pop-stars,,,ick!!!- Page 4

[xluckystar2107x]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 4:05pm

as for casting someone more than once...
its a different case...its harder to become well known in the theatre, many times...not all but many, a person has to be cast in multiple roles before they get really recognized people in these boy-bands already HAVE the fame.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 4:11pm

hmm.. well Im new here and this is my first post..but I have to say, in all honesty, i believe that to say a "pop star" is good or bad on broadway isnt quite fair. That would be like saying that someone with black hair isnt as good as someone with red hair. I believe it should be based on talent and passion for the role. People connect to certain roles and it doesnt matter who they are or what they do, something just clicks. Its you opinion how you feel and thats respectable, but id have to say my opinion would be its unfair to lable.



-Jayna Mariie

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 4:17pm

It's not a different case ... who's to say Nathan Lane's fame pre-'Producers' made him more qualified to play the role than say, Brad Oscar? But Nathan sold the show so he got the part. His theatrical pedigree was good for BUSINESS but there were certainly more talented but less famous people who could have used the break who weren't considered for the part.

Why is it fair for Kristin Chenoweth to get a TV show based solely on her stage fame even though she'd never been a star on TV when there are actors all over LA struggling to get a break on TV?

'Stunt' casting is a case-by-case scenario, like any sort of casting. But just thinking casting unknowns will make theater any better or any more artistically pure is wannabe whining more suited to a high school lunchroom.

[xluckystar2107x]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 4:23pm

one more kristin reference and ill explode. you see. she has...TALENT
like IIIIIIIIII said nathan lane..TALENT....if someone of fame actually has some skill it is a completely different issue however many of the pop-stars we see in the theatre today are names to draw in a non-typical crowd. its a pile of horse sh*t is what it is.

[Plum]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 4:29pm

Hey, you know what? "Star" casting happens in movies all the time. You really think Brad Pitt was the best choice to play Achilles in Troy? Puh-lease. He was a star, and expected to make the movie a lot of money. Not that it worked, but facts are facts.

[xluckystar2107x]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 4:32pm

plum, werent you originally on my side? what happened?

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 4:39pm

Talent is relative.

Lane and Chenoweth have done some horrible work on TV, where reviews have called into question their 'talent.' Their fame onstage wasn't relevant to their failures in another medium. Their success onstage also wasn't harmed by their failures in another medium.

Casting from medium to medium is a guess. And if you think other people were considered for the shows that your favorite theater stars have been in, well, it's one more thing you don't seem to know much about.

[xluckystar2107x]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 4:41pm

johnpopa, you'd seem so much more intelligent if you didnt personally attack people who also tend to know a thing or two.

[xluckystar2107x]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 4:42pm

true, kristin's show failed miserably and crossovers tend to fail i just think that there IS a happy medium of talent and fame. there are people in this world that can and have managed to become famous from theatre on their own and the point is there would be more of those people if they didnt constantly lose roles to these names. Updated On: 9/14/04 at 04:42 PM

[Plum]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 4:47pm

I'm on the side of...well, I don't know what side I'm on.

I'm on the side of taking it case by case instead of making broad proclamations like "pop stars suck!" Because life's just more complicated than that. Always.

[xluckystar2107x]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 5:23pm

im not on the "EVERY SINGLE POPSTAR SUCKS" side...i just think that the ones on broadway currently arent exactly fantastic.

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 5:27pm

If I am repeating something already said, my apologies, I tried to read every post!!

Just my opinion.....

I really don't want to see pop stars in shows that I see unless they are up to the task. I cringe that they changed the key of "As Long as You're Mine" just so Joe Mac could sing it. I am sure there are a lot of stage actors that could sing it in the key it was written in. I think I saw a few posts defending these singers saying that if they can handle the part they should get it. I just wonder if they seek the part out or if the producers and casting people of these shows seek them out. And is Joe Mac's name above George Hearn's on the marquee? If so, that's pretty much a crime!

And just a comment about what AlDente said. I agree. What a slap in the face to a community that was good to her. And then the gull, even though I think it was for charity, to come back and call your concert on B'way "Home"!!

I keep an eye out here for updates on the shows and it seems you all see these shows many times and know what's going on. I really want to see RENT when back in NY but based on what I have been reading, I won't. And I love the show and have seen it.

So back on topic......give the starving actors and actresses a chance!! I would rather see people trained to do 8 shows a week then pop stars who aren't.
My ramble for the day!

Updated On: 9/14/04 at 05:27 PM

[xluckystar2107x]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 6:18pm

yay uncageg!!!

[Al Dente]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 6:47pm

This will really upset you Xlucky, but Chenoweth and Menzel are far from being household names, even now and most definitely were not, when Wicked began, especially Menzel. No one, other than shills and rabid Wicked fans know who Espinosa is, so they hardly ever stunt cast when a show first goes up, it's after the fact, when a show has been running forever and they've exhausted all the ways to make money, that's when the stunt casting takes place. Sometimes it works, as was the case with Reba in Annie, sometimes, it's a disaster, as with Michelle Williams in Aida. It's usually when their careers are in decline that people like Taylor Dayne, Lachey and McIntyre come to the boards. It's highly unlikely that Aguilera and Beyonce' will be on B'way anytime soon. But I'm thinking that as soon as Headley realizes that her recording career is going nowhere fast, she'll be back to her "happy detour", as well.

