Emotional Impact of Shows — Page 2

I cried after Patti's "Rose's Turn" but I suppose those were tears of overwhelming wonder, joy and awe.

I did, however, cry when Christine sang "My God" in "Another Winter in a Summer Town." So haunting.

And I have cried in a regional production of WEST SIDE STORY in which the actress playing Maria absolutely threw her entire self into the scene. Terrific, terrific performance.

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Bettyboy72: Oh, that's another part of Miss Saigon that makes me tear up! That and "I'd Give My Life for You." I also get sad during "The Last Night of the World" because I know it's never going to happen for those two and it's the last time we'll see them together.

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Other shows that had a huge and devastating emotional impact on me:

The Drowsy Chaperone
Dance of the Vampires
Boeing-Boeing
Long Day's Journey Into Night

I wouldn't say it was the particular show itself, but it was the performance.

I've seen RENT before, knew what was happening, but Angel's death made me weep when my high school did it.

Our Collins was absolutely fantastic for a high school performer. His voice is out of this world, he has such an emotional connection with every work he does. Collins is very much a passive character in the show, we all can agree, but he didn't let that happen at my school. When Collins first started singing, and the lighting changed, I turned into a sobbing hot mess.

God, I don't even know why I'm writing this (I HATE Rent!)

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I've cried in GYPSY (200, NEXT TO NORMAL (2009 Broadway), BILLY ELLIOT, LIZA'S AT THE PALACE (something about that final encore of "...Merry Little Christmas" really got to me)...and a few others I'll have to think of.

I'm shocked no one has said mine yet.

The show that has given me the most emotional reaction was Grey Gardens. I have never experienced anything like that in a theatre.

Other good ones: Sunday in the Park, Next to Normal, Les Mis, Gypsy.

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"Trust me, at age 52, I don't do much of anything 'for the attention'. But if I'm not crying by the end of a musical, to me it just wasn't a good show. It's not sadness that gets me going it's the poignancy that always moves me."
^^ I feel the exact same way...in my opinion, the judge of a good musical is how long I have to sit in the theatre waiting for my face to clear up before I can leave

As a lot of you have said, Angel's funeral makes me sob...to the point where I'm embarrassed and wish I could stop.

In N2N I cried the hardest in Hey #3/Perfect for You (reprise). Which is odd...because I cared the most about Diana and Dan throughout the show. I actually felt sick during that song, because there was no telling if Natalie would end up like her mother, and if Henry would end up like Dan. Ugh, still makes me uncomfortable. Also, the line, "you don't have to be happy at all to be happy you're alive," shook me up pretty badly, too.

NEXT TO NORMAL: Of the three times I've seen it thus far, the time I sat front row center affected me the most. Just because I could see the tears and the facial expressions and the emotion. And something about when Natalie leaves Diana and meets Henry at the dance and the music... Ugh! I was a sobbing mess from then on. It really hit me hard. It wasn't for attention. The story really affected me because all I could see was the performance and not the audience around me.

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY: Every single time Violet clambered up those stairs to get to Johnna's room at the end, my heart broke. I didn't cry, but something inside me just felt sad. I guess it was the realization that this woman was utterly abandoned and wondering how that would feel. It's an emotion that is so hard to grasp that you can't help but to ponder it. And when you do, you realize how horrible it is.

ALL MY SONS: I primarily mean the revival, but I was in a production of it my junior year of high school and the ending never ceases to leave me speechless. There is no way to respond to the absolute unraveling of a family but to be speechless. When I saw the revival, from the moment the gunshot sounded, to the final, heartbreaking projection, I was just still. I couldn't even cry. Something about it deeply unsettled me and left me without any words. I couldn't even talk afterwards.

I've cried during Hair, Rent, A Tale of Two Cities, and Next to Normal. How Could I Ever Forget from N2N and the Finale from Tale always make me tear up when they come on my mp3 player. N2N definitely had the greatest emotional impact on me, and I heard a lot of other people crying when I saw it. Believe it or not, I'm not normally an emotional person, but when something really moves me, it does.

I don't really cry during shows; however, when I saw the Les Mis revival - SPOILERS - I did get some tears down my cheeks when Lea Salonga sang 'I Dreamed a Dream' and when Eponine was dying during 'A Little Fall of Rain.'

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Wow. I totally neglected OUR TOWN. Yeah, from the wedding on... always kills me. And when the Emily is really good? That final monologue kills me. And the stage manager's final lines... *tear*

I cried openly after Raul Esparza's being alive (as you can tell by my screen name), but I'm still not sure if it was because I was so touched by the song or if it was because it was the first time I realized I was in love with Raul Esparza. Maybe it was a bit of both.