As Seth Rudetsky often says: Seldom are replacements and
understudies given the praise they deserve within the Broadway community. To
put it simply, it’s all about the original cast. Sure, the arrival of replacements
in any Broadway production is announced on Playbill, and bootlegs of these
otherwise unrecorded performances always surface, but one must wonder: is that really
enough?
For some it is. Lord knows the WORLD appreciates Shoshana
Bean’s soaring voice as Elphaba in Wicked.
I’d even wager that she had a deal with YouTube for making it happen.
And we all know Fantasia’s voice was heard ‘round the world
at the 61st Tony Awards in 2007 when she sang “I’m Here” from The Color Purple.
But for most Broadway replacements, existence is unspoken.
You rarely receive formal reviews of any kind, and you’re often blamed when
your show closes upon your arrival (Faith Prince, anyone?).
Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to draft a
compilation review of sorts, honoring some of the best replacements I have seen
on Broadway, some of them with links to their own glorious bootlegs.
Keep in mind, this list contains only performers I have PERSONALLY
seen on stage, as opposed to on YouTube or unpublished, traded bootlegs. If
you’d like to share your favorite
replacements, please comment below! I would love it!
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| Photo by BroadwayWorld.com |
10) CHAKA KHAN as Sofia in The Color Purple: As far as I recall,
Chaka Khan was the first living legend I saw on a Broadway stage. Seeing
her in this show on Superbowl Sunday, 2008, three weeks before its closing,
was such a blessing (especially since the NY Giants won that night). As Sofia,
she possessed a palpable charisma and ease to herself, matched perfectly with an
acute sense of timing and her remarkable voice. To this day, I feel so lucky to
have seen her Broadway debut…especially since so few people were able
to do so. About two weeks into her contract, producers (aka Oprah
Winfrey) announced that the show would be closing. Typically, Ms. Khan would
have been blamed in part for this by fans and peers alike, but most people
understood that it had nothing to do with her. Instead, it was the fault of
someone no longer in the production…someone who was fabulous, as I understand,
but missed too many shows and caused too many refunds. She is mentioned at the
top of this post.
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| Photo by Broadway.com |
9) MATTHEW SALDIVAR as Black Stache in Peter and the
Starcatcher: In all honesty, when I bought tickets to this show last year, I knew that I had JUST missed Christian Borle in this Tony Award
winning role. Disappointed didn’t even cover it. But when I walked into the
theatre and looked at my Playbill, suddenly life wasn’t so bad. Matthew
Saldivar is an actor I have admired for at least half a decade but had never seen live until this point. His Black Stache was flippant, over-the-top and
everything else I wanted from the role. In fact, I can still remember
his outrageous facial expressions when
he slammed his hand into a trunk, rendering himself in need of a hook. I think
the show held for about six minutes or so, just from booming laughter.
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| Photo by Playbill.com |
8) ANNALEIGH ASHFORD as Jeanie in Hair: All right, I have
to confess two biases. For one thing, I LOVE Hair. Having seen it on Broadway
three separate times, each with a new cast (2009, 2010 and the 2011 "Summer of Love"), it
is easily one of my favorite musicals. Likewise, this performer, miss Annaleigh
Ashford, holds a special place in my heart. She’s the very reason I
attended Marymount Manhattan College, where she graduated in 2005. That aside,
her performance as Jeanie, the eccentric pregnant girl, was utterly beautiful.
Although her voice didn’t exactly compliment the raw, gritty Rock ‘n Roll sound
of the show, Ashford used her innocence and naivete to compensate. Her Jeanie
was soft-spoken, insecure, yet incredibly attentive. When she professed her
longings to Claude, my heart truly broke. Her performance was nuanced, grounded
and moving, amongst so much else. I hope she does more work like this in
the future.
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| Photo by BroadwayWorld.com |
7) RACHEL POTTER as Wednesday in The Addams Family: I remember going to see The Addams Family on Broadway in March of 2011, opening
my Playbill and discovering, to my delight, that both Rachel Potter and Heidi
Blickenstaff had joined the cast as Wednesday and Alice, respectively. Now
seeing as Heidi will be discussed later in this
countdown, I thought I would
focus here on Miss Potter. "Full Disclosure", this show is horrendous. The jokes
aren’t funny, Mr. Lippa’s score is about as flat as a pancake, and Bebe Neuwrith was
a drag as Morticia. Thankfully, Miss Potter was a shining beacon of hope for
the audience.
Her extraordinary set of vocal chords lit up the stage whenever she
opened her mouth. I would even go as far to say that she was the only thing, aside from Ms. Blickenstaff, of course, keeping me awake. Every now and again I will still revisit her rendition of “Pulled”, and belt right along with her. Click here to check it out!
Her extraordinary set of vocal chords lit up the stage whenever she
opened her mouth. I would even go as far to say that she was the only thing, aside from Ms. Blickenstaff, of course, keeping me awake. Every now and again I will still revisit her rendition of “Pulled”, and belt right along with her. Click here to check it out!
