Why do performers of today have no STAR quality? — Page 2

Stephanie J. Block! She has the most powerful voice I've ever heard, but uses so much emotion whenever she sings that you can't help but feel a connection to whatever character she's portraying. Love her!:)

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Most people today idolize the Golden Age so much that they wouldn't dare admit that anyone else could be as good.


Broadway audiences are generally too young to have experienced the "Golden Age" of anything, imo.
There is more great talent than ever on stages everywhere. But the shows don't seem to last long enough for them to become popular enough to be remebered.

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Excellent comment and very true. The fact that Broadway has become so pricy (and risky) to produce and to attend doesn't help. This is a nice disussion. A refreshing change.

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OMG, there is SO much delusion in some of these posts but perhaps NONE more "Anyone here over 40 remembers when [Maureen McGovern -- if you can fricking believe that] was a music superstar." That woman was never, ever, EVER a "music superstar" in ANY sense of the word. The absolute HEIGHT of her popular fame was singing the love themes in two DISASTER films, The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno. Disaster films, for you young'uns, were to film what jukebox shows are to musicals. She did a couple of other movie themes and THEN she really soared on the theme of the sitcom Angie.

A music superstar. HA! (Like I needed any further proof that Rathnait doesn't know what the hell she's talking about.) It is worth seeking out the sleeve photo from "The Morning After," however. If only to see what her ORIGINAL nose looked like.

As for why so many performers don't have IT? Well, many are trained in a specific performance style and come out as sort of cookie cutter robo-performers. I've particularly noticed this among Carnegie Mellon grads.

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Updated On: 8/24/05 at 11:27 PM

Believe me. She was NOT a superstar. She was actually kind of a laughing stock.

But you have to admit, the nose job was very impressive.

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Okay, I exaggerated. She wasn't a music superstar. But she was a star, a point that wasn't getting across to Orpheum.

Namo, we grew up in different times and places. She was not a laughingstock in my world. (I know you're going to take THAT and run with it - enjoy)

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Thanks for the enlightenment, Namo. As always, you've changed all our lives and views.

She is a successful recording and concert artist. That is a cold hard fact. I know she's not your cup of tea, Mr. Rock God, but she is more talented than most of what passes for talent in the recording/concert industry.

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Now HERE'S star quality. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Miss Maureen McGovern, in a screen grab from one of the approximately 9 seconds of screen time the producers of the three hour epic "The Towering Inferno" allotted to the "It" Girl Music Superstar of her Era!

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Little Women seemed like a show that was SOLELY based on Sutton's mere appearance. And look how that turned out. It certainly isn't as common for shows to be written for the actual performer, keeping their personal characteristics in mind, but it's much easier not to. It'd be more convenient to the money-makers of the show to create a SHOW that will last much longer, with easily replacable performers than a show that hinges its ticket sales on the appearance of a certain someone.

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I'll tell you why it doesn't exist as much nowadays. Now, schools are churning out cookie-cutter ensemble members that all sing, dance and act the same. There are obviously exceptions, but performers aren't developing their talent in unique ways like they used to. Now they're all going to colleges that use the same techniques. These colleges don't seem to be that interested in cultivating individual talent, but to get their "employment after graduation" statistic as high as possible, so they just teach people what you need to be an ensemble member on Broadway.

Not to say that these people aren't amazingly talented, but I think that's a main reason. There are many people like Hunter Foster, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Shoshana Bean, who all went to these kinds of schools and have turned out to be very individual and successful. But I think that's why we don't have the strangely remarkably talented people.

We also don't get the quirky types anymore. Musicals are so rock-heavy that the likes of Carol Channing and Robert Preston would never be at home on Broadway nowadays. It's such a requirement that people need to sing their asses off that the ACTOR-singers are getting pushed to the side to make way for the SINGER-actors. I love me a singer-actor, but it's also nice to get those different and unique types too.

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Updated On: 8/25/05 at 01:11 AM

bjivie2-

I know what you mean by the cookie-cutter thing. It seems that aspiring performers just think that they can just go to New York, audition, sing, and be on Broadway. Or the "smarter" ones think they can make into some "prestigious BFA college" then go right on to working. And usually, that is the case. But it just seems that being on Broadway is becoming DANGEROUSLY close to having the same exact traits as corporate-America office jobs does. If you want to be a lawyer, you'll go to Harvard, get that degree, and go be a lawyer. If you want to be a performer, you'll go to Juilliard, get that drama degree, and go be a performer. Of course, the number of jobs for lawyers outnumbers the number of jobs for performers by a MILE, but it's really not that much different, whereas, in the past, it was MUCH more different than this.

But going through a "cookie-cutter" phase is inevitable. The general philosophy right now is being the most versatile performer that you can be will make you unique and it will make you stand out. And that's a great thing to live by. But when everyone ELSE knows that philosophy and is being taught the exact same thing, what makes you so unique in the end? You're just like everyone else.

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Updated On: 8/25/05 at 01:18 AM

Exactly. And you've got to be incredibly talented to go through all that, so it's not a bash on the people, it's just a phase that's going on. It's simply truth: to be employed as a musical theatre performer you need to be able to sing legit and belt, and you need to have ballet, jazz and tap training. We can all be honest and say that acting is not an essential element, b/c to be in a chorus you REALLY don't have to act that well. If you want to be a STAR, acting is one of the most important things. So if you just want to work, then go learn to sing and dance. If you want to be a star, you'll have to learn to do it exceptionally well with your own style and spirit.

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