Which Broadway Actor/Actress do you think can best act different types of characters...?

[JayKid]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 2:49am

BELIEVABLY!

I watched the movie Finding Neverland with Johnny Depp last night and realized how much I really do love his acting. He's always been my favorite actor, being able to really transform himself into ANY role, and after Finding Neverland I was really just blown away and realized it for good. From Edward Scissor Hands - Blow - Sleepy Hollow - Pirates of the Carribean - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Secret Window - Finding Neverland and others.... he's never "Johnny Depp", he's his character and he's so effin good at it.

Sooo... wanted to know, who do you think is the best at different roles on Broadway??

I personally think this would just mean best actor period, but there are many times great actors/actresses who just a more type casted and play the same type of roles everytime they act (whether movie or show or what not).

Also, add to this who you think does the best at this in movies as well (like I said Johnny Depp) just curious to what people think and which Broadway Actors/Actresses have the best range in characters and can really make themselves believable in each and every one, no matter how different they are from each other.

Now... go!

oh and PS: Sorry for the somewhat long post, dunno if you guys mind, but many times some messageboards seem to complain cuz they are filled with lazy people who despise reading anything more than a few sentences long.

[MyNameInLights]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 2:53am

Raúl Esparza, most definitely. I mean, look at his career! He's played a comedian, a painter, a struggling composer, a drag queen, a gay man, and now a father, among so much more. I'm throughly convinced the man can play anything!

[greatdct]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 2:55am

I'll have to agree with you about Mr. Esparza.

An actor's body of work is what gains my respect most of all.

Posted: 8/7/05 at 2:56am

Melanie Griffith

[BWayBoy88]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 3:01am

Ok I know she isn't know for her Broadway acting-but she has done a few Broadway shows and some movies based on plays. But Meryl Streep can transform into anything and anyone. She has played a holocaust survivor, a woman going through a divorce, a morman mother and ethel rosenburg just to name a few. And in every movie she is so convincing as every role she plays. I wish she would come back to Broadway because I'm sure she would be entrancing to watch live

[Pinguin]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 4:19am

I think Donna Murphy is a very versatile performer.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 5:31am

For actors definitely Raul Esparza and perhaps Mandy Patinkin. I think that the most versatile actress on Broadway is Bernadette Peters just because she can convey so many different emotions and attitudes on stage.

[jo]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 6:23am

Hugh Jackman.

He has proven his versatility in musical theatre ( Gaston, Joe Gillis, Curly McLaine and Peter Allen). He is a fine screen actor ( and had it not been postponed, he was going to do a film version of the CPTaylor play GOOD, playing a German intellectual caught up in the Nazism fever). His new movie THE FOUNTAIN conceptualized and directed by Darren Aronofsky ( Requiem for a Dream, Pi) is already getting good buzz even when not yet released. He is a classically-trained actor and has done "Romeo and Juliet" in drama school ( he says he and Trevor Nunn are always talking about which classical play they might want to do together - he says he favors Henry V). He has also done some romantic comedies in the movies and he is not too bad with action films either ( although I do not know if they will ever mount such a production onstage ).


Updated On: 8/7/05 at 06:23 AM

[KristinChenowethFan]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 10:51am

Kristin Chenoweth

[leon1489]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 10:54am

And of course, you can't do Kristen Chenoweth without mentioning Idina. Before I get shot by all the Wicked haters, she has actually played different types of roles.

[VonTussleGirl]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 11:02am

I have to disagree with Kristin to a certain extent. If you look at the roles she's done, they're almost all somewhat ditzy and "blonde". She may have great comic timing and such, but her roles really haven't been that varied.

That said, I do have to agree with Raul.

[incendiary_wit]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 11:11am

Anthony Rapp

He's played a bohemian filmmaker, Charlie Brown, a transsexual glam rocker, a nerdy florist, a college student, and the Little Prince.

I also third (or fourth?) Raul. He just amazes me.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 11:19am

Anthony Rapp & Raul Esparza.

[LuvBroadwayHugs]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 11:35am

Hugh Jackman. Enough said.

[gettinhep]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 11:39am

My vote goes to Donna Murphy.

She has played both Fosca and Helen of Troy. She was a poignant Vera in 'Pal Joey' and a wacky Rose of Rangoon in 'Song of Singapore.' She has played a whore in 'Hello Again', a frighteningly funny psychiatric patient in 'Twelve Dreams' and Anna Leonowens. She played a man as Edwin Drood and a woman looking for a man, and respect as Ruth Sherwood.

This is just a sample of the three-dimensional, always believable characters Ms. Murphy has created on stage. So she has my vote.

[Broadwaygirl22]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 11:40am

Anthony Rapp and Roger Bart.

[KChenowethfan]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 11:43am

Kristin? Versatile? I am a fan of her work, but the roles she has had to date have not exactly been very different from one another. Vocally, I would argue, she is quite versatile, but not in terms of acting. She has been type-cast as the little ingenue.

Donna Murphy, like others have said, is very versatile.

[Patronus]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 11:44am

I'll toss in Norbert Leo Butz.

Roger in Rent (plus covering Mark), Jamie in TL5Y, Fiyero in Wicked, Emcee in Cabaret Tour, Freddie in DRS, and Thou Shalt Not.

Pretty different set of roles.

I also tend to agree that Chenowith hasn't really displayed a ton of range as an actress. She's great at what she does, but she usually plays the young, cutesy blonde.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 12:47pm

I agree that Chenoweth, while very good, hasn't had a great variety of roles.

However, I do think Idina Menzel is worth mentioning.

Posted: 8/7/05 at 12:55pm

Tyne Daly

[Bwaydreams01]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 1:00pm

Donna Murphy hands-down. She has done so much. Bernadette too, her turn in Sunday in the Park with George is what wins me over for her. And yeah again hoping not to get shot but Idina Menzel, her best performance in my opinion to date is Kate in Lippa's Wild Party, that's how she won me over.

[ashhuhleeyy]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 1:01pm

i would definatly say idina menzel, which she has basically shown us already with her very diverse rolls.

adam pascal too && quite possibly eden espinosa would qualify.

[chenofan]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 1:04pm

YES to Donna Murphy
I also think Alan Cumming has proven on stage and screen he can do alot.

[Calvin]

Posted: 8/7/05 at 1:05pm

Well, if I could get away from musicals for a second...

Bill Irwin certainly has proven himself. He's a gifted physical comedian who is dominating in "Virginia Woolf."

I've admired Cherry Jones' body of work for quite a while.

And Phylicia Rashad. Yes, she's played a lot of matronly roles lately. But I loved her just as much as the shallow, flighty, ditzy mother in "Blue" as I did in "Raisin in the Sun." I missed "Gem of the Ocean," and I'm kicking myself for it. I'd like to see her do a musical again.

etf: spelling
Updated On: 8/7/05 at 01:05 PM

Posted: 8/7/05 at 1:11pm

Carol Channing