I would classify Verdon's dancing and acting as both brilliant. She studied with Sanford Meisner, and her Anna Christie in "New Girl in Town" was reviewed favorably with Greta Garbo's. Her Roxie Hart, acting-wise was also brilliant. I've never seen Dench dance, though she has certainly done musicals ("Cabaret", "A Little Night Music", "The Good Companions"), though nothing I'm aware of that called for complex or difficult choreography. Andrews' acting has been more than what you call competent; her "My Fair Lady" reviews called out her acting and overall performance in addition to her singing.
I think the term "triple threat" refers more to someone who can do all three, but I think it's the dancing par excellence in which the term is most expressly used, at least on Broadway and in films. It can be over-used, too, by PR people when someone is good at at least one of those skills and might take part in a musical number or two and at the very least does some movement.
Of course, there's Lina Lamont in "Singin' In the Rain" -- as Cosmo calls her out -- "Can't sing, can't dance, can't act. A triple threat!" So there! :) |
