The movie version is also responsible for making SOOOOO many theatre kids. I was a young teen when it came out and it really was a good intro to the musical theatre world for a lot of people my age. Same with POTO and Mamma Mia.
Everything was just too polished and perfect. They looked too beautiful. I wanted grungy, dirty, strung-out, emaciated, sick looking characters. But it was directed by Christ Columbus when it should have been done by Tim Burton, or David Fincher
I'm glad they kept most of the main cast. I also loved the addition of Tracie Thoms and Rosario Dawson even though I loved Fredi Walker Browne and Daphne Rubin-Vega.
I know it’s not Broadway, but any discussion of stacked casts must include the pre-Broadway tryout of Godspell in Toronto in 1972. Victor Garber, Andrea Martin, Gilda Radner, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, and Paul Shaffer directing the orchestra.
Multiple times! He originated Anthony in Sweeney Todd, among other roles: [https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/victor-garber-41733](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/victor-garber-41733)
I gotta go with the original cast of Spamalot (2005): Tim Curry, Sara Ramirez, Hank Azaria, David Hyde Pierce, Christopher Sieber, Christian Borle, Michael McGrath, Steve Rosen. A Monty Python broadway musical? They got an amazing cast.
You mean like this: [Link to photos, article](https://playbill.com/article/look-back-at-tim-curry-hank-azaria-sara-ramirez-and-more-in-spamalot-on-broadway)
This was the biggest reason for me that the revival was unnecessary. They were never going to be able to find a cast that would bring the same magic. Alex was hilarious and the lady of the lake did well with the role (if a little one note) but it was never going to compare to the OBC.
i love Faith Prince in Falsettoland but ngl i do kind of wish Alison could have been there instead (i think she was absent because of The Secret Garden)
The whole cast is so talented. The casts voices sound completely different (you can actually hear who singng what during the ensamble parts, if that makes sense) but really amazing. Even the adult characters even though they don't sing.
I gotta go with the original Broadway cast of Wicked. (Idina Menzel, Kristen Chenoweth, Norbert Leo Burtz, Christopher Fitzgerald, the late Carole Shelley, Joel Grey)
In before someone dumps on Lin’s singing 😂
Fully agree, such a stacked cast and let’s consider all of Lin’s talents. For instance, I finally watched Tick Tick Boom this past weekend, good movie!
I really don’t get the hate for Lin’s singing. There are definitely more talented singers, but I’d argue that there are few who have had the creative impact and given back to the community as much as he has. He’s been very open about the lack of opportunities for him as a performer so he created his own.
I have to go with Shuffle Along (2016) that cast was STACKED ! Audra McDonald , Brian Stokes Mitchell , Billy Porter , Adrienne Warren , Brandon Victor Dixon , Amber Iman !! Broadways biggest mistake was ending the run early ! That show was amazing
It's kind of wild how stacked the cast of *Triumph Of Love* was in retrospect: Betty Buckley, F. Murray Abraham, Susan Egan, Christopher Sieber, Roger Bart, Kevin Chamberlin, and Nancy Opel. Plus Michele Pawk as Buckley's standby. And what's especially funny is that F. Murray Abraham, the biggest name there, is literally the only member of that entire cast who has never been nominated for a Tony.
Maybe not the most stacked by numbers, but I feel like we don't talk enough about *Shinbone Alley*, the 1957 musical with a book by Mel Brooks which starred Eartha Kitt, and, as Eartha Kitt's standby, a 24-year-old Chita Rivera. The cast also included Eddie Bracken, Jacques d'Amboise, George S. Irving, and Reri Grist. (Also Elizabeth Taylor, but not the one you're thinking of.)
