Won The Tony, Hasn't Performed Since

[Play Esq.]

Paulo Szot: lots of opera nationally and in Europe. His star went up, ironically, after he was in a hit musical.

[ShakinBaconGirl]

"he won't ever be on Broadway again due to the vocal injury he sustained"

Was his vocal injury really that serious that he will never fully recover and get back on Broadway?

[Islander_fan]

Kazee has been doing concerts, and I believe was at 54 Below. This was after his time in Once was over. If that's the case, then I don't think that his vocal injury was as bad as some in this thread are making it out to be. Yes, Glen Hansard's songs are very range-y and not easy to sing. Considering that Kazee did the show off Broadway and then Broadway for awhile, it wouldn't surprise me that his voice gave out after all that time.

Fun Once tidbit, speaking of the songs being hard to sing, Glen Hansard wasn't originally slated to act in the film, he was, however brought on to write the songs. However, when the actor they originally cast as Guy couldn't sing the songs correctly, they had Hansard play the part.

[Sutton Ross]

Yeah. He still does concerts and all that, but I read in an interview last year that the Broadway, eight shows a week schedule was too much for his voice after the injury, and he was at risk of hemorrhaging a vocal cord.

[thirtythirtyninety]

Cillian Murphy was supposed to play Guy in the ONCE film, but it obviously didn't work out.

[ohjustjake]

What about Levi Kreis for Million Dollar Quartet? I just read about him on Wikipedia but I don't think he's been back to Broadway since? It's only been 4 years since, but still.

[brettarnett]

Levi Kreis kind of came out of nowhere and won the Tony in 2010, then virtually disappeared from the Theatre scene until he appeared again this year as a replacement in Violet.

edit: Granted he does have a recording career.

[LizzieCurry]

Michael Maguire

[Wickedmonkey332]

In addition to Violet, Levi was in Smokey Joe's Cafe at Arena Stage in DC.

[LindaSmyth]

Stephanie D'Abruzzo. Oh wait, she didn't win. Whatever happened to her though

[jonartdesigns]

John Lloyd Young (other than return engagements as Frankie Valli)

[The Other One]

Robert Lindsay, Frances Ruffelle, Ron Leibman, Viola Davis, Eddie Redmayne

[MaddieBB12]

^The last two do have big movie careers now, and Redmayne did do the LES MIS film.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Stephanie D'Abruzzo, though she has not performed on Broadway since Avenue Q, has done theatrical work elsewhere. She also is a puppeteer on Sesame Street, so I imagine that's her primary work at the moment.

[jpbran]

Didn't Sara Ramirez flee to TV after winning for Spamalot? Any stage-work since?

[Emmaloucbway]

Robert Lindsay is currently starring in the West End production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Sara Ramirez is the first person who came to mind. Heather Headley too, although she has a music career.

[Horton]

"Top billing Monday, Tuesday you're touring in stock..."

[neonlightsxo]

Stephanie did not win the Tony for Q.

Christian Hoff? Excepting his brief stint in Pal Joey.

[Replacement Cast]

Brian Backer "The Floating Lightbulb"

[Broadwayhunk]

Poor old Barbra Streisand - after winning hers in 1970, she hasn't trod the Broadway boards since. Not sure whatever happened to her.

[Sutton Ross]

No, Sara left as soon as ABC offered her a role on any television show they had. She chose Grey's Anatomy and never looked back.

[Speed]

Scott Waara owns this thread. He won the Tony for playing Herman in THE MOST FELLA in 1992 and then retired from acting.

[elphaba.scares.me]

Stephanie D'Abruzzo (yes, I know she didn't win) works constantly. So does Heather Headley...she does exactly what she wants to do.

Threads like this make me wonder if some posters really understand what it's like to live the life of an actor. There are about ten people who jump from one Broadway show to the next; the rest of the industry can spend years in between doing good solid work across the country/around the world. Or pop up on TV/in movies in small roles that pay the equivalent of a month's Broadway salary. Such is the life of an actor.

Oh, and those TV and film roles have the power to raise an actor's profile and make them more of a hot commodity in the theatre. I promise that Headley, Ramirez, and several others mentioned in this thread have turned down a lot of Broadway jobs to keep doing what they're doing.

[AC126748]

but I read in an interview last year that the Broadway, eight shows a week schedule was too much for his voice after the injury, and he was at risk of hemorrhaging a vocal cord.


This is a case of selective reading. Take a look at the quote, particularly the bolded portion:

Ultimately, I could have vocally done the show, but I really would have run the risk of doing serious damage, doing that particular role eight times a week. I did it for a year and a half and had zero vocal problems. It just so happens that it's a muscle like everything else and it gets tired and overworked.

[givesmevoice]

This thread confuses me, because, in addition to what elphaba.scares.me said, several of the actors named here aren't even based in the United States. Granted, I'm sure Equity would let Geoffrey Rush come and do whatever he wants, but I'm sure leaving his home and family (and theater company) in Australia isn't always worth it.

It IS interesting to read about actors who won Tonys and then just left the business completely, but not so much with foreign or film actors who just happened to not come back to Broadway [yet] after winning.