oh man, i miss drew sarich

[Revolutionary]

Posted: 6/15/14 at 6:44pm

REMEMBER HIM?? Anyone?

I just saw a Rocky segment they did on entertainment tonight (out of all shows). it was mostly the promotional reel from the hamburg show with voiceover, so, ALL DREW. Gosh I forgot about him. He was actually only active on the us stage for about 2 years if you think about it, and that was 7 years ago… Time flies. Dude left his mark though, for sure. He was so unique, such an uninhibited intense actor, sick voice, serious charisma, really handsome, the shining star/scenestealer of every show he's done. A huge talent and in his prime in 2007. I think he could've been huge here if he had stayed. I'm assuming he'll never really work in the US again and thats a shame. I hope he makes it over to London at least, or out of germany and the deutsch sprechen musikal someday soon, before he loses all his hair and more of his awesome singular voice.


edit: sorry i think i took too much adderall this morning. feeling a bit fragmented as you can see. Updated On: 6/15/14 at 06:44 PM

[Essie4]

Posted: 6/15/14 at 7:43pm

I just saw him in a bootleg of Der Glöckner von Notre Dame (Disney's Hunchback) and he was brilliant as Quasimodo. Not to mention those insane ending notes he had to hit for Wie aus Stein/Made of Stone! I remember Stephen Schwartz saying that Sarich was one of his favorite parts from the musical.

Hope he gets a chance to perform stateside again.

[Revolutionary]

Posted: 6/15/14 at 8:10pm

love der glockner! and you should check out the jesus christ superstar videos on youtube if you haven't seen them yet. watch heaven on their minds, gethesamene, and judas' death…. the way he annihilates those high notes is INSANE

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/15/14 at 9:28pm

"left his mark"?

[Revolutionary]

Posted: 6/15/14 at 9:41pm

Valjeans are now sometimes cast quite differently than they used to be, pre-drew. seems to me that he set a new mold for the character. And i always thought that his understudy-who-climbed-a-ladder-to-the-very-top shenanigans were pretty legendary….

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/15/14 at 9:49pm

I saw him in Lestat three times (once in his ensemble role, twice after Jack Noseworthy left), as Grantaire, and as Valjean. He's certainly bizarre, but he puts his heart and soul into everything. :)

[Revolutionary]

Posted: 6/15/14 at 9:57pm

he really does. he's very magnetic, even if there are 10 other people on stage who have more agreeable singing voices, and he's not the focus, your attention kind of automatically hones in on him and stays with him. And i love how unhinged and insane he can be without ever crossing that line into being completely ridiculous/campy.

on another note, i remember you lizzie curry!!i HEY GIRL HEY!!! Omg. I used to love it when you teased me and called me names. so glad you're still here! <3

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/15/14 at 11:59pm

Never heard of his understudy shenanagins, fill us in...

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/16/14 at 12:04am

He's one of my favorite all time performers. Would love to hear his Rocky (In English). He's just so great. His Jesus/Judas are epic.

[Revolutionary]

Posted: 6/16/14 at 12:39am

in Lestat he started as Laurent, in the ensemble. He got Armand after the original Armand left the show. Understudied for Lestat and played him for a few performances, a few of the last ones before the show closed if i remember correctly.

in Les Mis, he was originally hired as Grantaire, but was an u/s for Enjolras, Javert, and Valjean (and maybe Marius?). He performed Enjolras and Javert often, did a better Enjolras than the principle at the time, and then they gave him principle Valjean when Alexander Gemignani left. Then the producers did a Valjean switch, and Drew was Valjean in London for a year, while the poor actor (think it was john owen jones) from London who switched places with him was out of a job within months because the revival closed. lol

I recently read an interview with Max Von Essen and he specifically mentioned the Drew Les Mis thing too. After all these years, people remember. Drew is a scrappy, persistent, lucky son a bitch.

[JBradshaw]

Posted: 6/16/14 at 1:57am

I saw him as Lestat
I saw him as Enjolras, Javert and Valjean.

His voice is amazing. Always been a favorite.

[Eurotrash]

Posted: 6/16/14 at 6:38am

Not past his prime, I'd say! The best rock-tenor voice in the world today.

[thespian geek]

Posted: 6/16/14 at 9:25am

I wish he'd come back to the States and do something here, but the chances of that are practically zero. London may not be out of the question, but I don't think Germany would be too keen to let him go as he's a pretty massive star over there now.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/16/14 at 9:43am

HIIIIII

did a better Enjolras than the principle at the time

Better than Aaron Lazar? Really? (Max, I can see that...)

while the poor actor (think it was john owen jones)

Yeah, that was JOJ. Poor guy has the honor of being the shortest-running Valjean on Broadway.

