Where have all the Broadway stars gone?

Here's an interesting thought. And let me preface by saying I am not trying to anger ANYONE. I remember reading an artice in the Times maybe a year or so ago about Broadway stars. I was thinking about it a little bit lately and so I decided to see what people think.

It seems to me that Broadway is in need of true stars again. Today, people don't get hired unless they can "American Idol" their way through songs. It seems they just have to look pretty and be able to wail their way to God knows what note. Where have all the Ethel Mermans, Carol Burnetts, Julie Andrews, and Angela Lansburys gone? The last of a dying breed of true Broadway stars seem to be Bernadette Peters and Patti Lupone.

I'm not saying I don't appreciate the performances that some of these phenomenal young women are giving on Broadway eight times a week. But what used to make people a star now gets them cut at auditions - originality. None of the women I mentioned above are perfect singers - most of them do the exact things we're taught NOT to do in every theatre class we take. But people like Liza don't need to loose their habits onstage because those habits are what make them mind-blowingly brilliant. It the kind of stuff that makes us love to watch Bernadette sing "Rose's Turn" - she can't sing that role, but BY GOD what a moving performance!

Let's see some more of these individuals on Broadway! I would love to go see someone who just had IT rather than someone who has the perfect voice. There are so many technicaly good singers out there that I can't tell who is who anymore. Is the same girl in WICKED and BROOKLYN the Musical AND RENT? Mind you, it's not all their fault. Shows aren't being written like they used to be.

What happened to the musicals that used to let the stars shine? There's something about Michael Jeter in GRAND HOTEL that doesn't happen anymore. Mr. Tune knows how to work a musical number. We don't see Willamanias on stage anymore. We see Dancing Queens. (Sometimes literally.) Gregory Hines in JELLY'S LAST JAM comes to mind. Utterly brilliant. They wrote that show for him and you couldn't tear your eyes off of him. Not because he was singing so brilliantly, but because whatever he did was amazing.

I regret that I was not old enough to have seen Jennifer Holliday and the original cast in DREAMGIRLS. There was a star performance. (And it has already been discussed in another thread, but): yes, she's over the top and she makes crazy facial expressions and strange body movements. And my god, she vocalizes while she's inhaling!!! AND EVERY LAST MINUTE IS SO RIVETING AND AMAZING AND WONDERFUL THAT YOU CAN'T BEAR TO LOOK AWAY!

But I digress. I wish performances like these existed today. I wish that theatrical producers would stop giving us the same star with a different name in every show. All of them good and amazingly talented, but most of whom have lost their individuality in an effort to get cast versatilely. All of whom sound like they just got done competing on "American Idol."

I make it sound very dismal, and I don't really find Broadway to be in THAT sad a state, but it's something I've been tossing around in my a while and I thought I'd see if anyone has an opinion about it as well. Feel free to agree, to disagree, or to INTELLIGENTLY challenge any of the above.

Thanks!

I do agree with you, however, the fault isn't in the talent of the performers these days, but in the theatregoers and pop culture today.

Back when Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, and Barbra Streisand, etc. were all huge stars thanks to Broadway, American pop culture had a place for them. That was a time when film studios and television shows and record labels looked to Broadway to find their next big thing.

If the climate were still like that today, you can bet that we would have some huge stars. We do have Ethel Mermans today...it's just that the general climate is so different.

We can now look to people like Victoria Clark, Kristin Chenoweth, Carolee Carmello, Tonya Pinkins, Laura Benanti, Rebecca Luker, Audra McDonald, Marin Mazzie, Bebe Neuwirth, Heather Headley, Christine Ebersole, Donna Murphy, Faith Prince, Sutton Foster, Kelli O'Hara, Judy Kaye, Beth Leavel, La Chanze, and even Sara Ramirez to inspire us on stage, even if they may not be the Ethel Merman's of tomorrow.

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You won't find a producer nowadays willing to risk all that money and have a show written FOR a single performer that isn't a guaranteed sell.

Sure, backstage things happen that force people like Sutton Foster into the spotlight to become virtual overnight sensations, but the days where mediocre shows can run with amazing stars is gone.

