Broadway musicals are packed with unforgettable side characters that often overshadow the leads. From sassy Pink Ladies to charismatic gamblers, these supporting roles bring the magic, humor, and heart that make musical theater truly spectacular!
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Maybe when you finally get to love somebody, guess what? It's gonna be me!
00:08Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today, we're counting down our picks for the most memorable side characters
00:13that steal the show with the force of their personality, or their song, or both. Some spoilers to come.
00:19Thank you, and enjoy my show.
00:24Number 10. Betty Rizzo. Grease. There are worse things she could do.
00:29I suppose it could be true, but there are worse things I could do.
00:36Despite the film's focus on Danny and Sandy's relationship, Grease the Musical was initially
00:41conceived as an ensemble piece, and no ensemble member shines more than the leader of the Pink
00:46Ladies. Rizzo's sardonic snark in Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee mocks not only the sheltered Sandy,
00:52but also 50s purity culture. Won't go to bed till I'm legally wed, I can't, I'm Sandra Dee.
01:01Her tough stoicism in the face of judgmental gossip about her sex life is admirable,
01:05leading to the classic there are worse things I could do. Rizzo's repudiation of slut-shaming is
01:11as relevant now as it was in the 70s, and her character is one of the few aspects in Grease
01:16that has aged very well. I don't steal and I don't lie, but I can feel and I can cry,
01:24a fact I'll bet you never knew.
01:31Number 9. Nicely Nicely Johnson. Guys and Dolls. Nathan Detroit's friend and fellow gambler Nicely
01:37Nicely completes the trio in Feud for the Tin Horns, but also contributes to the titular banger
01:42Guys and Dolls. When you spot a John waiting out in the rain, chances are he's insane as only a
01:50John can be for a Jane. But when Sky Masterson wins his bet and forces the gamblers to attend
01:55Sarah Brown's prayer meeting, Nicely Nicely is the one to play along by brilliantly recounting
02:00a false dream. His satiric number, Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat, has become a fun showstopper.
02:06I dreamed last night I got on the boat to heaven and by some chance I had brought my dice along
02:14and there I stood and I hollered someone fade me. Plus it is one of the few examples of a
02:20side character getting the 11 o'clock number. His being played by the irresistibly likable
02:24Stubby Kay in the film version helps too. What a nice guy. Sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down,
02:30sit down, you're rockin' the boat. Number 8. Nancy. Oliver. We'd do anything for this
02:35supporting lady. Wear a daffodil. Anything. Leave me all your will. Anything. Even fight my bill.
02:44What, fisty cuffs? Based on Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, this Lionel Bart musical also
02:49includes the character of Nancy, a bit of a mother-sister figure for Fagin's kid pickpockets.
02:54She's also the much abused girlfriend of the violent Bill Sykes and wins our hearts for
02:59protecting a young Oliver from his schemes. In the film, she even cleverly strikes up a tavern song
03:04in order to distract Sykes. Nancy's love for him, though, prevents her from truly leaving him,
03:20to her doom. But her beautiful solo, As Long As He Needs Me,
03:23is a standard that always brings down the house, and leaves us all in tears.
03:28I'll be strong, as long as he needs me.
03:42Number 7. The Princes. Into the Woods. It's never agony when these two are on stage.
03:54In this satirical take on Grimm's fairy tales, Cinderella's prince and Rapunzel's prince are
04:12actually brothers. They lament their inability to be with their princesses in their hilarious duet,
04:17Agony. Agony, far more painful than yours, when you know she would go with you,
04:31if there only were doors. And in true brotherly form, each competes with one another over who
04:39has the worst situation. Of course, these princes are more charming than sincere. I was raised to
04:44be charming, not sincere. By the end of the musical, they are each married, and have moved
04:49on to wooing Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. No matter the actors, this womanizing duo is a riot,
04:54and drives us all to tears, of laughter. Ah well, back to my wife.
05:05Number 6. Sportin' Life. Porgy and Bess. It's hard to resist a guy with a little devil in him.
05:14In Gershwin's opera masterpiece, Sportin' Life is the slyly charismatic dealer of Catfish Row,
05:19providing the glamorous Bess with happy dust. During the Kitty Wah Island picnic,
05:24he lampoons the Bible's many absurdities in the jazz standard It Ain't Necessary So,
05:28even getting the pious Catfish Row denizens to agree.
