Star making shows

[Theatrefanboy1]

Posted: 5/4/22 at 1:54pm

Watching the Spring Awakening documentary I’m so impressed to see how many of the cast and company went on to have great theatre and film careers.  I’m curious if there were any other shows besides spring awakening and RENT (idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Daphne Rubin Vega. Taye Diggs. Jesse L. Martin) that had such a turn out of career building shows. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/4/22 at 2:12pm

HAMILTON is the most obvious one recently. The original ANGELS IN AMERICA for plays, to a lesser extent.

Then there have been shows that gave us one or two stars like Color Purple (Erivo), Charlie Brown (Cheno), Evita (LuPone & Patinkin), and Millie (Foster and lots of reliable Broadway folks including Casey Nicholaw & Kate Baldwin in the ensemble).

In the 70s, GREASE churned out so many actors who went on to great things. Among others: Barry Bostwick, Adrienne Barbeau, Patrick Swayze, Treat Williams, Peter Gallagher, Rex Smith, Jeff Conaway, John Travolta, Richard Gere, Marilu Henner, Michael Tucci, Judy Kaye, Jerry Zaks, Walter Bobbie, Nick Wyman, Randy Graff, David Paymer.

Similarly, WEST SIDE and A CHORUS LINE birthed some of the great Broadway gypsies of their eras –– though not necessarily stars.

Updated On: 5/4/22 at 02:12 PM

[ATerrifyingAndImposingFigure]

Posted: 5/4/22 at 2:49pm

Though he’d already had done work of some note onstage and onscreen, Dear Evan Hansen still did this for Ben Platt, and it also gave Mike Faist a big boost, who’s now got some more Hollywood work coming up.

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 5/4/22 at 4:06pm

The original Hair comes to mind.  Diane Keaton, Melba Moore, Keith Carradine, Meat Loaf and Ben Vereen in the Broadway production, plus Tim Curry, Elaine Paige and Richard O'Brien in the London production.  Not sure if that really counts as star-making in the sense that none of them broke out specifically because of Hair, but they certainly all went on to become big stars with other shows, having gotten their start in Hair.

Slightly different because some of these were stars already, and some never really became "stars", but I also love that the 1998 Cabaret revival had 7 principal actors, all of whom had never won a Tony at the time, yet have all subsequently gone on to win (Natasha Richardson, Alan Cumming and Ron Rifkin for Cabaret and Dennis O'Hare, John Benjamin Hickey, Michelle Pawk and Mary Louise Wilson for future shows).

Updated On: 5/4/22 at 04:06 PM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/4/22 at 4:46pm

THE CANTERBURY TALES in which an unknown Sandy Duncan stole every scene she was in.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/4/22 at 6:00pm

Broadway61004 said: "Slightly different because some of these were stars already, and some never really became "stars", but I also love that the 1998 Cabaret revival had 7 principal actors, all of whom had never won a Tony at the time, yet have all subsequently gone on to win (Natasha Richardson, Alan Cumming and Ron Rifkin for Cabaret and Dennis O'Hare, John Benjamin Hickey, Michelle Pawk and Mary Louise Wilson for future shows)."

That's a COOL stat!

The cast of SHUFFLE ALONG had many notables, but a lot of those people went on to even better things. Josh Henry, Brandon Victor Dixon, Adrienne Warren, Amber Iman, Brooks Ashmanskas.

[ATerrifyingAndImposingFigure]

Posted: 5/4/22 at 6:13pm

I knew and thought it was really cool that Cabaret cast was made up of only Tony nominees, but I never realized none of them won before that production.

[YvanEhtNioj]

Posted: 5/4/22 at 6:35pm

Almost all of the leads in “bring it on the musical” are doing big things now. Warren, Rockwell, DeBose, Lauderman

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/4/22 at 7:04pm

Another notable example for plays was The History Boys, which was a breakout hit in London, later moving to Broadway and winning the Tony. The biggest star to come of that show was James Corden (lol), but several other cast members went onto fruitful careers, including Russell Tovey, Jamie Parker, Dominic Cooper, and Samuel Barnett. Incidentally, I watched the film adaptation recently, and I thought the text had aged terribly, but it was quite the sensation at the time.

I also think Book of Mormon has to be mentioned, for the way it put Rannells and Gad on the map. They weren't total newcomers, but BoM definitely increased their notoriety in an observable way. And of course, Nikki M James's Tony-winning performance has helped launched her successful stage career as well.

But ironically, the biggest star to come out of that production was in the minor role of "General Butt F*cking Naked," Brian Tyree Henry, who has since become a rapidly-rising star in film and TV.

 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/4/22 at 7:42pm

JBroadway said: "Another notable example for plays was The History Boys, which was a breakout hit in London, later moving to Broadway and winning the Tony. The biggest star to come of that show was James Corden (lol), but several other cast members went onto fruitful careers, including Russell Tovey, Jamie Parker, Dominic Cooper, and Samuel Barnett. Incidentally, I watched the film adaptation recently, and I thought the text had aged terribly, but it was quite the sensation at the time.

