Which role has the shortest on stage time?
MauraLovesMusicals
Understudy Joined: 10/19/17
#50Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/2/18 at 9:48am
SomethingPeculiar said: "MauraLovesMusicals said: "star to be from annie? she’s on stage for max of 60 seconds and then leaves"
Yeah butStar-to-Be is justpart of someone's ensemble track. There aretonsof tracks like that."
oh, lots of the productions i’ve seen have just had her show up and i didn’t see her in the ensemble after. maybe i was just really oblivious
#51Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/2/18 at 9:56am
SomethingPeculiar said: "One that I'm surprised hasn't come up yet: The Phantom! For a first-billed, iconic leading role, the Phantom only has ~20 mins of stage time, right?"
He actually has about 40~ minutes of stage time, even off stage as there are a lot of parts over mic that the Phantom does every night. And he's sitting in the Angel for a good portion of All I Ask of You waiting for the reprise (and most people don't see him, but he is on the proscenium during the bits where he taunts Carlotta and the audience during Il Muto, which gets him ready for the AIAOY reprise).
BUT as one of the most coveted and famous roles on Broadway, it does seem to count for being a surprisingly short role, and ALSO getting the last bow of the night.
#52Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/2/18 at 10:17am
Lauren2 said: "I won't say who because I have to #KeepTheSecrets but alot of people in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child."
But most of the tracks in that show double and triple cast.
#53Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/2/18 at 11:37am
Glinda in The Wiz is about 5 minutes of stage time and Dee Dee Bridgewater won a Tony for it!
BroadwayAndSports
Stand-by Joined: 12/8/17
#54Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/2/18 at 1:11pm
Just saw THE NAP and they've got an actual World Snooker champion in the cast who shows up briefly twice in the 2nd act, plays a bit of snooker, and doesn't have any speaking lines. But you absolutely need him.
#55Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/2/18 at 1:14pm
Dollypop said: "The role Marilyn Cooper played in WOMAN OF THE YEAR. One scene and song and she steals the show
"
And as I said earlier in my post. She also won the Tony Award for it. :) It stole and stopped the show.
#56Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/2/18 at 1:19pm
GavestonPS said: "A friend of mine who played Fantine in LES MIZ on Broadway said it was the easiest gig she ever had: come out for 10or so minutes, sing the biggest showstopper of the score, and then catch up on your reading until the curtain call."
If she waits till the curtain call she will miss being in the last scene. :)
#57Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/2/18 at 1:48pm
GavestonPS said: "Speaking of Tony Awards for very short appearances, there's BONNIE in APPLAUSE. The performer, Bonnie Franklin, won a Tony Award and got her own sitcom just for singing the title song. The amateur productions I've seen since I saw the original have used Bonnie as a dancer in all the ensemble numbers, but I don't know if they did that in the Broadway show.
If not, that's a really short part. She only sings the verse and first chorus before the ensemble takes over the vocals."
Bonnie Franklin was nominated for a Tony and performed on the Tony Awards telecast, but she lost to Melba Moore. But you are correct a very short appearance that led to a very successful career. Did she ever make it back to Broadway after her TV show? I know she was a frequent presenter on the Tony Awards due to her TV fame.
#58Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/2/18 at 1:51pm
Here is her Tony performance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJFueAcQWY0
SW:TDBOFS/ITW Fan
Swing Joined: 3/19/18
#59Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/23/18 at 2:07am
Pirelli in Sweeney Todd. His first song "The Contest" is usually cut in half for time, his second song "Pirelli's Death" is only a few lines and is cut im the movie and... well, he dies in act one, unlike the other 8 characters. If you count non singing roles, theres also Mr. Fogg who only has one scene (tho i think he's usually played by someone in the chorus)
The Wolf, Granny and Cinderella's Mother from Into the Woods would also count if not for doubling. Cinderella's Father on the other hand, only shows up to say a line and then go off screen every once in a while (which is likely intentional, considering if he were present, well, Cinderalla would be a very different character. Fittingly both the movie and some productions (like the Digital Theatre production) remove him entirely and it doesn't effect the story in any way)
#60Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/23/18 at 8:58am
"Didn't Groff say King George is onstage for nine minutes in Hamilton?"
Yes and he got Tony Nomination for those 9 minutes - lol.
#61Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/23/18 at 9:46amThe male prostitute in Six Degrees of Separation. He literally was onstage naked for a minute if that, and had one line of dialogue which was a nice "F... You" I remember when the show ended and he came out at curtain call I was shocked that he had never made a reappearance
#62Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/23/18 at 10:34am
I wouldn't consider them some of the shortest roles ever, but Baby June and Baby Louise in Gypsy have a good portion of time in the first act and then don't come back for the rest of the show. In the recent London revival with Imelda Staunton, they didn't even bow at curtain call.
#63Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/23/18 at 10:34am
#64Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/23/18 at 10:34am
#65Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/23/18 at 10:34am
#66Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/23/18 at 10:34am
Alex Kulak2
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/11/16
#67Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/23/18 at 10:49am
The Mother in True West only appears in the final scene.
Father Dewis in Buried Child doesn't show up until halfway through Act Three
I saw The Doppelganger at Steppenwolf last spring, and there's a character that appears in the last 30 seconds and completely changes the plot.
In The Flick, there's a character who appears for 3 minutes in one scene in Act One, then as a different character in one scene at the end of Act Two.
Beverly has a fantastic monologue in the prologue of August: Osage County then never appears in the show again.
Dr. Sweet in Bug appears at the end of Act Two, and spends most of his time lying on the ground dead. (sorry, but I'm not putting a spoiler alert for a 22 year old play)
In terms of short stage time in relation to importance of role, Pulitzer is the main antagonist in Newsies, and he's in one scene in Act One where he sings "The Bottom Line", and two scenes in Act Two.
#68Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/23/18 at 12:10pm
I don't think this is necessarily one of the absolute shortest, but I just saw Mean Girls and for someone who plays 3 separate characters, Jen Simard does not have a lot of stage time at all. The "Mrs. Heron" role is basically like 3 lines, Mrs. George has two relatively short scenes and Ms. Norbury probably has the longest part, but between the 3 roles it's still not a ton. I guess that's why they stick with one actress for all three roles?
Alex Kulak2
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/11/16
#69Which role has the shortest on stage time?
Posted: 10/24/18 at 11:01am
It's been a minute since I've read Proof (reminding myself to read it again), but doesn't the father only appear in one scene in Act One then a little bit in Act Two?
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