Posted: 6/4/19 at 4:21pm
What are some performances that make you roll with laughter?
Some of mine are:
Joanna Gleason as The Bakers Wife in Into the Woods (Probably one of the greatest combinations of performer and character in a musical. She perfectly delivered every single punch line while still giving their role just the right amount of pathos. Gleason has ruined all other Bakers Wives for me)
Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette / Thomas Jefferson in Hamilton (Mostly here for his turn as Jefferson in the second act. To pull of the the already difficult pair of roles would be impressive, but its all the little comedic touches he brought out whenever possible that made an already fantastic performance truly mesmerizing)
Adam Godley as Lord Evelyn Oakley in Anything Goes (Godleys performance was so great it inspired me to audition for Evelyn at my high school [I got the part]. A bad actor could easily make the role far too over the top, but Godley used absolutely perfect comedic timing without ever overplaying any lines to create a truly endearing and hilarious character, all while having the audience eating out of the palm of his hand. Not to mention, he had probably the funniest dance number Ive ever seen)
Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad as Elders Price and Cunningham in Book of Mormon (I couldnt choose a favorite between these two. Rannells as the straight man and Gad in the more overtly comedic role are already amazing performances in their own right. But its their chemistry together that truly makes them feel irreplaceable [even though so many others have performed in the roles since them] I’ve yet to see anyone else who either made the jokes land as well as Rannells and Gad, or who made their roles [that can easily be either too unsympathetic and annoying respectively] as endearing.
Mark Rylance as Olivia in Twelfth Night (A truly remarkable turn. Rylance [and the other “actresses” in the production] wisely avoided playing up the fact that he’s a man acting as a woman, instead letting the brilliant comedic writing get laughs. His Olivia was both hypnotic and ridiculous, playing up many moments perfectly, with none of them ever feeling like they were for a desperate laugh, but instead feeling like a necessity for the role. It’s actually remarkable how Rylance acted the part a thousand times better from both a comedic and dramatic standpoint when compared to the women I’ve seen play the role)
Jeff McCarthy as Officer Lockstock in Urinetown (I’ll never understand how he wasn’t nominated. His performance was practically the definition of a scene stealer. Whether he was instructing Little Sally on the logic of musicals, narrating the absurd premise, or getting distracted by the show’s music, McCarthy’s perfect comedic timing and ability to effortlessly switch between acting silly and serious made him the standout in an extremely talented and hilarious cast)
Bertie Carvel as Miss Trunchbull in Matilda (Such a gloriously hammy turn by Carvel. He brought out such a deliciously evil and dark humor in this monster of a role that I’ve yet to see anyone else come close to matching. His performance of The Smell of Rebellion alone puts him on my list. It says something about the quality of his work that so many thought he was snubbed of the leading tony, despite the fact that almost everyone agrees his role is supporting)
Updated On: 6/6/19 at 04:21 PM
. Not a great show, but those two guys were more laugh-out-loud funny than Jack Lemmon and Joe E. Brown.
