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Successful Broadway actors who still haven't had a "big break"

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#1

Successful Broadway actors who still haven't had a "big break"

Posted: 7/6/15 at 2:44pm

Upon watching some videos of Kate Baldwin, I got to thinking of actors like her who are successful (she has been Tony nominated and has appeared in quite a few Broadway and off-Broadway shows) and have the talent to be in that upper echelon of recognizable Broadway actors but who haven't had a big breakout role to put them there. Who are some other successful actors who haven't had that defining role?

"Look I made a hat... where there never was a hat." "Think of how I adore you, think of how much you love me. If I were perfect for you, wouldn't you tire of me?" "Somebody, crowd me with love. Somebody, force me to care. Somebody, make me come through, I'll always be there, as frightened as you, to help us survive. Being alive. Being alive. Being alive!" "There are worse things than staring at the water as you're posing for a picture after sleeping on the ferry after getting up at seven to come over to an island in the middle of a river half an hour from the city on a Sunday!"

Updated On: 7/6/15 at 02:44 PM

#2

Successful Broadway actors who still haven't had a

Posted: 7/6/15 at 3:35pm

Karen Ziemba. "Steel Pier" should have lifted her into Patti LuPone-Sutton Foster territory, but it was so bad that she was thrown into the scrap heap of Broadway. She does high profile projects (Woody Allen, the David Hyde-Pierce show) but the maitre d' at Sardis still looks at her like she's an understudy.

If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#5

Successful Broadway actors who still haven't had a

Posted: 7/6/15 at 4:40pm

Rob McClure deserves a new role that utilizes all of his talents in a well-written hit. He seems to get crap material or material that doesn't let him shine as a performer. But he always wows me. He deserves a star-making role more than anyone I can think of.

Updated On: 7/6/15 at 04:40 PM

#6

Successful Broadway actors who still haven't had a

Posted: 7/6/15 at 5:34pm

I would argue that FINIAN'S RAINBOW was a breakout role for Kate Baldwin. Even though the production itself wasn't a success, it certainly raised her profile within the theater community. Prior to that production, she'd mostly done understudy gigs and small roles in New York and worked primarily in regional theater. Since FINIAN'S, she's had many prominent leading roles on and off Broadway and in London.

#7

Successful Broadway actors who still haven't had a

Posted: 7/6/15 at 8:48pm

Jackie Burns, despite her leading run in Wicked, has yet to find a good leading role on Broadway that could truly propel her into stardom. (I understand that she'll be reprising her role in If/Then on the tour, but hopefully she'll find something bigger to do afterwards.)

"Was uns befreit, das muss stärker sein als wir es sind." -Tanz der Vampire
#8

Successful Broadway actors who still haven't had a

Posted: 7/7/15 at 9:06am

This is a New York conversation, right? Because across the Hudson, Karen Ziemba is no more but no less famous than Sutton Foster or Kelli O'Hara. Even Patti Lupone, Betty Buckley and Bernadette Peters are known largely to those who watched LIFE GOES ON, OZ or UGLY BETTY (or GLEE, I suppose).


(Before some 15-year-old in Fargo posts that he LOVES Sutton Foster, I'll grant that show queens everywhere (but especially at this board) know Broadway stars. But that's what they are: "Broadway stars"--a worthy achievement to be sure, but it doesn't make them famous to the culture as a whole.)


If we use the traditional definition of "star"--a performer who can insure a show will recoup by virtue of his/her name alone--the only Broadway stars nowadays are movie or TV stars who debut on or come back to the stage. Hugh Jackman, Daniel Radcliffe, Neal Patrick Harris.

Updated On: 7/7/15 at 09:06 AM

#9

Successful Broadway actors who still haven't had a

Posted: 7/7/15 at 9:24am

I'd say Rachel York. She's long overdue for a role that will bring her a Tony nomination, and yet she's still a name you can sell.

They/them. "Get up the nerve to be all you deserve to be."
#10

Successful Broadway actors who still haven't had a

Posted: 7/7/15 at 9:42am

Really? What is the evidence that Miss York is a draw? (I've seen her on stage; I can attest to her talent.)


The only hit show she originated was Victor/Victoria and I think we can agree she was not the draw in that modest success. Does business get a boost when she takes over a role?