[Plum]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 6:59pm

So cynical, yet so true. Hey, wasn't Alice Ripley recently talking about how she'd left that lame Broadway music behind with her new rock band?

[Al Dente]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 7:56pm

Yup!

[Plum]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 7:58pm

Gosh, I guess she's just too cool for me.

[observer]

Posted: 9/15/04 at 1:27am

I saw Little Shop and was prepared to rip on Joey Fatone as a pop star, but was actually pleasantly surprised with his acting and voice.

Regardless, I guess it goes beyond pop star with me, to include anyone who is given the lead role in a musical on the strength of fame earned elsewhere. We all know that every ensemble member of every show has earned many lead roles on the way to NYC, yet it seems many of Broadway's best opportunities to shine are held out of reach due to the "business considerations" that have been thoroughly discussed. Truly I understand, but in my world of "how things should be" I see Bway as being more like the Louvre than Hollywood Squares.

Remember Michael Jordan's baseball adventure? That was life as it should be. A meritocracy. He was good enough to play minor league ball pretty well, but they didn't replace a golden glover in the bigs just because he had a name he earned in a different branch of athletics. Never will we see a celebrity playing an ensemble role on Bway because that's where their talent landed them. Maybe it's too easy to impress audience members like me, and/or maybe producers are so pressed for hot seat cushions that they take that route, but giving away the plums of Broadway to outsiders would seem to be stealing from the grassroots dreams of the musical theatre strivers. Updated On: 9/15/04 at 01:27 AM

[Plum]

Posted: 9/15/04 at 10:15am

Well you have to admit that what's good in baseball is much more objective than what's good in musical theater. It's not like we have a "singing average" or "dancing percentage."

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 9/15/04 at 10:16am

Plum, I think you've hit on something there!! Perhaps theater SHOULD have those things...

[ShineOn]

Posted: 9/15/04 at 10:27am

Uh... no, you didn't!

Alice was definitely joking about the 'crappy showtunes'. Leave the girl alone. She's just trying something 'new'.

"It's all about the love, baby." She means you no harm. Though she *may* be a little too cool for you, Plum. I'm not sure... I'd have to get to know you better (or know you at all) to make that assessment.

Updated On: 9/15/04 at 10:27 AM

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 9/15/04 at 10:28am

I only hate celebrity casting when it's done with someone who has no talent. People like Mel Brown.

[Marquise]

Posted: 9/15/04 at 10:31am

ALDente made a good point especially this:

"but Chenoweth and Menzel are far from being household names, even now and most definitely were not. . ."

Before joining this board I had absolutely no idea who Hunter Foster was, ditto for Sutton Foster, Gavin Creel, Jarrod Emick, Eden Espinosa, Melissa Errico, Cheyenne Jackson to name a few.

Alot of people out there who are not heavily into the Broadway Theatre scene won't know who these people are. This has no bearing on how talented they are. It's just a fact.

I did know who Idina Menzel was (but only from "Rent), I knew who Kristin was because of her appearances in the TV versions of "Annie", "Music Man" and her failed sit-com.

[observer]

Posted: 9/16/04 at 2:27am

Wait a minute, Plum-
Maybe baseball has some objective measures, but BWay auditors have no trouble judging talent, and yet often cast for other reasons. Back to my example, if a MLB team owner, say, for the Cubs (or any team that wasn't selling out games)- had put His Airness into Right Field, lots more tickets would have been sold, plus everything else that goes with it. To their credit, they didn't do it. But that's the business decision being rationalized for Bway producers by some of the posters here. I believe there are significant similarities in the situations, and granted- some differences, but I believe a pure meritocracy is in the best long term interest of Broadway. The problem, though, is akin to urging Third Worlders to practice conservation. When a show is fighting to stay open, the high road is the first casualty.

[FOCI]

Posted: 9/16/04 at 5:35pm

Observer-I completely agree. Although I would like to know how a broadway show re-energizes itself in the public's eyes to remind people it's still there after it's been running a while. Sure, ideally shows wouldn't need to do this ie:Phantom of the Opera etc. But what can they put up on a billboard after all the hype dies down, the original cast is long gone and new shows are starting to open"'the critically acclaimed broadway musical now starring bob smith former ensemble member of hairspray?!" esp. shows that didn't get great reviews in the first place. I think we have a while to go before we see talentless pop stars opening broadway shows (thank god) probably because the producers would be too scared of the critics.

Oh and to add to Marquise's post, before I joined this board I had no idea who anyone on bBroadway was except for Kerry Butler and Marissa Jaret Winokur. AND, incredible I know, when I first saw Idina Menzel perform on Letterman I didn't like her. It wasn't until I started to read the incessant posts that I decided to go see Wicked and listen to her albums.

Updated On: 9/16/04 at 05:35 PM