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good non-dashing leading man type roles

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#1

good non-dashing leading man type roles

so i didn't quite know how to phrase that subject... but anyways... unless i shed quite a few more pounds and bulk up... then i would never be cast as a leading dashing handsome romantic man or whatever like let's say Matthew Morrison... so are there any good leading roles out there in theater where you don't have to be insanely good looking?? and hopefully there are roles that don't require makeup (like let's say the lion in the WIZ although that's hardly leading but you get the gist)
#3

re: good non-dashing leading man type roles

How about Stine in City of Angels? The role is for a nebbish kind of writer in 1940's Hollywood. Lead role, too!
"My dreams, watching me said, one to the other...this life has let us down."
#5

re: good non-dashing leading man type roles

Zoneface, that's what I was thinking. Tevye doesn't have to be attractive, nor does Edna in Hairspray or Leigh Bowery in Taboo, these are all Leads. Basically, you want to look at becoming a character actor. Not that this is anything to frown upon. I think I'm a character actor, but I'm not quite sure, because I always get stuck doing the sappy romantic lead, which I hate. I'm somewhere in between, because I seem to impress at first the romantic lead, but really I think I make a better character actor... whatever :P
I hold a degree in Musical Theatre from Montclair State University. It is useless. Now I'm funny for money. Oh, and I sing.
#6

re: good non-dashing leading man type roles

exactly Phan, those are other great roles that definately don't require dashingness. umm Id throw Valjean in there as well as everyone I have then has been thick (i love that descriptive word). Amos in Chicago (though not really leading, but substantial). I think maybe the engineer in Miss Saigon, I wouldn't call jonathan pryce dashing. Sam Byck in Assassins.



and just FYI its not zoneface. there is no F.
when ducks grow thumbs then maybe my opinion will change.
#7

re: good non-dashing leading man type roles

How about Nicely Nicley or Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls? Both meaty roles and not the "dashing, romantic type.

and..the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls proved you don't have to have a large actor portraying Nicely Nicely!
"My dreams, watching me said, one to the other...this life has let us down."
#8

re: good non-dashing leading man type roles

Just out of curiosity, why no makeup?
I hold a degree in Musical Theatre from Montclair State University. It is useless. Now I'm funny for money. Oh, and I sing.
#9

re: good non-dashing leading man type roles

by no makeup i meant that it hides your face... so let's take another example... maybe phantom of the opera... you don't necessarily have to be good looking because the makeup and mask hide the face... i was wanting roles that didn't create another person makeup wise... does that still make sense?
#12

re: good non-dashing leading man type roles

Julian Marsh and Henry Higgins
"When you're a gay man, you have to feel good about yourself when a urologist says, "Yeah. I pick you". - Happy Endings
#13

re: good non-dashing leading man type roles

It's funny-- Pseudolous, Max Bialystock, Nathan Detroit: all roles played by Nathan Lane!

Nathan Lane is the role model for non-dashing leading men. He must be so proud....
"Inside every actor there is a Tiger, a Pig, an Ass, and a Nightingale. You never know which one is going to show up." -John Michael Higgins in FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
#14

re: good non-dashing leading man type roles

You don't have to be good looking or skinny to get a role. You just really should be confident in yourself. Yeah I'm a "bigger" sized person and not all really that hot, but If I were to play Roul or some other type, you should just be confident and do the role. re: good non-dashing leading man type roles


Hoped this helped!
#17

re: good non-dashing leading man type roles

Promises, Promises doesn't need a great looker for the lead.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” ~ Muhammad Ali
#18

re: good non-dashing leading man type roles

oscar in sweet charity
"Grease," the fourth revival of the season, is the worst show in the history of theater and represents an unparalleled assault on Western civilization and its values. - Michael Reidel
#21

re: good non-dashing leading man type roles

Perhaps I'm being captain obvious, but Jud in Oklahoma, Edna in hairspray, Amos in Chicago, that clock in Beauty and the beast(the name escapse me at the moment) Valjean in Les Miz, Max Bialystock (Come to think of it, Leo doesn't have to look all that great, except for the song "that face," so you'd want to have a somewhat nice face). AAAAAAnd......I haven't seen too many shows so that's all I know.
-Was that a fart?
-My fault, I fear.
#22

re: good non-dashing leading man type roles

Oscar in Sweet Charity.
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
To Kill A Mockingbird
#24

re: good non-dashing leading man type roles

Tons of them.

Camelot. Man of La Mancha. Toddy in Victor/Victoria. Crazy for You (although that requires excellent dancing skills). Ragtime (Father and Tateh come to mind).

For women, however, it's tougher to think of such roles. Anyone? Besides Hairspray?

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