All tagged Zero Mostel

Broadway’s Stout-Hearted Musical Men: 25 Clips of the Most Memorable Male Performances

About a month ago, I celebrated the great divas of Broadway with a tribute to their careers. This month, I thought I’d share a video montage of the men who have shaped Broadway with their talent and larger-than-life personalities. I hope you enjoy curling up and watching these twenty-five videos of the stout-hearted men of Broadway doing some of their finest work.

Mel B's Mistake

You'd have to be living under a theatre rock if you haven't heard about the rigmarole surrounding former Spice Girl Mel B's indiscretion during her final performance as Roxie Hart in the long-running musical Chicago. For those of you who do not know, the pop singer decided to interpolate some lyrics from one of her famous pop songs into the show for her final farewell. The theatre world appears to be of two minds about this move. There are those who stand by the traditions of theatre (and the rules of Actors Equity), finding her actions egregious, pandering to the lowest common denominator of theatre: inserting shtick where neither the authors or production originally intended. There are others, however, that believe that employing Mel B is an example of stunt casting and that it was a clever tip of the hat to her fans (arguably the makeup of that night's audience) to reference her music. In fact, some welcome moments of such shenanigans. Either way, there has been a lot of debate on websites and chat boards over her choice to do this. Having taken a few days to weigh the scenario in my mind and synthesize how I feel about this (not exactly life-ending) infraction, I must side on those who admonish the star for her actions.