Best Performances You Have Seen — Page 2

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#26

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/30/09 at 11:08pm

Sutton Foster - Thoroughly Modern Millie
Patti LuPone - Gypsy
Will Swenson - Hair

"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611

#27

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/30/09 at 11:17pm

Christine Ebersole - GREY GARDENS
Amy Morton - AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
Estelle Parsons - AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

#28

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/30/09 at 11:19pm

Gary Beach and Roger Bart in The Producers

#29

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/30/09 at 11:48pm

Stephanie Mills in THE WIZ
Entire Original Broadway Cast in RENT
Heather Headley in THE LION KING
Audra McDonald in RAGTIME
Brian Stokes Mitchell in RAGTIME
Lilias White in THE LIFE
Heather Headley in AIDA
Adam Pascal in AIDA
Sherrie Rene Scott in AIDA
Idina Menzel in WICKED
Kristin Chenoweth in WICKED
John Llyodd Young in JERSEY BOYS
Leah Michelle in SPRING AWAKENING
Johnathan Groff in SPRING AWAKENING
John Gallagher Jr. in SPRING AWAKENING
LaChance in THE COLOR PURPLE
Lin Manuel Miranda in IN THE HEIGHTS
Karen Olivo in IN THE HEIGHTS

#30

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 12:04am

Chita Rivera "Kiss of the Spiderwoman"

Faith Prince "Falsettoland"

Stephanie Lawrence "Blood Brothers"

Judi Dench "Amy's View"

Judi Dench "The Royal Family"

Patricia Routledge "The Importance of Being Earnest"

Brenda Blethyn "Night Mother"

Swoosie Kurtz, John Mahoney, Christine Baranski "House of Blue Leaves"

Uta Hagen "Collected Stories"

If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

#31

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 12:15am

Lea Michele- Spring Awakening
Sierra Boggess- Little Mermaid
Norm Lewis- Little Mermaid
Orfeh- Legally Blonde
Antonique Smith-Rent
Will Chase- Rent
Entire cast of N2N

I knwo the thread is best but I'm gonna throw in a worst
1. Faith Prince-The Little Mermaid

#32

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 12:16am

Ben Vereen in PIPPIN
Original 1975 cast of A CHORUS LINE
Debbie Allen in WEST SIDE STORY and SWEET CHARITY
Faith Prince in GUYS & DOLLS
Lea Salonga in MISS SAIGON
Norbert Leo Butz in DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS
Charlotte d'Amboise in JEROME ROBBINS' BROADWAY
Denny Dillon in MY ONE AND ONLY
Ute Lemper in CHICAGO
Reba McEntire in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN
Brooke Shields in WONDERFUL TOWN and CABARET
Vanessa Williams in KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN
Entire original Broadway cast of IN THE HEIGHTS
Sutton Foster in THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE
Karen Ziemba in STEEL PIER
Carolee Carmello in PARADE

... and so many more.

#33

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 12:46am

Rosalind Russell: Auntie Mame
Mary Martin: Hello Dolly
Audrey Hepburn: Ondine
Barry Nelson: Mary, Mary
Melina Mercouri: Illya Darling
Larry Kert: West Side Story
Larry Kert: Company
Shirley Jones: Maggie Flynn
George Rose: Sleuth
June Havoc: The Rivals
Richard Kiley: Man of La Mancha
Gwen Verdon: Damn Yankees
Zoe Caldwell: Master Class
Jerry Orbach: 42nd. Street
Colleen Dewhurst: All the Way Home
Jack Albertson: The Subject was Roses
Elizabeth Ashley: Cat on A Hot Tin Roof
James Anest: Lend Me A Tenor
Vivien Leigh: Tovarich
Len Cariou: Sweeney Todd
Angela Lansbury: Dear World
Christine Andreas: My Fair Lady
Paul Newman: Sweet Bird of Youth
Marilyn McCoo: Show Boat
Biff McGuire: Finian's Rainbow
Sydney Chaplin: Funny Girl
Liza Minnelli: Flora, the Red Menace
Robert Horton: 110 in the Shade
Julia McKenzie: Company
Robert Sean Leonard: Long Day's Journey into Night

"I long-ago realized that this country is a nation of morons, when it comes to knowledge of anything outside, or beyond, pop culture." Steve Slezak

Updated On: 8/31/09 at 12:46 AM

#34

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 1:40am

Some of your posts reminded me of a few I had nearly forgotten

Drama:
Jayne Houdeyshell in WELL
Dennis O'Hare in TAKE ME OUT
Cherry Jones and Brian O'Bryne DOUBT
Billy Crudup PILLOWMAN
Zoe Kazan /Carey Mulligan THE SEAGULL
Phylcia Rashad GEM OF THE OCEAN

Musicals:
Christine Ebersole - Grey Gardens
Kelli O'Hara and Victoria Clark in LITP
Alice Ripley - Next to Normal
Heather Headley - AIDA

#35

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 2:05am

Oh my god, thank you, beewai. I completely forgot Carey Mulligan in THE SEAGULL.