[thespian geek]

Posted: 6/16/14 at 10:07am

I don't think the revival closing so quickly hurt JOJ's career at all, haha. :)

[Quasi]

Posted: 6/16/14 at 11:58am

Sarich isn't interested in going back to the USA as he primarily lives with his family in Vienna. He also stated in an interview that the distance between Hamburg, where Rocky is playing, and Vienna is still a kind of problem for him. It seems that he will stay in Vienna with his family and that he is more than satisfied with his German/Austrian musical career. And he needn't to worry about being unemployed because he is one of the oustanding musical performers/stars here in Germany and surely will get a job without a problem.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/16/14 at 3:55pm

Saw him in Hunchback in Berlin and he was wonderful even if the show itself was sorta meh. I remember feeling sorry for him for having to perform most of Out There standing on his knees. And the Vienna cast recording of Hair is one of my favorites!
Hair in Vienna

[Revolutionary]

Posted: 6/16/14 at 8:18pm

Aaron Lazaar reminds me of a stick of individually wrapped string cheese, idk. String cheese is the equivalent of how much personality he has and how memorable he is. Max Von Essen wasn't that bad. Wait yes he was, but he did have great hair!

Yeah I agree, Drew ain't coming back. I guess his kids are at an age now where they can't really be hauled around like luggage? i asked him like 8 years ago and he said they owned property in vienna and were gonna raise their kids there. So oh well. But I still would love to see him do stuff outside of german musical theatre once in a while. I'm glad he's huge in Germany, I've been told that too. But German is just not a musical, graceful, lyrical language to me. Sorry. I think it's maybe the worst language to sing in, it's just so discordant and harsh. And I don't think it's just my imagination, but Drew's voice lessens and gets hoarser and more coarse every year….


ps - And regarding JOJ, man i'd be SO rage-filled if I went through all that trouble, leaving a cushy job in london and moving and dealing with a green card and getting screwed with paychecks and euro-dollar rate exchange, etc, just to be out of a job on both sides of the pond 2 months later. haha that sucks


Updated On: 6/16/14 at 08:18 PM

[philly03]

Posted: 6/16/14 at 8:25pm

He was excellent in the Vienna production in the title role of "Rudolf - The Last Kiss" as well - which was recorded for DVD, live cast album, and a produced one. "Measure of a Man" is perhaps the best song in the score - he's fantastic.

I thought his casting in Sister Act as Curtis was the weirdest (more than him as Valjean - I rather liked him in that too), but he sounded certainly always sounds good.

[James885]

Posted: 6/16/14 at 8:30pm

A friend of mine saw him as Von Krolock in Tanz Der Vampire and said he was excellent. I've never seen him live, but have heard only good things about him.

Updated On: 6/16/14 at 08:30 PM

[temms]

Posted: 6/16/14 at 8:47pm

"But it's maybe the worst language to sing in. ever."

Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, Schubert, Schumann, Weber, Strauss, Marlene Dietrich, Kurt Weill, Lotte Lenya, Ute Lemper, Jonas Kaufmann, Hildegard Knef, and many many others respectfully disagree.

[Revolutionary]

Posted: 6/16/14 at 8:49pm

You know, i think he's best appreciated live, not in recordings or boots. His voice can be jarring and nasal sometimes and his gorgeous tremolo gets lost. His stage presence is a huge part of his appeal, and a lot of his energy and virility and charm get lost in translation.

Re: DEUTSCH. I'm sorry. Personal opinion. I love the German language spoken. I really do. It's an awesome, powerful, sexy, beguiling language when spoken. Just not sung. If I see Inglourious Basterds on tv I always have to watch the tavern scene. I love it when my boyfriend yells at his nephews in german. But when sung, idk, it's the same way with cantonese pop and korean pop and mandarin opera...
Updated On: 6/16/14 at 08:49 PM

[Revolutionary]

Posted: 6/16/14 at 9:07pm

sorry for all the typos. using an iPhone.

And LOL @ this thread being viewed 2600 times in 24 hrs. I guess you guys do remember him.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/16/14 at 9:44pm

I remember his wife more... va va va voom.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 6/16/14 at 10:27pm

He was also fantastic in Jacques Brel Off-Broadway, I believe he was the first replacement for Rodney Hicks?