True Triple Threats- Page 2

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 12:09pm

Some people obviously don't know what a triple threat is.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 12:21pm

I would disagree with almost all of these choices, if you use the qualifier "true". To excel in any one of those talents is rare - to excel in all three is rare to non-existent.

Love Charlotte to pieces but a more than okay singer she isn't. She's a pretty good actress these days though, and an incredible dancer. Patti LuPone would laugh at you if you called her a dancer. Benanti as well. Nick Adams, an extraordinarily athletic dancer, a decent singer. An actor? Maybe later. Chita was a great dancer, an interesting singer, but acting-wise, never really did more than play versions of Chita.

Karen Ziemba probably comes closest. Jessica Goldyn might be someday if she ever learns how to stop portraying Jessica Goldyn. Anika Noni Rose is pretty remarkable, but I don't think I've ever truly seen her dance.

True triple threats are really pretty rare. Often when you try being good at everything you end up being good at nothing.

[AC126748]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 12:27pm

Charlotte d'Amboise is a single threat, at best.

Ziemba is a true triple threat. She's a dancer through and through, and her voice has always been stunning. She's also a remarkable actress, as she's demonstrated in several non-singing and dancing roles. I had the privilege of catching her as Ouisa in SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION at The Old Globe a few years ago; she blew me away. And California friends told me that she was equally brilliant last fall as Kate in The Old Globe's BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS/BROADWAY BOUND. It seems like she's parlaying her considerable talent into a rich second career in plays.

[twinbelters]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 12:48pm

I've often thought of Ruthie Henshall as the only true triple threat.

[pinoyidol2006]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 1:06pm

Susan Blackwell. Duh.

[Sauja]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 1:27pm

Happy to see some nods to Tony Yazbeck who I think is really underrated and would love to see get more great parts in New York. Plus, he's so darn attractive. Does that make him a quadruple threat?

Am surprised no one has mentioned Bebe Neuwirth. Her Velma, way back when Chicago's revival first opened, remains one of my favorite performances I've ever seen. Would I say she's AS good a singer as she is an actor or dancer? Possibly not, but she's still pretty f'ing great.

[jdrye222]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 1:32pm

OK some of these choices are making me chuckle. Whoever put down Eugene Fleming and Robert Pendilla and all those other random names is apparently just listing his friends. E. Clayton Cornelious?? REALLY!?!? How do you know? To my knowledge he never went on in Scottsboro Boys, and was terrible in Wonderland. This is a bizarre thread.

To me, a true triple-threat has to be more than an ensemble dancer who can keep the curtain up in a role if needed... They need to excel in all 3 areas. Some current triple threats that come to mind in no particular order:

CHITA RIVERA (still amazing); DICK VAN DYKE (no longer really, but he is the quintessential male triple threat); KAREN ZIEMBA; BETH LEAVEL (yes, she was a fierce tapper years ago); JAYNE PATERSON; JOSHUA HENRY; JAMES T. LANE (amazing in his big number in Scottsboro)

[AC126748]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 1:39pm

E. Clayton Cornelious?? REALLY!?!? How do you know? To my knowledge he never went on in Scottsboro Boys, and was terrible in Wonderland.

His career didn't start 6 months ago. He's been a working singer/actor/dancer for over a decade. Do you think those two shows are the only ones on his resume?

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 1:39pm

There are a lot of triple threats out there, and most of you and the world will never hear of them. Because they are in the chorus. They have huge vocal ranges, can belt a high D, do a time step, a Rockette kick, and recite five monologues with different accents at the drop of a hat.

And while they are good at what they do (some very good), most of them lack that individuality and indefinable spark to make them a star. They can do all three well, but none on the level that would stand them apart from the crowd. A triple pirouette isn't enough. Even a sextuple pirouette isn't enough. Because when it comes down to it "proficiency" isn't what communicates to the audience at large, unless it's a dance contest or singing contest. And how many rotating Elphabas do you need to see before you realize that crazy-belting Defying Gravity doesn't make you a star? It just lands you a job ... if you're lucky. To truly stand out from the crowd requires a totally different kind of connection between a performer and audience.

