367 posts
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Post by raider80 on Jul 13, 2018 1:44:28 GMT
Good: Reba McEntire in Annie Get Your Gun. Saw her on Broadway in my past life when I worked in New York in 2001.
Bad: Chirstie Brinkley in Chicago. Caught her at the Cambridge back in the Summer of 2011 for my birthday. The show as a whole was in BAD shape.
Ugly: Jerry Springer in Chicago. What can I say, I enjoy watching dumpster fires and this one was no exception. The show as a whole was in bad shape then as well.
So, what are all of your opinions?
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1,133 posts
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Post by Stephen on Jul 13, 2018 3:01:10 GMT
Good: Alfie Boe in Les Mis. Arguably not the kind of celebrity that would pull millions to get a ticket but definitely a well known name.
Will Young in Strictly Ballroom.
Bad: Cuba Gooding Jr. in Chicago.
Ugly: Marti Pellow in Witches of Eastwick, Jekyll and Hyde, Blood Brothers and any other musical that he may do in the future.
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656 posts
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Post by greeny11 on Jul 13, 2018 4:26:15 GMT
Good: Matt Cardle in Memphis
Shayne Ward in Rock of Ages
Bad: Cuba Gooding Jr in Chicago
Ugh: Will Young in Strictly Ballroom
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642 posts
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Post by Stasia on Jul 13, 2018 11:25:34 GMT
Good: Matt Cardle in Memphis
Bad: Amelia Lily in American Idiot
Ugly: Ronan Keatong in Once
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Post by anthem on Jul 13, 2018 11:38:21 GMT
Good: Beverley Knight in Memphis & Bodyguard. I've also enjoyed Alexandra Burke in the productions I've seen her in. Shobna Gulati is decent in Jamie at the moment. Will Young was great in Cabaret.
Bad: Maybe not fair to see she was 'bad' but I wasn't a big fan of Louise Redknapp in Cabaret. I was also uninspired by Caroline Flack in Crazy For You.
Ugly: Sarah Harding in Ghost.
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19,787 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jul 13, 2018 11:46:21 GMT
Good - ‘ickle Gareth Gates as Marius in Les Mis. Who knew he could pull that off?
Bad - Alexandra Burke in Sister Act. Head wobbling ain’t acting, Sister.
Ugly - Gaby Roslin in Chicago as Mama Morton. What were they thinking?
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Post by jaqs on Jul 13, 2018 22:28:26 GMT
Good Shane Ward rock of ages, mickey Dolenz hairspray
Bad Will Young Cabaret
Ugly Michelle Ryan in Cabaret
To be fair I didn’t see that tour of ghost with Sarah Harding.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2018 22:59:57 GMT
Good: Beverley Knight in anything. Amber Riley in Dreamgirls. Sheena Easton in 42nd Street.
Bad: Lesley Joseph in Young Frankenstein and Paul Cattermole in Rocky Horror.
Ugly: Adrian Zmed in La Cage aux Folles and Michelle Collins in Annie.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 8:06:00 GMT
Although you may not have liked her performance I don't think you can class Lesley Joseph as 'Stunt casting'. she is a well respected actress and has done stage and tv for years and is known as a very hard worker. Beverly Knight these days I'd class as star casting instead of stunt casting, she has proven she can cut it in a variety of musical theatre roles
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 9:11:34 GMT
Although you may not have liked her performance I don't think you can class Lesley Joseph as 'Stunt casting'. she is a well respected actress and has done stage and tv for years and is known as a very hard worker. Beverly Knight these days I'd class as star casting instead of stunt casting, she has proven she can cut it in a variety of musical theatre roles Not disputing your point regarding Lesley or Beverley whatsoever, I agree with most of the points you’ve made, but I think it’s safe to say that they push sales for the usual non-theatre goers as they have established themselves as a household brand. I’m sure that more people know her as Dorian than Lesley. Upthread are various names you could also question as stunt casting but I believe all are valid examples. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 9:14:06 GMT
