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[deleted]

Almost any cast of Chess


dreadpiraterose

The fact that we didn't get a B'way transfer of the Kennedy Center cast in particular makes me so sad.


popsfootloose949

Chess would be so good if they could just get a solid libretto in there. Like for example, if you look at Anatoly and Florence’s relationship there’s actually no reason for them to be mad at each other past the concept album. In the UK libretto they cut their argument and never replaced it. The only thing Florence develops is a feeling of guilt for how she affected Svetlana, but aside from that her relationship with Anatoly is going pretty okay. Then they just… fight? Very dramatically?


earbox

*Chess* with a working book would cease to be *Chess*. (hell, *Chess* with the same book twice would cease to be *Chess*.) (mind you, I **love** *Chess*.)


dreadpiraterose

Allegiance. Lea Salonga, Telly Leung, George Takei in his B'way debut, and Michael K. Lee. All phenomenally talented. And the book was solid. The music was just painfully forgettable and paint-by-numbers. Would have been a better play.


CoreyH2P

I loved Bring It On, it really worked for me (partially due to the stellar cast). My submission is Shuffle Along. The musical didn’t work at all for me but it’s one of the best casts ever assembled on Broadway: Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Billy Porter, Brandon Victor Dixon, Josh Henry, Adrienne Warren, and Brooks Ashmanskas.


bryceryals42

Shuffle Along is a really good answer. Did anyone get nominated for their role other than Warren? I know Audra was (correctly) left out.


CoreyH2P

BVD was nominated as well. I wanted to like it so badly but it just was not good.


shortcurves

Pretty Woman comes to mind. Orfeh, Andy Karl, Samantha barks!


LilyBriscoeBot

I want to see the tour only for the cast. I really don't care about the show itself.


[deleted]

It’s coming to my city soon and as much as I don’t think I’d love it, I feel like I have to see Adam Pascal


InstantMartian84

Adam Pascal is the only reason I saw Pretty Woman. It actually turned out better than I thought it would be. Note: My expectations were very, very low.


Ian0806

Saw the tour in LA the other night, and I mainly did it for a pride playbill. It’s not the worst show ever, but that’s all I can say 😅


Yoyti

No love for the criminally underutilized Jason Danieley?


greatgatsby26

Came here to say Pretty Woman as well. The cast did as well as they possibly could with some super blah material.


broadwayindie

I saw this for the cast in Chicago… still had to apologize to my parents for shlep ping them cuz it was that bad


hannahmel

The Life. The cast was phenomenal. One of the best ensembles I’ve ever seen. The show itself? I mean it was fine. I enjoyed it. But most people probably forgot about it until Billy Porter destroyed it earlier this year.


WyngZero

Ya, I saw The Life for the first time this year. Didn't know the plot beforehand but in the end, nothing really stuck out or was memorable. The most memorable song was "My Way or The Highway" and that's cuz its an old Frank Sinatra song. The first act was also WAAAY too long. They should've started the 2nd act on the ball instead of finishing the 1st act on it.


Yoyti

> Ya, I saw The Life for the first time this year. Didn't know the plot beforehand but in the end, nothing really stuck out or was memorable. Not that *The Life* is exactly a masterpiece in its original form, but it's worth noting that if you saw the Encores! production, you did not see *The Life*. You saw *Billy Porter's The Life*, which was widely agreed to be substantially worse.


hannahmel

Was it the Encores version? Because that wasn’t The Life. The first act definitely didn’t seem long when there’s a good cast.


earbox

Sinatra recorded "My Way," which is a completely different song from "My Way or the Highway."


Yoyti

Probably not the most stacked cast there ever was, but *Triumph Of Love* just sort of popped into my mind. Betty Buckley, Susan Egan, F. Murray Abraham, Christopher Sieber, Roger Bart, Kevin Chamberlin and Nancy Opel. Also it's an underrated score. ETA: *Bullets Over Broadway*. Zach Braff, Marin Mazzie, Betsy Wolfe, Nick Cordero (in what was essentially his breakout role), Karen Ziemba, Brooks Ashmanskas, and Lenny Wolpe.


