Most Difficult Supporting Roles

[Hot Pants]

Posted: 1/24/20 at 1:51pm

Whenever theres talk of theatres hardest roles, its almost entirely made up leads, so I thought its be interesting to discuss what the hardest supporting roles in theatre are. Im certain theres others that Im forgetting, but these were the ones that first came to mind:

Anatole from Great Comet - The actor needs to hit stratospheric high notes, play the violin, and be able to do both of those while dancing, all while pulling off a confidence that blurs the line between sexy and ridiculous

Hades from Hadestown - The performers has to find the perfect balance of terrifying and sympathetic, and needs to pull this off while singing notes so inhumanly low that it makes Caiaphas sound like a tenor

Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson from Hamilton - Two very different characters played by the same actor who needs excellent comedic timing, and has to tackle arguably the most vocally difficult (Burr is still the overall most difficult, though) role in the show, due to some extremely fast paced and tongue twisting raps.

Posted: 1/24/20 at 2:02pm

Hot Pants said: "Whenever theres talk of theatres hardest roles, its almost entirely made up leads, so I thought its be interesting to discuss what the hardest supporting roles in theatre are. Im certain theres others that Im forgetting, but these were the ones that first came to mind:

Anatole from Great Comet - The actor needs to hit stratospheric high notes, play the violin, and be able to do both of those while dancing, all while pulling off a confidence that blurs the line between sexy and ridiculous

Hades from Hadestown - The performers has to find the perfect balance of terrifying and sympathetic, and needs to pull this off while singing notes so inhumanly low that it makes Caiaphas sound like a tenor

Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson from Hamilton - Two very different characters played by the same actor who needs excellent comedic timing, and has to tackle arguably the most vocally difficult (Burr is still the overall most difficult, though) role in the show, due to some extremely fast paced and tongue twisting raps."

100% agree with you. I would also add Persephone from Hadestown. She is so broken and uses unhealthy coping mechanisms, has compassion for other people, yet also complies with what is going on in Hadestown. Don't even get me started on her relationship with Hades. She resents him, but also wants to bring back the love that is gone in her relationship. She is such a complicated, beautiful character, and I adore her so much.

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 1/24/20 at 2:06pm

Whizzer in Falsettos packs quite an emotional punch, and some of his notes are pretty up there. Nothing that a well-trained tenor couldn't manage, but I still wouldn't call it easy.

Berger in Hair is also vocally difficult.

Helen in Fun Home

Maureen in Rent

[Lot666]

Posted: 1/24/20 at 2:33pm

Raoul in Phantom has to sing the entire Final Lair scene with a noose around his neck.  Carlotta also has several really big/high notes while consistently wearing quite heavy costumes.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 1/24/20 at 3:29pm

Clearly not an exhaustive list, but they would include:

Joel Gray won a supporting Tony for Cabaret.  That it was ever a supporting role is, of course, debatable. 

Is Big Daddy a supporting role?  If so, most definitely add him.

Is Scout in TKAM really a supporting role?  If so, most definitely add her.

Is  Che in Evita really...If so, add him.

Bananas in The House of Blue Leaves.

Absolutely agree re Lafayette / Jefferson.  I still don't know how Deveed Diggs got all the words out.  The others I have seen did, but their words were not as succinct as his.

Moritz in Spring Awakening. 

To do it well night after night, the role of Genie must qualify.

The role of the wife (can't remember her name) in King Hedley 2.

Birdie in The Little Foxes.

The Black wife in Slave Play.

Smike in Nicholas Nickelby.

James Thunder Early in Dreamgirls.

Honey in Virginia Woolf.

Josie's father in Moon for the Misbegotten.

James Tyrone Jr. in LDJIN.

Laura in The Glass Menagerie.

Sister Agnes in Agnes of God.

Valentin in Kiss of the Spider Woman.

Horst in Bent.

 

 

 

 

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 1/24/20 at 4:28pm

Glinda-I know many will debate this but she feels secondary and she has a lot of heavy lifting only to kind of trail off with a loss of her arc. 

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 1/24/20 at 5:43pm

Lot666 said: "Raoul in Phantom has to sing the entire Final Lair scene with a noose around his neck."

And for the Vegas Spectacular version, the actor literally dove headfirst and full force into the cavern/lake. 

And of course, the ensemble men playing Spider-Man had a pretty rough go of it a few times.  

 

[Hot Pants]

Posted: 1/24/20 at 6:04pm

Jarethan said: "Clearly not an exhaustive list, but they would include:

Joel Gray won a supporting Tony for Cabaret. That it was ever a supporting role is, of course, debatable.

