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Joel Katz

Plainfield New Jersey Native Performing in Tina Turner Musical at STNJ

Author Joel Katz

Magic 98.3 is the official sponsor of the State Theatre New Jersey Broadway series. That means when one of the Broadway Series shows comes to State Theatre NJ I get to speak with one of the cast members of the show.

Some of the Broadway performances coming to STNJ include Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations, The Addams Family – A Musical Comedy, Dear Evan Hansen, and Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas The Musical.

First up is TINA–The Tina Turner Musical coming October for 4 shows on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Playing the role of Gran Georgeanna is New Jersey native Deidre Lang. Deidre was born in Newark, New Jersey and grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey. She’s excited to have a sort of homecoming with all of her friends and family coming out to enjoy this awesome show. Deidre shared that the musical goes way back to when Tina was a little girl and includes the vast catalogue of Tina Turner songs that everyone loves.

Check out the full interview here:

Deidre most recently she played Motormouth Maybelle on the Hairspray national tour. Her Broadway credits also include Ragtime, The Lion King, Tommy. She also joined the National Tour for The Lion King, Hairspray, School of Rock, Tommy, and Cats. She was also a Flygirl on Fox TV’s In Living Color.

Tina Turner Musical Coming to State Theatre New Jersey

It’s an uplifting comeback story like no other, TINA–The Tina Turner Musical is the inspiring journey of a woman who broke barriers and became the Queen of Rock n’ Roll. TINA is set to the pulse-pounding soundtrack of her most beloved hits, this electrifying sensation will send you soaring to the rafters.

One of the world’s best-selling artists of all time, Tina Turner won 12 Grammy Awards and her live shows were seen by millions, with more concert tickets sold than any other solo performer in music history. TINA–The Tina Turner Musical is written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Katori Hall.

American Idol’s Jayna Elise stars as Tina Turner. Formerly known as Jayna Brown has appeared on stages with Tyler Perry, Queen Latifah, and more with her biggest appearances being on the hit TV shows, America’s Got Talent and American Idol, both for which she was a finalist.

Along with Deidre, the show also stars Sterling Baker-McClary (Ike Turner/Ronnie Turner), Elaina Walton (Zelma Bullock), Mona Swain (Tina Turner at certain performances), and Kristen Daniels (Rhonda Graam/Toni Basil).

Related: Montclair Jazz Festival 15th Anniversary Downtown Jamboree

Before the show on Thursday, October 3rd, you can join in on a Pride Night Party with food, music, and giveaways.

For tickets and more information go to STNJ.org

State Theatre New Jersey is a nonprofit and one of the oldest theaters in New Jersey. Originally starting with vaudeville acts in 1921 the theater now features a variety of programming including musicals, concerts, and comedy acts. The theatre houses over 1800 seats.

Joel Katz is the Morning Show Personality, Assistant Program Director, Podcast Host, Voiceover artist, audio producer, and Digital Content Writer for Magic 98.3. Joel has been working in New Jersey radio since college and started at Magic in 2002 as the Morning Show Host, “I can’t think of another place where I’d fit more perfectly; it’s just a great company with awesome people.” Joel is married to Kathleen, his elementary school sweetheart (they were each other’s first dates at age 9), shares a birthday with his oldest son, Ty, and has twins, Kiera and Liam. Joel runs at least 3.1 miles every day and enjoys playing basketball, doing laundry, saving his turn signal for when he really needs it, kissing dogs through a fence, using coasters, making that cool noise by rubbing his fingers on balloons, and chasing after ping pong balls on a windy cruise ship.

5 Popular Movie And TV Roles That Almost Went To Other Actors

Did you know some of the most iconic TV and movie roles almost went to other actors? It’s hard to imagine some of these roles going to different people!

Hollywood is fascinating. So much work and time goes into creating the movies and shows we love so dearly. Sometimes, the original vision looks vastly different than the product we end up seeing on the screen. Sometimes it’s for the best, other times it’s a headscratcher. Here are five popular movie and TV roles that almost went to other actors.

What Popular Roles Almost Went To Other Actors?

Can you imagine someone other than Steve Carell playing Michael Scott on The Office? It almost happened! What about Harrison Ford’s iconic role as Han Solo in Star Wars? That role was also offered to someone else, who turned it down. Who was originally supposed to play Shrek? Had these actors not turned down these roles, we could have watched shows and movies that were totally different!