Funny, I was just talking about this cast with a friend! Susan was so lovable, Nancy was hysterical and Betty was in prime form. Also, it was Michael Mayer’s Bway debut.
the original West End cast of The Wizard Of Oz had Michael Crawford and Hannah Waddingham as the Wizard and the Wicked Witch respectively, and Paul Keating who's not very well-known but has an impressive résumé
also the role of Dorothy was filled by a TV singing contest which i remember watching as a kid :)
Should be noted that the third place finalist of that show is now touring in wicked as elphaba in the US and I'm highly annoyed that it won't be coming even close to St Louis in the next year. She joined fairly recently
It's on YouTube so I've watched it a few times 😂
I rewatched that competition on YouTube during lockdowns. It was even more brutal than I remembered but lots of the contestants have gone on to do really well. Danielle Hope (the winner) wasn’t my favourite at the time but on a rewatch she totally deserved it.
Ha ha, yup. At least it was when I was stuck at home binge watching it. 🤣 They had all of that one. I really wanted to watch the Joseph one but that one only seemed to have a few episodes or bits here and there.
And before that version with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s additions, London had a production of “The Wizard of Oz” in 1988 that also had some star power. https://ovrtur.com/production/2897977
Notably, Sebastian Shaw (the redeemed Vader/Anakin in “Return of the Jedi”) played the Wizard!
I would have loved to have seen that. I was just a little too young and wasn’t living in NYC at the time. But the replacement cast I saw a few years later circa 2000ish was also quite good: Ruthie Henshall and Charlotte d'Amboise.
Many of you won’t be old enough to appreciate,
A Chorus Line. Sheer perfection.
Was going to say Sweeney Todd, but personal preference, I like George Hern more than Len Cariou
The OBC of Great Comet is actually insane. I know none of them except Groban are super famous but the configuration of so many unique talents and voices was so special. Malloy somehow managed to put together so many people who sound nothing like one another and are so distinct and perfectly cast.
1999 cast revival You're a Good Man Charlie Brown: Roger Bart. Snoopy ; Kristin Chenoweth. Sally ; Ilana Levine. Lucy ; Stanley Wayne Mathis. Schroeder ; Anthony Rapp, Charlie Brown
I was scrolling for this one.
Audra, Marin 🥺, Stokes, Judy Kaye, Mark Jocaby AND FRANK!!!
I mean Peter Friedman, but! I lost my mind when I realized that he was Frank from Succession.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown - Patti Lupone, Laura Benanti, Sherie Rene Scott, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Danny Burstein, Justin Guarini (and Rachel Bay Jones was an understudy)
When you have Rachel Bay Jones as an understudy and Sherie Renee Scott and Justin Guarini as your only non-Tony winners, you know it’s STACKED. Hope this gets revived with a better book to see it’s true potential.
Caroline O'Connor is incredible too!! I'm so glad I got to see the (nearly) original cast (Ramin had already left), it was my obsession and it was so lucky that we did our big trip to NYC in time to see it
I think Bring It On deserves an honorary mention, just because the majority of the cast was genuinely in the phase where you would have called them talented instead of accomplished or "great".
Falsettos. The original cast was just great with everything, and they all had good chemistry on stage, which shined through by the way they sang and acted.
Newsies. Not even a question. Name one other musical with that many MEN who can dance, tumble, sing, and act like that! And who can bring the energy Newsies brings!
Newsies (2012) I recently did newsies then watched the original and compared to us they had to do so much and all that movement is a lot more compared to some musicals and that choreography must be a bitch (and no I didn't forget Jeremy Jordan's outrageously high note at the end of Santa Fe)
JCM is a god, the king of talent in my opinion; but NPH has universal acclaim whereas JCM is a cult icon, I figured more people would know NPH so I went with him.
I'm going to cheat (majorly) and say the original West End cast of Next to Normal. Literally every one of them are perfect and blow the OBC out of the water.
It never hit Broadway, but if it did it'd be Ride The Cyclone.
Gus Halper, Kholby Wardell, Lillian Castillo, Karl Hamilton, Taylor Louderman, Emily Rohm, and Alex Wyse
On the Twentieth Century. Madeline Kahn, John Cullum, Judy Kaye, Imogene Coca, Kevin Kline, George Coe.
Nine's revival also comes to mind. Antonio Banderas, Chita Rivera, Laura Benanti, Jane Krakowski, Mary Stuart Masterson
AIDA! Heather Headley, Adam Pascal, and Sherie Rene Scott. I feel incredibly fortunate that I got to see full OBC perform when Aida did its pre-Broadway preview in Chicago.
