Best Performance You've Seen?

#1

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 3:16pm

For me it was hands down Cicely Tyson in Trip To Bountiful. Beautiful, authentic, heart-breaking. So glad I saw it.

#2

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 3:44pm

Christine Ebersole and Marie Louise Wilson in Grey Gardens

Betty Buckey in Sunset Boulevard and Carrie

I'm in the minority but Elena Rogers' performance in Evita was also very profound to me.

#3

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 3:47pm

Kelly Bishop in A Chorus Line
Tovah Feldshuh in Irena's Vow

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#4

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 4:03pm

In recent years:
Tracy Letts - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Nina Arianda - Venus in Fur
Kevin Spacey - Richard III (BAM)

An all time favorite:

Stephen Lang as Colonel Jessup: A Few Good Men (1989)

#5

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 4:07pm

Sutton Foster in Anything Goes

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"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "

#6

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 4:12pm

Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens on Broadway

Lois Smith in The Trip to Bountiful - at the Goodman in Chicago.

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#7

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 4:21pm

My top five (no particular order):

1) Nina Arianda in Venus In Fur
2) Danny Burstein in Follies
3) Jan Maxwell in Follies
4) Cynthia Nixon in Wit
5) Paulo Szot in South Pacific

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#8

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 4:31pm

The one that immediately comes to mind is Tonya Pinkins in CAROLINE, OR CHANGE.

Honestly, when I try to make a list in my head, I could go on and on. I've been very fortunate to see some incredible performances. But I do think Pinkins takes top honors in my mind. Her much-buzzed about rendition of "Lot's Wife" was indescribably powerful. I mean, it was truly unbelievable.

Updated On: 7/23/13 at 04:31 PM

#9

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 4:32pm

Judy Kaye as Miss Lovett also deserves a nod.

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"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "

#10

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 4:35pm

Audra McDonald in PORGY AND BESS
Bill Irwin in WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?
Bernadette Peters in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
Len Cariou in SWEENEY TODD
Michael Cerveris in ASSASSINS
Mark Rylance in BOEING BOEING
Elaine Stritch and George Grizzard in A DELICATE BALANCE

on and on and on...

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#11

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 5:30pm

I consider myself fortunate to have seen so many performances that have moved me, or struck a chord deep in me... But no performance eclipsed Geoffrey Rush in EXIT THE KING.

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Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.

#12

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 5:38pm

Not the best performance I've ever seen, but I think Rachel Bay Jones' performance in the Pippin revival was amazingly strong, nuanced, and underrated. I honestly think that the way she makes you love Catherine is integral to the overall success of the revival.

#13

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 5:47pm

Janet McTeer - A Doll's House
Betty Buckley - Sunset Boulevard

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"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#14

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 5:51pm

I have been fortunate to see many wonderful performances that I have enjoyed and which are very memorable to me. Among those, my favorite, hands down, was James Snyder's performance as Billy Bigelow in Carousel - the singing and acting and nuance and realism were just off the charts for me.

#15

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 5:59pm

Marin Mazzie - next to normal

Angela Lansbury - Driving Miss Daisy

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#16

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 6:21pm

Angela Lansbury in MAME, GYPSY or SWEENEY TODD
Dorothy Collins in FOLLIES (though I didn't fully appreciate it at the time)
Victoria Clark in FOLLIES
John Cullum in SHENANDOAH and 1776
William Daniels in 1776
Richard Kiley in MAN OF LA MANCHA
Chita Rivera/Gwen Verdon in CHICAGO
Clamma Dale in PORGY AND BESS
Sada Thompson in ALL MY SONS
Hume Cronym/Jessica Tandy in NOEL COWARD IN TWO KEYS
Meryl Streep/Raul Julia in THE TAMING OF THE SHEW

These are off the top of my head...

Updated On: 7/24/13 at 06:21 PM

#17

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 6:23pm

Tonya Pinkins in CAROLINE, hands down. I've always said that if I'm lucky enough to live to be 100, I already know there will never be a performance as great as that one was. I just don't think it's humanly possible to top it.

#18

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 6:24pm

"I consider myself fortunate to have seen so many performances that have moved me, or struck a chord deep in me... But no performance eclipsed Geoffrey Rush in EXIT THE KING."

The last second of that show is seared into my brain. God, he was brilliant.

#19

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 6:30pm

I have seen many great performances but the ones that really made an impact on me in no particular order were:
Bryan Fenkart in Memphis (Huey)
Joseph Leo Bwarie in Jersey Boys (Frankie)
Michael Lomenda in Jersey Boys (Nick and he's going to be in the movie!)
Gavin Lee in Mary Poppins (Bert)
Billy Porter in Kinky Boots (Lola)

#20

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 6:35pm

Beth Leavel in The Drowsy Chaperone.
Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens. I will never forget the last few moments of that show.

#21

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 6:36pm

Harvey Fierstein in Torch Song Trilogy
James Earl Jones in Fences
Mary Alice in Fences
Elizabeth Ashley in Agnes of God
Geraldine Page in Agnes of God
Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens
Yul Brynner in The King and I
Michael Crawford in The Phantom of the Opera
Betty Buckley in Cats (don't judge)
Cherry Jones in The Heiress

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#22

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 6:51pm

John Benjamin Hickey in Normal Heart. His final moments were transcendent for me.

#23

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 7:16pm

So many but who comes immediately to mind..

Brian Stokes Mitchell, Peter Friedman and Marin Mazzie in original cast of Ragtime

Barbara Cook and Daniel Massey in She Loves Me.

All time favorite.. William Daniels 1776 (along with most of the cast).

#24

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 7:40pm

So far, Bertie Carvel in Matilda. Billy was great, but Bertie was absolutely phenomenal. He should had won Best Actor. I also loved Lauren Ward, Cory in Newsies and Laura Kelly in Mary Poppins.

#25

Best Performance You've Seen?

Posted: 7/23/13 at 7:43pm

Joe Mantello in The Normal Heart