It was pretty much unanimous when the reviews for First Date came in — Broadway loves Zachary Levi and thinks he should stay with us forever. I mean, I may be paraphrasing here. But still.
Anyway, since I am Zachary Levi’s self-proclaimed biggest fan — I loved him before all you theater fools got on the bandwagon — I’ve come up with some roles he can play on Broadway in the future. Because as I said, we’re never letting him leave. Ever.
I will fully admit that I am more of a Zachary Levi expert than a dreamcasting expert, so hit me with your other ideas in the comments, team. Oh, and these are in no particular order, by the way.
Prince Topher in Rodger’s + Hammerstein’s Cinderella:
Not that I ever want Santino Fontana to leave that show, but Levi has the goofy charm thing down and I think he would be a fitting replacement should Santino Fontana ever choose to leave (hopefully for another New York run of Sons of the Prophet).
Rapunzel’s Prince in Into the Woods:
Look, it’s not that I only see him as a prince, but how funny would he be as one of the princes in Into The Woods? And I only picked him as Rapunzel’s even though Cinderella’s had more to do because he was in Tangled, which leads me to…
Flynn Rider in Tangled:
It’s not a Broadway musical yet, but eventually, Disney will get to that point on the list and there is only one person who can play Flynn Ryder. And how great would it be if Donna Murphy reprised her role as Mother Gothel?
The Emcee in Cabaret:
I know this is the weirdest casting ever, but I’d like to see Zachary Levi stretch himself.
Fiyero in Wicked:
You know you want to see him in those tight pants. You know you do.
Princeton in Avenue Q:
I’m not sure how his puppeteer skills are, but we know he can do comedy and play the nice-guy-trying-to-figure-out-his-life.
Bobby Strong in Urinetown:
Are you noticing a trend here? Basically any goofy leading man role, cast Zachary Levi.
Jerry Lukowski in The Full Monty:
Honestly, I’m not sure whether he would be convincing as a blue-collar man’s man, but he might surprise us. But I just really want a revival of this. And I want to hear him sing “Breeze Off The River.”
Bud Frump in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying:
It would be nice to see him play the bad guy for once. And he has the comic chops for this role.
And last but not least…
Chuck in Chuck The Musical:
I know it doesn’t exist and his character Aaron in First Date is basically Chuck, but Chuck The Musical would have Jeffster and I think we can all agree that that’s clearly something Broadway has really been missing.
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Broadway is definitely in need of Jeffster. And can you just imagine the Captain Awesome show stopper?
I’m with you, I was a Zac fan before he was on Broadway and now that he’s on Broadway my nerd heart has exploded, but in a good way.
The Emcee is very interesting. I’d like to see him do that. I’d like to see him as Jimmy in Thoroughly Modern Millie too. Playing a smooth character would be a change up for him (I guess Flynn is a smooth character but we only hear his voice, I’d like to see him physically do that. So also yes I want him to play Flynn in the eventual Tangled musical). Also Freddy in My Fair Lady, mostly because I want him to sing On the Street Where You Live.
And lastly I’d like to see him do a show at 54 Below.
Wow. I second all of the above. Zachary Levi in everything, please.
Think he could be good in Godspell or Joseph and Techque Dreamcoat ( sorry few bad spell)
I AGREE SO MUCH keep him here playing really any of these roles (good choices) and maybe also put him in Once? a Next to Normal revival as Henry or Gabe? Riff in West Side Story? or maybe Ice…. point is we need to keep him here so he doesn’t do something like alvin and the chipmunks again………. *shivers not in a good way* =)
Oh lord, I don’t know if I can handle the idea of him singing “Do I Love You…” I might actually faint.
While this is a fun game, my biggest wish is for Zac to develop into a highly respected Broadway star. I think First Date was a good start. The best thing he can do next is to be in another show where he can originate the role. Secondly, it should be something different from the Chuck or Aaron type characters to prove his range.
Now, on to the game of what I would enjoy seeing him in.
No, to Cinderella or any show that’s likely to have kids in the audience. I liked the fact that First Date was an adult show. I’ve never had any interest in seeing Cinderella and even Zac might not be able to change that.
My suggestions would be:
1. Elder Kevin Price (Book of Mormon) – the funniest show I’ve ever seen and a show that sells out every night with people paying full price.
2. Charlie Price (Kinky Boots) – Come on, who doesn’t want to see Zac wearing those boots?
3. Peter Allen (Boy from Oz) – stepping into a role that proved to Broadway that Hugh Jackman could do it all would be a challenge, but a good challenge.