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Post by sparky5000 on Mar 27, 2019 15:06:31 GMT
I recently moved back to London from NYC and there’s always been lots of chat on the BWW boards about which stars are notorious for unreliability in terms of attendance, or conversely for being super reliable. Granted the most recent discussions were based around all the drama with people meaning about Patti Murin missing shows due to her anxiety (which I thought was out of order). Laura Benanti also has a bit of a bad rep for unreliability too for example (although not sure how fair or not that is).
Was just interested to know what names here in the West End have similar reps, if at all? In terms of reliability, I was reading the Sunday Times interview with Rosalie Craig this week and she said she hasn’t missed a single show during her entire Company run through sickness (and I don’t think at all?) which is pretty impressive!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2019 15:11:03 GMT
Rosalie Craig has missed a number of performances, starting quite early on in the run and she was off as late as last night as well. Not a huge number, I don't think, less than 10? But she's definitely missed some, and this week she has laryngitis, so even if her earlier absences weren't illness-related, this week's absences are.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2019 15:30:17 GMT
Scott Davies went on for Ben Forster a lot during his 18 month titular role on The Phantom of the Opera.
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Post by david on Mar 27, 2019 15:38:52 GMT
Martine Mccutcheon with My Fair Lady (missing performances due to illness)
Patti LuPone has got to be up there with least missed shows in recent times.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2019 15:42:37 GMT
Wasn't there a period of notorious unpredictability from Amber Riley in Dreamgirls
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Post by sparky5000 on Mar 27, 2019 15:48:12 GMT
Rosalie Craig has missed a number of performances, starting quite early on in the run and she was off as late as last night as well. Not a huge number, I don't think, less than 10? But she's definitely missed some, and this week she has laryngitis, so even if her earlier absences weren't illness-related, this week's absences are. Oh I guess she put the kiss of death on it then when she was saying she’d never been off sick in her interview 😅 |
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Post by danieljohnson14 on Mar 27, 2019 15:51:57 GMT
Wasn't there a period of notorious unpredictability from Amber Riley in Dreamgirls Amber took about a good few weeks off I believe due to illness in the Winter of 2016/2017, and then her attendance was quite well known to be fairly sporadic. I know she lost a friend and took a little time off, some was illness, and some was, well, from what I've heard of that occasion, not really valid, but it says something that she started off with a fair one show off a week and then ended up just doing five of he eight a week. Certain Wicked cast members have had varying amounts of time off. Emma Hatton was known to miss alot of shows, and David Witt's who is currently in the cast has missed loads of shows! His understudy Tom has been on over 100 times if I remember a post I read and David only joined in July! |
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Post by LaLuPone on Mar 27, 2019 15:51:59 GMT
Rosalie Craig has missed a number of performances, starting quite early on in the run and she was off as late as last night as well. Not a huge number, I don't think, less than 10? But she's definitely missed some, and this week she has laryngitis, so even if her earlier absences weren't illness-related, this week's absences are. Oh I guess she put the kiss of death on it then when she was saying she’d never been off sick in her interview 😅 No I think she just straight-up lied in her interview! She missed a show during previews. Her attendance has been great and no one can complain that she’s missed the odd show but I don’t know why she had to lie! |
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Post by LaLuPone on Mar 27, 2019 15:54:36 GMT
Another one is Sheridan of course with Funny Girl due to her father’s cancer and health issues. Obviously completely justified but I think she became known for being unreliable after that in the eyes of people who didn’t know the full story.
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Post by sparky5000 on Mar 27, 2019 15:58:00 GMT
Martine Mccutcheon with My Fair Lady (missing performances due to illness) Patti LuPone has got to be up there with least missed shows in recent times. Yeah Martine McCutcheon is probably the most notorious example of a star missing shows due to illness over here! Yeah I've heard Patti is up there in terms of reliability. 👍 During her 4/5 month Broadway Waitress stint Katharine McPhee never missed any shows due to illness. Only time was when her father sadly passed away I think. The Frozen amd Mean Girls cast seem to be on off a lot but not sure if that’s scheduled or not? |
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Post by danieljohnson14 on Mar 27, 2019 16:02:06 GMT
I think someone who also deserves alot of credit considering the amount she did in 42nd Street is Clare Halse, who for pretty much two years missed only a handful of shows due to illness. I saw the show around 25-30 times and she was never not on, which is amazing considering half that show was just asking for injury on her part. 😂
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Post by couldileaveyou on Mar 27, 2019 16:02:20 GMT
Imelda Staunton missed three consecutive performances in Gypsy (Friday evening + matinee and evening show on Saturday) due to food poisoning, but I think it's the only time she has missed a show in recent times. She never missed a performance of Sweeney, Follies or Virginia Woolf.
