Broadway's Pinch Hitters

I really had no intention of continuing the baseball theme I started yesterday.  But about 3 hours after my Wednesday blog (Mr. Broadway August) posted came news that my choice, Julian Ovenden, was leaving Death Takes a Holiday, with his understudy, Kevin Earley (left) permanently taking over the role of Death.  And that got me to thinking about the baseball I recently attended.

In baseball, a change of pitcher (actually multiple pitchers) is an expected, planned for part of the game.  It is not unlike an actor having an understudy or two, not to mention a stand-by.  Baseball has two other things in ther mix, generally not used as often as the pitcher change, and certainly more on the fly.  Those things are pinch hitters and pinch runners.  Now, I'll admit I don't know the intricacies of the rules of America's pasttime, but from what I have seen, pinch runners/hitters come into the game ready, but unscheduled (again, like understudies and stand-bys), for a couple of reasons: the player they are replacing is injured or has a bad time facing a new pitcher.  The difference is a fine line, not unlike that between understudy and stand-by.  But a pinch player permanently takes the place of the player in the game.  So... if a show's run is "the game," and someone comes in unexpectedly to replace an actor ("player") they are like pinch hitters/runners.  And this is still different from scheduled cast changes.

To sum up: Brooke Shields replacing Bebe Neuwirth in The Addams Family, is a planned on change, like a relief pitcher.  Kevin Earley taking over for an unexpectedly ill Julian Ovenden  for the rest of the run of Death Takes a Holiday is a pinch hitter going in to keep the game going.

In theatrical terms, this scenario is best summed up by one of the longest running musicals (and longest running revivals, too) in Broadway history, 42nd Street.  In that show the mega-talented but uber-mousy chorus girl is plucked from obscurity to take over the lead in a huge show from an injured diva.  The girl goes on the be a mega-star.  They say life imitates art.

Liza's curtain call;

Tony and Liza hug

One major star has generously gone on TWICE as a pinch hitter.  Most recently, she took over the title roles in Victor/Victoria to spell an unexpectedly ailing Julie Andrews. (At the time it was simply Liza taking over for a vacationing Julie, but Andrews was on vocal rest, etc.)  That take over had some subdrama - Minnelli and Tony Roberts reportedly hated each other - he staged a sickout to protest her poor performance; she missed five shows, claiming illness, even supported by a doctor's note.  They famously hugged at the end of her run - see photo.)   But even more famously, this legend took over the role of Roxie Hart from fellow legend Gwen Verdon in the original Broadway production of Chicago.  I'm speaking of none other than Liza Minnelli, a true superstar in her own right, taking over for two other superstars in their time of need.  These three divas are the epitome of "the show must go on."

Mendoza and Carpio after a preview of

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark

In fact, it has happened quite a bit with shows currently on the boards.  T.V. Carpio took over the lead role of Arachne in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark when Natalie Mendoza left the show after being injured during flight.

Piven and Butz in Speed-the-Plow

The 2011 winner of Best Actor in a Musical, Norbert Leo Butz, has been a pinch hitter.  A couple of seasons ago, he found himself in the position of take over actor in the revival of Speed-the-Plow, when Jeremy Piven abruptly left that production for infamous "health reasons."  Butz even went so far as to go on script in hand for several performances so the show could go on.  Eventually, William H. Macy finished the run.

Erin Dilly and Sutton Foster

as Millie Dilmount

And the 2011 winner of Best Actress in a Musical, Sutton Foster, arguably has the career she has because she was a pinch hitter.  The show: Thoroughly Modern Millie.  The original star - in this case - stars: first Kristin Chenoweth, who was the original Millie, left the show for a television series that suddenly came her way.  Then came Erin Dilly, whose image is still on all of the Broadway logo material.  She wasn't working out, was axed and her understudy, one Sutton Foster stepped in for the out-of-town tryout, and was a sensation.  The search for the Broadway Millie was ended immediately, the show was retooled to really fit Foster and poof! The pinch hitter becomes a star!  From the obscurity of the choruses of Grease!, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Les Miserables to leads (and several Tony nominations) in Little Women, Shrek, The Drowsy Chaperone and now, a Tony-winning turn in Anything Goes.

