Best/Worst Tony Awards Performances

[Jessetenny]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 7:41pm

What do you think are some of the best and the worst Tony performances of all time? I think some of the best is Patti Lupone for Gypsy, Idina for If/Then and Kristin and Idina for Wicked! One of the worst I think was Legally Blonde. Let me know what you think!

[mc1227]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 7:48pm

I like to dwell on the positive but I will say that Catherine Zeta Jones and Faith Prince are memorable for poor   Tony performances.  One of my favorites was Sutton Foster in "Anything Goes" and of course, the ultimate performance, Jennifer Holliday in Dreamgirls.  

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 7:51pm

Absolutely DREAMGIRLS' and NINE for the best, with in the same awards year.

I also love the performances from the first national Broadcast in 1966(7?) with THE APPLE TREE, CABARET and I DO I DO.

[Cupid Boy2]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 7:52pm

Bonnie Franklin's performance with the cast of Applause is one of my all-time favorites. 

 

[Doody Fisher]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 8:07pm

Best: Cinderella, the KIng and I (2015), Matilda, Fun Home, The Lion KIng, If/THen

Worst: Catherine Zeta Jones's chicken-neck jerking / seizure inducing performance for A little night music, any jukebox musical. Patti LUpone (Anything Goes), Spiderman, Grease (2007), Finding Neverland (pretentious as **** especially knowing they had zero nominations)

Updated On: 3/28/16 at 08:07 PM

[Valentina3]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 8:11pm

I really enjoyed NPH's Sugar Daddy (2014), Sutton Foster's Anything Goes (2011), and Sydney Lucas' Fun Home (2015). I think these performances really solidified and helped sell more tickets. 

Not a big fan of Evita's Bway revival performance. 

[ggersten]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 8:24pm

My  personal top 10 favorites:  this is what I put on my blog (with video links there)

10.  The Apple Tree. 

9.  Big Deal.  

8.  Anything Goes.  Patti Lupone from 1987 or Sutton Foster from 2011:

7.  Catch Me If You Can. 

6.   Promises Promises.   (original cast)

5.  A Chorus Line (original cast)

4.  Applause

3. Grand Hotel

2. Contact

1. Dreamgirls

Worst:  hard to say, but Ghost is perhaps the one performance that screamed (literally) "Do Not See This Show"

Updated On: 3/28/16 at 08:24 PM

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 9:02pm

OP is sooooooo young!! Gotta' love it, though.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 9:06pm

The cruise ship performance of Hairspray was pretty bad.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 9:57pm

^they were non-equity

 

i really thought Gigi was a fun one, didn't seem good though. Same with it shoulda been you.

[Doody Fisher]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 10:23pm

Call_me_jorge said: "^they were non-equity

 

i really thought Gigi was a fun one, didn't seem good though. Same with it shoulda been you.

 

"

it shoulda been you had a slot because David Hyde Pierce paid for it.. same pretentiousness as FN

[Hariku]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 10:28pm

The original Annie performance (which has a terrific Easy Street, as well as other stuff)

Evita with Patti Lupone was fantastic.

Judy Kuhn betting the title song from Rags, then showing off her soprano in the Les Miz medley in the same telecast.

Worst -- lots of stuff in recent days! But also Phylicia Rashad sucking as the Witch in Into the Woods....Idina Menzel sounding really nervous and off in the Wicked segment

 

[Randomlink1]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 10:30pm

I think some of the best are A Gentlemen's Guide and Fun Home. I just started watching the Tonys two years ago, so I haven't seen a lot. I remember cringing at how lame and forced the jokes were in Something Rotten, and Finding Neverland made me bored and want to scream at how pretentious the performance was. 

[Randomlink1]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 10:32pm

Hariku said: "The original Annie performance (which has a terrific Easy Street, as well as other stuff)

Evita with Patti Lupone was fantastic.

Judy Kuhn betting the title song from Rags, then showing off her soprano in the Les Miz medley in the same telecast.

Worst -- lots of stuff in recent days! But also Phylicia Rashad sucking as the Witch in Into the Woods....Idina Menzel sounding really nervous and off in the Wicked segment

 

 

"

I actually thought her witch was fine. It wasn't Bernadette Peters, but she gave a new look on it, and to me it screamed so much like the original witches in fairytales that I wanted to see how she turned it around. 

[binau]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 10:37pm

Bernadette's GYPSY Tony performance was great.