There are exceptions, but they're so rare today. Few triple threats are stars. And few stars are triple threats.

It's also easy to pull down some of the biggest talents ever of stage and screen by ranking their skills, even on their own "curve." Few would argue about Fred Astaire's dancing ability, but "he was a better dancer than singer," or "he was a better dancer AND singer than he was an actor," etc. That's so lame. Judy Garland was at the top of her game as a singer and an actress, but as a dancer, she wasn't a "threat" to Cyd Charisse or Eleanor Powell. Does that mean she sucked? Or that she wasn't a triple threat? At what level on the imaginary subjective scale does she become "threatening?" Watch some of her older movies, and you'll see just how well she could dance. Better than most today or any day.

I get tired of measuring talent by the yard or with score cards. Proficiency is important, but it isn't everything. In fact, it's enough to leave you in the chorus.

Updated On: 7/31/11 at 01:39 PM

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 1:46pm

Very well said.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 1:47pm

Donna McKechnie? She has quite a beautiful voice.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 2:03pm

I'll agree with Ruthie Henshall!

How about Julie Andrews?

Or Angela Lansbury? I've heard her dancing skills are surprising.

[willep]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 2:11pm

Obviously the only true male one we have right now is Josh Gad.


:-P

[Kad]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 2:12pm

Once again, best12bars posts something intelligent and insightful. And correct. Actors are more than the sum of their parts.

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 2:16pm

Gone too soon, but Gregory Hines was a true triple threat.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 2:21pm

Triple threat is sort of an old fashioned concept, starting somewhere about the time Gwen Verdon came into the public eye. In the following decades if you wanted a triple threat you were talking of Gwen or Chita. The term refers to musical theatre not Shakespeare, if a singer or dancer could read even a few lines, producers were wowed. As Bennett said, it's subjective, but star power is very much a part of it.
I think of Bernadette as a triple threat, though known more now for her singing, than acting, she is a wonderful tap/jazz dancer. She got her first notice tapping in DAMES AT SEA, and Gower had her stepping in MACK AND MABEL.
It does come down to taste, Sutton Foster is the definition of Modern Triple Threat. Karen and Bebe also fit the mold and I am going out on a limb and including Stephanie J. Block.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 2:21pm

HMMM well I guess-
HUGH JACKMAN and HUGH JACKMAN and HUGH JACKMAN!!
singer. dancer. actor.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 2:47pm

Though there are male triple threats, I always think of females when I hear the term. ljay, Donna is a viable candidate, but I keep thinking of Cassie's (based a lot on Donna) line:Face it Zack, I can't act! (I would tend to disagree).

[starsang]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 2:50pm

Nick Adams!

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 4:41pm

Maybe Jane Krakowski?

[HopeChanged]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 5:28pm

Renee Elise Goldsberry.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 5:33pm

I know a lot of people took issue with Gwen Verdon's singing, but she was the first person to come to my mind when I read the thread title.

[shrekster224]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 6:19pm

I think Best12Bars said it best. Many of them are ensemble members, and there's just something there blocking them from breaking out. Karen Olivo once said it well when she said you can be a star if you're amazing at two things but have potential or some capability in the other. She said her "thing with potential" was dancing, and they even told her to her face at CCM that she will probably never be the best dancer.

I think that some of the best triple threats are found in smaller parts because they are not exceedingly better at one thing than another. Actors such as those who play Angel in Rent are required to do it all, yet the character is not the lead. The only example I can think of for a current show that is a lead, besides the Chicago girls, is Patina Miller. Deloris really only ever "moves" in the show, but Patina can dance!

And I actually agree about Josh Gad. He gives his all in his dancing! Especially during Two by Two. :)

[PennybankBill]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 6:33pm

Jim Walton and Scott Merrill come to mind.

[junkyard]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 7:15pm

to curtainpulldowner..........thank you for remembering tommy steele......mostly forgotten by the younger set