#36

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 2:12am

Valerie Perri - Evita
Cindy Marchionda as Diana - A Chorus Line
Glenn Close - Sunset Blvd.
Ned Beatty as Captain Andy - Showboat
Lillias White - The Life
Kevin Gray - Miss Saigon
Randal Keith - Les Miserables
Maurice Hines - Jelly's Last Jam
Patrick Wilson - Carousel
Brian Stokes Mitchell - Ragtime
Daphne Rubin Vega - Rent
Faye Dunaway - Master Class

Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.

Updated On: 8/31/09 at 02:12 AM

#37

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 4:01am

Do taped performances count?

If so, Donna Murphy in PASSION

Give me claws and a hunch, just away from this bunch.

#38

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 6:26am

Patti Lupone - Wicked
Deanna Dunagan and Amy Morton - August: Osage County
Alice Ripley - next to normal
Douglas Hodge - La Cage aux Folles
Linda Nolan - Blood Brothers
Kathryn Evans - Sunset Boulevard
Idina Menzel - Wicked
Rachael Wooding - Evita
Elaine Paige - The Drowsy Chaperone
Drew Sarich - Les Miserables
Patina Miller - Sister Act

#39

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 6:47am

Jenna Russell and Daniel Evans - Sunday in the Park with George
Tonya Pinkins - Caroline, or Change
Michael Sheen and Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Gavin Creel - Mary Poppins
Julian Bleach - The Tempest
Raúl Esparza - Company
David Hyde Pierce - Curtains
Henry Goodman - Fiddler on the Roof
John Simm - Elling
Geoffrey Streatfeild - Henry V
Douglas Hodge and Philip Quast - La Cage aux Folles
Chiwetel Ejiofor - Othello
Jonathan Slinger - Richard II
Chuk Iwuji - Henry VI
Edward Bennett - Hamlet
Amy Morton - August: Osage County
Ken Stott - A View from the Bridge
Gillian Anderson - A Doll's House
Ian McKellen and Ronald Pickup - Waiting for Godot
Mark Rylance - Jerusalem
Simon Russell Beale - anything!

Notes from the Earlham Street Gutter

#40

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 7:41am

LCT cast (Paulo Szot!) - South Pacific
Alice Ripley - Next To Normal
Hugh Jackman - The Boy From Oz
OBC - God Of Carnage
Howard McGillin - Phantom Of The Opera (tired of the show, but McGillin is amazing)
Norbert Leo Butz & Elizabeth Marvel - Fifty Words
Raúl Esparza & William H Macy - Speed-The-Plow
Veit Schäfermeier - Jekyll & Hyde
Pia Douwes - Elisabeth
Daniel Evans & Jenna Russell - SITPWG
John Barrowman & Sally Ann Triplett - Anything Goes
Ian McKellen & Patrick Stewart - Waiting For Godot
Roger Allam & Philip Quast - La Cage Aux Folles

#41

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 8:22am

I've been lucky to see plenty of wonderful acting performances, but the absolute standouts...

Geoffrey Rush - EXIT THE KING
Lily Tomlin - THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
Angela Lansbury - BLITHE SPIRIT, DEUCE
Frank Langella - A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, FROST/NIXON
Patti LuPone - GYPSY!
Vanessa Redgrave - THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING
Estelle Parsons - AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
Phylicia Rashad - AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
Guy Boyd - AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
Elizabeth Ashley - AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
John Cullum - AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
Mariann Mayberry - AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
Fantasia - THE COLOR PURPLE
Richard Griffiths - THE HISTORY BOYS
Christopher Sieber - SHREK THE MUSICAL
Idina Menzel - WICKED
Morgan Freeman - THE COUNTRY GIRL
Frances McDormand - THE COUNTRY GIRL
Marian Seldes - DEUCE
Mary Testa - SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE (Public)
Jayne Atkinson - BLITHE SPIRIT
James Earl Jones - CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
Anika Noni Rose - CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
Brian Dennehy - INHERIT THE WIND, DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS
Christopher Plummer - INHERIT THE WIND
Christine Ebersole - APPLAUSE! (City Center)
Roger Robinson - JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE
Ramona Keller - BROOKLYN THE MUSICAL
Cleavant Derricks - BROOKLYN THE MUSICAL
Horace V. Rogers - BROOKLYN THE MUSICAL
Laurie Metcalf - NOVEMBER
Susan Sarandon - EXIT THE KING
Andrea Martin - EXIT THE KING