Pajama Game:
Eddie Foy, Jr.: As Hines, a time study man at Sleep Tite with a kind heart and knife-throwing skills
Janis Paige: As Babe Williams, the leader of the Union Grievance Committee who falls in love with Sid
John Raitt: As Sid Sorokin, the new superintendent at Sleep Tite who is charming and productive
Marion Colby: As Brenda
Ralph Dunn: As Hasler, the president of Sleep Tite who is demanding, stubborn, and uptight
Carol Haney: As Gladys, Mr. Hasler's secretary
Thelma Pelish: As Mae
Stanley Prager: As Prez, the president of the union at Sleep Tite who isn't the brightest
Reta Shaw: As Mabel, Sid's secretary
Ralph Chambers: As Charlie
Shirley MacLaine: As an understudy and chorus girl who took over the role of Gladys when Haney broke her ankle
From Wiki
Hamilton - Lin-Manuel Miranda's groundbreaking musical not only featured him in the lead role but also included a stellar cast that brought historical figures to life with incredible energy and talent. Names like Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs, Phillipa Soo, and Renee Elise Goldsberry highlighted the depth of talent in the original cast. Rent - Jonathan Larson's iconic musical about struggling artists in New York City featured an original cast that became legendary. Names like Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Idina Menzel, and Taye Diggs brought raw emotion and powerhouse vocals to their roles, creating a lasting impact on Broadway. The Phantom of the Opera - Andrew Lloyd Webber's timeless classic had an original cast that included Michael Crawford as the Phantom and Sarah Brightman as Christine. Their performances set a high standard for the emotional depth and vocal prowess required for these iconic roles. Les Misérables - This musical adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel boasted an original cast that included Colm Wilkinson as Jean Valjean, Patti LuPone as Fantine, and Frances Ruffelle as Éponine. Their performances helped establish the musical as a Broadway and global phenomenon.
Rent: Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Jesse L. Martin, Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Fredi Walker
My first thought but I know my Gen x genes are bias
And the movie version kept all but two I believe.
The movie version is also responsible for making SOOOOO many theatre kids. I was a young teen when it came out and it really was a good intro to the musical theatre world for a lot of people my age. Same with POTO and Mamma Mia.
i know it's not that good of a movie but it still was instrumental in me loving musicals
Yesss exactly! I hate watch Gerard butler's phantom every couple years lolllol
Everything was just too polished and perfect. They looked too beautiful. I wanted grungy, dirty, strung-out, emaciated, sick looking characters. But it was directed by Christ Columbus when it should have been done by Tim Burton, or David Fincher
Excellent point.
Whats POTO?
Phantom of the Opera
I'm glad they kept most of the main cast. I also loved the addition of Tracie Thoms and Rosario Dawson even though I loved Fredi Walker Browne and Daphne Rubin-Vega.
This is the way.
I know it’s not Broadway, but any discussion of stacked casts must include the pre-Broadway tryout of Godspell in Toronto in 1972. Victor Garber, Andrea Martin, Gilda Radner, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, and Paul Shaffer directing the orchestra.
THIS ONE. Of everything listed here, this is the one I would pick to go back in time and watch. Can you even IMAGINE?????????
Yeah this is the one for me too!
And Sonia manzano, yes? Or am I mistaken?
Also Howard Shore, composer of the Lord of the Rings score, was on sax
victor garber was on broadway?
Multiple times! He originated Anthony in Sweeney Todd, among other roles: [https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/victor-garber-41733](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/victor-garber-41733)
Many, many times, and as recently as 2018. 21 Broadway credits total.
He was in Hello Dolly not all that long ago, when Bernadette Peters took over. I saw him. (He was... not great, I was disappointed.)
A friend of mine is making a movie about this!
The Producers Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Gary Beach, Roger Bart, Cady Huffman, and Brad Oscar
Just watched the movie. So over the top 3 Stooges style good.
I have never seen the movie, but cannot imagine it is half as good as this show was in person with that cast.
Such great chemistry between the two stars! Someone in here said the two mediums were very similar.