I think it's more accurate to say "She is a name you can list" to fill up your marquee. A few people may buy tickets because of her and others will see her name and assume "somebody famous" is in the cast, but I don't know how many tix she actually sells.

#12

Successful Broadway actors who still haven't had a

Posted: 7/7/15 at 10:04am

I think this thread shows that there are many ways to interpret what a "big break" is. When we're discussing theater strictly, someone like Kelli O'Hara has obviously had her big break -- she works steadily in leading roles on Broadway, has a Tony, is well-known within the community (and among those who follow theater). She's shown little-to-no interest in parlaying her theater success into film or television, whereas an actress like Laura Benanti has tried constantly to break into TV/film in a meaningful way. And both actresses have had big breaks, neither is particularly a bankable "name" in and of herself. (That might change for O'Hara post-KING AND I).


Of course, this thread doesn't appear to be concerned with visibility outside of the theater community. That's why I thought it unfair to say that Kate Baldwin hadn't achieved her break -- her career has been on the up since FINIAN'S RAINBOW, even if she's not a bankable name in her own right.

#13

Successful Broadway actors who still haven't had a

Posted: 7/7/15 at 10:47am

"I think it's more accurate to say "She is a name you can list" to fill up your marquee. A few people may buy tickets because of her and others will see her name and assume "somebody famous" is in the cast, but I don't know how many tix she actually sells."


Oops. I'm sorry, I phrased what I meant wrong. I meant, she's a name that (outside of New York) people will buy tickets to go see because of her work in New York. I agree with you on "Victor/Victoria", of course. I would love to see her originate a role more deserving of a nomination. I wish she could somehow bring that failed Lucy musical to the stage with Yazbeck.

They/them. "Get up the nerve to be all you deserve to be."
#14

Successful Broadway actors who still haven't had a

Posted: 7/7/15 at 11:10am

Larry, I definitely agree with you about Finian's Rainbow being a big step in Kate Baldwin's career. My original question was more about having a role that really defines the actor in people's minds (or at least broadway people's mind.) While the type of identification with a role that puts you into a general broadway consciousness can happen with a revival (like Alan Cumming as Emcee,) a commercially unsuccessful revival will hardly ever give you the boost that a successful original work would. When I think of really big break roles I think of Sutton in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Kelli in Light in the Piazza, Jonathan Groff in Spring Awakening, Andrew Rannells in Book of Mormon, Jeremy Jordan in Newsies, etc...

"Look I made a hat... where there never was a hat." "Think of how I adore you, think of how much you love me. If I were perfect for you, wouldn't you tire of me?" "Somebody, crowd me with love. Somebody, force me to care. Somebody, make me come through, I'll always be there, as frightened as you, to help us survive. Being alive. Being alive. Being alive!" "There are worse things than staring at the water as you're posing for a picture after sleeping on the ferry after getting up at seven to come over to an island in the middle of a river half an hour from the city on a Sunday!"
#15

Successful Broadway actors who still haven't had a

Posted: 7/7/15 at 1:12pm

I would put Annaleigh Ashford in this category. Even though she finally got a Tony win, I still don't think she's had a truly breakthrough role. She's always the supporting character, but not the one you write home about. Always a bridesmaid never a bride thing...


But she is so amazing!

#19

Successful Broadway actors who still haven't had a

Posted: 7/8/15 at 9:15am

Andy Karl. I thought Rocky would do it for him but that tanked at the box office. Now he is back to supporting roles. On the other hand, he's always working.

#22

Successful Broadway actors who still haven't had a

Posted: 7/8/15 at 9:28am

These are big breaks:


Ethel Merman, Girl Crazy
Carol Channing, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Mary Martin, Leave It To Me
John Raitt, Carousel
Julie Andrews, My Fair Lady
Chita Rivera, West Side Story
Barbra Streisand, Funny Girl
Joel Grey, Cabaret
Patti Lupone, Evita


Breaks of this scope are rare, rarer today than they were when there was a kind of national attention given to New York theatre. These breaks elevated locally-known talent to become nationally-known talent - turning performers into the kind of stars that large numbers of Americans would turn on their TVs specifically to watch.


I'm not sure if something that huge has really happened to anyone in the last 20-30 years.

Updated On: 7/8/15 at 09:28 AM

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