Olympians on Broadway

Well, the 2024 Summer Olympics are in the history books. Like many of you, I enjoy the Games every time they come around, even though sports really aren't my thing, generally. But this Olympiad had everything theater lovers could possibly want. From day one there was dancing, pageantry, music and, well, theater. From Lady Gaga to drag queens to Les Miz to the stunning return of Celine Dion, the first day was like 3+ hours of musical theater. And there was dramatic controversy and enough behind the scenes bitchery to satisfy months worth of Broadway chat room gossip!

But, of course, the best drama happened when athletes facing those do or die moments after years of training. The best of the best were there, and medals or not, they were all winners. It reminds me of the end of each Broadway seasons when some artists and their shows are nominated for awards and some win and some lose, but really, even getting there is a win.

Olympians on Broadway

So, there have been several stand-out athletes ("performers," if you will), and I got to thinking, wouldn't it be cool if some of them made their Broadway debuts soon? I mean, it's not without precedent - Olympian Cathy Rigby has played Peter Pan on the Great Bright Way several times, and a host of other roles all over the country. So why not some of these wonderful people?

How about Yusuf Dikec (Turkey) in a revival of Les Miserables? He'd be chilling on the barricade.

Armand Duplantis (Sweden) would be fearless way up high in Water For Elephants, wouldn't he? Maybe even in a re-vamped Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark...

With his matinee idol looks and 1000 watt smile, Léon Marchand (France) could have his pick of roles, but maybe he'd get Roxie off the hook as Billy Flynn in Chicago? Or a charming prince in Into the Woods? Or a great new Gatsby?

And who better to headline a new production of It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman than America's favorite Clark Kent, Stephen Nedoroscik (U.S.A.)?

 

I can think of at least two shows that would benefit from pairing up gymnastics phenoms Simone Biles (U.S.A.) and Rebeca Andrade (Brazil). They could both be defying gravity in Wicked (maybe swapping roles every other performance as Glinda and Elphaba?) or as the Merry murderesses Roxie and Velma in Chicago.

Speaking of great duos, wouldn't synchro divers Tom Daley and Noah Williams be perfection as the Johnstone twins in a new revival of Blood Brothers?

I'd pay top dollar to see any of these wonderful human beings in any show, really. But they'd better bring serious skills to the stage...