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.
Comments