Britney Spears

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>The line from a song from Spamalot seems to have been written in jest but truer than ever.</p>

<p>In the Diva's Lament (What Have They Done to My Part?), she exclaims she is being replaced by Britney Spears. Well, Britney apparently is considering taking over the lead role in Sweet Charity. News accounts say she can dance but that she has no acting experience. </p>

<p>My feeling about Christina Applegate in that role is that she had a very nice presence, which made the show enjoyable despite singing that was nothing special and dancing that had been dumbed-down. </p>

<p>According to today's newspapers, her husband is discouraging her from taking the role, but that it is believed if she does "this will be the next Wicked" in terms of teenagers buying tickets.</p>

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<p>My D was talking about this whole situation -- Britney Spears taking over for Applegate in "Sweet Charity" -- the other day and reported that on various other discussion boards, people are wringing their hands and proclaiming that if this happens, it will be the end of musical theatre as we know it. <g></g></p>

<p>Hyperbole, of course. But the idea does turn the stomach, does it not? </p>

<p>From what I have heard, Applegate is enough of a lightweight herself. (I have not seen the show, but did see her performance from it on the televised Tony Awards. At least that evening, she just seemed swallowed up by the stage. I hope I don't offend anyone when I say this.) But to have her replaced by Britney Spears? Help us all, as the teens sometimes say!</p>

<p>Of course, it would be a stroke of genuis in a business sense. Imagine the run for tickets! Britney's fans would certainly go to see the show. (I guess we can compare this to when they put P. Diddy/Sean Combs in "Raisin" in an effort to get young black fans of his to attend Broadway. From what I hear, it didn't work.)</p>

<p>This would, unfortunately.</p>

<p>Ick, yuck.
Lisa, who thinks the Broadway stage ought to be reserved for musical theater performers who can "bring it." <g></g></p>

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<p>There have been rumors circulating about this for a couple of weeks now so I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. Christina is actually pretty charming in the role of Charity and I think has done a great job of sustaining that show. Without her, it wouldn't have happened at all! Having said that, I'm skeptical about Britney's ability to perform eight shows a week for any length of time. She just doesn't have the vocal ability, in my opinion. However, I'm usually one to give someone the benefit of the doubt until I see their performance. ;) (Not that I have any intention of seeing her if she is, indeed cast).</p>

<p>Looking at this from a business standpoint is the only way to look because it obviously is the predominant factor in decisions like this. And there's nothing wrong with that because theatre is, after all, a business and if the shows aren't successful financially, they will not last. Approximately 90% of shows do not return their investment. Scary thought, no?! So while it's annoying when decisions like this are made, one thing to think about is the 23 other actors in the show, the crew, the orchestra, and the house staff who will continue to receive paychecks if the show doesn't close. :)</p>

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<p>I'm not a Britney fan at all. To her credit, she's been performing since a very young age (contracted to Disney, I think) so she has years of experience under her belt. In the past several years there have been some untraditional Broadway casting choices--some of them surprisingly good. Reba McIntyre, (Annie Get Your Gun) Melanie Grifith (Chicago) and Brooke Shields (Cabaret, Chicago and On The Town) come to mind and there have been many others. (CC Posters, let's see how many we can list!) It works in reverse too, with many Broadway stars crossing over to the big and little screen. </p>

<p>In a perfect world, all casts would be filled by MT and Theater types, but Broadway is a business and producers must think about drawing the crowds in. If a major star can draw new audiences in, I'm all for it.</p>

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<p>freelance, here are just a few names of performers best known in a medium other than theatre who have appeared onstage (and whom I have seen) in the recent past(will include straight plays, too):</p>

<p>Jane Krakowski, Antonio Banderas, Hugh Jackman, John Lithgow, Alan Thicke, Huey Lewis, Rosie O'Donnell, Toni Braxton, Euan MacGregor, Taylor Dayne, Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce, Hank Azaria, Philip Bosco, Wayne Knight, Alan Alda, Jeff Goldblum, Billy Krudup, Jeffrey Tambor, Richard Thomas, Jill Clayburgh, Drew Lachey, Joey Fatone, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Richard Dreyfus, Ben Vereen, Carol Kane, Edie Falco, Anthony LaPaglia, Molly Ringwald, Brittany Murphy, Claire Danes, Jerry Orbach, Angela Lansbury, Mary Louise Parker, Mandy Patinkin, Toni Collette, Cherry Jones, Gabriel Byrne, Brian Dennehey, Jason Alexander, Boyd Gaines, Alan Cumming, Jon Secada, Patrick Wilson, Annie Golden, Treat Williams, John Stamos, Blythe Danner, Gregory Harrison, Treat Williams, Christopher Fitzgerald, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Whoopi Goldberg, Joel Grey, to name just a little more than a few. ;)</p>

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<p>And my fave - Neil Patrick Harris! :) (also, Harriet Harris, Harry Groener, Phylicia Rashad, James Earl Jones, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Wopat, Barry Williams, Jessie L. Martin, Taye Diggs, Linda Blair, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Bebe Neuwirth, Victor Garber, Jerry Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Patrick Cassidy, Shaun Cassidy, David Cassidy, Shirley Jones, Bernadette Peters, Eric McCormack, Megan Mullaly, Madeleine Kahn, Robert Sean Leonard...shoot, that's all I can remember without looking at Playbills or online!)</p>

