Classic Performances You HAVE seen

Richard Kiley in Man of La Mancha...and Hugh Jackman in The Boy from Oz.

I did see Angela in Mame and Liza in Flora -- but at that time, their performances did not register with me as classic.

Melba Moore Purlie ( my first Broadway show)

Patti "Gypsy"

Patti "Evita"

Glenn Close "Sunset Boulevard"

Hugh Jackman "Boy from Oz"

Zero Mostel "Fiddler"

Carol Channing "Dolly"

Cherry Jones "Doubt"

Cherry Jones "The Glass Menagerie"

Audra McDonald "Lady Day"

Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou "Sweeney Todd"

Patti in Sunset Blvd (I've seen them all and no one can compare)

Idina in Wicked

Huge Jackman in Boy from Oz

Nathan Lane in Forum

Sandy Duncan in Peter Pan

NPH in Hedwig

Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens

The cast of The Addams Family (It was classic but really really bad. You could feel for the actors stuck in this dreck)

Chita in Kiss of the Spiderwoman (hell, the whole original cast)

I could name a few but I think the most special was John Cameron Mitchell as Hedwig.

The one that I will claim "bragging rights" for, and which I think many will agree, was Natasha Richardson in Cabaret. No other Sally who came after her (and there have been many fine actresses who have done wonderful jobs in the role) has been able to touch what she did on that stage at the Henry Miller/Kit Kat Club.

The best ones that come to mind are:

Phyllis Frelich - Children of a Lesser God
Priscilla Lopez - A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine
Lily Tomlin - The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
Original Cast - Nine (1982)
Original Cast - Noises Off (1983)
Original Cast - Sunday In The Park With George (1984)
Joanna Gleason - Joe Egg
Original cast - Romance in Hard Times
Original Cast - Falsettoland
Pauline Collins - Shirley Valentine
Raul Julia - Macbeth (1989)
Bill Irwin - Largely New York and Fool Moon
Original Cast - Grand Hotel
Lane & Prince - Guys & Dolls
Original Cast - Angels In America (1993)
Zoe Caldwell - Master Class
Stritch - A Delicate Balance and At Liberty
Ann Reinking - Chicago
Original Cast - Titanic
Edie Falco - Side Man
Original Cast - Avenue Q
Original Cast - The Seagull (2001, Central Park)
Jackman - The Boy From Oz
Victoria Clark - Light in the Piazza
Original Cast - Well
Christine Ebersole - Grey Gardens

I should stop - more keep occurring...

Original cast of Evita

Rooney & Miller, Sugar Babies

Yul Brynner, King & I (1985 revival)

Lane & Prince, Guys & Dolls

Neuwirth & Reinking, Chicago

I don't know if this counts, but Rebecca Luker as Mrs. Banks in Mary Poppins.

I accidentally went to opening night of Wicked, so that was pretty cool. I'm not old enough to have gone to the "classic" classics, but I've gotten to see some good ones. As a kid: OBC of Into the Woods, OOBC of Little Shop, Patti in Anything Goes, OBC of Les Mis & Phantom, Carol Channing on tour with Dolly.... I'm sure more.

As an adult I've seen lots of the OBCs since moving to New York in 2003... the newer classic "a star is born" performances that stand out are Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo, OBC of Hamilton, Alex Sharp in Curious Incident, Sutton in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Carmen Cusack in Bright Star, Heather Headley in Aida (that was before I moved), more I'm sure I'm forgetting!

And Bette in Hello Dolly, which is obviously not "a star is born," haha... but classic and wonderful and iconic nonetheless.

Sure I am forgetting one of the all-time greats, but here goes as I travel down memory lane...



Play -- Male:

-- Jason Robards in Moon for the Misbegotten and The Country Girl

-- James Earl Jones in Fences and, especially, The Great White Hope

-- Derek Jacobi in Cyrano and Breaking the Code

-- Roger Rees in Nicholas Nickelby

-- Jim Dale in Scapino

-- Ian McKellen in Amadeus

-- Christopher Plummer in Barrymore and Inherit the Wind

-- Nathan Lane in It's Only a Play, The Man Who Came to Dinner, and The Nance

-- Michael Moriarty in Find Your Way Home

-- George C Scott in Sly Fox

-- Richard Burton in Equus...best of the three

-- Frank Langella in Dracula and Frost/Nixon

-- Henry Fonda in Clarence Darrow

-- George Rose in My Fat Friend

-- David Dukes in Bent



Play -- Female:

