Posted: 6/2/15 at 10:42am
Mark Rylance in Jerusalem
Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens
Tracy Letts in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Posted: 6/2/15 at 10:43am
Joe Mantello and John Benjamin Hickey in THE NORMAL HEART
JCM in Hedwig
Amy Morton in AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
Posted: 6/2/15 at 10:53am
Idina Menzel- WICKED
Idina Menzel- IF/THEN
Harvey Fierstein- HAIRSPRAY
Sutton Foster- ANYTHING GOES
Alice Ripley- NEXT TO NORMAL
Ted Neeley- JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
Rob McClure- CHAPLIN
John Cameron Mitchell- HEDWIG
Alan Cumming- CABARET
Michael Cerveris- FUN HOME
Posted: 6/2/15 at 11:35am
Janet McTeer - A Doll's House
Owen Teale - A Doll's House
Jane Adams - An Inspector Calls
Robert Morse - Tru
Fuscia Walker - Dreamgirls (standby for Jennifer Holliday on tour)
Veanne Cox - The Dinner Party
Audra McDonald - Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill
Patti LuPone - Master Class
Al Pacino - Hughie
Betty Buckley - Sunset Boulevard
Donna Murphy - The King & I
Lea Salonga - Les Miserables (as Fantine)
Anika Noni Rose - Caroline, or Change
Sara Ramirez - Spamalot
Celia Keenan Bolger - The Light in the Piazza (Goodman tryout)
Wilson Jermaine Heredia - Rent
Ann Duquesnay - Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk
Marin Mazzie - Ragtime
David Pittu - Parade (tour)
Audra McDonald - Marie Christine
Marl Schaffel - Jane Eyre
Jan Maxwell - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Renee Elise Goldsberry - Two Gentlemen of Verona
Martine McCutcheon - My Fair Lady
Sheridan Smith - Legally Blonde
Laura Benanti - Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Updated On: 6/3/15 at 11:35 AM
Posted: 6/2/15 at 11:40am
Gavin Creel in BoM
Idina Menzel in If/Then (her performance is much better than the actual show)
(Soon to be Tony-winner) Alex Sharp in Curious Incident
Posted: 6/2/15 at 11:48am
Tonya Pinkins- Caroline, or Change
Laurie Metcalf, Len Cariou, Neill Patrick Harris- All My Sons
Victoria Clark- Follies
Kelli O'Hara, Manoel Felciano- Sunday in the Park With George
Posted: 6/2/15 at 11:49am
Elizabeth Marvel- The Little Foxes
Audra McDonald- Lady Day
Steven Boyer- Hand to God (who I still hope will get the Tony he so insanely deserves)
Manoel Felciano- Sweeney Todd
Patti LuPone- Gypsy
Posted: 6/2/15 at 12:15pm
Alison Luff as Miss Honey. She is devastating in the role, she really gives the character a lot more depth. Her 'My House' is stunning. (That voice!!)
Posted: 6/2/15 at 12:20pm
Hugh Jackman in THE BOY FROM OZ
Mark Rylance in anything, but especially TWELFTH NIGHT
John McMartin, Dorothy Collins and Alexis Smith in FOLLIES
William Daniels in 1776
Posted: 6/2/15 at 12:29pm
Kate Baldwin in The Music Man, Sutton Foster in Violet, Annaleigh Ashford in Kinky Boots, Corey Cott in Newsies, Norm Lewis in Phantom, Celia Keenan-Bolger in Peter and the Starcatcher, Christine Dwyer in Wicked.
Posted: 6/2/15 at 1:12pm
Carol Channing in HELLO, DOLLY!
Angela Lansbury in GYPSY
Angela Lansbury in DEAR WORLD
Angela Lansbury in MAME
Patti LuPone in GYPSY
Patti LuPone in ANYTHING GOES
Stacy Keach in HAMLET (Central Park)
Richard Kiley in MAN OF LA MANCHA
Boyd Gaines in SHE LOVES ME
Tony Yazbeck in ON THE TOWN
Colleen Dewhurst in WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?
Zoe Caldwell in MASTER CLASS
Patti LuPone in MASTER CLASS
Bea Lillie in HIGH SPIRITS
Pearl Bailey in HELLO, DOLLY!
Rosemary Harris in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
That Streisand Woman in FUNNY GIRL
Julie Harris in THE BELLE OF AMHURST
Bradley Cooper in THE ELEPHANT MAN
Anthony Hopkins and Peter Firth in EQUUS
Frank Langella in DRACULA
John Wood in AMADEUS
Gwen Verdon in SWEET CHARITY
Sandy Duncan in THE CANTERBURY TALES
Herschel Bernardi in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
Linda Lavin in BROADWAY BOUND
Sam Waterston in THE TEMPEST (Lincoln Center)
Cherry Jones and Zachery Quinto in THE GLASS MEANAGERiE
Elizabeth Ashley in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
Brian Dennehy in DEATH OF A SALESMAN
Nathan Lane in TRUMBO
Posted: 6/2/15 at 1:31pm
I'm sorry, but out of the shows I've seen live, Norm Lewis in Phantom really blew me away. He really took the role and made it his own.
