Most insignificant title role?
Most insignificant title role?
Justin Time
Swing Joined: 8/29/04
#0Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 9:49pm
For a variety of reasons, a composer will often name a show after a character, but sometimes not the main one.
Fiddler is an example that may be hard to top, and Oliver is far from the lead, but what other examples can this esteemed group come up with?
#1re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 9:51pmWell, I don't know about insignificant in this case, but the Drowsy Chaperone is definitely NOT the main character in Drowsy.
#2re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 9:53pmThe Mikado doesn't even make his entrance until halfway through the second act.
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
SueleenGay
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/9/03
#4re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 10:01pmGadot, Joe Egg, Virginia Woolf...
PEACE.
#5re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 10:01pmOh, totally Yankeefan. She's my favorite. I thought of another one. The Woman in White is not really about the woman dressed in white.
#6re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 10:03pmThere's no one even named Gypsy in "Gypsy" until halfway through the second act!
#7re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 10:08pmWell, yes Pippin does have a bit to do in "Pippin", but the show belongs to The Leading Player.
#8re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 10:11pmIn Edward Albee's "The Goat," the title character appears only at the end of the play...already dead.
Scottie310
Stand-by Joined: 5/24/04
#10re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 10:32pm
A friend of mine argues that RENT's name is rather pointless, since they only talk about owing rent in the title song and it's not mentioned in such detail for the rest of the show.
*shrug*
"A little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing." - Thomas Jefferson
BwayBaby18
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/19/05
#11re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 10:35pm
Titanic, it isn't about the ship it is about the people on board.
*sarcasum*
#12re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 10:36pm
You're A Good Man Charlie Brown, Wicked, Aida...
Wait 7:-/ Something seems off about that...
Updated On: 6/18/06 at 10:36 PM
BroadwayGirl107
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/26/03
#13re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 10:37pm
"A friend of mine argues that RENT's name is rather pointless, since they only talk about owing rent in the title song and it's not mentioned in such detail for the rest of the show."
It's a METAPHOR!
...Ehem. Sorry.
#14re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 10:40pm
A friend of mine argues that RENT's name is rather pointless, since they only talk about owing rent in the title song and it's not mentioned in such detail for the rest of the show.
*shrug*
--
rent2
n.
*An opening made by rending; a rip.
*A breach of relations between persons or groups; a rift.
wickedrentq
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/6/04
#15re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 10:46pmWell...technically Gigi is crowned Miss Saigon. She certainly isn't the main character.
"If there was a Mount Rushmore for Broadway scores, "West Side Story" would be front and center. It snaps, it crackles it pops! It surges with a roar, its energy and sheer life undiminished by the years" - NYPost reviewer Elisabeth Vincentelli
meermeer2
Swing Joined: 12/28/04
Broadway Star Joined: 12/31/69
SporkGoddess
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
#19re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 11:08pm
I always thought Aida is more about Amneris than Aida. Not to say the role is small.
I also think JCS is more about Judas than Jesus.
Jimmy, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? It's almost 9 PM!
bare_nakedlady
Broadway Star Joined: 5/9/05
#20re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 11:13pm
Wow, this subject is really misleading. You're all naming people who aren't in the show frequently, but not the most insignificant roles. The Fiddler in 'Fiddler on the roof' is the most important character, representing tradition. Not insignificant at all. Perhaps it should be title characters with little stage time.
Just a thought. Because if a show is named after a character, I think you would be hard pressed to say that character is insignificant. There must be a reason the show is named for them.
"It's like children's theatre for 40-year old gay people!" - XANADU THE MUSICAL
Updated On: 6/18/06 at 11:13 PM
#21re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 11:13pm
Martin Guerre.
It's a flip up as to who the main character is: Betrende, Martin or Arnaud. The vast majority of the story is based around the love story between Betrendre and Arnaud, who is posing as Martin. Although since the story is about which man truly is Martin Guerre, the title fits.
#22re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 11:19pmJulius Ceasar
And the other thing about the Phantom Lady was, Bert, she realized, in the city that never sleeps...
What did she realize, Kitten?
That all the songs she'd listened to, all the love songs, that they were only songs.
What's wrong with that?
Nothing, if you don't believe in them. But she did, you see. She believed in enchanted evenings, and she believed that a small cloud passed overhead and cried down on a flower bed, and she even believed there was breakfast to be had...
Where?
On Pluto. The mysterious, icy wastes of Pluto.
#23re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 11:20pmI think Anne, the "woman in white" in "The Woman in White" is the most significant character in the show. None of the show's action would take place if it weren't for her and her secret.
A little swash, a bit of buckle - you'll love it more than bread.
Justin Time
Swing Joined: 8/29/04
#24re: Most insignificant title role?
Posted: 6/18/06 at 11:21pm
Tevia says the Fiddler is a metaphor for the life of the Jews in Anantevka. Tradition is how the Fiddler keeps his balance.
In any event, some clarification might be in order for an actor who was cast as the Fiddler claiming a title role...
Updated On: 6/18/06 at 11:21 PM
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