Ryan McCartan is Wicked's Next Fiyero

Just found out from one of my friend's who is in the cast that Heathers' own Ryan McCartan will be making his Broadway debut as Fiyero! Don't really know if this is considered a stunt cast or not. Thoughts?Â

Updated On: 8/29/18 at 11:37 PM

Meh. I don’t know enough about him as a performer to have an opinion as to whether he’ll be a good Fiyero or just a pretty boy-band Fiyero. But the fan base he brings is exactly what we don’t need more of: shrieky, obsessive teens with no boundaries (proof in point: when you google him, the second video suggested is a conspiracy-style video claiming “PROOF!” of something between him and his ex). Between Disney and Heathers... yikes.

Updated On: 8/29/18 at 11:46 PM

lightsarebrightonbroadway said: "Don't really know if this is considered a stunt cast or not. Thoughts?"

Not unless the stunt is getting us to Google who this is...

I did---not worth the effort.

http://www.playbill.com/article/heathers-star-ryan-mccartan-will-make-broadway-debut-in-wicked

Hes definitely on the young side. I wonder if he might be the youngest full time Fiyero. He’s nearly a decade younger than Jessica.

Updated On: 8/30/18 at 11:27 AM

Wicked hasn't "stunt casted" since arguably 2006?

After Menzel and Chenoweth left there were a series of "stunt castings' of former TV stars (Ana Gasteyer as Elphaba, Rue McClanahan and Carol Kane as Madame Morrible) , former teen idols (Joey McIntyre as Fiyero, Jenna Leigh Green as Nessarose, and Randy Harrison as Boq) , and Broadway legends (Ben Vereen and George Hearn as The Wizard). This all appeared to stop in 2007, which if I had to guess was when Wicked's producers believed they had finally dug themselves out of The Producers Broderick and Lane problem, and was no longer in the shadow of Menzel and Chenoweth's iconic performances. This is compared to the current model of selling out a SRO show 6 months past the original leads contract without informing the buying public as Book of Mormon, Hamilton, and Dear Evan Hansen all did.

The only other instances of 'Stunt casting' in Wicked are possibly Carol Kane's second run as Madame Morrible in 2013, which could be seen more beneficial to Kane then Wicked as this was before Unbreakable Kimmy Schmitt made her relevant again. Then there is also possibly Justin Guarini and Ashley Parker Angel's stints as Fiyero, but neither performance was advertised as such. Wicked was Guarini's 4th broadway show in 4 years, and Parker Angel came to the Broadway production from the tour.

As such I wouldn't consider McCarten as 'stunt casting' .

nvm

Updated On: 8/30/18 at 11:42 AM

Saw him in HEATHERS and he will be just fine in the role of Fiyero.

The only thing I could find about this guy being abusive was that Dove Cameron vaguely said he was “terrible” to her in some Instagram post. I think the Stan Twitter crowd just wants something to get outraged about now that James Barbour in Phantom isn’t a thing anymore, so they’re clinging to any little scrap they can find to make it out like the Next James Barbour Situation is happening.

Updated On: 8/30/18 at 06:41 PM

Elfuhbuh said: "The only thing I could find about this guy being abusive was that Dove Cameron vaguely said he was “terrible” to her in some Instagram post. I think the Stan Twitter crowd just wants something to get outraged about now that James Barbour in Phantom isn’t a thing anymore, so they’re clinging to any little scrap they can find to make it out like the Next James Barbour Situationis happening."

Well, people have been upset about this for a while, as far as I can see. Dove Cameron is a legitimate celebrity (maybe not A list, but she's not only known to theatre kids). So this controversy isn't only known to Stan Twitter or theatre nerds.