Watch Vanessa Williams sing “A Lot of Livin’ to Do” from Bye Bye Birdie at MCC Theater’s MISCAST24. Williams starred in a 1995 film adaptation of the classic musical as Rose Alvarez, alongside Jason Alexander as Albert J. Peterson and Marc Kudisch as Conrad Birdie. For Miscast, Williams took on a song usually performed by Birdie and Kim MacAfee.
MCC Theater’s annual MISCAST gala is a one-night-only musical spectacular featuring Broadway’s hottest stars performing songs from roles in which they would not traditionally be cast!
Vanessa Williams can currently be seen as Miranda Priestly in Devil Wears Prada in the West End. Her Broadway credits include POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, After Midnight, The Trip to Bountiful, Into the Woods, Sondheim on Sondheim, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Mule Bone, Sarafina!, and Death and the King’s Horseman. She also serves as a producer of A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical.
Williams initially gained recognition as the first woman of African-American descent to receive the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984 in 1983. However, a scandal arose the following year when, a few weeks prior to the end of her reign, Williams learned that Penthouse magazine would be publishing now “iconic” unauthorized photographs of her in an upcoming issue.
Amid growing media controversy and scrutiny, Williams resigned as Miss America in July 1984 (under pressure from the Miss America Organization) and was replaced by first runner-up Miss New Jersey Suzette Charles. Thirty-two years later, Miss America CEO Sam Haskell offered her a public apology (during the Miss America 2016 pageant) for the events of 1984.
