Top Ten PERFORMERS To Change Broadway- Page 2

[Mr. TN]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 12:59pm

George M Cohan is the patron saint of Broadway. The musical George M tells the story of his life. If you've ever been to the TKTS booth on times square, a statue of him is on that island on the downtown side. There is a plaque that I believe reads "George M Cohan, may he watch over the lights of Broadway forever" or something on that line. I'll have to read it next time I go by.

Back at the turn of the century, he won fame as almost everything (actor, director, composer, lyricist, librettest, producer, playwright, etc.) I believe he is credited with (or in) 21 Musicals and 20 plays. Broadway wasn't quite what is was today in his day. In fact I believe all of New York once counted as Broadway since off-broadway is a more recent word.

[Sant]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 2:22pm

I'd go with the list Mr TN made, but with two changes:

Bernadette Peters ---> Chita Rivera
Nathan Lane ---> Gertrude Lawrence

[Speed]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 2:45pm

Oh my LORD. Were some of you born yesterday???? Hugh Jackman reinvented the film star turned Broadway star?? Film stars have been coming to Broadway for YEARS!!!! Hugh didn't invent anything. With one Broadway show under his belt, I'm not sure what he did to change Broadway. Alice Ripley???? She's good and all, but how did she change Broadway? Adam Pascal introduced a true rock sound to Broadway???????? Really? It's like HAIR and JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR never happened???? How has Kelli O'Hara changed anything? Has she ever been in a hit? When was the last time Brian D'Arcy James was even on Broadway? What did Sheri Renee Scott do?

Even Audra is suspect. She's won Tonys, but never evolved into a star who could sell tickets. And no, she didn't introduce legit singing or subtlety to Broadway. Maybe she helped pushed forward non-traditional casting. Rosie is interesting, but she didn't change Bway with her turns in GREASE or SEUSSICAL. It was her talk show that changed Bway. If we're talking about Broadway performers that changed Bway, I'm not sure she qualifies. Jennifer Holliday is a fantastic example because she has TRULY inspired MANY copycats. I'm not sure Nathan has changed Broadway so much as mastered it. I like the idea of Mandy Patinkin cuz he spawned copy cats as well.

I think all of the people mentioned are extremely talented and likeable and if the list was "My Favorite Broadway Performers," how could I disagree? But who has really CHANGED Broadway, for better or worse. These come to mind:

Ethel Waters
Ethel Merman
Rex Harrison
Harvey Fierstein
Donna McKechnie
Gwen Verdon
Jennifer Holliday
Mandy Patinkin
Savion Glover
Ben Vereen

So many other great performers who didn't so much as change Broadway as master it or take part in it fully. That's my opinion.
Updated On: 10/30/04 at 02:45 PM

[bwaymyway]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 2:51pm

Going with a more current list...

1. Nathan Lane
2. Matthew Broderick
3. Sutton Foster
4. Hunter Foster
5. Kerry Butler
6. Kristin Chenoweth
7. Harvey Feirstien
And the last few I think will change Broadway very soon...
8. John Tartaglia
9. Rick Lyon
10. Eden Espinosa

[Speed]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 2:52pm

How did Sutton or Hunter change Broadway? How did Kerry change Broadway? How did Kristin change Broadway? I'm not sure any of them have even attempted to change Broadway nor would they want to. I think they're just performers who wanted to be a part of it and succeeded brilliantly. What did they change?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 2:53pm

Thank you, Speed

[Sant]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 3:17pm

I agree with Speed. Winning a Tony or having been in a couple of hit shows doesn't mean they've changed anything. They've done a good job in a show, but is that the same thing as changing something? I think not. And after only a few successful performances I really don't think someone like Sutton (no matter how good a performer she is) even could change anything.

[pab]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 3:25pm

Speed, thank you so much for your post. One of my main problems with this board is that the majority of people who post here know little to nothing about the history of Broadway and so everything that has changed Broadway, to them, has only happened in the past ten to fifteen years. A more interesting thread would have been about the no-performers who changed Broadway and we could then be talking about Joseph Papp and others.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 3:26pm

I have to disagree with Speed. They have potential to do so. They're more recent, so who knows what will happen in 10-20 years?

[pab]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 3:27pm

They also have the potential not to.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 3:31pm

And that's you're opinion.

They have potential. Look at Sutton Foster for example. Wonderful stage presence. Beautiful voice. Extremely talented. That has potential to change Broadway, whether it be a teeny tiny bit or a lot.

[pab]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 3:36pm

Yes it is my opinion. What happens if in a month's time a movie comes along, then another and Broadway becomes a thing of the past? Everyone has potential but who are the actual people to change Broadway? Very few that have been listed in this thread.

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 3:36pm

I'm glad some of you listing some of the Original Broadway Divas!

Gwen Verdon, and Chita Rivera without a doubt belong on the list. And also Gertrude Lawrence, the woman is and always will be a Broadway legend, her death took place in the 50's, but she indeed left her mark on Broadway history forever!

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 3:39pm

Actually, if you look at the subject of this thread, it is top 10 performers TO CHANGE Broadway, not top 10 performers who HAVE CHANGED Broadway.

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 3:40pm

Wow. Ok so maybe the thread should be in the last 20 years. Go back in history folks.

Here are 4 names that we would be lost had they not graced the stage.

Laurette Taylor: The original Amanda in Glass Menagerie (watch the documentary Broadway The Golden Age and you'll understand)

Uta Hagen

Marlon Brando

Ben Gazzara

All 4 of these actors brought a realism to acting that had never been seen before and is rare today. Ms. Taylor was in fact such a realistic actress, she failed a screen test because the studio heads thought she was just some woman brought in off the streets as a joke and told to just talk to the camera.