-- Colleen Dewhurst in Moon For the Misbegotten and Whose Afraid of Va. Woolf

-- Zoe Caldwell in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Medea. (Actually did not like Master Class, so her performance seemed a little over the top)

-- Irene Worth in Sweet Bird of Youth

-- Fiona Shaw in Medea

-- Vanessa Redgrave in LDJIN, Lady From The Sea, and Orpheus Descending

-- Maggie Smith in Lettice and Lovage and Private Lives

-- Judi Dench in Amy's View

-- (Not Broadway but) Cate Blanchett in Streetcar

-- Rosemary Harris in Hay Fever and The Royal Family

-- Eva LaGallienne in The Royal Family

-- Kathleen Turner in Va. Woolf

-- Glenda Jackson in Strange Interlude

-- Cherry Jones in The Heiress and The Glass Menagerie

-- Cicely Tyson in A Trip to Bountiful

-- Jane Alexander in The Great White Hope and The Heiress

-- Swoosie Kurtz in The Fifth of July and House of Blue Leaves





Musical (Male)

-- Christopher Plummer in Cyrano

-- Nathan Lane in The Producers AND A Funny Thing

-- Phil Silvers in A Funny Thing

-- Richard Kiley in Man of La Mancha

-- Tommy Steele in Half a Sixpence

-- Hugh Jackman in Oz

-- Robert Preston in I Do! I Do!

-- Kevin Kline in Pirates of Penzance

-- Robert Lindsey in Me and My Girl

-- William Daniels in 1776

-- Jerry Orbach in Promises! Promises!

-- John Callum in Shenandoah

-- Hal Linden in The Rothschilds

-- Cleavon Little in Purlie

-- Alan Cumming in Cabaret

-- Joel Grey in Cabaret and The Grand Tour

-- Boyd Gaines in She Loves Me

-- Lin-Manuel Mirnda and Daveed Diggs for Hamilton

-- Tommy Tune in My One and Only

-- Lenny Baker in I Love My Wife

-- Colm Wilkinson in Les Mis

-- Herschel Bernardi in Fiddler on the roof

-- Antonio Banderas in Nine

-- Len Cariou in Sweeney todd



Musical (Female)

-- Barbara Harris in The Apple Tree and On a Clear Day

-- Angela Lansbury in everything: Mame, Dear World, Prettybelle, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, ALNM. Interestingly, I was only disappointed once...in The King and I. Maybe it as lack of rehearsal time.

-- Glenn Close in Sunset Blvd.

-- Bebe Neuwirth in Chicago

-- Gwen Verdon in Chicago and Sweet Charity

-- Chita Rivera in Chicago

-- Patricia Rutledge in Darling of the Day

-- Donna Murphy in TKAI and Wonderful Town

-- Pearl Bailey in Dolly

-- Patti Lupone in Anything Goes, Evita and Sweeney Todd

-- Bernadette Peters in Gypsy

-- Sandy Duncan in Peter Pan and My one and Only

-- Katherine Hepburn in Coco

-- Mary Martin in I Do! I Do!

-- Melba Moore in Purlie

-- Alice Ripley in Next to Normal

-- Lillian Heyman in Hallelujah Baby

-- Bea Arthur and Jane Connell in Mame

-- Lotte Lenya in Cabaret

-- Alexis Smith in Follies

-- Jennifer Holiday in Dreamgirls

-- Idina Menzel in Wicked

-- Sutton Foster for Anything Goes



Special Section: Disappointments

-- Ethel Merman in Annie Get Your Gun revival. Wood.

-- Barbara Streisand in Funny Girl. Bored.

-- Zero Mostel in Fiddler. Ad-libbed too much

-- Cherry Jones in Doubt. I thought she was fine, bit Kathleen Turner should have won the Tony IMO. i just didn't see what was special.

-- Jim Dale in Barnum. Meh after Scapino

-- Michael Crawford in Phantom. It probably had more to do with the size of the role than his performance, but it just didn't seem special.

My first Broadway show was the original cast of A Chorus Line.

Chita and Gwen in Chicago

Stephanie Mills in The Wiz

Doug Henning in The Magic Show (don't hate--this was heaven for 16 year old nerdy me)

Julie in Victor/Victoria

Yul Brynner in The King and I (but only Act 1, because of the blackout of 1977 at intermission)

Idina in Wicked

Patti in Gypsy

OBC Hairspray

Bette in Hello Dolly!

Tonya Pinkins and Anika Noni Rose in Caroline, or Change