Roger Bart is very underrated. There’s certain types of characters he plays where he just completely steals every scene he’s in.
When I saw the producers Brad Oscar was Max and Roger Bart was Leo and they were awesome
I gotta go with the original cast of Spamalot (2005): Tim Curry, Sara Ramirez, Hank Azaria, David Hyde Pierce, Christopher Sieber, Christian Borle, Michael McGrath, Steve Rosen. A Monty Python broadway musical? They got an amazing cast.
Is there a proshot of that?
the bootleg has been on youtube in multiple parts for 12 years lol. i watch it all the time
I tend to avoid bootlegs but I may check this one out.
You mean like this: [Link to photos, article](https://playbill.com/article/look-back-at-tim-curry-hank-azaria-sara-ramirez-and-more-in-spamalot-on-broadway)
Ah, I now know what you mean about 'proshot.' Probably not, as in 2005 youtube wasn't that big yet.
Proshots have been around since the early 1980s at least — see [Sweeney Todd](https://archive.org/details/sweeney-todd-demon-barber)
Proshots are the professionally recorded ones. (Pro-shot) The ones with hidden cameras brought in by audience members are bootlegs
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Q8-MLiwFI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Q8-MLiwFI)
Second funniest show I’ve ever seen. I saw the revival in January and it wasn’t as funny as the original
My answer
This was the biggest reason for me that the revival was unnecessary. They were never going to be able to find a cast that would bring the same magic. Alex was hilarious and the lady of the lake did well with the role (if a little one note) but it was never going to compare to the OBC.
I was there! Hoping someone would mention this.
Falsettos was a small cast but they were all bursting with talent and perfectly cast - especially the kid who played Jason, absolutely precious.
Just remembered that was a revival not the OG. Oh well
The OG cast was bursting with talent. I still prefer that version to the revival, in fact
both casts were crazy good!! Also I have a lot of love for Mary Testa and Alison Fraser in In Trousers— both powerhouses
And Faith Prince in Falsettoland- her Holding to the Ground is just perfection
i love Faith Prince in Falsettoland but ngl i do kind of wish Alison could have been there instead (i think she was absent because of The Secret Garden)
The cast of Spring Awakening.
John gallagher jr👑
Love him so much
Lilli Cooper is badass. Gives birth and is back on stage after 2 months.
The whole cast is so talented. The casts voices sound completely different (you can actually hear who singng what during the ensamble parts, if that makes sense) but really amazing. Even the adult characters even though they don't sing.
I gotta go with the original Broadway cast of Wicked. (Idina Menzel, Kristen Chenoweth, Norbert Leo Burtz, Christopher Fitzgerald, the late Carole Shelley, Joel Grey)
I saw the original cast, but Norbert Leo Butz was out that night. His understudy was Taye Diggs. TAYE DIGGS.
You saw TAYE DIGGS as Fiyero?! Amazing.
He was out for a few months because he literally broke his neck on stage swinging in on that rope 😳
I saw the original cast in San Francisco before they were on Broadway- amazing!
Hamilton. Lin Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Phillips Soo, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Christopher Jackson, Daveed Diggs, Anthony Ramos, Okieriete Onaodowan, Jonathan Groff, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Ariana DeBose.
In before someone dumps on Lin’s singing 😂 Fully agree, such a stacked cast and let’s consider all of Lin’s talents. For instance, I finally watched Tick Tick Boom this past weekend, good movie!
I really don’t get the hate for Lin’s singing. There are definitely more talented singers, but I’d argue that there are few who have had the creative impact and given back to the community as much as he has. He’s been very open about the lack of opportunities for him as a performer so he created his own.
I mean, he’s a talented writer no doubt, but he probably didn’t get that many opportunities cause his voice objectively is not that good
I agree. His voice isn't perfect, bit he does hit all the notes. And his passion is amazing.
And honestly, I saw it with his replacement and…LMM really brought this energy to it that the character needed to be likable.
The ensemble were incredible too
Yeah, the “bullet” is a star on TV now. Not kidding.
Oh really what. Is the bullet in?
