“Dancing with the Stars” JOHN O’HURLEY
DANCES ONTO BROADWAY STARRING AS BILLY FLYNN IN CHICAGO
BEGINNING JANUARY 16TH
Broadway’s hit musical “Chicago” will welcome a new Billy Flynn on January
16th when John O’Hurley, the winning star of ABC’s hit show “Dancing with
the Stars” makes his Broadway debut at the Ambassador Theatre. Mr. O’Hurley,
who will assume the role from Huey Lewis, will play through March 26th. He
will join Robin Givens, who will also be making her Broadway debut in the
role of Roxie Hart.
In addition to “Dancing with the Stars”, John is probably best known for his
role as J. Peterman on tv’s “Seinfeld”, which won him a Screen Actors Guild
Award for “Best Ensemble”. In an example of life imitates art for John, he
just so happens to be John Peterman’s (the real J. Peterman) business
partner and part-owner of the J. Peterman Company. He has also been seen on
tv in many appearances including: “The Mullet’s” opposite Loni Anderson and
on “Father of the Pride”. John has lent his voice to several of America’s
most popular cartoons. He is currently playing “King Neptune” in “SpongeBob
SquarePants”, and “King Wallace II” in “Kim Possible”. He has also worked on
“Family Guy”.
I am doing my Happy Dance, which is no way near as good as John’s. I am so freaking happy over this.
I’m a huge Seinfeld fan, so it pleases me that an alum would be coming to Broadway, and we all know the guy can dance…
But, do we know if he can sing? And this sentence bothers me: “O’Hurley,
who will assume the role from Huey Lewis…will join Robin Givens.” Those are at least two names (we’ll have to see about O’Hurley) that shouldn’t be in that paragraph.
It’s just sad that the Weisslers feel it’s necessary to put “big” names into the show to keep it running, even with the success of the movie.
So I remain cautiously optimistic about O’Hurley, but I’m trying not to be hypocritical about wishing they would give more “real” Broadway stars a chance and fewer film and TV stars.
Click on the music section. He sings well enough to have a CD. If his singing voice is as good as his speaking voice, I’ve died and gone to heaven.
Casting a “name” instead of a Broadway person is called “stunt casting,” and most of the time it falls flat on its ass. I’m hoping it works this time, though I seriously doubt it in the case of Robin Givens.
It’s the Weisslers. They would oust Bernadette Peters from a show to replace her with Paris Hilton if they thought it would make them more money. They are the ultimate in stunt casting.
These are the people who got rid of the quite capable original Cat in the Hat from Seussical for ROSIE O’DONNELL, and Donna Murphy for Brooke Shields (although I understand there were extenuating circumstances, even if I’m not sure that they were completely true). I don’t think they necessarily care about the quality of their shows.
(Sorry…I can’t stand these people…they’ve made quite a few choices that bother the crap out of me…).
Not necessarily. A CD recorded in a studio is an entirely different breed of cat from a live performance on stage, even if a body mike is used.
I hope that O’Hurley is great in the part because he’s a good performer[sup]1[/sup] and seems like he would be fun to be around.
[sup]1[/sup]For instance his “Of course you do.” is right smack on the money in the commercial when his isurance man tells him that everyone gets treated that way. Now if he can just do it right the first time and night after night on stage.
The touring production of the show currently stars Tom Wopat as Billy Flynn.
That’s right, Luke Duke.
I just hope they were able to work a “YEEEEEEEEEEEE-HA!!!” into the show somewhere, or at least a scene in which Flynn slides across the hood of a car.
As one of the six people in America who has never seen a full episode of “Seinfeld”, I have long wondered who in the hell he was supposed to be. Mystery solved.
I totally agree. That’s why I just consider it a glimmer of hope, not an automatic thumbs up.
Actually, Tom Wopat has been performing onstage since the 70’s. He was in the original City of Angels and I Love My Wife, and the revivals of Annie Get Your Gun and Guys and Dolls. There’s no question about his talent as a singer/dancer. Time will tell if the same is true for O’Hurley.