I love Hunter Foster and Idina and Cheno and some of the others mentioned and have always enjoyed them onstage. But they have done nothing to "change" Broadway. They keep it alive and wonderfully I might add, but they have not changed it.

[Mr. TN]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 5:11pm

The mention of some of these performers, such as Brando, brings a great point to mind. We have been really focusing on the musical performers. There are many more wonderful straight play actors that have changed Broadway as well. Broadway isn't and wasn't just the musical. Although the musical is the most spectacular and largest grossing Broadway attraction, there are one man shows, plays, and special events that have brought new insights to Broadway as well.

[Speed]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 6:06pm

Even if we're talking about the future, I STILL don't understand how Sutton is going to change Broadway. Is she even AIMING to change Broadway? I'd say her style is rather old school. Yes, she has a good voice. Yes, she is appealing. Yes, she has stage presence. How will any of that change Broadway? Broadway has ALWAYS had people with good voices and stage presence. That's what Broadway IS. How is Sutton going to CHANGE it?

Now, JENNIFER HOLLIDAY-- That lady CHANGED Broadway. She gave a performance like NO ONE HAD EVER SEEN on Broadway before. Several people today point to her performance on the Tony Awards as why they are even IN showbusiness. Her rendition of "And I'm Telling You" paved the way for SEVERAL women after her to try to match that kind of performance only to fail. She's made a lot of people over sing too. She CHANGED Broadway. No question.

Who are the performers who WILL change Broadway? I gather we haven't met many of them yet. The thing is.... most people do not come to New York to CHANGE Broadway. They come to New York to be a part of it. So they come to Broadway, hoping to fit in or in the case of composers, hoping to write a show in the style of the shows they grew up listening to. VERY VERY few people come to town with the ambition of CHANGING it. And for good reason: because they like it just the way it is!!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 6:57pm

To be frank, no performers have changed Broadway in decades. They stopped writing shows around 'stars' years ago. Not since Merman or Martin, at any rate. What has changed Broadway in the last 40 years?

Michael Bennet and "A Chorus Line" forever altered theater, especially the way shows are workshopped and developed.

Andrew Lloyd Webber (Like it or not) gave us the possibility, and the pitfalls, of Broadway musical as spectacle, where flash often times outshines substance.

Bob Fosse: Mostly everything he has ever done, especially the marketing genius he displayed with his "Pippin" TV spots.

Joseph Papp
Hal Prince
Jerome Robbins
The Nederlanders

Stephen Sondheim: His words and music challenged audiences to sit up and take notice. Some of his shows are a lot of work to experience, but that just sharpens the mind and invites us to explore something other than more traditional fare, thus propelling the art form that much further.

Jonathan Larson: "Rent" brought so many young people to the theater and fired them up, and that's what Broadway can never have enough of.

Rose O'Donnell: The 'Ed Sullivan' of our era, showcasing so many Broadway musicals and making them easy to digest and enjoy.

Technology: Innovations in sound, lighting, staging, orchestrations and the craft of theater have made so many great new things possible.

Good Regional Theater: No longer just retreading R&H classics, so many regional and local theater companies are taking bold and daring chances, often transferring to the Great White Way with great success. This exposure to new and different is growing a more diverse and ambitious theater patron.

Yes, Jennifer Holliday knocked our sox off, but that's what actors are supposed to do AND it was the writing of the show, the character arc and the song coming together with her talent that made that moment possible. Also, we had 'church' in musicals going back to "Gospel At Collonus", "Purlie", "Bubbling Brown Sugar", "The Wiz", et al.
Other notables who take the material and put their stamp on it include Brian Stokes Mitchell, Hunter Foster, Nathan Lane, Audra McDonald, Bernadette Peters and most recently, Raul Esparza. Updated On: 10/30/04 at 06:57 PM

[pab]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 7:02pm

Singingbackup, very good post! I agree.

[Luke0827]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 8:21pm

1. Julie Andrews - no one has or likely will eclispse her status as the greatest leading lady on Broadway.
2. Barbra Streisand - revolutioned Broadway as the a-typical leading lady who established herself as a legend who looked and spoke and sang in a way none of her predecessors had.
3. Mary Martin - probably the biggest female star to play a male on stage.
4. Ethel Merman - the definitive Broadway belter.
5. Alfred Drake - the leading man of leading men.
6. Yul Brenner - the only actor to override the intentions of a show's creators to the extent that his part - originally conceived as the supporting lead in The King and I - became the show's central focus following the departure of the original female lead.
7. Brian Stokes Mitchell and Audra McDonald - both performers who proved race need not be a barrier when casting roles that were traditionally held by white performers only.
8. Hugh Jackman - a modern day throw back to the Golden Age of Broadway when big stars headlined big shows and led them in droves to the theater.
9. Harvey Firestein - probably the biggest male star ever to be cast as a female in a show.
10. Glenn Close - perhaps the biggest star to open a Broadway show replacing the previously announced star because her performance won the confidence of investors and ultimately proved that those paying the bills have more authority than any member of a show's creative team.

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 8:23pm

Julie Andrews
Ethel Merman
Carol Channing
Kristin Chenoweth
Bernadette Peters
Sutton Foster
Barbara Streisand
Audra McDonald
Brian Stokes Mitchell
Idina Menzel

[StateOfJade]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 8:29pm

I think Raul Esparza's in a category all his own.