Unsung Heros of Broadway

Who are your current favorite performers who for one reason or another are overlooked or not usually a subject of lavish press or praise? I'm going to pick Steve Blanchard of Beauty and the Beast. He has for the better part of 7 years brought heart and soul to several productions of the show both here and in Toronto. The Belles may change but he continues to elevate the show with his performance as the Beast!

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Robb O~ define "unsung heroes" for us ,please. This can be taken various ways. :)

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sorry robbo, my boo-boo. I set you free from the pointy finger.
Sheekala~ call me a dummy, but "unsung heroe" can mean 1. An actor/theater person who does good things privately 2. An actor/theater person who you think is overlooked when it comes to casting. (this can get a bit testy).

Splain' Ricky, please!

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thanks, sheekla~ ...but I'll have to pass.
check your pm.

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Any understudy who goes on unexpectedly & has to listen to the audience groan when the change is announced. I will never forget the evil reception Brad Oscar got every time he went on for Nathan, even if it had been planned. The audience just sat there w/ its collective arms crossed until about mid-act 1 when suddenly they realized they were getting a tremendous show WITHOUT Lane. Ditto for Maureen Moore in Gypsy & any number of other understudies/standbys. Extraordinary professionalism to give one's best performance under that kind of pressure & it happens every day. Bravi all, says I.

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Yes, pretty much ditto what lc1965 said. Understudies! Linda Mugleston comes to mind.

An unsung hero for me is the swing that can cover six roles and then goes on for four of them in the span of a week. Maybe it's because I'm not an actor myself, but I think the talents of certain understudies are very impressive, how they can cover two entirely different lead roles a day apart from each other, or two ensemble roles that incorporate three distinct characters each. I think most understudies are unsung heroes, and I often tend to enjoy them just as much, if not more, than the usual actors. I love hearing the comments at intermission, where people are like "are you sure he's an UNDERSTUDY?" Specifically, though not a big name on Broadway (he should be!) is Joshua Kobak, who I have seen a number of times in Rent and has amazed me each and every one. And yes, it was he I was speaking of, for the week he performed Roger on a Sunday, Mark the next day (for the first time in two years), Gordon and Steve throughout the week, Mark again on Friday, and then Roger again that weekend. I know that actors are trained to do such things, but it impresses the fan that I am. He is one among many that I feel should be much better known for his talent than he is.

Updated On: 11/5/03 at 05:26 PM

GIRLFRIEND, i know of what you speak. When most people groan at an understudy announcement, i kinda perk up (unless the replacement is for the "marquee name" which has hardly ever happened to me, knock on wood). It's fun seeing them step in and the adrenaline is always kicking. yeah, i think swings and understudies are like the professional unsung heroes of Broadway shows, particularly musicals. And McCartney, Goble, and Muggleston all fall into that category.

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no offense, but all the unions, performing and otherwise, make sure that all B'way workers get pretty close to what they deserve. That's not to say that audiences shouldn't be more appreciative of what technicians do for the shows they love...but the techies also don't suffer from us obsessing over their appearance, personality, or sexuality.

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mebbe...and i posted earlier about the misleading nature of this thread's topic, too! we may just be psychically linked, DOB.

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Dana Meller. For five or six years, the woman understudied Eponine (and Cosette) in Les Miz, to completely rave reviews from anyone who ever saw her. Her "On My Own" is among the best renditions of the song ever, and her interpretation of the role as a tough street girl with a tender side, was - and I say this without reservation - hands down the best rendition of the character in the show's history. She left for a part in the short-lived Full Monty tour, and returned to Les Miz for one month (Dec 13, 2001-Jan 12, 2002) as the official Eponine between when Catherine Brunell left and Diana Kaarina came in from the tour. Since then, she's been in a couple of small-time musicals in LA, done a little work in soaps, apparently starred in at least one horrid direct-to-video venture. That is simply not the kind of career an actress and singer of her caliber deserves. So, I think she most certainly qualifies as an unsung hero of Broadway.

-Wayne

My pick is Anne Runolfsson. I first encountered her in Victor/Victoria--Julie was out (of course). Anne was wonderful. And, she has a stunning voice.

There are so many talented people whose names we will never know.

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you're right LC i hadn't considered how sound engineers could get trapped. But i hope my post indicated that what all these folks (onstage, off, back, in booths, handing out playbills, mixing sound) are doing is a job for them...not a hobby for the sake of art alone. If that's the type of Unsung Hero the thread was meant to be about, then we should mention high school English teachers who volunteer to direct the annual play, or community theatre volunteers who do all kinds of theatre work just for the love of it, or drama therapists, etcetera.

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