The best stunt casting ever?- Page 2

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 6:49pm

Why? Was Laroquette not good in the role?

This seems to be the "star casting" another poster was talking about. Paige O'Hara played Fantine in Les Mix for six months. They advertised her appearance and got a bump in attendance from "Beauty and the Beast" fans. But she's perfectly able to play and sing the role; there's really no stunt about it.

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 7:35pm

The discussion on this thread--all very interesting--just goes to show that stunt casting is a very grey area. I would never consider Larroquette stunt casting. Do people consider Radcliffe stunt casting or star casting? Was Whoopi joining the cast of SISTER ACT in London stunt casting or not? Was it stunt casting for Joan Copeland to play the mother of her real-life niece, Rebecca Miller, in THE AMERICAN PLAN? What about Melanie Griffith in CHICAGO? Is Kara Dioguardi, who seems to have no performance experience beyond AMERICAN IDOL, stunt casting? These definitions all seem very fluid.

Updated On: 9/2/11 at 07:35 PM

[singtopher]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 8:01pm

Well, while were talking about great stunt/star casting (whatever you wish to call it) Fantasia did kinda knock it out of the park in The Color Purple. Well, when she was in town.

[canmark]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 11:54pm

I always understood "stunt casting" to mean a celebrity parachuted into a role that they would otherwise not get based on their skill set. For example, Jerry Springer as Billy Flynn in Chicago.

I think the previously cited example of Lea Salonga in Les Miserables might be one of star casting in that she may have been more famous (more of a star) than the leads in the show. Add the fact that she was an Asian woman playing a role usually played by a white actress, and this provided some temporary newsworthiness to a long-running show.

Reba in Annie Get Your Gun would also be star casting in that her celebrity as a country music superstar brought some newsworthiness to the revival of an older musical. She is not stunt casting, because she has the acting and singing abilities and could have been cast on her skills (unlike, say, Jerry Springer).

But couldn't star casting also be when a show is produced specifically because stars are involved? For example, the recent revival of Driving Miss Daisy with James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave. I can't imagine that show being revived on Broadway with no-name stars. Or the Daniel Radcliffe How to Succeed in Business... as has been cited by others, that show was revived only because the producers could attach a big name.

Updated On: 9/2/11 at 11:54 PM

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 9/3/11 at 9:15pm

Just because a performer is also talented doesn't necessarily make casting less of a stunt.

As I said, the "stunt" with McEntire was country-singer-does-Broadway. The fact that she was great in the role was a plus.

Likewise, Whoopi Goldberg in SISTER ACT is a stunt because it recalls her connection to the movie; for all I know, she may also be excellent in the part.

[gypsy4]

Posted: 9/4/11 at 2:36am

I would've Loved to see Victor Garber Reprise his role on stage in Legally Blonde.

[chrissydee]

Posted: 9/4/11 at 10:47am

Richard Dreyfuss in The Producers in London Original Cast (or not...!), could that be considered stunt casting? He couldn't do the role, so much he had to 'pull out' and even said on live TV to the audiences "not to come" yet and to "wait until the actors are having fun".... Shortly after Nathan Lane was on a plane and being paid more than any other actor in West End history (Apparently).

Surely something like that (Dreyfuss, not Lane) is STUNT? Whereas lane is the star...!

Thats my 2cents....


Updated On: 9/4/11 at 10:47 AM

[North2009]

Posted: 9/4/11 at 11:47am

Think the recent revival of NIGHT MUSIC shows the two to good effect - Peters is star casting, Stritch was stunt casting.
Any one else here remember the first revival of GREASE? A precusor to the CHICAGO in terms of stunt casting - Maureen McCormick as "Rizzo"? Jennifer Holiday as the "Teen Angel"?
And where does Brooke Sheilds fall into all of this - what with GREASE, WONDERFUL TOWN and ADDAMS FAMILY?

[AnnieFreak]

Posted: 9/5/11 at 7:07am

Where exactly does Brooke Shields fall in all of this discussion???

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 9/6/11 at 11:52am

I think Whoopi going into Forum was stunt casting. And having Mary Tyler Moore and Dick van Dyke do Mary Poppins (a few decades ago) would have been stunt casting. But as for Reba, she had done several movies and her own TV series and therefore WAS known as an actor. She wasn't stunt casting as Annie, just unexpected.

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/6/11 at 3:43pm

Reba didn't have her TV show at the time she was doing ANNIE--she played Annie from January-June 2001, and the show premiered that fall--and aside from a few TV movies and bit parts, she hadn't really done that much acting. I'd still say it was a case of stunt casting that worked out really well. If Reba were to do a musical today, it would definitely be star casting, not stunt.

[Calvin]

Posted: 9/6/11 at 3:57pm

Her biggest acting credit to date at that point was what, The Gambler: Part Whatever Number They Were Up To?

(sadly, I never got to see her in this show ) Updated On: 9/6/11 at 03:57 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/6/11 at 5:16pm

I agree that at the time, Reba was considered stunt casting until she quickly proved herself worthy of the role and surprised everyone. Similar thing happened with Brooke Shields in Grease, though not to the same extent. She was just starting to revive her career through television, but her charisma translated to the stage in a way that was really unexpected. Though Leap of Faith didn't quite work out, I think her stint as only being a Broadway replacement will change pretty soon. Meanwhile, can we get Reba back on Broadway in Whorehouse with some fresh new staging (and not that boring new song thrown in the last tour)?

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 9/7/11 at 3:14pm

Sorry, AC, I stand corrected. Thought Reba's series pre-dated Annie.