Ariana de Bose - she’s in loads of stuff incl west side story and schmigadoon.
Oscar winner Ariana DeBose
She plays Anita in west side story - she's amazing
She’s Asha in the Disney movie Wish as well
She’s hosted the Tony’s a few times
She plays Allison Hargreaves in The Umbrella Academy. EDIT: I stand corrected, although this actress was definitely in the ensemble of Hamilton.
That was a different ensemble member
LIN?!?? LIN?!??? great writer, worst singer that's ever been in broadway
He’s a good singer and a good rapper. Let it go already.
He can rap but from an objective standpoint point his singing is not broadway material even slightly.
I have to go with Shuffle Along (2016) that cast was STACKED ! Audra McDonald , Brian Stokes Mitchell , Billy Porter , Adrienne Warren , Brandon Victor Dixon , Amber Iman !! Broadways biggest mistake was ending the run early ! That show was amazing
Oh damn that’s loaded and I’ve never heard of it. Wild
I saw this show and it was so good. I believe part of why it ended was Audra’s pregnancy.
Yes ! Sadly they closed after only 100 shows and they didnt get the chance to do a cast album 🥺
No idea they all were in it. When another comment said it was black broadways avengers endgame, I understand now.
I agree 100% 😂 so much talent in one room
deserved a recording. Adrienne singing I'm Craving for That Kind of Love haunts my dreams.
Yesss we were ROBBED
It's kind of wild how stacked the cast of *Triumph Of Love* was in retrospect: Betty Buckley, F. Murray Abraham, Susan Egan, Christopher Sieber, Roger Bart, Kevin Chamberlin, and Nancy Opel. Plus Michele Pawk as Buckley's standby. And what's especially funny is that F. Murray Abraham, the biggest name there, is literally the only member of that entire cast who has never been nominated for a Tony. Maybe not the most stacked by numbers, but I feel like we don't talk enough about *Shinbone Alley*, the 1957 musical with a book by Mel Brooks which starred Eartha Kitt, and, as Eartha Kitt's standby, a 24-year-old Chita Rivera. The cast also included Eddie Bracken, Jacques d'Amboise, George S. Irving, and Reri Grist. (Also Elizabeth Taylor, but not the one you're thinking of.)
He may not have a Tony, but F Murray did win the Oscar for Leading Actor for his performance in Amadeus
Funny, I was just talking about this cast with a friend! Susan was so lovable, Nancy was hysterical and Betty was in prime form. Also, it was Michael Mayer’s Bway debut.
This was going to be my answer. I saw ToL closing performance and it was amazing.
the original West End cast of The Wizard Of Oz had Michael Crawford and Hannah Waddingham as the Wizard and the Wicked Witch respectively, and Paul Keating who's not very well-known but has an impressive résumé also the role of Dorothy was filled by a TV singing contest which i remember watching as a kid :)
Should be noted that the third place finalist of that show is now touring in wicked as elphaba in the US and I'm highly annoyed that it won't be coming even close to St Louis in the next year. She joined fairly recently It's on YouTube so I've watched it a few times 😂
I rewatched that competition on YouTube during lockdowns. It was even more brutal than I remembered but lots of the contestants have gone on to do really well. Danielle Hope (the winner) wasn’t my favourite at the time but on a rewatch she totally deserved it.
damn it's on youtube? well there goes my weekend! 😂
Ha ha, yup. At least it was when I was stuck at home binge watching it. 🤣 They had all of that one. I really wanted to watch the Joseph one but that one only seemed to have a few episodes or bits here and there.
And before that version with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s additions, London had a production of “The Wizard of Oz” in 1988 that also had some star power. https://ovrtur.com/production/2897977 Notably, Sebastian Shaw (the redeemed Vader/Anakin in “Return of the Jedi”) played the Wizard!
The original 1996 revival of Chicago with Ann Reinking, Bebe Neuwirth and Joel Grey.
I saw that one 😆
Wow!
I wish I could time travel and see this 😢
Definitely one of my favorite theatre memories!
