Triple Threat Musical Theatre ROLES- Page 2

[CurtainUp]

Posted: 7/3/04 at 7:05pm

It's no Shakespearian heroine, but Ulla's gotta handle the accent and have a pretty good comic timing and sense.

[jo]

Posted: 7/3/04 at 7:56pm

Check the role of Caractacus Potts when CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG comes to Broadway. You probably have childhood memories of Dick Van Dyke in the role

[J.]

Posted: 7/3/04 at 8:00pm

jo: anybody can do a high for god's sake! that's not what i was talking about lol

[jo]

Posted: 7/3/04 at 8:04pm

Seriously, he didn't do too bad as part of the dancing cowmen in OKLAHOMA! ( The Farmer and the Cowman sequence). Updated On: 7/3/04 at 08:04 PM

[TTL]

Posted: 7/3/04 at 8:07pm

I think you've gotta be a triple threat when it comes to being : Velma & Roxie (CHICAGO), and Lola in DAMN YANKEES! How about.....Meg in POTO?!? She sings, acts, and dances.....not all actresses can do ballet and technically good at it! ah.....Kathy Seldon in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN.

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 7/3/04 at 8:33pm

I'd also venture to say the Emcee in "Cabaret."

Guido Contini?

Part of me wants to say Rose Alvarez from "Bye Bye Birdie."

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/3/04 at 11:25pm

Rita Racine in Steel Pier.

I don't think Adelaide is a triple threat role - minimal dancing and acting are involved.

[futurewinnerbud]

Posted: 7/3/04 at 11:37pm

I think that adelaide from guys and dolls is one of the most famous and classic triple threat roles in musical theater. Then again I've sene the show where she doesnt dance a step and cant sing. I just did it and our adelaide was a superb triple threat

The Entire cast of A Chorus Line needs to be triple threats.

Tracy Turnblad, Link Larkin, and Seeweed J Stubbs from hairspray

Carmen Diaz from Fame

Fanny Brice in Funny Girl

[CastAlbumFan]

Posted: 7/3/04 at 11:37pm

Everyone's forgetting about Auntie Mame in MAME.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/3/04 at 11:43pm

I saw Guys and Dolls with Faith Prince on Broadway, who in my opinion couldn't sing nor act much, and I don't remember it being a big dance role. Just saw it again at Papermill with Karen Ziemba and that's when I realized it really was a very minimal role - when you see a true triple threat in a role like that and come away very unsatisfied with what she was allowed to do, that proves to me that it's not a triple threat role. Does that make sense?

[futurewinnerbud]

Posted: 7/3/04 at 11:49pm

I guess what defines these "roles" as triple threats are so many facotrs we arent putting into account for example: direction, choreographgy, commitment to the character, development, and of couse ability of the person in the role. Its all about how people choose to portray the character.

[bwaymargie]

Posted: 7/4/04 at 2:37pm

the whole ensemble of "Hairspray"! maybe a little bit heavy on the dancing, but still, they kick major arse!

[sean martin]

Posted: 7/4/04 at 3:24pm

Thinking just slightly outside the standard theatrical box, I'd submit Salome of the Strauss opera. She's onstage for almost the entire work, has to sing one of the most difficult roles in contemporary opera, has to act, *and* has to convincingly handle the Dance of the Seven Veils.

And if you've ever seen a *bad* production (like, oh, I dunno, maybe the new one at the Met), you know what a mine field that role can be.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/4/04 at 3:46pm

Well, from the beginning Salome was cast for her vocal, not dance ability. I don't think anybody (including herself) would have called Birgit Nilsson a dancer, by any stretch of the imagination and she was an acclaimed Salome (same with the rather zaftig Caballe or Eva Marton). The current Salome, Karita Mattila, is an exception -- she actually hired dance coaches to work with her on her dance of the seven veils and carries it off with more panache than perhaps any Salome in history -- she's a triple threat, but I'm not sure that the role is.

Now Carmen is another matter -- there are several great mezzos and sopranos who opted to only record the role rather than play it on stage because of the dance and movement demands (Price and Callas come to mind -- Callas was aparently terrified of showing her rather thick ankles in the short skirts the role requires).

[BillyLawlor]

Posted: 7/4/04 at 6:11pm

Rose Alvarez really depends on the version. For example, the recent Encores! production had Rose do the Shriner's Ballet, and that was really, really heavy dancing, so we saw Ziemba and the role as a heavy triple threat.

From what I know of Nine, though, Guido Contini is not a triple threat.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/7/04 at 9:19am

So DD, I'm not clear - do you consider KZ a "true triple threat" or not? I didn't used to, but have seen her grow as a singer by leaps and bounds over the years and now see her in a very small league of those true triple threats. She has also proven herself as an actress with acclaimed dramatic roles including Shakespeare. And she did an excellent job on L&O: CI a few weeks ago.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/7/04 at 2:34pm

The only problem with Ziemba is that she somehow lacks that indefinable "star quality" that separates someone who's a great all-around talent from a "Star." Ziemba has tons of technique -- singing, dancing, acting -- but she doesn't have that "thing" that "charisma" that Verdon and Rivera have that makes it impossible to take your eyes off of them. 70 year old Chita Rivera's 30 second tango with Antonio Banderas in "Nine" had more fire and passion and excitement to it than Ziemba has been able to manage in her entire career. And I'd rather watch Verdon, raspy voice and all, on tape in "Damn Yankees" than hear Ziemba's more technically proficient instrument in anything she's done. Ziemba's got a lot of talent, but there's something missing.

[robbiej]

Posted: 7/7/04 at 2:38pm

Amen, Margo!

And people who think Chita didn't have a great voice in her prime need to go right back and listen to some old OCR's!

A stellar belt, folks!

[BWayBoy88]

Posted: 7/7/04 at 2:45pm

Chita never had the best voice but it was still very good. Even if she couldnt sing, her dancing more than makes up for it. Shes amazing

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/7/04 at 2:47pm

I disagree completely -- Chita's a terrific singer. If she had never danced a step in life, her voice has so much power and richness, she'd have still had a career.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/7/04 at 2:51pm

I absolutely disagree about Ziemba. She hasn't had the roles that Chita and Gwen had, and wasn't around during the time when Broadway stars were stars. When she is onstage, I can't take my eyes off her, in Never Gonna Dance she had more star quality than most people I've ever seen and she was only the second banana. Anyone who can tell me she didn't have STAR written all over her during that Shimmy number...

[~*Triple Star On Broadway*~]

Posted: 7/7/04 at 2:58pm

Ugh, NO J. not everyone can do highkicks. Like it was said, the entire cast of A Chorus Line needs to know how to do all three aspects of musical theatre. No No Nanette is a musical that needs triple threats as well.