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| Photo by Broadway.com |
6) KYLE DEAN MASSEY as Gabe in Next to Normal: Much like Hair,
I saw Next to Normal on three separate occasions. Each time, the
cast shifted a bit. One constant, however, was Mr. Kyle Dean Massey, whom I saw
every single performance (my first was JUST after Aaron Tveit had left for Catch Me If You Can). Simply put, his Gabe was magical. Between the natural
tension of the role itself and Masseys’ inherit sex-appeal, his presence was
almost too much for the audience to handle. Add on top of that his dreamy voice, and you had men and women fainting all over the place throughout the show.
Kidding, of course. But in reality, he was superb, specifically on the songs.
His “I’m Alive” includes an optional B4 at the end that is beyond brilliant.
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| Photo by Broadway.com |
5) MARIN MAZZIE as Diana in Next to Normal: Continuing on
the Next to Normal train, I saw Marin Mazzie in two out of the three
occasions I saw the show. Unlike Alice Ripley, who created
the role of Diana and won the 2009 Tony Award, Mazzie’s classical voice
left much to be desired with the score. But what she lacked in Rock n’ Roll, she
more than made up for in emotional complexity. Having seen Ripley back
in 2009, I can tell you that her Diana was all about Act I. She made sure her
audience was literally speechless at intermission, too emotionally exhausted to
speak. But when it came time for her to drop the crazy routine in Act II, post
operation, she had a difficult time. Her journey back into illness seemed
false somehow, leaving me a bit unnerved when I left the theatre. With Ms.
Mazzie, however, it was exactly the opposite. At intermission I yearned for
more, dissatisfied that she hadn’t left the theatre silent. But as the second act started, and her rediscoveries began, I
realized it was going to be a whole new show. My heart began breaking and
breaking for her Diana, reliving her life’s trauma right along with her. I may
never forget the floodgates of tears pouring down her face as she sang “How Could I Ever Forget” alongside her real life husband, Jason Danieley, in the role
of Dan. I just wish the bootleg on YouTube wasn’t from the start of their run
in July of 2010. They had grown leaps and bounds by Novemeber and December when
I saw them.
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| Photo by BroadwayWorld.com |
4) JULIE WHITE as Masha in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike: Last year I waited, and waited and waited to
see this 2013 Tony Award winning production, specifically because of who was
going into the role of Masha. Since the first Transformers movie, and especially the second, Tony Award winner Julie White has been
a personal favorite of mine. I think she is one of the best comedic actresses
in the entire world, bar none. But beyond the humor, it was thrilling to see
her do a role as snarky, jaded and sexy as Durang’s Masha. And while I didn’t
see her predecessor (Sigourney Weaver) in the role, the entire packed house on
closing day was a buzz about how different and BETTER the show was
with White in it. I can only hope that she returns to the Great White Way (pun
intended) full time, rather than as a movie star’s backup.
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| Photo by Broadway.com |
3) HEIDI BLICKENSTAFF as Ursula in The Little Mermaid: If
I am ever lucky enough to be interviewed by Playbill.com regarding my favorite
theatrical experiences, I will, without a doubt, mention my UNBELIEVABLE time
seeing Heidi Blickenstaff as Ursula in The Little Mermaid. Despite the
show itself being sub-par, particularly for Disney’s standards, Heidi’s
performance was the stuff of legends. Her Ursula was schizophrenically hysterical, vocally
supreme to ANY of the women who have played it (especially you, Ms. Scott), and
absolutely deserving of a separate cast album in her honor, ala Brooke Shields
in the ’94 revival of Grease. But alas, she isn’t a movie star, therefore Disney saw no need. On the up side, we have a plethora of bootlegs depicting
the majesty of her grace in the role. I think you’ll see for yourself that she
should not have been an understudy turned replacement, but rather, the original
and historical icon of this delicious villain on stage. To view her "I Want the Good Times Back" as well as her QUINTESSENTIAL final reprise of "Poor Unfortunate Souls", simply click on their titles!
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| Photo by Broadway.com |
1 & 2) BERNADETTE PETERS & ELAINE STRITCH as Desiree
& Madame Armfeldt in A Little Night Music: As you can see, I had somewhat
of a dilemma in trying to rank these two against one another. Their
performances were so incredible, it would be nearly impossible to do so. It’s
actually hard to process that either one of them, let alone both, were
replacements in this production. And yet, as far as I know, their jobs were
highly coveted, especially Bernadette’s (sorry, Patti!). But I digress. These ladies
possessed such a powerful presence on the Walter Kerr stage, the audience was
in constant awe. Bernadette’s arc from the whimsical, floating Desiree, to her
distraught, borderline ruined state of being in “Send in the Clowns” was just
unreal. I would say at least 60% (if not more) of the audience was moved to tears by her
performance.
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| Photo by BoneauBryanBrown.com |
As for Elaine, her dry sense of humor and frank sense of
self helped bring a truth and honesty to Madame A. that was entirely absent
from Miss Lansbury’s performance just six months prior, especially in her "Liaisons". Granted, many people
who saw Ms. Stritch in this role will tell you that she hardly knew her lines
and seemed lost throughout most of the show. Not when I saw her. I was lucky
enough to see this pair right before Christmas, about two weeks before the
production closed. She was positively perfect in every way. And like
Bernadette, there was hardly a dry eye in the house when Stritch
gave her
memoir about the woes of a wooden ring.
Until next time,
Jordan.
