Updated On: 11/15/24 at 02:47 PM

"Doesn’t Robert do loads of regional and concert work? He probably just doesn’t like being in NYC."

He has lived in NYC for many years.

I thought Cuccioli was great as Con Melody in O’Neill’s A Touch of the Poet at the Irish Rep back in March of 2022. He will be in the York Theater Company’s new musical Welcome to the Big Dipper 11/21 -12/29. Tickets currently available on TDF.

Wow, that's depressing to read about Scott Wise doing birthday parties after being up for a nom--I saw him in State Fair and Fosse as a teen and he was always one of the most charismatic dancers I'd seen on stage. I was just wondering what he was doing now--he's part of a pretty prestigious college theatre program and with his wife has some sort of academy as well (which seems a pretty good route to go as you age out of dancing especially.)

But yeah, as others have said, sometimes it's not even the performer's desire to continue to pursue Broadway and it's not just that they're no longer winning Broadway roles--if they do continue performing, there's a lot of fulfillment out there with doing regional, or concerts, etc (and sometimes those types of gigs can allow you to have a more steady life outside of performing.)

Well, the Broadway AEA weekly minimum is now over $2,000, and even the top regional theatres are less than half that, so no…although there certainly might be more artistic satisfaction in regional theatre.

"I’m sure the OP just used Christian Borle as an example, but it’s also worth noting that he and Cuccioli are selling completely different things. An actor’s type or brand or whatever you want to call it is definitely a key factor in how much they work."

You are correct, I was just using Borle as an example since he is constantly in some Broadway show. I understand Borle's brand is a lot more diverse and that allows him to receive more offers. In addition, he is pretty darn good -lol

"It was absurd that James Naughton won the Tony over Cuccioli. Naughton coasted in an easy role and was just part of the Chicago sweep. Cuccioli’s stunt casting replacements were so bad they only emphasized how he had worked magic with a role(s) that can easily look ridiculous in the wrong hands. He was robbed."

I agree 100%. It is a shame the recorded version of J&H could not have been with him.