Is Big Daddy a supporting role?If so, most definitely add him.

Is Scout in TKAM really a supporting role? If so, most definitely add her.

Is Che in Evita really...If so, add him.

Bananas in The House of Blue Leaves.

Absolutely agree re Lafayette / Jefferson. I still don't know how Deveed Diggs got all the words out. The others I have seen did, but their words were not as succinctas his.

Moritz in Spring Awakening.

To do it well night after night, the role of Genie must qualify.

The role of the wife (can't remember her name) in King Hedley 2.

Birdie in The Little Foxes.

The Black wife in Slave Play.

Smikein Nicholas Nickelby.

James Thunder Early in Dreamgirls.

Honey in Virginia Woolf.

Josie's father in Moon for the Misbegotten.

James Tyrone Jr. in LDJIN.

Laura in The Glass Menagerie.

Sister Agnes in Agnes of God.

Valentin in Kiss of the Spider Woman.

Horst in Bent.




 

 

"

Some of these that you mentioned will be contentious, I’d say are leads, such as the Emcee and Che, which are indeed very hard, even ranking up fairly high on leading roles.

Also, for the poster who mentioned Persephone in response to my original post, I agree. I actually considered putting her there, but I changed it at the last second. She’s definitely on a similar level or acting difficulty with Hades, as those two are by far the most developed roles in the show. I didn’t put her in initially because while difficult, her vocals are nowhere near as hard as Hades’. But the more I think of it, her singing is so different from other roles, and she also has to do some truly unique dancing, so she’s definitely high up on the more difficult supporting roles, although I still think Hades is the most difficult role in the show. Funnily enough, I’d say Eurydice is by far the easiest role in the show despite being a lead. Compared to the other parts, her music is a lot more straightforward.

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 1/24/20 at 8:53pm

Jarethan - I considered including the Emcee in my list, but I decided that he’s really more of a leading role, despite Joel Grey winning supporting actor. After all, the role was deemed leading in the ‘98 revival and won Alan Cumming a leading actor Tony. Emcee sings more than any other male character in the show, even if he may not have as much stage time as Cliff.

[Hot Pants]

Posted: 1/24/20 at 10:10pm

It’s worth noting Joel Grey was placed in supporting because he was billed below the title, and back then you couldn’t submit actors into a higher or lower category based on billing. The fact that Jack Gilford and Lotte Lenya were nominated in lead for playing Herr Shultz and Fräulein Schneider, two obviously supporting roles that are clearly smaller than The Emcee shows that the original production’s acting placements shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

[Emmaloucbway]

Posted: 1/24/20 at 11:05pm

David Ruffin in Ain't Too Proud

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 1/24/20 at 11:35pm

Does Harper in Angels in America count? Because I think she’s a very challenging role to pull off. It’s a fine balance between being sympathetic and irritating and Denise Gough in the last production IMO moved the needle too far towards irritating.

Doolitle in MFL. Two big production numbers and lots of Shavian dialogue.

 

[Valentina3]

Posted: 1/24/20 at 11:58pm

poisonivy2 said: "Does Harper in Angels in America count? Because I think she’s a very challenging role to pull off. It’s a fine balance between being sympathetic and irritating and Denise Gough in the last production IMO moved the needle too far towards irritating."

I think all major roles in that play as leading character, Harper should be considered lead. There's no show without her. If she is considered supporting, then yeah - definitely deserves to be on this list.

I'd add Edna Turnbland to the list. There's not much singing involved, but all the heavy drag and affection the actor has to put on doesn't seem easy unless you were born to play the role like Divine or Harvey.

The track playing Pirelli + Beggar woman looked very challenging in the latest Sweeney revival, with them merging the characters. The characters are just so dramatically different, and the songs aren't exactly a cakewalk.

[bear88]

Posted: 1/25/20 at 1:25am

My only quarrels with the OP's list is that the roles he identifies were originated by an actor with unique vocal talents (or instrumental abilities). And in the case of Anatole and Hades, they are also identified with a particular actor. A few people have seen understudies for those roles at Great Comet and Hadestown, but most people have never seen those characters played by anyone other than Lucas Steele and Patrick Page.

Future productions of Hadestown will have to figure out how to make the show work without Page's bass. I think it can be done. The show also will have to figure out how do without other elements that are pivotal in the Broadway production.

As for Anatole, there's no rule that he has to play the violin. Steele was terrific doing so, but it's not a requirement. Marya D would be a tough role for an actor trying to replicate Grace McLean's vocal performance. 