I also think Book of Mormon has to be mentioned, for the way it put Rannells and Gad on the map. They weren't total newcomers, but BoM definitely increased their notoriety in an observable way. And of course, Nikki M James's Tony-winning performance has helped launched her successful stage career as well.

But ironically, the biggest star to come out of that production was in the minor role of "General Butt F*cking Naked," Brian Tyree Henry, who has since become a rapidly-rising star in film and TV.

 

"Notoriety"?
"

 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/4/22 at 9:30pm

CAMELOT---Robert Goulet

GIRL CRAZY---Ethel Merman

[JBradshaw]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 12:06am

Sandy’s amazing. 

[David10086]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 1:39pm

I would throw in 'Applause' back in 1970. Norman Lear took notice of a young Bonnie Franklin's talent, and made her a television star on one of TV's most popular sitcoms just a few years later.

 

And Whoopi Goldberg's one-woman show on Broadway (thanks to Mike Nichols) in the early 1980s turned her into an Oscar-winning movie star . 

[MJ1981]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 3:40pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "HAMILTON is the most obvious one recently. The original ANGELS IN AMERICA for plays, to a lesser extent.

Then there have been shows that gave us one or two stars like Color Purple (Erivo), Charlie Brown (Cheno), Evita (LuPone & Patinkin), and Millie (Foster and lots of reliable Broadway folks including Casey Nicholaw & Kate Baldwin in the ensemble).

In the 70s, GREASE churned out so many actors who went on to great things. Among others:Barry Bostwick,Adrienne Barbeau, Patrick Swayze,Treat Williams,Peter Gallagher,Rex Smith,Jeff Conaway,John Travolta,Richard Gere,Marilu Henner, Michael Tucci,Judy Kaye,Jerry Zaks,Walter Bobbie, Nick Wyman,Randy Graff, David Paymer.

Similarly, WEST SIDE and A CHORUS LINE birthed some of the great Broadway gypsies of their eras –– though not necessarily stars."

You forgot Gavin Creel among the Millie crowd.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 4:04pm

I Can Get It For You Wholesale/Funny Girl made Barbra Streisand a household name 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 4:14pm

DAMES AT SEA- Bernadette Peters

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 6:14pm

Dreamgirls had:

Obba Babatundé

Sheryl Lee Ralph

Loretta Devine

and of course Jennifer Holliday (who sadly has the smallest mainstream career out of all these names)

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 6:45pm

Obba Babatundé previously performed under another name and won rave reviews for his "Cornelius" in Pearl Bailey's DOLLY

[fosterfan2]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 7:47pm

The Band's Visit--Katrina Lenk. Does this count?

[BritCrit]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 7:58pm

Alexander Lamar said: "Dreamgirls had:

Obba Babatundé

Sheryl Lee Ralph

Loretta Devine

and of course Jennifer Holliday (who sadly has the smallest mainstream career out of all these names)"

Jennifer Holiday recently became the first Tony Award winner to ever appear on The Masked Singer - that counts as a sign of mainstream fame to me...

[fbueller]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 11:03pm

Dollypop said: "THE CANTERBURY TALES in which an unknown Sandy Duncan stole every scene she was in."

That sounds like a really interesting show.

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 5/5/22 at 11:45pm

BritCrit said: "Alexander Lamar said: "Dreamgirls had:

Obba Babatundé

Sheryl Lee Ralph

Loretta Devine

and of course Jennifer Holliday (who sadly has the smallest mainstream career out of all these names)"

Jennifer Holiday recently became the first Tony Award winner to ever appear on The Masked Singer - that counts as a sign of mainstream fame to me..."

I never said she didn’t have mainstream fame or success, Im just saying she hasn’t worked as much as the others in TV/Movies, etc. 

 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/6/22 at 7:00pm

OVER HERE!  John Travolta

MAME. Angela Lansbury

DROOD.  Howard McGillin (orig production)

[jo]

Posted: 5/7/22 at 2:48am

How a theatre actor found fame in another firmament 

Hugh Jackman, who has a degree in dramatic theatre, was already the lead in the royal National Theatre London  revival of Oklahoma!

Someone happened to see the show.  XMen producer Lauren Shuler  Donner saw Oklahoma! and met him. Hugh did a round of film auditions.

When actor Dougray Scott could not make the filming schedule for the 1st XMen movie, Donner suggested that they bring in Jackman...leading to his career-defining  role of  "Wolverine"! 


Seven blockbuster movies & 2 cameos (1 cameo famously defining the entire movie) !


A beautiful morning, indeed!

But he has not forgotten his roots --

he is treading the boards again - in The Music Man (he also once shared the Oklahoma! stage with Shuler Hensley & Warren Carlyle).

Updated On: 5/7/22 at 02:48 AM