worst performance in a musical EVER!

[javero]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 11:50am

Folks, last night on cable I witnessed David Hasselhoff in the dual lead role of the musical Jekyll and Hyde (OK I'm a little late). I don’t know which was worse, his take on Jekyll or his stab at Hyde. As I understand it, prior to his Baywatch heyday, he was a huge singing sensation in Europe. That did not translate into a good performance in this musical in that he came across as totally tone deaf. His singing was appalling, while the acting was pedestrian at best. Honestly, I found myself cringing during a few of his singings parts.

Updated On: 6/22/04 at 11:50 AM

[BroadwayDiva]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 11:53am

I agree- he is pretty bad. I once heard him perform, and he wasn't that great. But Jekyll and Hyde is a hard part to play. He seemed kind of fake- that's his problem. It was clear he was playing the character, not that he is the character. I know that doesn't make any sense, but oh well.

Updated On: 6/22/04 at 11:53 AM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 11:53am

The staging of the Broadway production was bad enough, but yes, Hasselhof was a nightmare in the show. Didn't he produce the DVD and that is why it was released?

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 12:05pm

Yes, he helped fund the filimng of the show, but only if he played the lead for it.

[javero]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 12:05pm

It was definitely too meaty a role for him to take on first time out. Perhaps, had it been a straight play, he could have pulled it off, but the acting + singing was too big a challenge.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 2:26pm

I didn't think he was THAT awful when I saw him in it. Of course next to Cuccioli he wasn't any good but I don't think I'd call it the worst performance in a musical ever.

[That Groovy Guy]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 2:36pm

Did anyone catch Aaron Carter in Seussical. I actually kinda liked the show but he was atrocious...can't sing, can't act. They coulda picked any kid out of the audience and threw them up onstage and they coulda done better than him. He seemed like he had no idea what he was doing...almost like it was his first rehearsal or something.

[BroadwayDiva]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 2:43pm

Aaron Carter in Seussical?? What did he play?? I CANNOT imagine him doing something like that!

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 2:48pm

He played Jojo and it *WAS* the 'worst performance in a musical EVER!'

[nystateomind04]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 3:16pm

i saw jekyll and hyde last night and i agree that it was awful. but the show itself isnt that great either, i loath the song "facade", the lyrics are so horrible.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 3:19pm

Ah but its fun to sing in your room when no one's around.

[SamIAm]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 3:22pm

I had the dubious honor of seeing Katherine Nesbitt in her encore performance as the mother in 'May Fair Lady'...YEARS after the woman should ever have gone on a stage. She was so far gone that they had to lead her on stage with a guy whose sole purpose in the performance was to get dressed in tails and a top hat and see to it that she hit her mark and left when she was supposed to leave.

She couldn't keep the names of the characters straight and kept callilng her son 'Henry' Colonel Pickering. It was a nightmare. Rex Harrison was so bored by the whole thing that he practically phoned in his performance and the guy who played Liza's father kept losing his cockney accent. If I hadn't been with a good friend whose sense of humor is as sick as mine and we hadn't laughed our way through the entire show I would have been VERY unhappy having spent my money to see this debacle.

No one in the audience seemed to mind that we were cackling at all the mistakes and gaffs...they were just glad SOMEONE was having a good time.

[AnothaPartofMe]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 3:37pm

Toni Braxton in AIDA, Joey Fatone in Rent....

[Jersey_Girl]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 4:32pm

I don't post much - think this is my third - but I do lurk excessively and just had to add my 2 cents on this one. I saw J&H with Robert Cuccioli and with Rob Evans and both were wonderful. I then had the most unfortunate experience of seeing the show with none-other than Sebastian Bach. Oh the pain! I have never seen anything so bad in my life. He can't act, can bearly sing, but the groopies were just loving each and every hair toss thrown at them. He was equally bad in the Rocky Horror Show - don't know what the casting directors were thinking in either case. David H's J&H performance was worthy of a Tony in comparison.

[broadway86]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 4:37pm

Jersey_Girl-

Are you serious? He practically blew off the roof to the theater. I didn't see him in J&H, but in Rocky, he had a powerful, strong voice. You probably saw him on an off-night.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 4:39pm

Worst ever? Let's see... I've seen some pretty bad ones.

Jon Secada in Cabaret, Joey Fatone in Rent, David Hasselhoff in J&H.... and from what I hear (I was afraid to go see for myself!)Toni Braxton in Aida.

[mallardo]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 4:41pm

I'm tempted to say John Stamos in Nine. But maybe it was simply the fact that he was not Antonio Banderas. Whatever it was, with Stamos the show never came alive.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 4:46pm

Ricky Martin in Les Miserables.

Its a wonder I was able to love the show anyway.

Hands down the single worst performance I've ever seen in my entire life.

[Matt_G]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 4:50pm

Toni in Beauty & The Beast
Toni in Aida

[BWayBoy88]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 4:55pm

Vanessa Williams in Into the Woods

[tcoppola]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 5:57pm

Oohhh--gotta agree with that last one. She was not great...Shouldn't have been nominated for a Tony.

Overall, that production to me was a very high-end regional theatre production. 'Nuff said.

[marincrazy11]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 6:16pm

yeah I'm gonna have to agree with the majority on David Hasselhoff in J&H, Joey Fatone in RENT, and Vanessa Williams in Into The Woods

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 6:18pm

Vanessa wasn't THAT bad.....but when compared to Bernadette...she seems awful.

[Glebb]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 7:02pm

I didn't see it but how was Brooke Shields in GREASE?

[Jamie Hat]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 7:26pm

I think his quote after the curtain call was the best part. "This ain't no day at the beach." I found his performance quite hilarious, not in a good way, but very entertaining. Especially during the Confrontation song.
Stunt casting at its worst... Or best if you look at the reciepts.