Posted: 12/16/21 at 9:22am
With Todrick Hall (Kinky Boots, Chicago and Waitress) and Katherine McPhee (Waitress) being two of the most successful mystery stars in The Masked Singer this season, it got me thinking about the links between this guilty pleasure gameshow and the world of Broadway. There are a good handful of Masked Singer competitors with Broadway experience, (Donny Osmond, Rumer Willis, Michelle Williams, Wayne Brady, Taylor Dayne, and Toni Braxton, plus Jordin Sparks in the Masked Dancer spinoff) but they are known for singing and/or TV roles first and foremost. As far as I can tell, Todrick Hall appearing in the original production of The Color Purple (A couple of years before American Idol first brought him into the public eye) is the only time one of these performers has originated a role on Broadway.
In the UK version of TMS, there's a similar situation. We've had several competitors with theatre experience, including Jason Manford, Denise Van Outen, Sir Lenny Henry and Martine McCutcheon (who won an Oliver Award for a 2002 production of My Fair Lady despite missing several performances) but no-one who can really be called a stage star first and foremost. Cats and 42nd Street star Bonnie Langford (who came second in the Masked Dancer spin-off) is the nearest thing to a geniune theatre veteran to appear on either side of the Atlantic, but most of her clues related to her TV work - Just William, Doctor Who and Eastenders.
Do you think it's possible we could get a fully-fledged musical theatre celeb like Kristen Chenoweth or Michael Ball, or do they have better things to do with their time?