FOLLIES was a pretty underwhelming Tony performance. The song didn't work out of context. They should have had Bernadette or Jan Maxwell performing a number.

[sklabam]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 10:39pm

One of my faves from last decade was Fantasia singing I'm Here from The Color Purple:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZpTQtcr1YI

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 10:45pm

Agh how did I forget PROMISES PROMISES. Some of the most exhilarating visuals ever recorded from a Broadway show.

 

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 10:48pm

My other top 2:

 

 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 11:00pm

Some of my favorite Tony performances of recent memory are:
An American in Paris
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
The Book of Mormon
Fun Home
Gypsy (with Patti LuPone)
Hedwig & the Angry Inch
Jersey Boys
Mary Poppins
Matilda
Memphis
Newsies
Something Rotten!
South Pacific

Performances I would've done differently:
Annie (2013)-I would've had the cast perform I Don't Need Anything But You followed by a reprise of Tomorrow.
The Color Purple (2006)-I would've just had LaChanze perform I'm Here followed by the finale (which I hope the revival cast does on this year's telecast).
Nice Work If You Can Get It-I would've just had the cast perform Fascinating Rhythm.
Once-I would've just had the cast perform When Your Mind's Made Up.
Shrek-I just would've had Brian d'Arcy James, Sutton Foster, and Daniel Breaker perform Who I'd Be.
West Side Story (2009)-I probably would've had them just do a medley.
The Visit-I would've just had Chita sing Love and Love Alone only.

My Least Favorite:
A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder-I just never got what people were singing their praises about. I may have found the show itself to have been extremely overhyped, but I thought the number they did on the Tonys worked much better in context of the show.

Updated On: 3/28/16 at 11:00 PM

[BroadwayMan5]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 11:01pm

Best:

- Evita (1980) - Patti LuPone is amazing in this

- Dreamgirls (1982) - powerhouse performance

- Anything Goes (1988 - so fun!!

- Grand Hotel (1990) - MICHAEL. JETER.

- Guys & Dolls (1992) - captured the show perfectly

- The Lion King (1998 - I have my issues with this show especially the fact that it beat Ragtime that year, but nothing can take away the magic that is Circle of Life

- You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1999) - the arrival of Kristin Chenoweth

- A Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder (2014) - better than the show itself

Other random ones I've always enjoyed watching but wouldn't call them the best are: Romance/Romance (1988 , Steel Pier (1997), The Civil War (1999), Wonderful Town (2004), The Wedding Singer (2006), and Pippin (2013). Also, NPH's opening from 2013 should be mentioned.

 

Worst (I based this list on things I thought SHOULD have been good not just terrible shows that had no business performing)

- Into the Woods (1988 - love the show, but this was a weak performance with too many random clips followed by a so-so Phylicia Rashad performance

- The Producers (2001) - "Along Came Bialy" was a horrible choice for a song to showcase

- Sweet Charity (2005) - felt like a mess

- Aladdin (2014) - seeing the show live a few months later, I felt like the Tonys did not capture the magic and excitement of "Friend Like Me" at all

Updated On: 3/28/16 at 11:01 PM

[ggersten]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 11:12pm

That is a great performance from Nine - especially considering that CBS nixed "A Call From The Vatican" for the Tony broadcast.  I don't recall how close to the broadcast the decision was made - so how much time did the producers have to make the switch?  

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 11:18pm

I had read that "Vatican" was still performed during the ceremony, but just not broadcast.

[jo]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 11:18pm

 

 
This was one of the most remarkable TONY Awards presentations. In 1990, the full cast of ASPECTS OF LOVE portrayed the entire storyline and the intriguing intertwining relationships,  dramatically as well as musically, while highlighting the show's anthem  LOVE CHANGES EVERYTHING.  The singing was also excellent!

Updated On: 3/28/16 at 11:18 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 11:19pm

Not great but good cheesy fun from 1968 Tonys

 

24 Hours A Day - Golden Rainbow

 

 

[¿Macavity?]

Posted: 3/28/16 at 11:23pm

Matilda, Aladdin, and The Book of Mormon's are a few of my favorite Tony performances. Well, from this decade at least. As for worst, I don't think it was necessarily "the worst" or even that bad, but I was very underwhelmed by A Christmas Story's performance. Fun little show, but it just didn't pop at the Tonys for me.