Although you may not have liked her performance I don't think you can class Lesley Joseph as 'Stunt casting'. she is a well respected actress and has done stage and tv for years and is known as a very hard worker. Beverly Knight these days I'd class as star casting instead of stunt casting, she has proven she can cut it in a variety of musical theatre roles Not disputing your point regarding Lesley or Beverley whatsoever, I agree with most of the points you’ve made, but I think it’s safe to say that they push sales for the usual non-theatre goers as they have established themselves as a household brand. I’m sure that more people know her as Dorian than Lesley. Upthread are various names you could also question as stunt casting but I believe all are valid examples. Exactly- one man's stunt casting is another's "Ah but did you know she started in..." The reality is many of our actors started in stage, and those who went away for high profile TV roles (like Leslie) returning can be viewed as 'Stunt Casting' but really they're as trained and experienced as the next. Even the pop stars often went to Drama School first. None of this however excuses Freddie Flintoff. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 9:23:09 GMT
Although you may not have liked her performance I don't think you can class Lesley Joseph as 'Stunt casting'. she is a well respected actress and has done stage and tv for years and is known as a very hard worker. Beverly Knight these days I'd class as star casting instead of stunt casting, she has proven she can cut it in a variety of musical theatre roles Not disputing your point regarding Lesley or Beverley whatsoever, I agree with most of the points you’ve made, but I think it’s safe to say that they push sales for the usual non-theatre goers as they have established themselves as a household brand. I’m sure that more people know her as Dorian than Lesley. Upthread are various names you could also question as stunt casting but I believe all are valid examples. Oh definitely but stunt casting isn't just about increasing sales, otherwise people like Judi Dench, Michael Ball, Sheridan Smith etc would be classed as such. I think there is a difference between star casting and casting someone for their name recognition alone without any proven record in the field |
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4,156 posts
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Post by kathryn on Jul 15, 2018 10:09:36 GMT
Yes, indeed. The ‘stunt’ referred to in ‘stunt casting’ is ‘publicity stunt’ - a casting guaranteed to grab headlines in the popular press and get people talking about the show. Star casting does that too!
Casting is only really ‘Stunt casting’ when someone is cast in a production who you expect to be badly-suited to it. Sometimes that expectation is due to the ignorance of the headline-writer or the reader -like when someone famous off the telly (who has lots of theatre experience the TV audience is not aware of) plays Hamlet. That happened with David Tennant and Benny Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston (arguably Hiddleston *was* stunt casting in that the actual production was a publicity stunt for RADA - though I reckon Hiddles wanting to play the part came first and the PR benefit for RADA was an afterthought) .
I personally think the term should be reserved for non-actors cast in productions - the Freddie Flintofs or Joe Jonases or Stephen Gateleys. Occasionally they turn out to be very good, more often than not they’ve managed to be ‘fine’, and now and again they are terrible.
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840 posts
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Post by Steffi on Jul 15, 2018 10:21:32 GMT
Good: Amber Riley in Dreamgirls, Alfie Boe in Les Mis
Bad: Ronan Keating in Once, Kimberley Walsh in Shrek, Amanda Holden in Shrek
Ugly: David Hasselhoff in Chicago - he was entertaining but for all the wrong reasons
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 10:32:28 GMT
Yes, indeed. The ‘stunt’ referred to in ‘stunt casting’ is ‘publicity stunt’ - a casting guaranteed to grab headlines in the popular press and get people talking about the show. Star casting does that too! Casting is only really ‘Stunt casting’ when someone is cast in a production who you expect to be badly-suited to it. Sometimes that expectation is due to the ignorance of the headline-writer or the reader -like when someone famous off the telly (who has lots of theatre experience the TV audience is not aware of) plays Hamlet. That happened with David Tennant and Benny Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston (arguably Hiddleston *was* stunt casting in that the actual production was a publicity stunt for RADA - though I reckon Hiddles wanting to play the part came first and the PR benefit for RADA was an afterthought) . I personally think the term should be reserved for non-actors cast in productions - the Freddie Flintofs or Joe Jonases or Stephen Gateleys. Occasionally they turn out to be very good, more often than not they’ve managed to be ‘fine’, and now and again they are terrible. Exactly- the reading I went to in NY was full on 'Stunt Casting' in one respect (Mark Ruffalo-Gruffalo and Lee Pace) but also these are Proper Serious Actors (tm.) as well. So it's bums on seats and $$$ but also...proper acting. I think honestly the true Stunt Casting is as you say person with zero acting experience put as star model. Also Joe Jonases makes me laugh. Not least because I can't tell them apart so they could all be called Joe. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 10:36:34 GMT