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Post by danieljohnson14 on Mar 27, 2019 16:05:49 GMT
Imelda Staunton missed three consecutive performances in Gypsy (Friday evening + matinee and evening show on Saturday) due to food poisoning, but I think it's the only time she has missed a show in recent times. She never missed a performance of Sweeney, Follies or Virginia Woolf. Imelda is a great example, she really makes a point of never missing a show! |
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Post by sparky5000 on Mar 27, 2019 16:07:33 GMT
Wasn't there a period of notorious unpredictability from Amber Riley in Dreamgirls Amber took about a good few weeks off I believe due to illness in the Winter of 2016/2017, and then her attendance was quite well known to be fairly sporadic. I know she lost a friend and took a little time off, some was illness, and some was, well, from what I've heard of that occasion, not really valid, but it says something that she started off with a fair one show off a week and then ended up just doing five of he eight a week. Certain Wicked cast members have had varying amounts of time off. Emma Hatton was known to miss alot of shows, and David Witt's who is currently in the cast has missed loads of shows! His understudy Tom has been on over 100 times if I remember a post I read and David only joined in July! I didn’t realise Amber only ended up doing 5 out of 8 shows a week? I know Effie is fairly demanding but to only do 5 seems a bit lightweight! Then again, I guess if that’s what she agreed to in her contract can’t really knock her for it, and better to be reliable doing 5 shows a week than unreliable doing 7! |
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Post by danieljohnson14 on Mar 27, 2019 16:10:51 GMT
Amber took about a good few weeks off I believe due to illness in the Winter of 2016/2017, and then her attendance was quite well known to be fairly sporadic. I know she lost a friend and took a little time off, some was illness, and some was, well, from what I've heard of that occasion, not really valid, but it says something that she started off with a fair one show off a week and then ended up just doing five of he eight a week. Certain Wicked cast members have had varying amounts of time off. Emma Hatton was known to miss alot of shows, and David Witt's who is currently in the cast has missed loads of shows! His understudy Tom has been on over 100 times if I remember a post I read and David only joined in July! I didn’t realise Amber only ended up doing 5 out of 8 shows a week? I know Effie is fairly demanding but to only do 5 seems a bit lightweight! Then again, I guess if that’s what she agreed to in her contract can’t really knock her for it, and better to be reliable doing 5 shows a week than unreliable doing 7! she didn't agree to that initially. Her initial contract was 7 shows a week with an alternate doing the other one. But then, because of the attendance issues, they brought it down to 6 and then 5 because then no one could argue if Amber is off because the alternate would be on and those buying tickets would know prior. It's the reason Dreamgirls hasn't gone to Broadway yet. Amber was set to do it, and is still set to do it, but the producers are nervous because of her attendance in London. Because if she doesn't show up on Broadway, people can get refunds and the show is screwed unlike here. |
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Post by sparky5000 on Mar 27, 2019 16:14:17 GMT
Imelda Staunton missed three consecutive performances in Gypsy (Friday evening + matinee and evening show on Saturday) due to food poisoning, but I think it's the only time she has missed a show in recent times. She never missed a performance of Sweeney, Follies or Virginia Woolf. Imelda is a class act. Shes a patron of Breathe Magic (which my little 6 year old nephew attends because he has hemiplegia) and apparently lots of other charitable causes with her husband Jim Carter. My parents went to the magic show at the end of one of the week long Breathe Magic courses my nephew had attended and Imelda and Jim were there, and had apparently been there during the week helping and giving some acting classes. They said they were super down to earth and the kids loved them! ❤️ |
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Post by sparky5000 on Mar 27, 2019 16:23:54 GMT
I didn’t realise Amber only ended up doing 5 out of 8 shows a week? I know Effie is fairly demanding but to only do 5 seems a bit lightweight! Then again, I guess if that’s what she agreed to in her contract can’t really knock her for it, and better to be reliable doing 5 shows a week than unreliable doing 7! she didn't agree to that initially. Her initial contract was 7 shows a week with an alternate doing the other one. But then, because of the attendance issues, they brought it down to 6 and then 5 because then no one could argue if Amber is off because the alternate would be on and those buying tickets would know prior. It's the reason Dreamgirls hasn't gone to Broadway yet. Amber was set to do it, and is still set to do it, but the producers are nervous because of her attendance in London. Because if she doesn't show up on Broadway, people can get refunds and the show is screwed unlike here. If that’s true about it being the reason it’s not gone to broadway yet then surely they can cast someone else instead? Is Amber THAT big of a name? Or can’t they just cast her so she’s not listed above the title? I wonder if that’s why Laura Benanti is only contracts for 7 performances a week of MFL also? It’s funny because broadway superfans were giving Lauren Ambrose a load of crap for agreeing to 7 days (probably because of snobbery due to her not being an established broadway darling), but as soon as Laura agreed the same thing she got an absolute pass from the same people 😄 |
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Post by daisy24601 on Mar 27, 2019 18:53:24 GMT
I know I'm a fan so I'm biased, but I think Willemijn Verkaik's attendance is pretty amazing. In her most recent run as Elphaba I only knew her to be off once, and that's a pretty tough gig. Also she's done Ghost and Bat Out Of Hell since and she's hardly been off at all.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2019 20:06:02 GMT
.............. even Martine McCutcheon?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2019 20:20:51 GMT
.............. even Martine McCutcheon? Isn’t she her own separate rule of theatre in every sense?! |
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Post by Cardinal Pirelli on Mar 27, 2019 20:57:51 GMT
I think it is incredibly unfair to brand any performer "unreliable." We never know the state of their physical and mental health, nor of their private lives. When something happens and time has to be missed, it's always down to one of those things. To hold it against them is tantamount to bullying, I think. Exactly, this leaves a sour taste. In life, some people get more ill than others and I’d much rather see a healthy understudy than a struggling performer. Some appear to be constantly healthy and good luck to them. David Tennant missed a lot of the Hamlet run because he was injured, does that make him super unreliable then? |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2019 21:02:33 GMT
.............. even Martine McCutcheon? Oh bless Martine. But when she was on, she was glorious. |
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Post by The Matthew on Mar 27, 2019 21:40:59 GMT
It was 17½ years ago and people still won't stop talking about it.