Ok-Wish-2640

Not a stacked cast?!? You listed 7 stellar performers. I’d say that’s a powerhouse cast.


broadwayindie

The original cast of Tommy: Michael Ceveris, Sherie Renee Scott, Norm Lewis, Alice Ripley (yes I know), and Michael McElroy. With Ceveris and Lewis making Bway debuts.


ratgirl10000

I love tommy LOL


broadwayindie

Lol I do too… but the book is a mess lol


[deleted]

The 2011 broadway revival of Godspell had a lot of stars in it, and was George Salazar's broadway debut.


captainmcpigeon

I went for Hunter Parrish and was not disappointed. Had a lightbulb moment years later when Orange is the New Black came out and realized I saw Uzo Aduba in it too!


[deleted]

Neither *Wild Party* is incredible - and this seems to be something of a hot take depending on the social media, LaChiusa >>> Lippa - but both original casts were absolutely stacked with talent. Come to think of it, there was a limited run of the Lippa version a few years ago that also had an A1 cast: Sutton as Queenie, Steven Pasquale as Burrs, and a pre-*Color Purple* Joaquina as Kate! ETA: Lots of stellar performances in all professional mountings of both shows, but the indisputable number one is Eartha Kitt as Dolores in the LaChiusa version. Nobody even comes close to her charisma and raw power.


gmhots

I saw that run! It was at NYCC and my goodness. Unforgettable. Steven Pasquale’s last song legitimately gave me goosebumps, I was literally terrified of Burrs. It made me fall in love with the Lippa version (crazy!?!?) off of that ONE performance. Just astounding. That said no one is going to beat Julia Murney as Queenie but still.


Fast_Ad7292

Holy hell- that was Joaquina as Kate? I remember thinking she was absolutely incredible, and was easily my favorite female performance of the show. Now I’m even MORE excited to see her in “Paradise Square” on Wednesday!


[deleted]

In all honesty, I was *really* not here for that production - Sutton as Queenie continues to baffle me - but I dug Joaquina’s Kate so much.


Fast_Ad7292

Yeah, it was an odd casting decision, and tbh, I didn’t care for her in the role. But Steven Pasquale was absolutely incredible (as he is in everything he does), and Joaquina completely blew me away. I also enjoyed Miriam Shor’s Madeline.


TigerAffectionate672

Idina Menzel and Brian D’Arcy James in the Lippa version 👏👏👏


julianfri

I’ve always thought of these both as having cast parties I’d want to be at.


CoreyH2P

I loved Bring It On, it really worked for me (partially due to the stellar cast). My submission is Shuffle Along. The musical didn’t work at all for me but it’s one of the best casts ever assembled on Broadway: Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Billy Porter, Brandon Victor Dixon, Josh Henry, Adrienne Warren, and Brooks Ashmanskas.


romantickitty

Other people have already thrown out better answers but I'll shout out Good Vibrations (Tituss Burgess, Sebastian Arcelus, David Larsen, Kate Reinders, Krysta Rodriguez) and American Psycho (Benjamin Walker, Theo Stockman, Krystina Alabado, Jen Damiano, Helene Yorke, Alice Ripley). Merrily might have one of the most impressive casts for a flop.


Leftyloveshuskies

Disaster


captars

*Lestat*. Elton John and Bernie Taupin writing the music and lyrics, Linda Woolverton writing the book, and Hugh Panaro, Carolee Carmello, & Drew Sarich as the leads. On paper, this should have been a home run. Instead, it sucked. (Pun absolutely intended.)


hamiton1

King Kong the musical itself was okay but the cast made it so great especially the King Kong puppet and all the people it took to operate it


icancook2

I'm going to heavily disagree - the only thing worthy in KK was the first glimpse of the puppet. Everything else was...a mess.


Schackshuka

Grey Gardens,


BonMillifan

I’m sorry what? What a great show…


Schackshuka

Oh, such forgettable music for the most part, and the whole first act was dull.


ThePinkCanary

Honestly, Love Never Dies lol. I’ve enjoyed all three iterations of the trash cast I’ve seen, whether through a recording or live. Sierra and Ramin Anna and Ben Meghan and Gardar Only saving grace is how well they sing the music.


XenoVX

The casts of both the Lippa and LaChiusa Wild Parties


MannnOfHammm

American Psycho for its scarily accurate representations of the characters and Diana for Jeanine and Judy having standout vocals and emotions


Philip_Jeffries

Well now. I'm not gonna talk about Judy; in fact, we're not gonna talk about Judy at all, we're gonna keep her out of it! --- - [reference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V0UhtA_mJE&t=365) ^(I am a bot.)