Pinch hitters keep the game going.  Ball players step up to the plate to give their team a better chance against their opponents when other players get hurt.  Broadway actors do just the same thing to keep the show going.  In both cases, it is a win-win for fans.

FOLLIES TICKETS CONTEST!

TRIVIA QUESTION #5
Follies director Eric Schaeffer directed all of these musicals on Broadway EXCEPT:

A.  Smokey Joe's Cafe
B.  Million Dollar Quartet
C.  Putting It Together
D.  Glory Days

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE CONTEST RULES AND TRIVIA QUESTION #1.
Question #2 is with Tuesday's blog, question #3 was with Wednesday's blog and #4 was with yesterday's blog.

Rate the blog below and leave your comments here, or via email at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com, or Tweet me!
Jeff
2.342

CASTING: Anything Goes

My goodness, the talent that has trod the boards this season has been exceptional (even if the shows have not).  And the cast of Roundabout's Anything Goes revival is the perfect example: current Broadway stars, legendary Broadway stars, up and coming Broadway stars and Broadway debutantes make up this cast of 28, plus 2 swings.  This company makes this revival even more exciting!

The principal cast is made up of Sutton Foster (Tony-winner, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Drowsy Chaperone, Little Women, Shrek), theatre legend Joel Grey (Tony winner, Cabaret, George M!, The Grand Tour, Wicked), and relative newcomer Colin Donnell (Jersey Boys, national tours of Wicked and Mamma Mia!) as Reno Sweeney, Moonface Martin and Billy Crocker, respectively.

Foster, Grey and Donnell

The immediate supporting cast is equally distinguished: theatre legend John McMartin (5 time Tony nominee, and 2009 Theatre Hall of Fame Inductee: Into the Woods, Follies, Sweet Charity, Show Boat), stage and screen star Jessica Walter (Rumors, TV's Arrested Development), Broadway up and comer Laura Osnes (Grease, South Pacific, Bonnie and Clyde), London stage actor Adam Godley, and Broadway veteran and up and coming director, Jessica Stone (Grease! 1994, The Odd Couple).

Osnes, Walter and McMartin

Rounding out the supporting cast are: Walter Charles (41 years on Broadway, including Sweeney Todd, La Cage aux Folles, Me and My Girl, Cats), Robert Creighton (Chicago, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King), Andrew Cao (Broadway debut!), and Raymond J. Lee (Mamma Mia!).

The ensemble is equally accomplished.  It includes: Clyde Alves (Wicked, Hairspray), Ward Billeisen (Curtains, Fiddler on the Roof), Joyce Chittick (Cabaret, Grease, The Pajama Game), Nikki Renée Daniels (Promises, Promises, Lestat, Nine), Margot De La Barre (White Christmas, South Pacific), Daniel J. Edwards (Broadway debut!), Kimberly Fauré (Broadway debut!), Josh Franklin (Grease, Legally Blonde), Justin Greer (Shrek, Urban Cowboy, Seussical), Tari Kelly (national tour Little Shop of Horrors, The Boy from Oz), Shina Ann Morris (West Side Story), Linda Mugleston (Into the Woods, Young Frankenstein, Wonderful Town), Kevin Munhall (Broadway debut!), Adam Perry (Wicked, Promises, Promises), William Ryall (Grand Hotel, How to Succeed..., Amadeus), Jennifer Savelli (Guys and Dolls, The Boy from Oz), Anthony Wayne (Broadway debut!) and Kristen Beth Williams (Promises, Promises).

Given the material, the company, the creative staff and the producing theatre company, I sure have high hopes for this revival.  Still, I worry that we could have another Bye Bye Birdie on our hands, or that it simply won't measure up to the spectacular 1987 revival, equally star-filled and grandly produced by Lincoln Center.  I am confident, in the very least, that it will be a slick, nice to look at, highly professional production.  And there is always that fantastic Cole Porter score!


