I confess I don't remember ever seeing this commercial, but it is fondly remembered by most fans of Christian Borle (and I am one of those).
Broadway musicals do not usually appeal to the MTV audience, even one based on a tweenie movie, so the network's broadcast of Legally Blonde still confuses me. |
As Bert in Mary Poppins |
Borle held his own among comic experts Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hyde Pierce in Spamalot. |
On stage he's often flamboyantly theatrical, but in Smash, Borle gave a nuanced and unassuming performance. |
During this period, Borle was also heavily involved in Peter and the Starcatcher, an unusual little play-with-music which was an impressive Off-Broadway hit.
The show transferred uptown and Borle went with it, opening the Broadway production during his hiatus from Smash. He won the Tony for his efforts, an award I can attest he deserved, as I saw his energetic performance.
Smash did not survive its second season, but that did not stop our hero, who has maintained a television presence in recurring roles on The Good Wife and Masters of Sex.
I'm a big fan of The Good Wife, so I'm delighted when Christian shows up to play one of Alicia's many nemeses. |
Though neither of these live shows received much critical praise, they were ratings winners, and one would think Christian might be a good luck charm worth keeping (as far as I can tell, he is the only performer to appear in both The Sound of Music and Peter Pan live productions).
Before the big Borle Bicep Bulge, our hero starred in a prestigious revival of Angels in America, opposite Zachary Quinto. This guy does not need song and dance to excel. |
The principal cast of Something Rotten! |
Instead, please enjoy this little video which the Broadway.com team produced themselves, to showcase the show's only Tony winner (did I mention Borle won his second Tony with this performance as Shakespeare?). It's a fun little number capitalizing on Christian Borle's comic timing. And of course, his arms.
As I watched this music video below, it occurred to me: isn't there a Popeye musical out there, just waiting to be put on the stage? Arms And The Man, indeed.