actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better — Page 2

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#26

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 12:07am

I definitely prefer a number of Phantoms to Crawford, and a number of Christine's too (out of the recorded ones, Rebecca Caine would be my choice)--but I guess that's not quite the same thing.

Didn't several critics prefer Larry Kert in Company over Dean Jones who of course played it only the first few weeks in New York. I know others said that Kert made the role--for good and bad--more musical theatre warmth but was never heartbreaking like Jones.

#27

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 7:10am

I definitely prefer a number of Phantoms to Crawford

I have to ask anyone who feels that way ... did you ever see him play the role live? There has never been anyone to touch his Phantom performance live. And it didn't translate well at all on TV clips, because it had to do with the way he moved on stage. Almost in slow-motion as if he were floating. It was wonderfully eccentric. And his whole physicality was fluid and emotional. No other actor I've seen has been able to do that as well in a theatre. Most can sing it well enough but come off stiff or just plain uninteresting physically.

"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."

blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

#28

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 7:21am

I prefer George Hearn's powerfully sung sweeney over Cariou.

#29

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 8:36am

Reba was better than Bernadette in Annie Get Your Gun
Jonathan Pryce was better than Lithgow in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Rachel York was better than SRS in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Jane Curtin was better than LuPone in Noises Off
Osnes was better than O'Hara in South Pacific
Pascal is better than Kimball in Memphis

"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." -- Thomas Jefferson

#30

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 8:53am

i guess what I am asking is...did sutton really earn that TOny? I mean if the majority of people here feel that Stephanie is doing a better job..what does the tony really mean?

#31

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 9:02am

People who win awards don't usually compete against every other person who hasn't played the part yet. Funny how that works.

Did she earn her award? Yes, she did, because they voted for her.

"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."

blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

#32

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 9:18am

I've preferred pretty much every replacement in Jersey Boys to the OBC (and yes, I did see the OBC).

"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt

#33

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 10:12am

Kevin Chamberlain may have received a Tony nomination and done a great job as Uncle Fester in THE ADDAMS FAMILY, but Brad Oscar is better in the role... IMHO.

"TO LOVE ANOTHER PERSON IS TO SEE THE FACE OF GOD"- LES MISERABLES--- "THERE'S A SPECIAL KIND OF PEOPLE KNOWN AS SHOW PEOPLE... WE'RE BORN EVERY NIGHT AT HALF HOUR CALL!"--- CURTAINS

#34

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 10:33am

I absolutely adored John Lithgow in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and always will. But Jonathan Pryce had something over him that I can't put my finger on and made me love him performance a tiny bit more.

<--- the set of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I was assistant stage manager for during the 2007 season at the STNJ outdoor stage.

-Dre- You must remember all the same that at the crux of every game is knowing when it's time to leave the table... And it's important to be artful in your exit. No turning back, you must accept the con is done... It was a ball, it was a blast. And it's a shame it couldn't last. But every chapter has to end, you must agree.
~Dirty Rotten Scoundrels~
There's a special kind of people known as show people. We live in a world full of dreams. Sometimes we're not too certain what's false and what's real. But we're seldom in doubt about what we feel.
~Curtains~
It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to, than I have ever known.
~A Tale of Two Cities ~

#35

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 10:49am

In a lot of cases, it's hard to pick an actor to create a role. It only becomes obvious when someone replaces and shines brighter. Sometimes its obvious but you can predict who will be better all around. SJB definitely is sweet suprise.

#36

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 11:41am

Yes a lot of times the ROLE needs some credit... ie - Douglas Hodge playing Albin. (don't get me wrong, he def earned it but the bigger the 'stretch' the better the chances of accolades: ie the cliche of some headlining movie star playing a handicapped/cripple/transgender etc has better chances of gettin an oscar nom)

I havent seen Pascal in Memphis, but love-it-or-hate-it Kimball origniated the Role from the get-go and that deserves some credit.

I guess what im trying to say is... Of course there are the elite group of actors who make the character but the majority of roles on stage can be casted with other talent and do just fine - and thats not a knock on any actors, its more of a nod to the writers (and orignators) for creating the Role so well.