Idina Menzel in If/Then also comes to mind.
As an added bonus, Victoria Clark and Kecia Lewis both took the show in Cinderella in different ways.
Posted: 6/2/15 at 4:13pm
Norm Lewis- Phantom (truly incredible to see him)
Ramin Karimloo and Will Swenson- Les Miserables (Best Valjean/Javert pair I've seen in years)
Alan Cumming- Cabaret Final Performance (Is there anything more to say)
Carly Hughes and Jennifer Nettles- Chicago (Very funny Velma/Roxie)
Sierra Boggess 54 below (I know 54 Below doesn't technically count but it was very good)
Posted: 6/2/15 at 4:50pm
Reading of these performances makes me so jealous!
Lynne Winterstellar in THE GLASS MENAGERIE
Posted: 6/2/15 at 5:00pm
Jessie Mueller in Beautiful
Posted: 6/2/15 at 5:01pm
OK... I was a Sondheim virgin until these...
The revival of Sweeney Todd (Judy Kaye was subbing) and I sat frozen on the edge of my seat the entire show. And the revival of Sunday in the Park and I was about 5 rows from the top of Studio 54 and me and the guy beside me cried and cried.
And Mark Rylance in anything.. but Jerusalem really knocked me out, although I can still see him in Twelfth Night and his Olivia jumping up and down applauding when they said there would be boys.
Posted: 6/2/15 at 5:04pm
Tracy Letts- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Joe Mantello, Ellen Barkin, Jim Parsons- The Normal Heart
Audra McDonald- Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill
Alan Cumming- Macbeth
Andrea Martin- Pippin
Katie Finneran- Promises, Promises
Michael Cervris, Sydney Lucas- Fun Home
Updated On: 6/2/15 at 05:04 PM
Posted: 6/2/15 at 5:58pm
Tracy Letts, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Jan Maxwell, Follies
Patti LuPone, Gypsy
Judith Light, Other Desert Cities and The Assembled Parties
Posted: 6/2/15 at 6:19pm
Ian McKellen - Othello and Acting Shakespeare
Derek Jacobi - Much Ado About Nothing
Zoe Caldwell - Master Class
Tonya Pinkins - Caroline, Or Change
Audra McDonald - concert and Master Class
Judi Dench - The Cherry Orchard
Mark Rylance - Twelfth Night
Judith Ivey and Victor Garber - A Little Night Music
Maggie Smith - Lettice and Lovage
Desmond Richarson - Fosse
Sammy Williams - A Chorus Line
and since it says "Live" and not just theater, I need to add one from opera:
Sondra Radvanovsky - Tosca
Posted: 6/2/15 at 6:30pm
Tonya Pinkins and Anika Noni Rose - Caroline, or Change
Stephanie Mills - The Wiz
Estelle Parsons - August Osage County
Patina Miller - Pippin
Posted: 6/2/15 at 6:35pm
Honestly, Kristin Chenoweth in On the Twentieth Century. I seriously felt privileged to have witnessed that performance.
Posted: 6/2/15 at 7:15pm
John Cameron Mitchell -- Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Alan Cumming -- Cabaret
Audra McDonald -- Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill
Audra McDonald -- Porgy and Bess
Cicely Tyson -- The Trip to Bountiful
Patina Miller -- Pippin
Jan Maxwell -- Follies
Danny Burstein -- Follies
Alice Ripley -- Next to Normal
Marin Mazzie -- Next to Normal
Posted: 6/3/15 at 7:56am
On Broadway:
Idina Menzel - If/Then (and her concert in Melbourne the year previously)
Billy Porter - Kinky Boots
Norm Lewis - Phantom
In Melbourne:
Geoffrey Rush - A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
Amanda Harrison - Wicked
Simon Gleeson - Les Miserables
Esther Hannaford - King Kong
Posted: 6/3/15 at 9:22am
Ann Twomey in Nuts (the Streisand role). 35 years later, I still remember being mesmerized by her. Even in scenes where she didn't speak, you could not take your eyes off of her. Great does not even begin to describe that performance, imho.
Posted: 6/3/15 at 11:01am
For me, it's an easy decision:
Patti LuPone in Gypsy.
On a semi-related side note, the best series of live performances were the Sondheim shows put on at Ravinia. Each of them starred:
Audra McDonald
Michael Cerveris
Patti LuPone
The shows they performed:
1.) Sunday in the Park With George
2.) Sweeney Todd
3.) A Little Night Music
4.) Passion
5.) Anyone Can Whistle
I consider myself very lucky to have been introduced to Sondheim in this format. They were amazing performances by amazingly talented people.
