The question about Sherie Rene Scott made me think. Who else has been absent from the boards for too long?
Besides SRS for me it would be Aaron Tveit, Raul Esparza, Debra Monk, Mandy Gonzalez, Ruthie Henshall (just saw her in Billy Elliott in London), Adam Pascal (flame away), Laura Benanti, Christian Borle
Who else?
Gavin Creel and Patti LuPone for me. Miss them.
Whatever happened to that Ethel Merman girl?
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/29/08
Shannon Durig (Tracy Turnblad, Hairspray) was one of my favorites, I wish she would come back to Broadway! Same goes for Niki Scalera & Tevin Campbell (also Hairspray alum).
I second Gavin Creel. Also, Kacie Sheik & Julia Murney.
Orfeh, Laura Bell Bundy, Heidi Blickenstaff, and more that I can't think of right now.
--Raul Esparza
--Julia Murney
--Gavin Creel
--Steel Burkhardt
--John Gallagher Jr
--Sandy Duncan
--Luba Mason
--Michele Pawk
--Dick Latessa
--Mandy Gonzalez
I just saw Gavin Creel last week in BOM (on tour). He's not absent from "the boards", although he is absent from the specific boards of Broadway for the time being.
Christine Andreas
Janie Sell
Susan Egan
Babara Harris
Douglas Sills
I second Douglas Sills. I still obsess over his voice on the Pimpernel album.
Christine Ebersole
Suzanne Somers
Pia Zadora
Christina Applegate
George Hamilton
Liza Minnelli
Christie Brinkley
Wendy Williams
David Hasselhoff
Melanie Griffin
Broadway Star Joined: 7/12/07
Just saw Marc Kudisch in The Wayside Motor in at Signature a few weeks ago. He was also in Hand to God last season. He hasn't been on Broadway in a bit, but definitely not absent in New York.
Laura Benanti, Patti Lupone, and Sherie Rene Scott
Really liked Douglas Sills in White Noise in Chicago.
Daisy Eagan and Andrea McArdle! Love them both.
Colleen Sexton hasn't been on Broadway since her debut in Jekyll & Hyde. I wonder what happened to her; she was showing great promise on that David Hasselhoff J&H DVD.
I mean. Raúl is on your TV like, six times a week. It's no third dimension, but it's preferable to having fallen off the public planet.
Rachel York has not been on Broadway since she replaced SRS in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in 2006. Way too long.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/30/08
Raul Esparza. TV is fine but theater is more interesting.
Brian Stokes Mitchell
Many Broadway stars are going to TV as it is a way to pickup $$ between shows. If nothing turns up on Broadway and the series is a hit, you have a nice paycheck. I do not fault Esparza or anyone else for doing TV. Remember when movie actors disdained TV work.
Hugh Dancy has more of an opportunity on Hannibal than appears to be the case on Broadway which depends on the whims of a few deciding whether your show succeeds or not.
I started to list Jbara but he was Dad in Billy Elliot as recently as three years ago. Then again, maybe that is too long.
Updated On: 10/10/14 at 02:01 PM
Mr Roxy, you know Stokes is performing at Encores! soon, right? It's not long-term or anything, but I wish I could go. It's been so long!
And yeah, that's all true of TV, but I think the other thing is that in some cases, if it's a hit show or a new show that does well, there's an opportunity to build name recognition that you didn't have before, and frankly, just can't get in the same way in the theatre world. SVU and Hannibal have both gained Raúl a ton of new, seemingly super-devoted and adoring fans all over the country, and they're building him recognition that could be good leverage and help draw more people in when he decides to come back to the stage. And at a time when your name has to be able to sell tickets, that can be just as important at the immediate returns of a killer paycheck.
Both are important
If Hugh J had done Leap Of Faith, it would have had a longer run. Unless you have someone of his stature, forget it. Lupone & Peters doing Gypsy did not set the box office on fire. Maybe if the show had not been revived to death .....
Stokes needs to be in a show.
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