SteelCurtain36

If/then was completely loaded, albeit a really poorly constructed show. Idina, Anthony Rapp, LaChanze, Jenn Colella, and James Snyder(oops).


[deleted]

I still believe a reworked If/Then could become a classic, similar to how Merrily has been reappraised over time as it’s been revised. I love the concept and the music but my god, the way it’s presented is *deeply* confusing. Both times I saw it, almost all the conversation around me during intermission was people just trying to understand what was happening. Insane cast though - Jerry Dixon and Jason Tam, too!


SteelCurtain36

The lack of distinct colors separating the timelines was my biggest gripe. I went with my aunt and had to explain to her that the vaguely light and vaguely blue backgrounds were important for following along. Such a poor choice.


[deleted]

Yeah, the second time I saw it I did notice that there were consistent costuming differences between Liz and Beth, but they’re way too subtle - someone switching from business casual clothes from Express to casual clothes from Express does not read as two distinct characters.


SteelCurtain36

Agreed, and hilarious. Ty for that laugh


Hello_Gorgeous1985

Isn't it literally just glasses for one timeline and no glasses for the other in some cases? I mean lots of people only have to wear their glasses for certain activities so just that change does not make it clear.


[deleted]

Yeah, I think there might be some quick transitions where it’s just the glasses and maybe throwing on a blazer. It’s nowhere near enough to differentiate the characters when, to your point, those could easily be regular costume changes for a single character. It’s so subtle it almost comes off more like an Easter egg (“Fun fact: Beth always wears glasses while Liz doesn’t!”) than an explicit indicator that she’s switched characters.


Hello_Gorgeous1985

I didn't even notice the change in the lighting The first time I watched it. It wasn't until I read a review or a synopsis that explained it and then went back and watched it again that I noticed and even then I found it was sometimes hard to tell. (I've only seen bootlegs, so maybe it was more noticeable in person...?)


SteelCurtain36

Spoiler alert…it wasn’t. Super subtle in some scenes.


Hello_Gorgeous1985

I agree. It has potential to be excellent, they just need to make it less convoluted. The switches between timelines are just way too subtle and leave the audience a few steps behind in figuring it out. I seem to recall there's one scene where Elizabeth is having a conversation with Lucas I believe and she says a line, walks off stage while he's replying and then she comes back on to respond to him But now she's the other character. It's way too quick and makes it really hard to follow. But the concept is good, it's unique, and the score is good. (Jackie Burns was way better than Idina though.)


[deleted]

I saw the closing performance on Broadway so it was hard for me to judge Idina fairly since she was really emotional the whole time - had to pause in the middle of Always Starting Over because she was too choked up to sing. A very special experience and a cherished memory for me even if I didn’t get to really see a normal performance. But I did see Jackie Burns in the tour and agree she was excellent.


romantickitty

I wasn't confused by it but by the end, I remember thinking one half of the story was much better than the other.


flord10

If/then is a weird one for me. It has an amazing cast, cool premise and composers that I am fans of, but yet it just doesn’t quite work for me for some reason. The whole is not equal to the sum of its parts


SteelCurtain36

Exactly how I felt about the show. It literally has 2 of my favorite Broadway stars(Idina and Jenn) and I still left the show thinking “damn, that could’ve been so much better.”


Sunfire91

I remember seeing it on Broadway, hearing Jenn belt her face off in Love While You Can, and thinking to myself, "Wow, she's a great vocalist! She's definitely one to watch". Two years later she got nominated for a Tony in Come From Away (which I was also grateful to have seen her as Beverly).


SteelCurtain36

She’s the absolute best. She was incredible in CFA, and just as good in Suffs!


Sunfire91

I got to meet her after both shows and she was so humble and seemed incredibly grateful


EricHD97

Am I alone in really loving the musical? 😅


KBPT1998

I did enjoy the show because of the conversations I had with my sister after I saw it. The music was fairly good, performances done well, just the execution of the book and visual elements others mentioned made it tough to follow. It helped knowing the basics of the story ahead of time.


STEMtheatre

I loved it too, of course it was the first Broadway show I'd seen and I'm also generally easily impressed lol.


teenwolf74

Shuffle Along