We’ve all worshipped the stars of Broadway at some point, Sutton Foster, Aaron Tveit, Idina Menzel, and for good reason. Some of these people paved the way for what Broadway as a community has change into today. For many of us theater nerds, Wicked was our first experience in the world of musical theater and Broadway and it stills holds a very special place in my heart along with many others. However, while praising the greats is always important, sometimes it causes us to forget about those sometimes less well known actors and actresses who bring something special to a role each time they stand up on stage. Let’s get started!
- Krysta Rodriguez: Most of you have heard of Krysta, whether through Smash or her current Broadway musical First Date. But many people don’t know how much time on stage Krysta has actually contributed. She started her Broadway career in Good Vibrations, which is considered a flop today even though it ran for four months. She then proceeded to work as a swing or understudy in shows like A Chorus Line, Spring Awakening and In The Heights, until she got her lead role as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family. Krysta has covered multiple roles in her Broadway career and had to be ready at a moment’s notice to possibly play the lead in many shows. I think sometimes we forget how hard it can be to be a swing versus playing a lead role and Krysta should get some more recognition for this!
- Andy Mientus: After portraying the role of Hanschen in the first national tour of Spring Awakening, Andy also made his T.V. debut playing the beloved character of Kyle in Smash. News was recently announced that he will finally be making his Broadway debut in the spring in the Les Mis revival, playing the role of Marius. After doing tours, regional productions, and even some off-Broadway work with Carrie, fans will soon appreciate Andy a lot more because of his skyrocket into Broadway fame. His twitter bio currently says that he’s never been on Broadway but he won a Tony on T.V. Luckily that’s changing soon!
- Karen Olivo: Most of you might know her for playing Anita in the West Side Story revival or Vanessa in In The Heights. She won a Tony for the former role and was recently seen off-Broadway in the hit Murder Ballad. She tells a story flawlessly and has also had her fair share of understudy roles like when she understudied and then replaced Mimi in Rent. The emotion in her voice when she sings shows it all and I’m excited to see what her next project will be and you should be too!
- Taylor Trensch: Taylor made his Broadway debut in Wicked a couple years back playing the role of Boq, but is also pretty well known for playing Moritz in the first national tour of Spring Awakening, his recent portrayal of Peter in Bare off-Broadway, and his current Broadway venture playing the comical character of Michael Wormwood in Matilda the Musical. I recently had the pleasure of meeting Taylor after seeing Matilda on my trip to New York and I can say that he is one of the most genuine people I have ever met. He takes time to learn your name, where you’re from, and have a good conversation with you. He’s stated before that his dream role is Richard the III in Richard the III so hopefully down the line he’ll get to portray that role. If you haven’t heard of him watch some of his videos from singing at various events throughout the city, his voice and his emotional connection will make you want to watch out for his next lead role just like me.
Those are just some Broadway actors I really appreciate. Broadway actors in general work very hard at their job and I think if we take some time to realize how much hard work, dedication, and passion goes into their jobs everyday we can appreciate Broadway as a community more!
Photo via Broadway.com