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<p>Of course, many of the names in the past couple of posts actually considered stage work a return to their roots -- just because you may have known them first from movies or TV doesn't mean that's where they started :)</p>

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<p>MusThCC, I said in my post that they were "best known in a medium other than theatre", not that that is where they started. :) There have always been actors who have gone 'back and forth' between the coasts, as it were, but there are also more frequent instances, it seems, lately of casting like this rumored one of Britney. I think this is in large part due to the wildly escalating costs of producing shows these days and how long it takes a show to break even financially. Anything that will put 'butts in seats', I suppose, is acceptable. Names sell tickets, as the current run of The Odd Couple will attest.</p>

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<p>Yeah, what she said! :) (In other words, of course those of us who bring these names to mind quickly in regard to this topic know the rich theatre histories of most of these performers - c'mon, we're posting in response to this "question" - we're OBVIOUSLY theatre "geeks" - and I say that in the most complimentary way!!!)</p>

<p>Let the list continue - cause I think it might be very informative for some of our younger readers!</p>

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<p>CoachC, I don't know how I forgot Neil Patrick Harris, as he's also a favorite of mine! Here are a few more: </p>

<p>Tovah Feldshuh, Ned Beatty, Ashley Judd, Jimmy Smits, Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Kevin Kline, Eddie Izzard, Al Pacino, Marisa Tomei, Diane Wiest, David Strathairn, Michael C. Hall, Peter Krause, Lauren Ambrose, Christian Campbell, Blair Brown, Tom Bosley, Polly Bergen, Randy Harrison, Ally Sheedy, Kathleen Turner, Martin Short, B.D. Wong, Kevin Spacey, Natasha Richardson, Liev Schreiber.</p>

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<p>Don't forget Thomas Cavanaugh in Urinetown!</p>

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<p>haha did she once say that she wanted to play elphaba in wicked? </p>

<p>..cause um, that would be an umm interesting performance.</p>

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<p>lynn, I don't know how I forgot Tom Cavanagh. Just another of the many great Canadian actors who has performed in NYC, too. Speaking of Urinetown, another great actor who should be added to the list is John Cullum. Two more I thought of today were Jessica Hecht and Carla Gugino.</p>

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<p>Don't forget Christy Carlson Romano as Belle:)</p>

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<p>And Mary Phagan in PARADE before she was on TV!</p>

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<p>Though AlwayaMom was talking of those who were first KNOWN in another medium before theater but also as she said, some may have STARTED in theater....Christy Carlson Romano is one who really did do musical theater before TV. AS Coach says, she was in Parade. Before that, she played a role in a musical theater opera with symphonies that my D later played for three years. So, her roots were in the musical theater genre. Of course, teeny boppers know her from Even Stevens, not these prior theater roles :D.</p>

<p>For that matter, Brittny, I believe, as a child was also involved in musical theater (though we all know what she is known for). For instance, she played Ruthie Denmark in Ruthless in regional theater.
Susan</p>

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<p>Britney does have acting credits. And has been performing for years. I hate to see people "locked" in a box because they are not known for this talent or that talent.
If she was able to land the role then I hope she will be able to sink or swim on her own merits without prejudging her abilities.</p>

<p>My D. who wants to become a professional pop singer enjoys Britney very much and I have to say Ms. Spears must have something to have done as well as she has. Hopefully if the rumours are true she will be up to the challenge and be able to continue to grow as an entertainer.</p>

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<p>Don't forget the ever amazing Meryl Streep! She still sometimes performs in plays. David Schwimmer was working on London's West End not long ago. I think Parker Posey also does some stage work. Ethan Hawke is another one. Gwyneth Paltrow grew up on the stage and would like to make a return. They are all fantasmic and I agree with Alwaysamom that having a TV and Film celeb can be good for extended runs and is therefore good for all the other cast and crew's steady income but it does sometimes backfire. Didn't they have to cancel a run of "The Miracle Worker" when it became obvious that the main draw, Hillary Swank, was in way over her head? </p>

<p>Britney does have SAG and AFTRA credits but has she ever performed in a live play or musical in her life? That is the question because they are completely different animals. 50 takes does not equate to eight shows a week where you only have one chance to bring it! Doesn't she also lip sync in her live concerts? You can't do that on Broadway!</p>

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<p>I do believe Britney has live performance credits from when she was young and acted in NY on stage.</p>

<p>Regardless, why not give her the chance to "bring it". If she cant cut it..then cut her. But why lock her in a box and say oh she is this and cant do that. </p>

<p>I would assume she would do some lip synching as many pop stars that do a lot of dancing do..it would be very difficult for even the most in shape stars to sing and dance so strenuously at the same time.</p>

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<p>I don't think anyone is 'locking Britney in a box'. I think people are justifiably skeptical. Nothing wrong with that. She may prove people wrong but I think that anyone who has seen Crossroads is doubtful. ;) As for the lipsynching, it doesn't happen in live theatre. Those actors are very capable of dancing and singing at the same time. Even actors like we've been discussing here who are more familiar from another medium. Hugh Jackman is a perfect example of someone who was able to do this with no problem in Boy from Oz.</p>