Are you looking forward to Anything Goes this spring?  Comments?  Leave it here, email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com or Tweet me!
Jeff
2.161

Trends of The First Ten Years: The Decade of the Diva

For this blog, I am sing the term "diva" in both the traditional sense - big, brassy personality with powerful performances - and in the general sense - a strong Broadway gal with a career on the stage.  Some of these ladies have been around for decades; others really came into their own during the decade just past.

But no matter how you consider them, the first decade of the new millennium would have been nothing with out them!

Child Star to Broadway Diva... the Andrea McArdle of 2K: 

Allie Trimm (13, Bye Bye Birdie)

The New Kids on the Block... Look Out New Decade!

1.  Karen Olivo (In the Heights, Tony-winner for West Side Story)

2.  Jennifer Damiano (Spring Awakening, next to normal - Tony nominee, Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark)

3.  Elizabeth Stanley (Company, Cry-Baby, Xanadu, Million Dollar Quartet)

4.  Megan Hilty (Wicked, 9 to 5: The Musical)

5.  Jenny Powers (Grease, Little Women, Happiness, It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman!)

A Classic Broadway Lady Never Goes Out of Style

Marian Seldes

1.  Elaine Stritch  (At Liberty!, A Little Night Music)
2.  Marian Seldes (Deuce, Lifetime Achievement Tony Award)
3.  Liza Minnelli (Minnelli on Minnelli, Liza's at the Palace!)
4.  Chita Rivera (Nine, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life)
5.  Bernadette Peters (Gypsy, Founder of Broadway Barks, A Little Night Music)

These Gals Are In It for the Long Haul... Multi-decade Stage Careers

1.  Phylicia Rashad (A Raisin in the Sun - Tony Award, Gem of the Ocean - Tony nominee, Cymbeline, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, August: Osage County)
2.  Faith Prince (James Joyce's The Dead, Bells Are Ringing - Tony nominee, Noises Off, A Catered Affair - Tony nominee, The Little Mermaid)
3.  Jan Maxwell (The Dinner Party, Sixteen Wounded, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Tony nominee, Coram Boy - Tony nominee, To Be or Not to Be, The Royal Family - Tony nominee, Lend Me a Tenor - Tony nominee)

4.  Cherry Jones (A Moon for the Misbegotten - Tony nominee, Major Barbara, Imaginary Friends, Doubt - Tony Award, Faith Healer)
5.  Donna Murphy (Wonderful Town - Tony nominee, Lovemusik - Tony nominee, Anyone Can Whistle)
6.  Charlotte d'Amboise (Contact, Chicago, Sweet Charity, A Chorus Line - Tony nominee)
7.  Debra Monk (Thou Shalt Not, Reckless, Curtains - Tony nominee)
8.  Tonya Pinkins (The Wild Party, Caroline, or Change - Tony nominee, Radio Golf)
9.  Kathleen Turner (The Graduate, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - Tony nominee)

10.  Barbara Walsh (Company, Hairspray)

One Hit Wonders...Please Come Back to Broadway!

Sara Ramirez

1.  Marissa Jaret Winokur (Hairspray - Tony Award)
2.  Sara Ramirez (A Class Act, Spamalot - Tony Award)
3.  Stephanie D'Abruzzo (Avenue Q - Tony nominee, Theatre World Award)
4.  Ashley Brown (Beauty and the Beast, Mary Poppins)

One Decade Wonders... They Did All This in 10 Short Years!!??

1.  Sutton Foster (Thoroughly Modern Millie - Tony Award, Little Women - Tony nominee, The Drowsy Chaperone - Tony nominee, Young Frankenstein, Shrek: The Musical - Tony nominee, Anything Goes)

2.  Laura Benanti (Swing! -Tony nominee, Into the Woods - Tony nominee, Nine, The Wedding Singer, Gypsy - Tony Award, In the Next Room...or the Vibrator Play)
3.  Kelli O'Hara (Follies, Sweet Smell of Success, Dracula: The Musical, The Light in the Piazza - Tony nominee, The Pajama Game - Tony nominee, South Pacific - Tony nominee)

4.  Kerry Butler (Beauty and the Beast, Hairspray - Tony nominee, Little Shop of Horrors, Xanadu - Tony nominee, Rock of Ages)
5.  Jennifer Gambatese (Hairspray, A Year with Frog and Toad, All Shook Up, Tarzan, Is He Dead?)