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Post by raider80 on Mar 27, 2019 22:00:48 GMT
I wonder if that’s why Laura Benanti is only contracts for 7 performances a week of MFL also? It’s funny because broadway superfans were giving Lauren Ambrose a load of crap for agreeing to 7 days (probably because of snobbery due to her not being an established broadway darling), but as soon as Laura agreed the same thing she got an absolute pass from the same people 😄 I thought it was only Diana Rigg that had a problem with Lauren Ambrose taking Sundays off. Then Michael Riedel, everyone's favorite theatre columnist, picked up the story and went crazy with it. |
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Post by talkingheads on Mar 27, 2019 22:34:03 GMT
Lee Ryan in Aladdin at Wimbledon last year. I went twice to see Paul Merton and so couldn't give a toss if Ryan was there or not but I know lots of the audience did go for Ryan and both times I went he was off. In fact I'm pretty sure he skipped the entire second half of the run. No idea about circumstances mind.
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Post by sparky5000 on Mar 27, 2019 23:23:33 GMT
I wonder if that’s why Laura Benanti is only contracts for 7 performances a week of MFL also? It’s funny because broadway superfans were giving Lauren Ambrose a load of crap for agreeing to 7 days (probably because of snobbery due to her not being an established broadway darling), but as soon as Laura agreed the same thing she got an absolute pass from the same people 😄 I thought it was only Diana Rigg that had a problem with Lauren Ambrose taking Sundays off. Then Michael Riedel, everyone's favorite theatre columnist, picked up the story and went crazy with it. Well yeah maybe that was the origin of it, but Lauren has gotten a lot of unfair crap from some of the MT stans on the BWW boards for reasons which I don’t understand. Maybe she’s not an established Broadway star but that doesn’t make her any less deserving of praise when it’s due. I saw her as Eliza in MFL last year and thought she was great and her Tony nom very much deserved. |
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Post by MrsCondomine on Mar 28, 2019 9:30:51 GMT
Does anyone know if La Lansbury missed any Blithe Spirit performances? I saw it twice and she was FABULOUS both times (OBVIOUSLY).
I think the understudy was Sandra Dickinson, whose voice makes me want to shoot my own ears off.
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Post by danieljohnson14 on Mar 28, 2019 9:35:04 GMT
Does anyone know if La Lansbury missed any Blithe Spirit performances? I saw it twice and she was FABULOUS both times (OBVIOUSLY). I think the understudy was Sandra Dickinson, whose voice makes me want to shoot my own ears off. I don't think she actually missed any performances at all? I could be wrong but I don't think so anyway. |
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Post by MrsCondomine on Mar 28, 2019 9:38:47 GMT
Does anyone know if La Lansbury missed any Blithe Spirit performances? I saw it twice and she was FABULOUS both times (OBVIOUSLY). I think the understudy was Sandra Dickinson, whose voice makes me want to shoot my own ears off. I don't think she actually missed any performances at all? I could be wrong but I don't think so anyway. That was my understanding too (same when she repeated the performance on Broadway) - I wasn't 100% sure though. She is the queen  |
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Post by wickedgrin on Mar 28, 2019 11:08:14 GMT
Dare I be a bit controversial here?
Obviously actors are human and are sometimes unavoidably ill and genuinely hate missing shows. However, IMO, I think there is a generational work ethic issue going on here too.
To answer the thread question directly (that makes a change from going off topic!) I would put the case that the older generation have a stronger work ethic and are more reliable - Patti Lu Pone (69), Angela Lansbury (93), Ian McKellen (79) currently embarking on a huge solo tour, Imelda Staunton (63) Diana Rigg (80) and others.
The younger generation - I am not going to name names - but they know who they are - are more unreliable. Some leading actors in long running musicals (who tend to be younger) seem to perform on a rota and only go on when they feel like it. Martine McCutcheon (already mentioned) was a case in point - although she was absolutely fabulous when I was lucky enough to catch the odd show she did. There are more recent examples though - leading cast actors in Dreamgirls, Hamilton, Phantom etc.
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