We often forget that for these Hollywood actors, the roles they accept in movies and shows are jobs. They can impact their career and future earnings. So, they have to be selective with what roles they take. Choosing the wrong role could ruin your career. Picking movie A over movie B could also end your career. There are a lot of choices to make and sometimes they make the right choice, and other times they end up regretting turning down a role that would go on to be an audience favorite for years to come.

Recently, this type of thing happened with the Barbie movie. At first, the role was going to go to comedian Amy Schumer instead of Margot Robbie. That would have been an incredibly different movie. Would it have been as huge as it was if it starred Schumer instead of Robbie? We will never know! These kind of things happen all the time and there are so many examples I couldn’t get to. Some of them are nothing short of shocking. Can you imagine George Clooney or Tom Cruise starring in The Notebook? It was discussed! How about Vince Vaughn playing Joey in Friends? That almost happened, too, according to Buzzfeed!

Check out the list of 5 popular movie and TV roles that almost went to different actors! We were very close to having a different reality and some of our favorite characters were almost played by someone else!

5 Popular Movie And TV Roles That Almost Went To Other Actors

  • Michael Scott - The Office

    https://youtu.be/IBJJrZ5LAVQ?si=eN76d6y34J0cjACV Steve Carell’s performance as Michael Scott on The Office is one of the most iconic roles of all-time. However, he almost didn’t take the role! In fact, according to Just Jared, at least 35 actors were considered for the role and two actors even declined the role! Producer Ben Silverman and Casting Director Allison Jones say the two frontrunners for the role were Paul Giamatti and Phillip Seymour Hoffman! Can you imagine them as Michael Scott? I can’t! That would have been so different. Thankfully, they got it right with Steve Carell. Actually, several big names auditioned for the show. Some auditioned for the role of Michael and other notable actors auditioned for the roles of Dwight, Pam, and more. https://youtu.be/sItKwZdGkTM?si=unggeLnZm_y8P3qw

  • Phil Dunphy - Modern Family

    https://youtu.be/SAkAf-Xloho?si=2-4lYi1FHqfdxEog Ty Burrell captured America’s hearts as Phil Dunphy on ABC’s Modern Family. He was hilarious, relatable, and such a goofball. However, he almost didn’t get the role. It was actually originally offered to Matt LeBlanc, who famously played Joey on Friends. Can you imagine him as Phil? There are bits where I can see it, but he would have ended up being a totally different character. Matt rejected the role because he felt like he wasn’t the “right guy” for it, per Huffington Post. You can’t say he was wrong because Burrell was definitely that right guy. Still love Matt, though!

  • Shrek - Shrek

    Mike Myers did such a great job voicing Shrek. It’s one of the best movies of all-time and there were so many quotes and Myers really made it his own. The voice was unique and you can recognize it anywhere. However, the role originally went to a different Saturday Night Live alum–Chris Farley.

    Farley even did some recordings for the movie before he tragically passed away. It sounds like it would have been a different character with a different tone. Where Mike’s Shrek comes off tough this Shrek sounds a little less confident. It would have been very interesting to see the movie with Farley voicing the character.

  • Forrest Gump - Forrest Gump

    Forrest Gump won 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor in a Leading Role. Would it still have been as successful if it was someone other than Tom Hanks leading the way? It’s hard to imagine anyone else in that iconic role. However, the role was offered to John Travolta! Can you imagine!? That would have been a totally different movie. I can’t picture it for the life of me. The other examples I could see working in some way, but this makes no sense to me. Instead, he chose to do Pulp Fiction allowing Hanks to be Forrest Gump. I think that worked well for everyone Tom, John, and we the audience.

  • Han Solo - Star Wars

    https://youtu.be/K1fSMm2v2ik?si=90BdliTKdJ81MF4V Star Wars launched Harrison Ford to superstardom and Han Solo would become one of the most iconic movie characters of all-time. Harrison Ford is still a household name and went on to star in many more blockbusters, becoming an A-Lister on his own. However, it all almost never happened. According to Business Insider, Al Pacino turned down a lot of money to appear as Han Solo in “A New Hope.” Instead, he passed which allowed Ford to step in and essentially gave him a career. It sounds like Pacino just didn’t get it and passed on it, a mistake he certainly should regret.

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