6.  Katie Finneran (Noises Off - Tony Award, Mauritius, Promises, Promises - Tony Award)
7.  Laura Bell Bundy (Hairspray, Wicked, Legally Blonde - Tony nominee)

8.  Stephanie J. Block (The Boy from Oz, Wicked, The Pirate Queen, 9 to 5: The Musical - Tony nominee)
9.  Jackie Hoffman (Hairspray - Theatre World Award, Xanadu, The Addams Family)
10.  Mary Testa (42nd Street - Tony nominee, Xanadu, Guys and Dolls)

And the Five Best Diva Performances of the Century by the Five Best Divas (so far...):

5.  Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth in Wicked

4.  Victoria Clark in The Light in the Piazza

3.  Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens

2.  Alice Ripley in next to normal

1.  Patti LuPone in Gypsy

Comments?  Leave one here or email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com.
Jeff

Sutton Foster: A Real Broadway Star

The announcement today that the Roundabout Theatre Company will be producing a new revival of Anything Goes is exciting enough news, especially since they will be using the 1987 revival version.  But the icing on the cake is really that Sutton Foster will be starring as Reno Sweeney.  It will be interesting to see if she can pull off this crafty woman character.  Can she be edgy enough?  Does she have a mean streak?  For sure, Ms. Foster has shown that she knows her way around a strong woman character - her Jo in Little Women was a pillar of strength,  Millie certainly became stronger, and neither Janet nor Fiona were weak by any stretch.  But these were all inherently decent gals.  Reno is a whole different ballgame, and I, for one, want to be among the first to congratulate Ms. Foster for trying something a little out of the box that we are used to seeing her in.  For a great interview with Roundabout's Todd Haimes that addresses that very topic, among others, click here.

Thoroughly Modern Millie

And let me also be the first to jump on this bandwagon:  Before the press and the fans of the Rialto crucify her for trying something different, lets be thankful that she is making the stretch.  Let's not have another Chenoweth/Promises, Promises situation.  Let her get up there and prove she can do it, be happy for the attempt if she isn't to your liking, and thrill in her victory if she exceeds your wildest dreams.

With Danny Gurwin in Little Women

In this day and age of professional actors complaining that Broadway actors are missing out on accolades to come and go Hollywood actors, we, as a community, need to support those actors who consistently stay around the theater instead of tearing them down.  How I feel about this current brouhaha following the Tonys is another blog entirely (coming soon), but I do know that we, as fans, aren't helping things when we don't suuport the artists we love.  If you are a real fan of someone, you support them win or lose.  And Sutton Foster (and folks like Marc Kudisch, Hunter Foster, and Kristin Chenoweth) deserves our support and thanks.  And, so, Sutton, congratulations on your newest starring role on Broadway!

She's Janet... Janet Van De Graaff

Sutton goes green in Shrek: The Musical

Just think, this time a decade ago, no one knew who Sutton Foster was.  Sure, she was an ensemble member in the '94 Grease, did some time in Les Miz, and savored the guillotine in The Scarlet Pimpernel.  But it wasn't until 2001-2002 that Ms. Foster began her certain-to-become legendary Broadway career, when she pulled a Shirley MacLaine and jumped from chorus cutie to the leading role in Thoroughly Modern Millie.  Roles in some underrated shows, star turns in others have kept her in the Broadway limelight ever since.  And I don't know about you, but every time she hits the stage I am scared some Hollywood producer with deep pockets will snatch her away from us.  But I think her track record speaks for itself.  Even if she did the movie/TV thing, she, like all the really greats ones - LuPone, Lansbury and even her contemporary, Chenoweth - would eventually be back sharing her gifts and her art with the live Broadway audience.

Welcome back, Sutton.  And bon voyage!


Comments?  Leave one here or email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com. (Note the spelling!)
Jeff