Home to 41 theaters, Broadway is the pinnacle of most professional performers’ careers. Some people work a lifetime to see their names in shining lights on one of the biggest stages in the world. This high distinction, however, is slowly becoming just another box on a checklist for celebrities that want to broaden their repertoire. Also known as stunt casting, this act is more than a bucket list item; it’s a slow decay of what Broadway once was.
Stunt casting is when a celebrity — sometimes even a non-actor — is cast in a show to draw attention and commercial success. When a main performer’s six-month-to-one-year run on Broadway is over, producers look to find replacements. Most of the time, newer Broadway shows stick to traditional casting calls and look for talent that fits the role and is used to the Broadway environment. However, if they are in financial trouble, they rely on stunt casting to be in the spotlight again. The show “& Juliet” began its official run in 2022 and was the center of a lot of talk for its spin on the classic Romeo and Juliet and its classification as a jukebox musical. After a few years, however, it was not getting much media attention. In 2024 they introduced Charli D’Amelio as a featured backup dancer. Her known presence on social media and background as a dancer was a heavy contribution to her receiving the role. Since then, she has become more than just the ensemble performer she was originally cast as. She was featured in articles and interviewed for a five-second dance feature that gained attention. With one casting choice, “& Juliet” was back in the news.
When it comes to revivals, the main focus is to make money off a known story. A lot of known shows from the past decade have featured celebrities to draw more viewers. “Little Shop of Horrors” is a Broadway classic, and its 2019 revival has been known to recycle the two leads with stars including Corbin Bleu, Darren Criss and Constance Wu. At the beginning of this year the show made their biggest stunt yet with Milo Mannheim from Disney’s “Zombies” and Liz Gillies from “Victorious” in the leading roles. These actors all have some experience with singing, but there is a large gap between singing experience and being able to perform 8 times a week on Broadway.
I would not go as far as to say all of these celebrities performed awfully during their run on Broadway. In fact, a lot of them were not bad. However, examples such as influencer Cameron Dallas being offered the role of Aaron Samuels in the production of “Mean Girls” prove that not all celebrities are meant to be on Broadway. Dallas’ character’s singing parts were taken out, modifying the role so he could play it, which also put more strain on his co-stars to fill the gap. The producers of this show, along with many others, took the easy way out by bringing on a celebrity who could do a mediocre job instead of picking from the thousands of aspiring performers who have trained and waited for years to make their debut.
The stunt casting of Billy Porter in “Cabaret” is an especially egregious example. Porter has become the laughingstock of Broadway for his interesting take on the role of Emcee from the production. His drawn-out singing and facial choices took audience members out of the show; instead of watching the character, the audience was just watching Billy Porter. This proves once again that just because someone can carry a tune and is an actor does not mean they can do justice to an iconic Broadway role.
Not only do celebrities often fall short, but Broadway makes a spectacle of the stars’ runs, spiking ticket prices and drawing audiences who are fans of the actor, not people who are there for the sake of seeing a show. Casting directors and producers should take the risk of casting an unknown performer, instead of capitalizing on celebrity status to bring a show back to life. Broadway should return to its roots as an accessible stage for hopeful performers and separate itself from stars who were made for the screen.