The Most Thankless Roles in Musical Theatre

[kevlowell]

In your opinion, what are the most thankless roles in musical theatre? By that I mean which roles that no matter who plays them, they (rarely) never win Tonys or the role is upstaged by that of the other lead? Here's my short list:

MY FAIR LADY: Eliza. Higgins & Alfred always get the spotlight while she does the heavy lifting.

WEST SIDE STORY: Tony & Maria. 

PIPPIN: Pippin. It's always about the Leading Player. Always.

DREAMGIRLS: Lorrell. 

GYPSY: Louise. 

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA: Christine. 

ANNIE: Annie. Most productions (including the last Broadway revival) of late have made it "The Miss Hannigan Hour".

[NOWaWarning]

Cliff in Cabaret

[After Eight]

Bobby Baby in Company

Sally, Buddy, Ben Stone in Follies

Franklin Shepard Inc in Merrily We Roll Along.

It's not that they're upstaged by other characters; they're just thankless characters to play, and to impose on an audience.

[JBroadway]

Billy Crocker in Anything Goes - similar kind of situation to Cliff and Pippin; the generic male protagonist who gets overshadowed by the more effervescent co-lead (Reno, Sally/Emcee, Leading Player). Joe Gillis probably also belongs in that category. 

[kevlowell]

NOWaWarning said: "Cliff in Cabaret"

I'd forgotten about Cliff! If you only ever see the press material for CABARET, you'd think it was only about the Kit Kat Klub.

[Skip23]

Pegeen in Mame

Ambrose Kemper in Dolly

The Whitmans in Follies

Frid in A Little Night Music

Anastasia in Anastasia

Peggy in Hamilton

 

 

[TotallyEffed]

Cosette.

[adamgreer]

The Baker from Into the Woods. He’s the real emotional center of the show, yet is almost always overshadowed by the Witch and his Wife. Seeing how poorly the role is usually played makes me appreciate the criminally underrated performance of Chip Zien all the more.

Another obvious one is Cosette in Les Mis, which may be the largest female role in the show, but gets very little to do and doesn’t get a signature song the way the other two women do.

[MrsSallyAdams]

The supporting cast of Jekyll & Hyde. 

Emma gets bland songs and no agency.
The Board of Governors lost their comedy song in early drafts.
The chorus is stuck with "Murder Murder" and five versions of "Facade."

Here in 'Jekyll & Hyde' there's a theme song we've got,
and it's not very good but it furthers the plot
exposition
and it's known as 'Facade.'

[HamilHansen]

Ellen in MISS SAIGON

Cosette in LES MIS
 

Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (overshadowed by Wonka and even the other children if they're good enough)

[Esther Blodgett]

Jeff in Bells Are Ringing

Nick in Funny Girl; Everyone I have met who has done the show agrees Nick Arnstein is the most thankless role in musical theatre.

In some sort of coincidence, both of these roles were originated by Sydney Chaplin.

[hamiltonstradition]

Nessarose in Wicked. Considering she has WWOTE, and Dancing Through Life, she gets very little recognition. Kem Martin (Broadway) is one of the best actors I’ve. She adds so many new layers to the role but often (as well as basically all of smaller principals minus Fiyero) gets pushed aside.

[IdinaBellFoster]

adamgreer said: "The Baker from Into the Woods. He’s the real emotional center of the show, yet is almost always overshadowed by the Witch and his Wife. Seeing how poorly the role is usually played makes me appreciate the criminally underrated performance of Chip Zien all the more."

I second The Baker. He has the most stage time of any of the leads.

I used to believe that Irene Molloy was one of the most thankless roles, until I saw Kate Baldwin work her magic. 

[Dollypop]

The rear end of the horse in HELLO, DOLLY!

[Call_me_jorge]

I feel like Glinda is often overshadowed by Elphaba. I think Glinda is the more difficult role when it comes to acting.

[faceleg]

IdinaBellFoster said: "adamgreer said: "The Baker from Into the Woods. He’s the real emotional center of the show, yet is almost always overshadowed by the Witch and his Wife. Seeing how poorly the role is usually played makes me appreciate the criminally underrated performance of Chip Zien all the more."

I second The Baker. He has the most stage time of any of the leads.

I used to believe that Irene Molloy was one of the most thankless roles, until I saw Kate Baldwin work her magic."

I hadn't really thought about the Baker like that but you're right. Luckily, I got to see Him Stanek in the role in Houston and he was superb.

[msmp]

Lucy/Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd. She's central to the plot but perpetually overshadowed or ignored.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

I played Reverend Moore in FOOTLOOSE once. Not only is his big song not in the show anymore, but he is a total buzzkill in an otherwise fun show. When Vi and I came out for our curtain call right before Ren and Ariel, the applause dipped every damn time.

[BroadwayConcierge]

I don't know if it's "thankless" per se since the role itself isn't all that demanding, but Madame Morrible in Wicked is physically on stage a lot more than I think people realize. Especially in contrast to The Wizard, who has about a millisecond worth of material.

[dramamama611]

I'm not even sure how "thankless" and not having been nominated for a Tony is the same thing.   Especially considering most roles only have one or two chances at Tony noms.

[adamgreer]

I don’t see how, in any world, Glinda is a “thankless role.” It’s one of only two developed roles in that show.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

I honestly don't think many of the roles listed on this thread are "thankless." Yes, Tony and Maria often get overshadowed by Anita and all the dancers, and Pippin by The Leading Player, and so on. But they are still great parts.

Cliff in Cabaret though...yeah, that is totally thankless. I've played that role too. He's a completely reactionary character, and doesn't drive the action at all even though he's the protagonist. Also, in each of the three version of the show available for licensing, he either hardly sings at all or gets either "Why Should I Wake Up?" or "Don't Go" - both completely generic and forgettable love songs.

[Jarethan]

Dollypop said: "The rear end of the horse in HELLO, DOLLY!"

I have to tell you that i laughed out loud when I read this.  

I would haver gotten serious and agreed with those who proposed Cliff, Bobby, Christine Daae, Cosette, the two Sidney Chaplin roles, and Lorelle.  To those, I would have added EVERYONE in the cast of The Apple Tree other than the female lead (especially when she was played by Barbara Harris), Priam Farll in Darling of the Day, Anthony and Joanne in Sweeney Todd (no matter how good they are, the audience doesn't seem to care), and Mack and Mable (I still remember that Robert Preston and Bernadette Peters worked their asses off, gave excellent performances, and were probably embarrassed by the unenthusiastic applause throughout the show and especially at the curtain call).  

[ohhiccup 2]

How is Christine Daae a thankless role? I’d say Raoul was a lot more thankless than Christine.

[After Eight]

The Distinctive Baritone wrote: "Cliff in Cabaret though...yeah, that is totally thankless. ...  in each of the three version of the show available for licensing, he either hardly sings at all or gets either "Why Should I Wake Up?" or "Don't Go" - both completely generic and forgettable love songs."

 

I don't find Why Should I Wake Up? either generic or forgettable. I've always loved it, and I most certainly haven't forgotten it. And what about Perfectly Marvelous, also sung by Cliff? Those two songs are my favorites in the show.