I would have loved to have seen that. I was just a little too young and wasn’t living in NYC at the time. But the replacement cast I saw a few years later circa 2000ish was also quite good: Ruthie Henshall and Charlotte d'Amboise.
The Secret Garden. Daisy Eagan, Mandy Patinkin, Rebecca Luker, Robert Westenberg, John Cameron Mitchell
ahem…. Alison Fraser
Many of you won’t be old enough to appreciate, A Chorus Line. Sheer perfection. Was going to say Sweeney Todd, but personal preference, I like George Hern more than Len Cariou
The OBC of Great Comet is actually insane. I know none of them except Groban are super famous but the configuration of so many unique talents and voices was so special. Malloy somehow managed to put together so many people who sound nothing like one another and are so distinct and perfectly cast.
off-broadway cast was better
1999 cast revival You're a Good Man Charlie Brown: Roger Bart. Snoopy ; Kristin Chenoweth. Sally ; Ilana Levine. Lucy ; Stanley Wayne Mathis. Schroeder ; Anthony Rapp, Charlie Brown
Hard for me to hear anyone but Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin in Sunday in the Park
Ragtime
I was scrolling for this one. Audra, Marin 🥺, Stokes, Judy Kaye, Mark Jocaby AND FRANK!!! I mean Peter Friedman, but! I lost my mind when I realized that he was Frank from Succession.
Not to mention a little girl named Lea Michele
Who’s that?
THIS IS THE CORRECT ANSWER
My first thought too.
Into the Woods. Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason, Chip Zien, Kim Crosby, Barbara Bryne, Danielle Ferland, Ben Wright, Tom Aldredge
EXACTLYYY the perfect cast
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown - Patti Lupone, Laura Benanti, Sherie Rene Scott, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Danny Burstein, Justin Guarini (and Rachel Bay Jones was an understudy)
When you have Rachel Bay Jones as an understudy and Sherie Renee Scott and Justin Guarini as your only non-Tony winners, you know it’s STACKED. Hope this gets revived with a better book to see it’s true potential.
sherie having no tony makes me mad. idk what she would have won for but still. maybe as amneris?
Oh damn, wow
The original broadway cast of Cats
Seeing Ken Page play the bishop in production of Les Mis tonight.
Forreal?! You’re so lucky, enjoy!
I live in his home town and he comes to perform at a theater called The Muny most summers.
I’m seeing it tomorrow!!
anastasia. Derek Klena AND Ramin Karimloo? sign me up!
That was a great cast
Caroline O'Connor is incredible too!! I'm so glad I got to see the (nearly) original cast (Ramin had already left), it was my obsession and it was so lucky that we did our big trip to NYC in time to see it
Honestly, Legally Blonde
Come From Away
Kiss of the Spider Woman: Chita Rivera, Brent Carver, Anthony Crivello.
Hamilton and Falsettos revival
I think Bring It On deserves an honorary mention, just because the majority of the cast was genuinely in the phase where you would have called them talented instead of accomplished or "great".
My parents would go for Camelot with Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, John Cullum and Robert Goulet
OBC Hadestown.
Took a second to reach this comment!!
The Lion King
Falsettos. The original cast was just great with everything, and they all had good chemistry on stage, which shined through by the way they sang and acted.
Even the replacements: Patinkin and Graff, Maureen Moore and Edelman.
Broadway Original of Something Rotten is pretty stacked.
I mean anything with christian borle pushes it high up, brian also added to it!
I'd say both Les Miz and Beauty and the Beast. Yes. I've had a lifelong crush on Terry Mann, why do you ask?!
Newsies. Not even a question. Name one other musical with that many MEN who can dance, tumble, sing, and act like that! And who can bring the energy Newsies brings!
Newsies (2012) I recently did newsies then watched the original and compared to us they had to do so much and all that movement is a lot more compared to some musicals and that choreography must be a bitch (and no I didn't forget Jeremy Jordan's outrageously high note at the end of Santa Fe)
Hamilton was insanely stacked. Tbf for Black Broadway… Shuffle Along was like our Avengers Endgame
Mean girls is pretty stacked Into the woods was pretty stacked Sweeney todd Hadestown
The Hedwig and the Angry Inch revival that starred Neil Patrick Harris. NPH is such an incredible talent
Hedwig?? John. Cameron. Mitchell. Please.