That was longer than I expected. I suppose I base my judgment on whether or not the memory of the actor/part continues to linger long after I have seen the show. For example, she is primarily a film actress and was not acknowledged by critics as exceptional, but I know that for the rest of my life I will always think of Susan Sarandon as Queen Marguerite; she completely rearranged what I thought of her already. That must make it one of the best performances I have ever seen.

I also must note that I saw Marian Seldes in a theater near my college back in April performing in two roles in about a half hour's time; it was a three-part series of short one-acts. She was absolutely *mesmerizing* as Hart Crane's mother in Williams' STEPS MUST BE GENTLE. I'll never forget that as long as I live. At one point she and Jake Robards (Crane) got lost (it was not a memorized show) but they consulted their scripts and did not panic for a moment.

Also, if taped performances count, then both George Hearn and Angela Lansbury in SWEENEY TODD as well.

2010

Feb. 28 - Looped, Feb. 28 - Next to Normal, March 4 - Hair, March 11 - A Little Night Music, March 24 - Time Stands Still, April 6 - La Cage Aux Folles, April 10 - Anyone Can Whistle (City Center), April 10 - Looped, May 9 - Enron, May 15 - A Little Night Music, May 15 - A Behanding In Spokane, May 30 - A Behanding In Spokane, May 30 - A Little Night Music, June 20 - A Little Night Music, June 23 - Red, June 23 - Sondheim on Sondheim, July 13 - A Little Night Music, July 18 - The Grand Manner (Lincoln Center)

Updated On: 8/31/09 at 08:22 AM

#42

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 8:38am

Hugh Jackman - Boy from Oz
Enire cast - Journey's End
Trent Kowalik - Billy Elliot
Dan Radcliffe - Equus
Gavin Creel and Will Swenson - Hair
Tyne Daily and Patty Lupone - the Gypsies
Paulo Szot - South Pacific
Geoffrey Rush - Exit the King

#43

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 8:42am

I agree, Rudy2. I still remember Alice Ripley's performance perfectly. I have only seen N2N once.

I'm a professional. Whenever something goes wrong on stage, I know how to handle it so no one ever remembers. I flash my %#$&. "Jayne just sat there while Gina flailed around the stage like an idiot."

#44

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 8:46am

^ :) By the way, I still have yet to see N2N, but it is on my wish list.

2010

#45

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 8:49am

You HAVE to see it. It is one of those productions that is incredible and has incredible performances, but it might not be around that long :/

Just like I regret not seeing Grey Gardens. Ebersole's performance would be on my list.

#46

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 8:53am

Yes, I too missed out on "Grey Gardens." At the time I was too busy seeing "Deuce" three times. I do not regret that, but I would have made an extra trip had I been as savvy back then as I am now about what is rightly scoring acclaim of the theatregoing public.

Don't worry; I will be buying a TDF ticket to N2N shortly. I would have bought one for this week, in fact, but it's a particuarly busy one for me. I keep checking TDF though. I just do not have the vigor or energy to get into the city at 5 a.m. for a student rush ticket.

2010

#47

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 8:56am

Alice Ripley - Next to Normal

#48

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 9:00am

Victoria Clark - Light In The Piazza
Patti LuPone - Gypsy
Donna McKechnie - A Chorus Line
Tovah Feldshuh - Irena's Vow
Chritine Ebersole - Grey Gardens

"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." -- Thomas Jefferson

#49

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 9:01am

I'd have to sift through my Playbills for a better list, but off the top of my head...

Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson-Grey Gardens
John Gallagher Jr-Spring Awakening
Raul Esparza--Company
Susan Blackwell--[title of show]--I'm biased, I love her to pieces.

and

Louise Pitre--Mamma Mia--yeah, the show's piffle, but I thought she was perfection.

#50

re: Best Performances You Have Seen

Posted: 8/31/09 at 9:11am

Patti Lupone - Wicked

This made me LOL. Could you imagine what would have happened to Mantello if he told Miss Patti she would have to strap herself in to a levitator and be hoisted above the stage every night?

Updated On: 8/31/09 at 09:11 AM

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