Hamilton is a different story, because there are lots of actors who have played those roles by now. Lafayette/Jefferson is the most difficult. The obvious reason, again, is because I've yet to see an actor pull off Daveed Diggs' rapid-fire yet understandable rapping as Lafayette. But Jefferson is also a tricky character, as he must be funny but also a worthy, serious rival of Hamilton, Actors often struggle with Jefferson because the balance that Diggs mastered isn't quite there and he's played a little too much for laughs. The other supporting character in Hamilton who is tough to pull off is Angelica, because "Satisfied" is a really difficult song.

[Hot Pants]

Posted: 1/25/20 at 6:39pm

bear88 said: "My only quarrels with the OP's list is that the roles he identifieswereoriginated by an actor with unique vocal talents (or instrumental abilities). And in the case of Anatole and Hades, they are also identified with a particular actor. A few people have seen understudies for those roles at Great Comet and Hadestown, but most people have never seen those characters played by anyone other than Lucas Steele and Patrick Page.

Future productions of Hadestown will have to figure out how to make the show work without Page's bass. I think it can be done. The show also will have to figure out how do without other elements that are pivotal in the Broadway production.

As for Anatole, there's no rule that he has to play the violin. Steele was terrific doing so, but it's not a requirement. Marya D would be a tough role for an actor trying to replicateGrace McLean's vocal performance.

Hamilton is a different story, because there are lots of actors who have played those roles by now. Lafayette/Jefferson is the most difficult. The obvious reason, again, is because I've yet to see an actor pull off Daveed Diggs' rapid-fire yet understandable rapping as Lafayette. But Jefferson is also a tricky character, as he must be funny but alsoa worthy, serious rival of Hamilton, Actors often struggle with Jefferson because the balance that Diggs mastered isn't quite there and he's played a little too much for laughs.The other supporting characterin Hamilton who istough to pull off isAngelica, because "Satisfied" is a really difficult song."

The thing is though, these performances have likely set a precedent so most future professional productions will try to adhere to them. And even so, Anatole without the violin playing is still very difficult, and the same can be said for Hades without his lowest notes. Also, while Patrick Page’s understudies take the role up an octave for a few songs, it’s still firmly in bass territory, and I imagine few productions would be willing to change the voice type, especially as the low range feels so essential to play the king of the underworld.

[C.Jack]

Posted: 1/26/20 at 1:10pm

Rutledge in 1776 period. The original production found it hard to specifically replace that role.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 1/26/20 at 4:50pm

TheGingerBreadMan said: "Jarethan - I considered including the Emcee in my list, but I decided that he’s really more of a leading role, despite Joel Grey winning supporting actor. After all, the role was deemed leading in the ‘98 revival and won Alan Cumming a leading actor Tony. Emcee sings more than any other male character in the show, even if he may not have as much stage time as Cliff."

I agree.  I originally saw Cabaret in previews at the Broadhurst theatre in early 1966.  I was 15 or 16.  I remember the curtain call. Good applause for the cast, same for Edward Winter and Peg Murray, screaming and bravos (they bravoed in those days when someone was great) for Joel Gray, followed by quieter (but solid) applause  and no bravos for Lotte Lenya, then Jack Gilford,  then Bert Convey and Jill Haworth.  I remember thinking for many years that Lenya, the most famous person in the cast who also gave a heartbreaking performance, must have hated that curtain call...to hear the applause drop  so significantly when she took her bow must have hurt.  That's showbiz, I guess.

 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 1/26/20 at 4:57pm

Hamilton is a different story, because there are lots of actors who have played those roles by now. Lafayette/Jefferson is the most difficult. The obvious reason, again, is because I've yet to see an actor pull off Daveed Diggs' rapid-fire yet understandable rapping as Lafayette. But Jefferson is also a tricky character, as he must be funny but alsoa worthy, serious rival of Hamilton, Actors often struggle with Jefferson because the balance that Diggs mastered isn't quite there and he's played a little too much for laughs.The other supporting characterin Hamilton who istough to pull off isAngelica, because "Satisfied" is a really difficult song."

Agreed.  I get tired of all the hyperbole that some posters on this board throw out, starting with the use of the word legend.  But here I go with what is arguably hyperbole.  For  all the reasons that you have mentioned, I have felt for some time that Diggs gave the single best performance by any supporting actor in a musical in my 55+ years of theatergoing.  I thought that the first timeI saw  him,  and that view has intensified every timeI have seen a different performer in the role.  Admittedly, there have only been three others, but none came close to Diggs in that role.