Best Performance You've Seen? - Page 4

[WOSQ]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 2:32pm

Jason Robards and Colleen Dewhurst in A Moon For The Misbegotten.

This is a case of one brilliant performance plus a second brilliant performance creating a new American classic.

One + One = Three

[JRybka1611]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 2:46pm

The Musical got a lot of terrible reviews but you just saw a star being born... Norbert Leo Butz in "Thou Shalt Not"

Shoshanna Bean & Megan Hilty in "Wicked"

Rex Harrison & Claudette Cobert in "Aren't We All" in London

Petula Clark in both "Blood Brothers" & "Sunset Boulevard"

[jetts7]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 2:57pm

Some of my all time favorite would have to have been from this past season. Rob McClure in Chaplin and Cicely Tyson in The Trip To Bountiful.

[jetts7]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 2:58pm

^
I have one more to add, Billy Porter as Lola!

[WickedOne2]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 3:10pm

Forgot to mention Norbert Leo Butz in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and John Gallagher Jr. in Spring Awakening

[Whatshisname]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 3:19pm

Vanessa Redgrave- Orpheus Descending/Long Days Journey
Stephen Spinella- Angels in America
Jeffery Wright- Angels in America
Christine Ebersole- Grey Gardens
Meryl Streep- The Seagull/Mother Courage
John Cameron Mitchell- Hedwig
Laure Metcalfe- A Balm in Gilead
Tonya Pinkins - Caroline or Change




Updated On: 7/25/13 at 03:19 PM

[aagaard99]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 3:35pm

1) Hugh Panaro in The Phantom of the Opera (Broadway)
2) Kathryn Evans in Sunset Boulevard (London revival)
3) Elise Blake in Matilda (London)
4) John Owen Jones in The Phantom of the Opera (London)
5) Elena Roger in Evita (London and Broadway)

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 3:52pm

The first one to come to mind was Tracy Letts in Virginia Woolf. Just a towering, layered, incredibly controlled performance. Watching him build to the moments where he let loose over the course of three hours was truly a masterclass in acting. I still can't stop thinking about it.

I felt the same way about Nina Arianda in Venus in Fur, her subtlety and deftness were remarkable, especially for an actress as young as she is...she's only a few years older than me and I couldn't dream of doing what she did with that role.

As far as musicals, I don't think anyone will ever top Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens for me. I've never seen someone do what she did in that show, and I don't think I ever will again.

I also feel like I need to mention the ensembles of The Normal Heart and Other Desert Cities (with Elizabeth Marvel, I did not see Rachel Griffiths). Both casts worked seamlessly with one another and elevated the material, and both left me completely speechless.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 7:09pm

Norbert Leo Butz - Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Patti Lupone - Gypsy (I loved it so much, I went back and saw it again two days later)

And I wasn't in the city for "Caroline or Change" but boy have I worn out my disc playing it in my car. Me and my friend sing it on road trips. I love it so much, and I'm so mad I didn't get to see it.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 7:33pm

I'm an idiot! I forgot to mention:

Best dramatic and comedic performances by a male:

John Lithgow in M. BUTTERFLY and John Lithgow in BEYOND THERAPY

[BROADWAYFAN4LIFE]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 10:49pm

Pippin. If you haven't seen it, go. It was amazing.

[ajh]

Posted: 7/25/13 at 8:21am

Another vote for Tonya Pinkins in CAROLINE (OR CHANGE) -unflinchingly honest, heartbreaking and ultimately enthralling. Saw her six times and she was consistently "on it", even when there were moments when she seemed to be pulling those notes out of her boots. A career-defining performance in a show-stopping role.
Also, Patti LuPone's Callas in MASTER CLASS was another theatre-going highpoint for me. She caught exactly the fire, magnetism, passion, humanity and deep insecurity of the diva: thrilling.

More recently Tracy Letts and Amy Morton in VIRGINIA WOOLF were sensational, and breathed new life into a play I thought I knew.
And the entire cast of THE NORMAL HEART but especially Mantello, Hickey and Barkin: a Broadway landmark and an unforgettable emotional journey.

On a light note, I thought Jeremy Jordan in NEWSIES and Benjamin Walker in BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON were pretty much perfect.

In London the current cast of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG are an ensemble where one would not wish to replace any of them, which is highly unusual, for me anyway. It would be fantastic, if unlikely, if they could reproduce their wonderful work for NYC audiences, as well as being Broadway returns for Jenna Russell (from SundayITPWG) and Josefina Gabrielle (Laurey in the NT Oklahoma!)

One other all time high from London that WAS seen on B'way was Maggie Smith in LETTICE AND LOVAGE, a high camp confection with a serious undertow that Peter Shaffer tailored especially to the Dame's quirky mix of whimsy, steel and melancholy.....and she was an utter delight in it.

[rorschach37]

Posted: 7/25/13 at 1:33pm

Phillip Seymour Hoffman AND Andrew Garfield in Death of a Salesman.
Cristin Milioti in Once.

[jv92]

Posted: 7/26/13 at 12:04am

I probably can make a list of about ten, but I'm most happy with performances that really surprise me. Just one example:

I thought Patti LuPone was over-the-top as Rose in GYPSY at City Center. Then, she did it at the St. James. Patti could have sent me a cowboy hat made of chocolate, too, because I have never seen a better musical theater performance. A really pleasant and wonderful surprise.

[willep]

Posted: 7/26/13 at 4:01am

Mark Rylance in La Bete and Jerusalem.

When I saw him in La Bete, it was the first thing I had ever seen him in, and it just blew me away and I thought it was the best performance I had ever seen...then later in the season he came back with Jerusalem and just blew my mind all over again. Can't WAIT to see Twelfth Night and Richard III.