Plus it wasn't Joe Jonas but Nick Jonas who was in Les Miserables lol Actually although he may have been out of his depth at the time (I actually didn't mind and preferred him to Gareth Gates) he has gone on to become a pretty good actor, especially in the TV series Kingdom
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 10:38:48 GMT
Plus it wasn't Joe Jonas but Nick Jonas who was in Les Miserables lol Actually although he may have been out of his depth at the time (I actually didn't mind and preferred him to Gareth Gates) he has gone on to become a pretty good actor, especially in the TV series Kingdom haha good point. Also for anyone curious the 'other one' is called Kevin. I just googled it. |
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Post by kathryn on Jul 15, 2018 11:15:09 GMT
Plus it wasn't Joe Jonas but Nick Jonas who was in Les Miserables lol Actually although he may have been out of his depth at the time (I actually didn't mind and preferred him to Gareth Gates) he has gone on to become a pretty good actor, especially in the TV series Kingdom I stand corrected (like Emi I can’t tell them apart!). It’s true that often someone who is initially stunt-cast to pull in their fans gets to be a decent actor given some time - it’s the flip-side of being famous and getting a lot of attention, that your first forays will attract a lot of scrutiny whereas most actors get to be relatively obscure on their debuts. |
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1,133 posts
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Post by Stephen on Jul 15, 2018 11:16:28 GMT
One which came to mind yesterday after a conversation with a friend is John Partridge in the Kenwright tour of La Cage Aux Folles. I liked him in Chicago before I saw him in La Cage as I felt he suited the role of Billy Flynn and his take on it was interesting. However, I didn't feel the same with La Cage. He wasn't a believable Albin to me and really missed the emotion and heartbreak in the role. I also didn't get the necessary chemistry between him and Adrian Zmed.
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4,156 posts
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Post by kathryn on Jul 15, 2018 11:19:12 GMT
John Partridge isn’t stunt casting - he has a long history in musical theatre.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 11:33:04 GMT
Plus it wasn't Joe Jonas but Nick Jonas who was in Les Miserables lol Actually although he may have been out of his depth at the time (I actually didn't mind and preferred him to Gareth Gates) he has gone on to become a pretty good actor, especially in the TV series Kingdom haha good point. Also for anyone curious the 'other one' is called Kevin. I just googled it. There's actually four. Kevin, Joe, Nick, and Frankie aka the Bonus Jonas. And I didn't have to google that. Judge away!  |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 11:49:42 GMT
John Partridge isn’t stunt casting - he has a long history in musical theatre. True although, a bit like John Barrowman, I feel he is almost going backwards from being a talented musical theatre actor to now just being a characature of himself and now almost becoming stunt cast for that reason |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 11:54:49 GMT
As an advocate of the devil, I’d also like to add to that argument that personalities who are known for established careers based on their acting ability, are not necessarily identifiable through their singing talent (take Cuba as an example) in relation to musicals. The same is also true of singers who have little to no recognition of their suitability to act a role well (Lulu). Hence these are still examples of stunt casting to my mind, but it could just be me.
Names like Bonnie Langford, Michael Ball etc have become well-known for their chops in both disciplines.
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1,194 posts
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Post by dontdreamit on Jul 15, 2018 11:54:52 GMT
Jason Donovan has a good line on this. He’s said in the past: “in musical theatre, you have the triple threat. When looking at whether to cast me or not they think Jason Donovan- he can sing, he can act... he gets bums on seats!”
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 11:55:30 GMT
haha good point. Also for anyone curious the 'other one' is called Kevin. I just googled it. There's actually four. Kevin, Joe, Nick, and Frankie aka the Bonus Jonas. And I didn't have to google that. Judge away! Oh I judge not, I simply am not up on my Jonases. (though fun fact, a girl I did my MA with is married to their old MD, and Joe features heavily in her social media updates, so I SHOULD really know which on he is...) |
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