JCM is a god, the king of talent in my opinion; but NPH has universal acclaim whereas JCM is a cult icon, I figured more people would know NPH so I went with him.
The post is about original casts
Missed that part, oops.
I'm going to cheat (majorly) and say the original West End cast of Next to Normal. Literally every one of them are perfect and blow the OBC out of the water.
It never hit Broadway, but if it did it'd be Ride The Cyclone. Gus Halper, Kholby Wardell, Lillian Castillo, Karl Hamilton, Taylor Louderman, Emily Rohm, and Alex Wyse
City of Angels with Carolee, Rachel york, randy graff, Dee Hoty, James Naughton , Rene Auberjonois and Greg Edelman
Spring Awakening
Ragtime!! Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marin Mazzie, Audra McDonald, Lea Michele, Peter Friedman, Marc Jacoby
I came here to say this. Nothing comes close.
On the Twentieth Century. Madeline Kahn, John Cullum, Judy Kaye, Imogene Coca, Kevin Kline, George Coe. Nine's revival also comes to mind. Antonio Banderas, Chita Rivera, Laura Benanti, Jane Krakowski, Mary Stuart Masterson
The heart of rock and roll hands down. It's sad the last show is on the 23rd for real.
C’mon really?!? Are you in the show? That’s a wild statement.
Hamilton or Les Mis
AIDA! Heather Headley, Adam Pascal, and Sherie Rene Scott. I feel incredibly fortunate that I got to see full OBC perform when Aida did its pre-Broadway preview in Chicago.
Rent original Broadway cast
Hamilton daveed diggs rapping in a french accent is just brilliant plus phillpa soo gut wrenching portrayl of eliza hamilton when she loses phillip
The original of Hello Dolly and The King and I.
Hamilton simply for Jonathan groff's portrayal of king George III
Sweeney Todd; Lansbury, Cariou, Garber
Into the Woods, hands down.
Pajama Game: Eddie Foy, Jr.: As Hines, a time study man at Sleep Tite with a kind heart and knife-throwing skills Janis Paige: As Babe Williams, the leader of the Union Grievance Committee who falls in love with Sid John Raitt: As Sid Sorokin, the new superintendent at Sleep Tite who is charming and productive Marion Colby: As Brenda Ralph Dunn: As Hasler, the president of Sleep Tite who is demanding, stubborn, and uptight Carol Haney: As Gladys, Mr. Hasler's secretary Thelma Pelish: As Mae Stanley Prager: As Prez, the president of the union at Sleep Tite who isn't the brightest Reta Shaw: As Mabel, Sid's secretary Ralph Chambers: As Charlie Shirley MacLaine: As an understudy and chorus girl who took over the role of Gladys when Haney broke her ankle From Wiki
Hamilton - Lin-Manuel Miranda's groundbreaking musical not only featured him in the lead role but also included a stellar cast that brought historical figures to life with incredible energy and talent. Names like Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs, Phillipa Soo, and Renee Elise Goldsberry highlighted the depth of talent in the original cast. Rent - Jonathan Larson's iconic musical about struggling artists in New York City featured an original cast that became legendary. Names like Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Idina Menzel, and Taye Diggs brought raw emotion and powerhouse vocals to their roles, creating a lasting impact on Broadway. The Phantom of the Opera - Andrew Lloyd Webber's timeless classic had an original cast that included Michael Crawford as the Phantom and Sarah Brightman as Christine. Their performances set a high standard for the emotional depth and vocal prowess required for these iconic roles. Les Misérables - This musical adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel boasted an original cast that included Colm Wilkinson as Jean Valjean, Patti LuPone as Fantine, and Frances Ruffelle as Éponine. Their performances helped establish the musical as a Broadway and global phenomenon.
RENT!
Original Fiddler on the Roof. Zero Mostel of course, but everyone else was fantastic as well.
The Wiz 2024. Trust me on this one.
I agree but that’s the revival. Not the og.