Actors that phoned in their performance- Page 4
Actors that phoned in their performance
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#75re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 8/25/06 at 7:07pm
"I adored her in Urinetown, but she was just entirely miscast as Yente."
And she replaced Barbara Barrie, who they kicked out because they thought she was miscast as Yente.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#76re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 8/25/06 at 7:11pmMaybe it was just weak, weak material, but Bernadette Peters in The Goodbye Girl. They gave her nothing to work with and she did nothing with it.
"Love Life. Live." Michael Bennett
Al Dente
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#77re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 8/25/06 at 7:12pm
"in fact, it kind of bothers me that Miss Gambatease is such a big star now; there are many energetic ensemble members who give their all to shows that deserve to be on the way up rather than her"
No flaming here either except to say, on what planet is Gambetese "such a big star now"? Not the case at all.
I think Ruprecht pointed out the ensembles of many shows being terribly guilty of the phoning in thing and I will concur. Chicago is one that stands out in my mind and I haven't seen it in a long time, so I can't imagine how bad it is now. My list is too long and most have already been mentioned.
It seems to be the malaise that happens when you do the same show 8 times a week and are not either gifted, or grateful enough to make it interesting for yourself and the audience each and every time. There are plently of actors that *can* and do keep it fresh no matter how long they've been with a cast. That's a pro.
#78re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 8/25/06 at 8:52pm
No flaming here either except to say, on what planet is Gambetese "such a big star now"? Not the case at all.
When you are the lead in a new Disney musical, I believe you are a big star (at least to us in the Broadway World)
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#79re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 8/25/06 at 9:31pm
I'm sad to hear Jenn's name in the category of phoned in preformances, I saw her in All Shook Up and she was so engertic and full of life, I can't believe someone would say she phoned in her preformance. Did you happen to see Jenn in HAIRSPRAY when she was a standby or U/S, usually they want the U/S or standby to be like the actor who they U/S or standby so audiences won't feel cheated out on an experience.
Jenn is a star. Yes, but a big one- perhaps not to most, but to me- she's a star, an amazing one too.
#80re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 8/25/06 at 10:45pmWell, I thought Alexander Gemignani was supposed to look all phoned in because he intended for that character to be that way in order to elicit laughs.
Understudy Joined: 12/31/69
#81re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 8/25/06 at 11:50pm
Yul Brynner in THE KING AND I in the 1977 revival that played the Uris.
He looked like he couldn't have cared less and was completely devoid of energy. I turned to my friend and said "Are we keeping him up?"
#82re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 8/26/06 at 2:34am
Marica Lewis in Chicago.
We were excited to get a chance to see her perform in the SF leg of the tour a couple of years back and were really let down by her performance. She BARELY sang "When You're Good to Mama" and after hearing her on the cast recording so many times, I thought for sure she'd be great in person.
She walked through all her scenes with nary an emotion on her face, and didn't play well with the rest of the cast. This may have been the Bianca Marroquin tour verison, or maybe Stephanie Pope's..or maybe both of them! I remember Kevin Richardson doing a better job than her that night.
I had seen her in Busker Alley years before that and enjoyed her performance in that flop more!
"My dreams, watching me said, one to the other...this life has let us down."
Bal
Leading Actor Joined: 10/19/04
#83re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 8/26/06 at 2:55amIn response to those who asked; I guess 'big star' was a poor choice of words, but I meant really among BWW and the like; she's the lead in Tarzan, she had a lead in All Shook Up, and people tend to adore her. I saw her three years ago in Hairspray, when I was fifteen.
"Well, obviously Company is about the Kennedy family. Bobby is played by Raul, and JFK is played by Harvey Fierstein."
-vfd88
#84re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 8/26/06 at 4:51am
About a year ago (and I cant imagine it having changed much since) - the ENTIRE cast of BEAUTY & THE BEAST. I have never seen a worse performance of anything in my life. And I've seen some crap, but they collectively as a whole werent even trying.
And to even mention Bernadette Peters for GYPSY or Beth Leavel for DROWSY to me is really random and bizzare. If either of their performances were or are being phoned in, in both of their roles, the whole shows wouldnt work. Peters gave 150% each of the 5 times I saw her in GYPSY, and the same goes for BL the 5 times Ive seen her in DROWSY.
#85re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 8/26/06 at 8:59am
"but to me- she's a star"
Aaaaawwwwwwww.
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
To Kill A Mockingbird
To Kill A Mockingbird
americanboy99
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/06
#86re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 8/26/06 at 9:52amIdina Menzel in AIDA. She just looked mad the whole time that she wasn't singing RENT.
