Which role has the shortest on stage time?

The longest time span got me thinking, which acting role has the shortest onstage time. Not including musicians who come on stage for a short time, or an ensemble member playing several roles.



I'm taking about somebody who gets an equity check for appearing on stage for a very short amount of time

I'm thinking beauty school drop out singer from grease, the pharaoh from Aida, or King George from hamilton

Mr. Goldstone in Gypsy not only has one scene, but he has no blocking or lines in his scene, AND gets a whole song dedicated to him just for showing up and doing nothing.

Little Coalhouse!

This wouldn't win the category posed, but I found it interesting that Beverly Weston, the patriarch of August: Osage County, leads the prologue, then doesn't appear again in the show, except to come out for the curtain call 3 hours later.

I didn't realize that playwright Tracy Letts's dad played the role until he died of cancer a couple months into the NY transfer.

Fiddler on the Roof script has a scene near the end where Yente brings out two very young boys as future husbands for Tevye's two youngest girls. The boys are only on stage for less than a minute and have no lines. I have never seen a production where these boys actually appear; usually Yente just refers to the boys. Does anybody know if they appeared in the original Broadway production?

Jenbender76 said: "Little Coalhouse!"

I was just thinking the same thing. When I saw the Ragtime non-equity tour in the early 2000s, I think they actually recruited a Little Coalhouse from each city to do that part.

(That being said, I think it's worth bringing in a kid just for that small appearance. I'm always moved to see Little Coalhouse grown up)

BrodyFosse123 said: "Bruiser in LEGALLY BLONDE
Sandy in ANNIE
Chowsie in GYPSY"

Those dogs are working very hard! Those roles are onstage for a lot of the show, when you think about it.

SomethingPeculiar said: "TheSassySam said: "The end of Blackbird has a character who isn't on stage for long."

That reminds me of the guy at the end of THREE TALL WOMEN. And the 3TW guy andBlackbirdgirl don't even get credited in the program/advertising!"

(For the record, we did get a full Playbill insert with their headshots and bios as you exit the theater. Since not crediting people properly is against Equity, I'm sure $ they $ came $ to $ some $ agreement $ with Mr. Rudin).

In terms of roles, I cannot believe the boys in the opening scene of Kinky Boots, or Lulu in Waitress are being used. All are on stage for a very short amount of time, and I believe the boys were cut from Kinky Boots in an international production?

There was a mother figure in Joan of Arc: Into The Fire that appeared for only the final 2.5 minutes to sing one song.

Also, wasn't an entire ensemble of children cut after the 2nd or 3rd preview of the most recent OOTI? They walked onstage during the finale for less than a minute, then left. Can't believe Ken Davenport ever entertained that idea (except yes I can).

Updated On: 10/1/18 at 05:34 PM