what constitutes a lead?

Do you mean Tony-wise?

Well, I know for Tonys:
Over-the-title billing = Leading Actor/Actress
Under-the-title billing = Featured Actor/Actress

There are always exceptions.
Examples:
Victoria Clark, who was deemed Leading Actress
Joanna Gleason, who was deemed Featured Actress
etc.

~Steven

Updated On: 6/2/05 at 06:37 PM

I was thinking about this recently in relation to the Tonys. I was wondering why Kelli O'Hara is considered as a featured actress in The Light in the Piazza; I would have thought of both her and Victoria Clark as leads. O'Hara has more solos than Clark and just as much, if not more, stage time. Who makes the decision, regarding the Tonys and other awards shows, regarding the categorization?

Victoria Clark is a lead and not Kelli O'Hara because the show is really Margaret Johnson's story, and not Clara's. She has the important character arc and the focus is on her. That's a rule that could be applied to many shows.

it depends on the show, i had a huge arguement with the director i did sorry, wrong number with over my character, george's billing. I, as well as the girl who played mrs stevenson felt i should be credited as a lead although i had about 4 lines due to the fact that my character was crucial to the storyline. I ended up sharing the second to last bow but at least i wasn't in the first group of chorus anymore

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I'm not sure how much the Tony committee takes this into account, but the perception of who is the lead can shift depending on the production. Adelaide is really a secondary part to Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls, but she often comes across as a lead, and is much more apt to be the female character you remember (especially if the actress playing Sarah doesn't make much of an impression, which often happens). Sometimes a particularly vivid supporting character or performance can seem much more like a lead than lines and stage time would suggest, especially if one of the true leads isn't very interesting.

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