Back in the 50's, REDHEAD had a healthy run AND won a Tony for star Gwen Verdon. No, the show is not very good - it was simly a vehicle for Verdon - and people ate it up. Today, we have great people in mediocre shows - like CHITA RIVERA: THE DANCER'S LIFE.

In 1997, producers tried to create a new triple threat sensation in Karen Ziemba via STEEL PIER. WHile Ziemba was quite good in the show, the show was mediocre and flopped.

Audiences want different things these days. They don't want to pay $100 to go see a dancer perform brilliant choreography - and we have television, video games, and falling chandeliers to thank for that. People's expectations just keep getting higher - not as far as material - but certainly as far as visual stimuliation.

It's the audiences that don't want to see shows like the ones you mention. Sure, us theatre people would, but a family of 4 coming in from Nebraska isn't going to want to shell out almost $400 to see a show with a star they've never heard of.

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Karen Ziemba is the little star that just wouldn't happen. She works ALL THE TIME, and she's really wonderful, but for some reason she just can't be a star. She's like everybody's favorite first replacement.

It's true. No one wants to shell out $100 a seat for a mediocre show with a star they've never heard of. No one wants to shell out $100 a seat for anything. But that's a different thread. Somone else can post the "How to Fix the Financial System that Makes 99% of Broadway Shows Close" thread.

I agree with a lot of what you are saying mathewbrock, but Broadway is a different beast nowadays. The Golden Age of the Great White Way is gone forever I am sad to say. The "American Idol" casting drives me NUTS. There are so many talented actors out there who aren't working because there is a pop star in the role who MIGHT draw in the crowds.

Every once in a while, however, there is a performance that makes you really believe you are seeing a Broadway star. Such was the case of Heather Headley in Aida for me.

I wish 'stars' would stay with their shows longer. At one point, Adam Pascal was in 'Cabaret' while 'Rent' and 'Aida' were still running. I saw 'Spamalot' just a year after it opened, and virtually the entire original cast was gone. Can anyone be a 'star' doing a short run? Would Carol Channing have been a 'star' if she had only done 'Hello Dolly' for three months???

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Let's not bring up Donna Murphy again. Apparantly, she has undisclosed health problems.

Hugh Jackman only missed a week or so of performances when he was on vacation - and for that week, the show closed down.

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Oh, I agree. Thank god for people like Sutton Foster, Kelli O'Hara, etc.

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Triple threat wise, Charlotte d'Amboise has the quality of the triple threats of the Golden Age. Especially the ORIGINAL triple threat, Gwen Verdon.

And then we have the triple threats who have the ability of legend status - Ann Reinking and Bebe Neuwirth.

And then we have one of the last Golden Age legendary triple threats still standing. Chita Rivera. We are so lucky to still have her.

*thread-jacks*

Haha, speaking of Chita Rivera, I am listening to "Kiss of the Spider Woman" as we speak...type?...right now at work!

*/end thread-jack*

Oh, and EponineAmneris, how could I forget Norbert? He is one of my favorite actors out there! I'm so happy to see him getting so much more attention than he used to...I'm so glad that he's done so well! (Also wishes Adam Pascal would come back to Broadway.....)

Updated On: 6/20/06 at 02:16 PM

Um...it's a tad premature to deem Brown and Espinoza the next Broadway stars.

I am willing to bet that they will not be. They still have a lot to proove...both only have two Broadway credits to their name. I don't see anything special about either of them.

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Yeah, Adam tends to go with shows from Workshop to long into their runs. Weren't he and Anthony Rapp the only two cast members to open the show overseas, or am I just imagining that in my memory? lol! Our boy tends to stick with a show...and even comes back to close it or do an anniversary show!

And I definitely agree with Chloe about the movie stars being the big "Stars" of our time...thanks in part to the tabloids, Access Hollywood, internet, etcs. of the world......much of which comes in part from today's mass technology.



*sidenote* Mmmm, you know what other actor I love? Hunter Foster. I'm so sad that he always seems to be overshadowed by his sister, amazing as she is. */end*

Updated On: 6/20/06 at 03:39 PM

Actually Wilson and Jesse were also in the London production with Anthony and Adam.