Current Television Stars That Are Also On Broadway

Current Television Stars That Are Also On Broadway

One of the best new sitcoms of the 2012-2013 television season is NBC’s The New Normal. It stars Andrew Rannells. The name should sound familiar to Broadway fans. Rannels originated the role of “Elder Price” in The Book of Mormon.

The hilarious and Tony Award winning musical can be seen on Broadway and in several major U.S. cities. For example, The Book of Mormon is currently running in Los Angeles at the Pantages Theatre. You can also buy Book of Mormon tickets for Boston, Chicago, and Washington D.C. to see the national touring company.

Now, Rannells WAS starring on Broadway but is NOW starring on television. We thought it would be interesting to go the other way and look at current television stars (and we use that term loosely) that are also on Broadway. Below are eight actors pulling the very difficult stage and boob-tube double.

Paul Rudd
America’s sweetheart Paul Rudd plays “Bobby Newport” on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. He can currently be seen at the Cort Theatre in Craig Wright’s play Grace. The drama stars another television veteran, Ed Asner. He recently appeared in an episode of “The Middle” as a newspaper man.

David Strathaim
David Strathaim plays “Dr. Lee Rosen” in the SyFy original series Alphas. It’s a great show and you should watch it. While the hour-long drama is on hiatus, Strathaim is starring in the play The Heiress. It’s running at the Walter Kerr Theatre. The drama is based on Henry James’ novel Washington Square.

Jackson, Silverstone & Winkler
You need a spreadsheet and a PowerPoint presentation to keep track of all the television stars in The Performers (Longacre Theatre). The play stars Cheyenne Jackson, who’s “Danny Baker” on 30 Rock; Alicia Silverstone, who’s “Eden” on Suburgatory; and Henry Winkler, who’s “Eddie R. Lawson” on Royal Pains. How do the actors find the time to be on small screen and walk the boards? Well, all the aforementioned TV roles are recurring characters.

Laurie Metcalf The great Laurie Metcalf is set to star in The Other Place, a Sharr White play scheduled to open Jan. 10 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Metcalf has been delighting television audiences for years with her various roles but she’s currently “Mary Cooper,” Sheldon’s mom on the CBS sitcom “The Big Bang Theory.”

Kathie Lee Gifford
Kathie Lee Gifford, who holds down the fourth hour of the Today Show, isn’t actually starring on Broadway, but her words are. The much-maligned television host wrote the book and lyrics for the much-hyped musical Scandalous. The show, about Aimee Semple McPherson, officially opens at the Neil Simon Theatre on Nov. 15.

Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris isn’t a household name but his face his. He plays “The Observer” on the Fox science fiction drama Fringe. I tried watching the program when it first debuted but I just couldn’t get into it. Next spring, Cerveris will play “Juan Peron” in my all-time favorite musical, Evita. Cerveris won a Tony Award in 2004.