The casting of D’Amelio in the Broadway show & Juliet, not as Juliet, but as an ensemble member, is one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen in the history of theatrical “stunt casting.” “Stunt casting” is a gimmicky publicity stunt where a celebrity or public figure is cast in a movie, TV show, or theatrical production. It is most common in musical theatre, with Broadway shows like Chicago sustaining their dwindling life force by casting celebrities like Wendy Williams, Jerry Springer, and most recently, Real Housewife of Beverley Hills star Erika Jayne in starring roles—whether or not they can actually sing and act.
This kind of stunt casting is a win for everybody! NYC tourists get to see a celebrity, celebrities fulfill their Broadway dreams, producers rake in the big bucks, and performers who have been playing Mary Sunshine since the Clinton Administration stay employed in an often volatile theatrical job market. If audiences go into Chicago expecting something shiny, new, and extraordinary, they’ll definitely leave disappointed. Still, its status as the longest show currently running on Broadway proves that while stunt casting might appear cheap and hokey, it’s one of the few ways that musicals can guarantee increases in ticket sales.
There’s such a fine line between stunt casting and star casting. I think a good rule of thumb is that if a celebrity is in a Broadway show on opening night, it’s star casting, but if they’re brought on later in the run of the show to improve the box office, it’s stunt casting. An actor can be stunt cast and be completely qualified for the role they’re going to play, like Adam Lambert, who is currently playing the Emcee in Cabaret. While the term is often used pejoratively, it can be used as a neutral descriptor.
The totally appropriate but “stunty” casting of Charli D’Amelio as Charmian, a featured member of the ensemble, is leaving lots of Broadway fans scratching their heads. D’Amelio spent her childhood training as a competitive dancer, and if you watch clips of her in the production, she fits right in. It’s refreshing to see stunt casting of a TikToker who can dance as opposed to a YouTuber who can’t do anything (see Cameron Dallas in Mean Girls on Broadway). It demonstrates that D’Amelio is aware of her strengths and has taken what some might perceive as a job below her pay grade to showcase them well instead of poorly playing a lead role like Roxie Hart. It proves that she is the Cassie of Generation Z.
To my knowledge, a Broadway musical casting a celebrity/public figure without at least giving them a song is unheard of. D’Amelio has a dance solo… but no lines. This is completely unprecedented, and I’m sure the talent managers of the cast of Dance Moms are hitting themselves in the head, wishing they had thought of it first. Conventional wisdom says members of the chorus are not supposed to draw too much individual attention and that famous people want the biggest parts that are available to them, but this choice flushed those ideals of yore down the drain. It’s one of the most genuinely creative casting choices I’ve ever seen.
There will always be the debate that stunt casting of celebrities takes jobs from working-class Broadway performers. After all, professional dancer Bex Robinson was playing this part before this 20-year-old millionaire TikToker, and now she’s presumably out of work— or this is what we might presume if Robinson hadn’t made a TikTok clarifying that her contract was always supposed to end 2 days before D’Amelio’s began—and that D’Amelio did not put her out of work.
There were also rumors that D’Amelio was taking work away from non-binary people because allegedly the role of Charmian was a “non-binary track,” but that fails to acknowledge that Bex Robinson is a cis woman, and there is no evidence I can find that this role was created for non-binary actors specifically. Honestly, it feels like people are grasping at straws to find something to be angry about.
Theatrical stunt casting has gotten more prevalent and more sophisticated in the past couple of years. The Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors is operating on a Chicago-esque model, but they’ve consistently brought in exceptional actors who actually can pull off the difficult vocals of Suddenly Seymore with only a few exceptions (sorry, Constance Wu).
While stunt casting is far more common in revivals, The Great Gatsby just cast Modern Family’s Sarah Highland to portray Daisy. Cole Escola’s hit play Oh Mary! has even stunt cast Betty Gilpin and Titus Burgess as the titular role before the Tony Award nominations have even come out. It’s clear that the cheap and tawdry reputation of stunt casting is no more, despite it being used to extend the runs of shows even less than a year after they initially open. The prestige and talent of the actors, combined with its prevalence, elevates stunt casting to new heights. If you can stunt cast the chorus, there really are no rules anymore.
The best part about celebrity casting is that it brings people into the theatre who might not have bothered to show up. Broadway shows are so fickle and expensive to run that filling seats is of the utmost importance. I certainly don’t want to live in a world where celebrities have completely eclipsed Broadway stars and made them obsolete, but I also don’t want to live in a world where wonderful productions can only survive for 6 months and limited runs are the norm. Stunt casting isn’t going anywhere, and I would rather producers make interesting choices with actors, singers, and dancers that actually fit the parts they’re playing rather than close wonderful productions prematurely. If that means watching Addison Rae as Amber Von Tussle in the next revival of Hairspray, so be it.
Image Credit: charlidamelio
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