Whose Broadway Career is Hot, Whose Cold? Why?

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 2:09pm

What performer has a hot career on Broadway right now?

Whose seems to have gone cold?

And what happened?

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 2:30pm

Let me kickstart this with an example.

Patrick Wilson was going strong with Tony noms for The Full Monty and Oklahoma.

Then he began making movies and his Broadway career was left behind.

For him it seemed he didn't want the demands of the eight show week and wanted the better pay and exposure of film. What performer wouldn't jump at the chance to make a Phantom of the Opera musical. But after that, though he has made other films, he has never come back to a Broadway musical.

Even having portrayed Raul in the Phantom movie, his name alone could not sell out seats in the Broadway remake of that tired old Neil Simon play, Barefoot in the Park. He doesn't seem willing, albeit he has a new family, to jump into the rigor of another Broadway musical.

So I would say by his own choice he has damped or let his Broadway career go cold.

Anybody else, hot or cold and why?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 2:33pm

Jenn Gambatese.

She started out as Brenda then Penny in Hairspray and did amazing.
Took a chance of A YEAR WITH TODD AND FROG and sadly it didnt work out. Then took on All Shook Up, which went amazing till it sadly closed. Now, she's the star of TARZAN alongside Josh Strickland and its doing well.

I say, Jenn Gambatese-- hot.
Updated On: 8/26/06 at 02:33 PM

[jimnysf]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 2:34pm

Faith Prince. She was the new "it girl" after "Guys and Dolls" but went to try her hand at TV. She came back to Broadway in "Bells Are Ringing" (I liked it, many did not) and I don't believe she has done a musical since then.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 2:38pm

Patrick Wilson was in a show this past year. How many shows does the average Broadway performer do in a lifetime? Most leading players don't go from show to show as they did in the past.

Having not been onstage in a few months hardly qualifies as letting your Broadway career "go cold."

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 2:42pm

Haha.

I thought someone would jump in to defend Patrick Wilson, but I thought it would be Beacon1.

I have to make full disclosure. I adore Patrick Wilson. I believe he remains at the top of his game and any Broadway musical with a suitable part would want him for the lead. I believe he just chooses not to do it.

[Fantabulous428]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 2:44pm

Adding on to what Rath said, having not been on stage in a few months doesn't qualify as letting your Broadway career "go cold" ESPECIALLY when said person is filming movies. Actors cannot be expected to go from Broadway show to Broadway show. That's unrealistic, as there just aren't that many shows out there, and far more actors than shows at any given time.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 2:45pm

I'm not defending him. I don't think I've ever seen him in anything, stage or film. I'm addressing your statement, which would lead one to believe that Bernadette Peters has also let her Broadway career "go cold."

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 2:53pm

Did Patti Lupone's Broadway career go cold for a while after she sued Lloyd Webber over Evita and got $1 million because she did not take the role to Broadway. (By all means correct me if I err.)

And is she now HOT again after her knock 'em dead performance in Sweeney Todd?

[Maggie_May]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 2:55pm

Wasn't Jenn Gambatese also in Footloose with some of the orignal cast?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 2:56pm

"Wasn't Jenn Gambatese also in Footloose with some of the orignal cast? "

I know she played Urleen, but not sure at what point.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 2:57pm

Yes, Jenn was in it, she replaced someone, but she wasn't part of the OBC.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 3:01pm

Michael Cerveris seems to have a red red HOT classy Broadway career going.

His voice, focus, presence, physical energy and elegant personal sense of style seem all to contribute to this. He gives the impression of having a very artistic depth of intelligence. I notice he makes himself accessible to give back as well, constantly present for charity fundraisers and public appearances.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 3:05pm

Patti did Evita on Broadway and won a Tony for it. The conflict with Lloyd Webber happened more than a decade later with Sunset Boulevard. Shortly after it she starred on Broadway in Master Class (getting some of the best reviews of her career), and later This Old Neighborhood, her solo show Matters of the Heart, in Noises Off and then Sweeney Todd (plus lots of acclaimed film and concert work, especially her 6 years at the Ravinia Festival). LuPone is now and for the last couple of decades has been a star -- and whatever did or did not happen with ALW has NOTHING to do with that.

And really, this hot and cold thing is idiotic when talking about Broadway as others have pointed out. Maybe you can have this discussion about movie stars and their Hollywood careers, but Broadway just doesn't work that way -- there aren't enough shows to describe ANYONE's career as hot or cold depending on what they've done or not done in the last couple of seasons. By your definition, Hugh Jackman's Broadway career is cold becaucs he hasn't played here in two years -- when the reality he is now and for the next decade or more will be one of the most sought after and in demand stage performers on the planet .... regardless of the actual number of shows he has time to do.

