Fame and recognition outside of the ‘theatre bubble’

Poor Patti =-== how RUDE of Stevie especially since PL is THE name around which this show is being sold, apart from his of course. The general public may not know her but they sure as hell don't know Rosalie. Mel G is the biggest English "name" in the cast.

Patti should sue!

His point is well taken; his timing is not, and all it does is put Patti on the spot. And, in fact, the general (playgoing) public in the US do absolutely know who she is, as she points out in her riposte: she has spent a lifetime on stage cultivating that awareness.

Not one of SS's best moments .....

Mansplaining - is that when a man gets into trouble for putting his views into a debate?

I agree with Sondheim. Most people have heard of Cher but not Pattie. It’s a fact not a put down

He was very brave saying that in front of her though! Mr Sondheim should be very grateful for still being alive! Taxi?

It's true and if you look at the pre show interviews they brought out bake off Mel to be interviewed even though her part is relatively small. Because the public know who she is and not Patti.
It's only MT fans and gays who know Patti.

I get what Sondheim means to an extent - especially if I apply the same logic to the West End. When did we last have a legitimate west end star become a huge box office draw? We’ve had certain names build up a fanbase that enables them to branch out into doing their own solo work, but their names alone don’t guarantee a ticket sale hit.

I assume this is what Sondheim meant anyway. The biggest I can think of here is Kerry Ellis and Rachel Tucker, but both have struggled to find roles post Wicked and both have had to rely on Wicked’s fandom to branch out as solo acts (which is ultimately solo work that doesn’t actually help them find a new audience).

Even if we apply the same here to Company’s cast, the leading lady is one of the least known, despite extensive work in musical theatre over the last decade.

That all said - there’s a huge lack of new musicals that allow a person to build up any sort of name. Even Kerry Ellis has had to rely on big name revivals post Wicked to really create whatever west end stardom she has (including a trip back to Wicked itself).

I accept producers have a responsibility to get bums on seats and if that means getting someone well known in the show, then so be it. But I feel like musical theatre circles could do more to support its own community more - there’s a huge pool of talented, capable performers that can do the material justice... if the material is good enough.

No one outside of theatre/musical theatre knows who Idina is.

Same goes for Tucker and Ellis. Not a clue.

Seriously, the friends I got to musicals with are all MT fans in so much that they see a lot of the stuff I see without having the vested interest in it that I do (as in being involved in the running of a forum). These names are nothing to them. If you describe who they are and what they have done you’ll get an “ohhhhh right” but other than that? No.

Probably Elaine Paige is the only MT name you could mention to people who are not theatre fans and they would show any recognition followed by Imelda Staunton but you would probably have to add "that woman from Harry Potter and Vera Drake".

And Elaine Paige can’t sell many seats- as Drowsey proved.

Her starpower overall has weakened a bit I think. Her last couple of stage outings have not sold very well.