#37

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 3:09pm

Eric, I didn't see Dean Jones, but based on recordings (record and video) I would agree with those who found him more heartbreaking than Kert.

I did see Larry and he was fine in the role and probably sang it better than it has ever been sung. That was the problem. With Jones, you're not really sure whether he will make it through "Being Alive" or not; even after listening to the OBC recording a thousand times, I'm not sure he can make those final notes.

Larry sang all his songs beautifully and seemingly without effort. It was terrific and lovely to hear, but it never had the same dramatic tension. (This is by no means to claim that one was a better actor in general than the other.)

I was reminded of this in later years when an opera professor in college talked about the problem when Yma Sumac sang AIDA. Same thing: she could sing every note and an octave higher, so no dramatic tension was created with the voice.

But Larry was certainly very good as Bobby. It's just that Dean Jones seemed to be living the part, not playing it. No wonder he had a nervous breakdown!

#38

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 3:13pm

Did anyone get to see Sharon Brown as Effie in Dreamgirls? I heard that she was better than Jennifer Holiday, in that she did not used growling and screaming to the notes in order to show vocal strength.

#39

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 3:20pm

Murney as Elphaba...finally someone who can sing AND act the role
Hilty over anyone as Glinda.

Those just seem to be the ones that stick out in my mind.

Also, and forgive me for not remmeber his name at the current moment...but the by who played Gabe on tour in N2N over Aaron, who just...lacks.

Now all I see are cute boys with short haircuts in a maze of their own...

#40

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 3:23pm

i find it funny. funny that a lot of times its the role that wins the tony award and not the actor/actress. just performing the role first before anyone else makes people think its the only way to do so...

#41

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 3:27pm

Well, let's see...

Ethel Merman in Hello Dolly!
Ann Miller in Mame
Keene Curtis in La Cage
Stephanie Lawrence in Blood Brothers
Hal Linden, Carole Shelley and Susan Egan in Cabaret
Julia Murney in Wicked

#42

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 3:43pm

Iammyownmusical, I agree, Curt Hansen was great. I also think that Kyle Dean was way better.

#43

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 3:53pm

I love Idina, but I honestly have to say Eden Espinosa was the superior Elphaba.

#44

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 4:26pm

Emma Hunton over Jen Damiano in Next to Normal.
And I agree about Stephanie being a better "Reno" than Sutton.

#45

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 4:29pm

Laura Michelle Kelly is far superior Ashley Brown in every aspect as Mary Poppins.

#46

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 4:58pm

"Laura Michelle Kelly is far superior Ashley Brown in every aspect as Mary Poppins."

^ True, but technically she was the original.

#47

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/29/11 at 7:42pm

Agreed! Emma Hunton was vastly superior as Natalie.

“I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.” ``oscar wilde``

#48

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 11/30/11 at 6:21pm

I believe Rachel York came into Dirty Rotten after Sherie Rene Scott left... I loved seeing Rachel York.

I also second the Jeremy Jordan replacing Matt Cavenaugh.

Also loved Marin Mazzie in Spamalot!

:)

#49

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 12/2/11 at 4:53pm

In regards to Michael Crawford - I really don't think anybody can hold a candle to his performance (personal opinion). Other people may be able to *technically* sing the part better, but he brought something special to that part that only happens once in a while. He embodied that role and played it as nobody else has since. Just my opinion.

As far as replacements go, I really enjoyed Rachel York in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

#50

actors taking over other actors roles...and doing better

Posted: 12/8/11 at 6:35pm

This board is so subjective.

Ethel Merman was not better than Carol Channing in Hello Dolly.
She was good but not better.
Anne Miller was not better than Angela Lansbury in Mame.
in my humble subjective opinion. No one was better than Angela

I loved Chad Kimball in Memphis and went to see Adam last week but I was left with the understudy who did a good job but lacked presence.

But George Hearne was infinitely better than Len Cariou in Sweeney Todd. Ironically I went to see Dorothy Louden's take on the role which was not good but George Hearne blew me away.

in my subjecdtive humble opinion.

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