Heck Streisand hasn't done Broadway in 40 years. That she's chosen not to do a show somehow makes her stage career cold? If she announced a one woman Broadway show tomorrow with a top ticket price of $500, it'd be sold out in 10 minutes.

A designation of Hot or cold makes NO SENSE talking about Broadway.

Updated On: 8/26/06 at 03:05 PM

[JamesMacon]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 3:06pm

From starring in Avenue Q to starring in Spelling Bee, Barett Foa is pretty hot right now (and is actually quite hot).

<---

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 3:12pm

Well, I beg to differ, Margo, though I thank you for the info I was lacking re Patti Lupone.

I have not exactly defined what makes a hot or cold career on Broadway, and I decline to accept your assertion that it is idiotic to attempt to do so and to evaluate what makes a Broadway career "hot" or "cold" and to whom. I'm sure that you, Margo, are not so unwise as to assume that you know everything.

"Hot" could be evaluated from an audience standpoint or a producer standpoint. A performer could be hot to an audience and cold from the viewpoint of producers or vice versa. The performer could be turning down work due to many offers, choosing not to work on Broadway, changing their career, or just considered not to be a draw and unable to get work.

Do you prefer the "Wicked" threads?

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 3:17pm

"A performer could be hot to an audience and cold from the viewpoint of producers"

The very definition of a "hot" performer to producers is what is "hot" to the audiences.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 3:20pm

Tina Maddigan is hot. I'm just sayin'...

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 3:21pm

Not if producers are afraid of ending up in a lawsuit with the actor or have had a bad experience with them and so they choose someone else. then to them, that particular actor would be "cold" (or a "hot potato" if you'd like a visual).

[Phantom2]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 3:22pm

Oh, that clarifies everything.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 3:26pm

That last comment was not about Tina, Phantom2.

So why is your Tina hot, Phantom2? What do you think it is about her that she has landed leads in Broadway shows?

[Fantabulous428]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 3:30pm

I still think this is somewhat idiotic, BUT...

If you're defining a "hot" career by the amount of shows an actor appears in, then I don't think that a producers feelings can be comparable to the feelings of audience members.

A performer could be hot to an audience and cold from the viewpoint of producers or vice versa.

Examples?

Updated On: 8/26/06 at 03:30 PM

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 3:31pm

Sutton Foster!
3 Tony nominations (1 win) in the last 5 years, and has been just moving up, and giving awesome performances. She is in demand because she is talented. Period.

Sutton Foster-hot

[MOXIEINTHECITY]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 3:33pm

I was talking about this same subject with someone at the Sweeney/Bowery event the other night.

I think maybe Wilson's decision to concentrate on film was because he got married and had a family and maybe decided that the 8 performances a week gig isn't what he wanted. Movies pay better, he has to be away less and are done (roughly) in 2-3 months whereas theatre is a longer and maybe a bit more intense commitment.

As for who's hot now? I'm assuming you mean who will/should be snapped up again by another show?


EVERGREEN (ALWAYS WILL BE HOT)
*Lupone
*Bernadette Peters
*Chita Rivera
*Ben Vereen
*Harvey Fierstein
*Kristen Chenoweth
*Idena Menzel


HOT (TALENT, LOOKS AND GOOD RESUMES)
*Sutton Foster
*Dominic Cooper
*John Lloyd Young
*Christian Hoff
*Cynthia Nixon


LUKEWARM (COULD GO EITHER WAY WITH THE RIGHT CHOICES)
*Alan Cumming - Starting to get a little schticky for me. Stop with the bad movies and campy fragrance commercials.

*Michael Cerveris - I know, I know...but I think Sweeney was the highlight of his career. He's had several great performances in many not-so-great shows.

*Manoel Felciano - Obviously talented but not much charisma. I think he needs to figure out which audience he's going to cater to.

*Laura Benanti - At least for awhile. Thought she was frigid and cold as Julia. Pulling out of another show doesn't help, either. (Regardless of the reason as I am not interetsed in the WS fans running in to defend her

*Josh Strickland - Hot, hot, hot but...I don't...missing that "X" factor to be a great leading man. For me, at least. Just seems kind of bland.


ON THE VERGE OF HOTNESS
*Ben Magnuson - I was blown away by him at the Bowerey the other night. He's different looking and has an edge.

*Raul Espraza

*Amy Spanger - Kind of saved Wedding Singer for me.

Would love for Donna Lynne from Sweeney to try her hand at a one woman show. I'd pay $100 to see that.


Updated On: 8/26/06 at 03:33 PM

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 3:36pm

What I'm doing is opening up the subject for comments, ideas and discussion.

We have a lot of performers on here, and many of them would like their careers to be a little hotter and don't want them to be cold.

If we have illustrations and examples from the careers of others, these experiences may provide some background for the performers to draw upon in making their own career decisions.

That's why I am asking for the WHYs, not the just WHO's hot or cold.