Social media personality Trisha Paytas debuted in "Beetlejuice" on Broadway Nov. 4; however, this is not Paytas’ Broadway debut. On Feb. 3, she hosted her one-night-only Broadway debut, “Trisha Paytas’ Big Broadway Dream.” Aside from Paytas, the show featured Sutton Foster and Rachel Zegler as well as other Broadway stars.
Paytas is known for her past controversial comments and actions. The list of her controversies includes ableism, antisemitism, homophobia, racism and transphobia.
Paytas will be playing the character of Maxine Dean in “Beetlejuice.” Typically, the actor who plays Maxine Dean also plays the character of Juno; however, Juno will be played by Sharone Sayegh during Paytas’s run. Sayegh will go back to playing dual roles Nov. 25.
Until that day comes, Paytas is more than excited to play the role.
“It feels like every day is just like going to Disneyland,” Paytas said.
Paytas is the newest addition to a trend in stunt casting on Broadway. Stunt casting refers to casting a big celebrity from outside the world of Broadway in a show, typically in a smaller role, with the intention of bringing attention away from small screens and toward the big screen.
In 2020, Vine creator turned Netflix star Cameron Dallas had a one-month run as Aaron Samuels in “Mean Girls: The Musical” from Jan. 14, 2020, to Feb. 9, 2020. Dallas was filling in for Kyle Selig during a temporary leave of absence. He starred alongside talented actors such as Renee Rapp and Erika Henningsen.
Though Dallas’ casting brought in some new ideas from his excited fans, many already existing “Mean Girls: The Musical” fans were irritated with the noticeable difference in talent level between Dallas and Selig. Some fans believed it was offensive that Dallas’ talented cast members should have to share the stage with him.
A few weeks after Dallas’ time with the production ended, Henningsen played her last show as Cady Heron on Feb. 22, 2020. On March 10, 2020, Sabrina Carpenter took over the role, and audiences were much more receptive to her performance than they were to Dallas’. Despite being scheduled to perform until June 7, 2020, Carpenter’s time on Broadway was cut short when Broadway was shut down due to COVID after she performed only twice.
Though her level of cultural relevance has declined in recent years, Charli D’Amelio remains the second most followed person on TikTok after Khaby Lame. D’Amelio made her Broadway debut Oct. 29, 2024, in the jukebox musical “& Juliet” as a member of the ensemble. There has been a lot of debate online as D’Amelio was not given a main role, and she has been a trained dancer since her childhood.
D’Amelio faced similar controversy when she went on “Dancing with the Stars” in 2022 for season 31. While some “Dancing with the Stars” fans claimed she had too much dance experience to compete on the show, some Broadway fans claimed she does not have enough experience to be in "& Juliet.”
The professionals behind “Dancing with the Stars” as well as “& Juliet” clearly believed she deserved to be where she was as D’Amelio won season 31 and had her time on Broadway extended to Sept. 7 of this year.