05:32But who calls that livin' when no gal will givin' to no man what's nine hundred years?
05:40Sportin' Life is no mere slinky comic relief, though. When Porgy gets arrested,
05:45he is the one to plant doubts into a reformed Bess struggling to get clean.
05:49In one of the most consequential scenes in all of musical theater, Sportin' Life invites her
06:04to go to New York with him. Bess is unable to resist his seduction. Honestly, who can blame her?
06:19When you think about unrequited love in musicals,
06:29this character almost assuredly comes to mind. Originating in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables,
06:44Eponine is among the most attractive and poignant supporting characters of this sprawling cast.
06:49The daughter of the poor but thieving Tenardiers,
06:51she is hopelessly in love with Marius Pontmercy.
07:03Marius, however, only sees her as a friend, falling in love with Cosette instead.
07:07Eponine's solo, On My Own, would become one of the most overdone audition numbers of recent years,
07:12a hymn for all pining teenage girls everywhere. Trust us, we've all been there.
07:194. Anita, West Side Story
07:33You know your side character is something special when so many of its actresses have
07:37won awards for the role. The spunky girlfriend of
07:48Maria's brother Bernardo, Anita plays the nurse to Maria's Juliet in this Shakespearean retelling,
07:54including opposing her decision to stick with Tony in the dynamic A Boy Like That.
08:08But it is Anita's fiery America that unfailingly steals the show, and our hearts, in any version.
08:14Chita Rivera, Rita Moreno, and Ariana DeBose are among the many who have made this role their own,
08:20their performances arguably eclipsing that of the main leads in many cases.
08:24It's no mystery why this character is one of the most beloved in musical theater.
08:373. King George III, Hamilton
08:40We weren't aware this was something a side character could do in only 10 minutes of stage
08:45time. In this blockbuster musical, King George III appears only a few times,
08:50each with a reprise of his signature solo, You'll Be Back.
09:04In all of them, this mad monarch stops the show entirely. What makes us laugh and clap
09:09when this English yandere appears? Is it the way Lin-Manuel Miranda cleverly reimagined the
09:14historical king as a clingy ex, sweetly threatening his lover to take him back?
09:26Is it the way King George keeps appearing, gleefully and confusedly commenting on America's
09:31affairs like an obsessed stalker? Or is it just his catchy daydream believer-esque solo?
09:36It's all of these of course, and it's priceless every time.
09:512. King Herod, Jesus Christ Superstar
09:54It's official, put a king as a side character on a stage and you'll bring down the house.
10:06Prove to me that you're divine, change my water into wine.
10:10In this rock opera, Jesus Christ is arrested and taken to Pontius Pilate. Pilate however,
10:15dismisses him as Herod's case, and sends him right to the king himself,
10:19who encourages Jesus to prove he is indeed the messiah.
10:31This biblical king has even less stage time than all the rest combined,
10:35with only one scene to his name. Even so, his song is a catchy honky-tonk 20s
10:39pastiche that fully embraces the musical's irreverence for this sacred history.
10:53With Tim Rice's gleefully contemporary lyrics, Herod's flamboyance, and Jesus'
10:58priceless reaction in any and all versions, King Herod is a winner in all ways.
11:051. Grisabella,
11:10King of the Jews
11:14It's official, put a king as a side character on a stage and you'll bring down the house.
11:19Prove to me that you're divine, change my water into wine.
11:22In this rock opera, Jesus Christ is arrested and taken to Pontius Pilate. Pilate however,
11:27dismisses him as Herod's case. Even so, his song is a catchy honky-tonk 20s pastiche that fully
11:321. Grisabella, Cats
11:35Most of our side characters so far have gotten typical side character songs, usually comic.
11:40But what about a side character that gets THE musical standard showstopper?
11:57Granted, it's not as if Andrew Lloyd Webber's dance musical about anthropomorphic felines has
12:02a main character to begin with, or even a plot. But the shabby outcast Grisabella stands out by
12:07being onstage all of twice in the whole show. And in those two times, that show is hers.
12:21Her signature memory is a Puccini-style lament of her old glamorous life now past.
12:26Grisabella's physical allure may be gone, but the poignant beauty of this musical theater
12:30classic still lingers on in our hearts. Which other Broadway side character do you feel steals
12:45the show and refuses to give it back? Let us know in the comments down below.
12:55Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
12:59And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.