GladysBumps
Stand-by Joined: 5/14/03
#87re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 8/26/06 at 10:51am
Dame effing Judi Dench in "Amy's Room"
We all know certain English actors are completely technical and wouldn't dream of being "in the moment," or varying their performances one iota, BUT, the evening I saw it, there was a moment which took place in what was supposed to be Dame effing Judi's living room, which proved this rigidity truly counter productive. One of her guests dropped his drink on the floor, completely shattering the glass. Although this happened not two feet downstage from where the hostess was sitting, Dame Dench did not budge. At an opportune moment, he stooped down and picked up the shards of glass, which he held in his bleeding hand throughout the scene, and took with him upon his exit. Most American trained actors might have learned the room, been aware that there was a nice little waste paper basket by the desk, and in character, true to their role as hostess, improvised something, relieving their fellow actor of their burden. Not our Dame effing Judi, on automatic pilot, she allowed the poor bastard go fish. Ot course the entier audience was focused on the man's prediciment, sending the entire scene right down the tubes, so in her reluctance to deviate from her etched in stone performance, she shot herself in the foot.
#88re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 8/26/06 at 10:51am
Judy Holliday phoned it in, every single show!
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
jjoey076
Stand-by Joined: 8/13/06
#89re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 8/26/06 at 10:57amOn July 2, a little while before she left on medical leave, Laura Benanti totally phoned in her TWS performance. It was horrid, and the jokes were just...ugh.
Millie Lammoreaux
Featured Actor Joined: 7/3/05
#90re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 8/26/06 at 11:16amFrank Rich once told me the same thing billyweeds said about Streisand in "Funny Girl." Uncommitted, goofing off on stage.
It's too early for noches.
Parks
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/5/04
#91re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 8/26/06 at 11:22am
-JP in the Hairspray tour
-The Motormouth Maybell (sp) on the Hairspray tour
-Shoshana Bean in Wicked in March 2005 (I don't know what it was--I guess she just had this really great reputation and people built her up to be so good, that I was expecting the most amazing performance EVER. Also, it was Stacie Morgain Lewis' first performance--so she may have felt it was her chance to finally phone in a performance so that Stacie could shine?)
-Saycon Sengbloh in Wicked in July 2005-Obviously as an understudy. She was so quiet, the show almost put me to sleep. The show had almost NO energy. It was actually the entire ensemble too.
-Chicago's ensemble this past March. I saw the show in July 2005, and it was AMAZING--I said it was the most energy I had ever seen on stage, but when I went back to the show in March, they were so...not into it. Not half as good.
"If it walks like a Parks, if it wobbles like a Parks, then it's definitely fat and nobody loves it." --MA
JustABroadwaybaby2
Broadway Star Joined: 4/6/06
#92re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 8/26/06 at 1:49pmFat Craplan in Rent. He looked so bored. But then, it makes me wonder why he didn't leave sooner!
"I'm thinking about how if you took the W in
answer, and the H in ghost, and the extra A in aardvark, and the T in listen, you could keep saying WHAT but no one would ever hear you because the whole word would be silent."
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andrcort
Swing Joined: 2/5/14
#93re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 7/28/14 at 3:07pmI wanted to bump this thread. Since the last post in 2006, have you guys seen any other performances with actors phoning in?
iluvtheatertrash
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/9/04
#94re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 7/28/14 at 3:23pmI'll second Blanchard in Beauty and The Beast. One of the worst performances I've ever seen in my life.
"I know now that theatre saved my life." - Susan Stroman
Sutton Ross
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
#95re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 7/28/14 at 3:27pmThe entire cast of Newsies for the past year.
PJPan
Featured Actor Joined: 5/6/13
#96re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 7/28/14 at 3:32pmNot Broadway, but last year when I saw "Avenue Q" the actors playing Gary Coleman and Brian just felt so damn lethargic. No energy, no life. The rest of the cast were striking in comparison.
#97re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 7/28/14 at 3:46pmSherie Rene Scott has been very hit and miss for me.
Stage Door Sally
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/4/09
#98re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 7/28/14 at 4:03pmIt seemed to me Daniel Radcliffe phoned it in at the performance I saw of The Cripple of Inishmaan. A week later, the show's closing was announced. Don't know if that affected him.
willep
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/08
#99re: Actors that phoned in their performance
Posted: 7/28/14 at 4:20pm
Uh, Cripple was always a limited engagement with a known closing date.
Updated On: 7/28/14 at 04:20 PM
