Understudies that should have played the role full time

#1

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 7:20pm

So with BroadwayGirlNYC latest story I started thinking about understudies that had a chance to play the role full time and the ones who did not... The first that come to mind Meghan Fay and Alexandra Socha

#2

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 7:22pm

Who is Meghan Fay?

#3

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 7:32pm

Do you mean Meghann Fahy? I don't mean to be rude but I mean c'mon is that hard to spell peoples' names right?

#4

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 7:48pm

Her name, yes. :/

#5

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 7:53pm

Not that I mean to stay with Next to Normal, but I personally believe Brian Crum is far better than Kyle Dean Massey in the role of Gabe.

#6

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 7:55pm

Jayne Paterson in A Little Night Music (I haven't seen Bernadette, but Jayne was leaps and bounds better than CZJ)

#7

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 7:58pm

Jayne Paterson gave a standard regional theater performance as Desiree. She should not play the role full time.

#8

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 8:03pm

Laura Woyazs

#9

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 8:04pm

Bernadette's performance in NM was amazing. The performance was wonderful.

On another note Maureen Moore should have played Edie Beale in Grey Gardens full time.

#10

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 8:16pm

Jessica Phillips and Michael Berry are leaps and bounds better than Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley, and in a perfect world, would have taken over.

I agree with ljay regarding Jayne Paterson- she was fine, but nothing worth headlining the first Broadway. Ditto Karen Murphy when I saw her as Madame Armfeldt.

#11

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 8:20pm

I agree about Jessica Phillips, I really wish she had taken over. I would agree about Michael but I also liked him as the doctors, so I'd rather him understudy both than only stick to one.

#12

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 8:22pm

Meghann Fahy does not fall into the category because she does in fact play the role full-time now.

And Bernadette Peters never understudied the role, so that's not a good answer either. Bernadette has probably never understudied anything in her life. Haha

#13

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 8:22pm

Joe Cassidy was fantastic as Freddy in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I thought he was much better then Butz

#14

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 8:30pm

Jenny DiNoia needs to become a full time Elphaba somewhere. And I actually think Brian Crum is better as Henry, even though he's great at both. If he took over for Gabe though, KDM should be Fiyero in Wicked.

Other than those two shows, the understudies for the leads in Memphis are actually amazing, so maybe them.

#15

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 8:43pm

In fact Bernadette was a standby back in 1967

The Girl in the Freudian Slip


Booth Theatre, (5/18/1967 - 5/20/1967)
Preview: May 17, 1967 Total Previews: 2
Opening: May 18, 1967
Closing: May 20, 1967 Total Performances: 4

Category: Play, Comedy, Original, Broadway

Opening Night Cast


Susan Brown Barbara Leonard
Bruce Hyde Peter Wellman
Marjorie Lord Paula Maugham
Heather North Leslie Maugham
Russell Nype Dr. Alec Rice
Alan Young Dr. Dewey Maugham



Standbys: Bernadette Peters (Leslie Maugham), Peter Turgeon (Dr. Alec Rice, Dr. Dewey Maugham), Julie Wilson (Barbara Leonard, Paula Maugham).

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And I Am Always So Vitriolic

#16

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 8:44pm

Donna Marie Asbury should have been given the role of Velma full time.

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And I Am Always So Vitriolic

#17

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 8:50pm

And Bernadette Peters never understudied the role, so that's not a good answer either. Bernadette has probably never understudied anything in her life. Haha

Actually, she was the understudy for June in the Gypsy national tour when she was 13. Her mother changed her bio to say that she played June full-time.

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#18

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 8:50pm

Jay A. Johnson and Paris Remillard as Claude in Hair .. they were both MUCH better then Kyle Riabko!!!

#19

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 8:56pm

Matt Doyle as Melchior.
Megan Sikora as Glinda.

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#20

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 9:16pm

My daughter would agree with you about Jay Armstrong Johnson...she thought he was far better than Gavin Creel.

#21

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 10:40pm

Please don't jump on me because I can't remember the actor's full name & I don't want to take a stab at it for fear I'll really butcher it. About a year or 2 before "Miss Saigon" closed, there was an understudy named Paul Something. He was infinitely better than the regular Engineer. The regular actor was not at all without talent, but he was from China & his accent was so strong it was very difficult for an American audience to follow. I saw both of them do the role dozens of times & Paul was much more engaging, revolting, scary, etc.

#22

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 10:44pm

I will strongly disagree with adamgreer who said that Michael Berry ought to be playing Dan. I've seen him once, Bobby twice, Brian three times, and now, Jason once. I loved every single one of them except Michael. He was so emotionally out-of-touch with the show that it took me out of it too. His voice was nice, but I needed something more from his Dan, acting-wise. I thought Jason was wonderful and am glad that he and Marin have taken over.

I do, however, love Jessica Phillips and was always half-hoping she'd be on instead of Alice just for a different experience.

#23

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 10:52pm

Curtis Holbrook as Sonny in "Xanadu." I thought his approach was way better than Cheyenne's.

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#24

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 10:54pm

Guys, I was kidding with the Bernadette joke. Hence it being a joke. I understand that everyone, no matter where they are now, must start somewhere.

#25

Understudies that should have played the role full time

Posted: 7/27/10 at 11:05pm

This was when Wicked was back on their 3rd round of replacement leads and I saw Katie Adams go on as Glinda who was easily good enough to have played the role full time after Kate Reinders left.

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