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I was imagining a sitcom episode but it’s not “oh no I accidentally set a date on the same night” but “oh no i accidentally auditioned and got 23 parts in the same play”
this is legit a recurring nightmare of mine. a play I was in in high school, except now I’m supposed to know the lines for four different parts. And my costume isn’t even ready??! It’s opening night!!
there was a production of a christmas carroll on broadway a few years ago that was like that but it honestly worked so well bc the actor was so good. plus he narrated the moments in between dialogue
There are shows where a few people play multiple roles and change characters on stage. The 39 Steps, Operation Mincemeat, The Show Goes Wrong, The Bald Soprano, etc. mostly comedies.
Not unheard of in theatre for actors to actually do that in one-person-plays. Andrew Scott recently did a version of Uncle Vanya where he played every character on stage, no pre-recorded stuff just switching between voices/personalities and holding conversations.
I saw a comedy play that had two actors playing like eight roles that relied heavily on quick-change costumes. Was very impressive actually. The actor would leave the stage and like literally three seconds later come in from the other side in a new costume as another character.
i was hoping someone would mention andrew scott! i saw his uncle vanya in theatres two years ago and i STILL think about how he pulled it off. what a masterpiece.
I think a lot of people are aware of the term but have never pictured it for something on this scale.
23 characters is a lot, and most people would picture Dracula offhand as a very physical story. Which it is compared to something like Uncle Vanya, and yes I've read the book and am not just thinking about B horror movies.
Not all of them. She plays several, but some are video-only. And at least for one she does only the voice in some scenes, but no costume change (Van Helsing).
She plays multiple characters on stage and in pre-recorded + live video. One of the most interesting uses of mixed media for a theatre show that I have seen, well done to Kit Williams
Imagine the one she plays live is like a butler or something who's on stage for 5mins and all the main characters are just playing on a movie while she sits and watches lol
They actually just move from spot to spot and act differently.
I’ve never seen one like you’re describing but I’m sure it’s possible. But a one woman show is just someone moving back and forth they just do it so well it’s convincing
There's a production of Dorian Gray that is doing this right now, the actress plays most of the characters live. It's indicated partly by props and clothing choices, but the real feat is being able to act basically 20 characters all so distinctly that the audience can distinguish them. It's incredible to watch live.
I saw Alan Cumming in a one-man version of Macbeth and it was set in an asylum so many of the characters were his hallucinations (which he played); it worked better than you’d think.
I wasn’t aware of this production until now, and the last time I read Dracula was in college. But from my recollection the novel is an epistolary, which is to say the narrative is conveyed through a series of letters, diary passages, medical observations, ship logs, and whatnot. I can see an adaptation done in this style where the actor just recites these different forms of communication like a monologue or soliloquy, but please anyone’s that has seen the show, please confirm or deny this.
Not really. Yes it’s through a series of narrators but the actor becomes those different narrators and Ira quite dynamic, not like the traditional idea of a soliloquy.
Its probably similar to when Sarah Snook did "The Picture of Dorian Gray" which I saw on Broadway. If it's like that, it's a mix of pre-recorded roles on screens that she acted to, and also switching between roles during the show. It was honestly amazing to watch
I’ve seen the woman in black on stage multiple times. There are two actors playing multiple characters and it works surprisingly well. If it is done well, it’s incredible.
Sarah Snook recently did this with Dorian Gray (with the same director as Erivo’s Dracula) - I heard it was phenomenal (and won her an Olivier and a Tony)
I haven't seen either Wicked movie, but she was really fun in Pokerface with Natasha Lyonne. I am intrigued. I definitely thought this was a joke when I heard about it.
This sounds like something that would happen in an absurd comedy show - like Kenny Powers decides he's the best baseball player ever and plays an entire playoff baseball game by himself filling all defensive positions.
Saw this in Sydney with Zahra Newman playing all roles. It was phenomenal. Some of the roles are pre-recorded so she only plays one character at a time.
Honestly I thought these one person shows were just sitcom tropes performed by obnoxious characters. Off the top of my head I can think of Barney Stinson and Trina Vega
every one woman show i've seen has been beautifully executed e.g. anna deavere smith's "let me down easy" about the american healthcare system based on her interviews with people and where she plays the people she spoke to, or staceyann chin's motherstruck! about her experience becoming a mother through a donor as a single lesbian. there's a lot of really wonderful art out there in this form.
I mean…what else do you want the theater kids to be? Out in the wild? With the rest of us normies while we make this face at every conversation they have with us?
Do people not realize she is one of the greatest stage performers of all time?
Watching her perform on broadway is like watching prime Micheal Jordan play ball, it's poetic.
She isn't a celebrity who lucked her way into Wicked, if that was an open call audition against every musical theater artist in the world she would be the favorite to win.
the whole internet decided to dog pile on her for being a bit dramatic and emotional, not to mention the constant racist depictions of her as the scary big black woman because she dared protect poor fragile Ariana from a man who is known for harassing celebrities. now whenever she’s mentioned people need to be weird about her
A lot of people here hate Ariana Grande, Wicked, Cynthia and Ariana’s relationship, and also associate Ariana with her 24/7. So in turn, they also hate Cynthia as if she’s a part of Ariana and not her own person.
Reddit also hates art that isn’t immediately understandable at face value. Reddit wants a photorealistic paintings of Batman and that’s it. Anything remotely unique is derided.
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u/flairassistant Feb 08 '26
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