Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Sondheimluvchild
Swing Joined: 12/9/04
#0Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 12:22am
Forgive me if this has been posted before since I am new to this board. What is the absolute worst peformance given by a prestigous actor or actress?
For me, I will have to say that the worst performance would have to go to Dame Judi Dench. Firstly, let me say that I love her in mostly everything. However, her performance in the West End production of Cabaret was atrocious. Have you heard the recordings or seen any clips? I have and it's not pretty.
#1re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 12:22amMatthew Broderick in THE MUSIC MAN
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
misterchoi
Stand-by Joined: 9/5/04
#3re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 12:31amNancy Opel in Fiddler.
"Yesterday is done. See the pretty countryside. Merrily we roll along, roll along- catching at dreams."- Merrily we roll along
"The living was the prize, the ending's not the story."- Elegies, a song cycle
Type_A_Tiff
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/25/04
#4re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 12:54amNortbert Leo Butz in Wicked. The part sucks though - he did the best he could for a visibly approaching-middle aged man playing a school boy.
"It's not always about you!!!" (But if you think I'm referring to you anyway, then I probably am.)
"Good luck returning my ass!" - Wilhemina Slater
"This is my breakfast, lunch and f***ing dinner right here. I'm not even f***in' joking." - Colin Farrell
"Good luck returning my ass!" - Wilhemina Slater
"This is my breakfast, lunch and f***ing dinner right here. I'm not even f***in' joking." - Colin Farrell
broadwaynut20
Stand-by Joined: 11/27/04
#5re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 12:59amjeff goldblum in the music man
broadwaybelter
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/26/04
#6re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 1:00amHarriet Harris in Thoroughly modern millie
#7re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 2:44amTom Cavenaugh in Urinetown. There are no words.
"I can't pay the bills yet, 'cause I have no skills yet. The world is a big scary place."
- Avenue Q
#8re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 3:12am
Michael Crawford - DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES
Idina Menzel - WICKED (acting-wise)
Nancy Opel - FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
Matthew Broderick - THE PRODUCERS
Kerry Butler - LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
Eartha Kitt - NINE
"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy."
-Charlie Manson
#9re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 7:54amEartha Kitt in Nine??? Are you kidding? And you didn't mention John Stamos?
Faced with these Loreleis, what man can moralize!
#10re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 8:19am
The idea that Harriet Harris in "Millie" belongs on a list of bad performances is simply idiotic. Her Tony award was one of the most deserved in years. Her performance was side-splittingly funny and memorable. A posting like that, with no explanation whatsoever for the opinion, is what makes message boards like this seem meaningless and sophomoric.
Meanwhile, I agree that Kerry Butler was unspeakably bad in "Little Shop," but since I didn't see "Hairspray" I have no confirmation that she is a gifted actor in the first place.
#11re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 8:21amActually I DID see "Hairspray," but after Butler had left for LSOH.
#12re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 8:27amI think Kerry Butler is a very talented actress, but she wasn't all that great in "Little Shop". And of course John Stamos just simply should not have taken over for Antonio in "Nine".
gherbert
Leading Actor Joined: 11/1/03
#13re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 9:02amExcuse me, but Sondheimluvchild, did you see Dame Judi Dench in Cabaret in the Original London production???? Because if you did I will take your word for it, but such prestigious theatre columnists like Ken Mandelbaum who really know their stuff have said her performance ranked as one of the best for the character of Sally.
gherbert
Leading Actor Joined: 11/1/03
#14re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 9:02amExcuse me, but Sondheimluvchild, did you see Dame Judi Dench in Cabaret in the Original London production???? Because if you did I will take your word for it, but such prestigious theatre columnists like Ken Mandelbaum who really know their stuff have said her performance ranked as one of the best for the character of Sally.
#15re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 9:32amAlec Baldwin in STREETCAR
Have I ever shown you my Shattered Dreams box? It's in my Disappointment Closet. - Marge Simpson
Sondheimluvchild
Swing Joined: 12/9/04
#16re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 11:02amTwo years ago, I took a theatre class at Oxford University. We spent a good portion of that class discussing Cabaret. Granted, I did not see her perform it live but the I've seen about a dozen clips and listened to the soundtrack countless times. If you could have seen and heard them you would understand why Judi Dench made a horrible Sally. The woman can not sing! And I don't know what reviews you have read about it, but I can assure you that I have read nothing but negative reviews about her performance.
wildcat
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/04
#17re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 11:12amSome of the worst performances I've seen were victims of long run-itis. Marian Seldes was like a crazy person after several years on Broadway in "Deathtrap". I saw Chip Zien phone in a performance of "Into the Woods" that should have had him suspended from Equity.
sanda
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/10/04
#18re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 11:20amMandy Patinkin's Sancho in Domingo's studio recording Man of La Mancha
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#19re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 11:22amluvchild - not to put too fine a point on it, but in the original conception, Sally wasn't supposed to be able to sing well - hence Natasha Richardson's casting in the revival.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#20re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 11:44am
Loretta Swit in Drood. Unforgivable!
#21re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 11:46amGlenn Close in Sunset Blvd....awful does not beging to describe what she did to the score (even after it was rewritten to "help" her) and character
"Sir K, the Viscount of Uppity-shire...." -- kissmycookie
#22re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 11:57amSome people who have posted in this thread must not have read the title. It's "Worst Performances by a GIFTED actor". If some of the people mentioned in this thread are supposed to be gifted then god help us.
"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"
ShbrtAlley44
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/1/03
#23re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 12:01pmKevin Spacey in "See No Evil, Hear No Evil."
gherbert
Leading Actor Joined: 11/1/03
#24re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor
Posted: 12/10/04 at 1:06pm
Sondheimluvchild ----
While I do not doubt you at all and Judi Dench may have been putrid, but Hal Prince purposely cast Sallys that were not polished singers to say that Sally had not become the star of the Cabaret for her talent but for *cough cough* -- uh, other reasons. This is one of the reasons that Liza Minelli lost the role to Jill Hayworth on Broadway. However, after Miss Hayworth left she was replaced by polished Anita Gillete. But I am thinking that Dench's lack of a voice was purposeful.
