John Lithgow's Best Broadway Performance

What is Lithgows best performance?

blaxx said: "He was the only bearable thing about Sweet Smell of Success. That one."

I’ve always wondered about that show and his Tony won for it. From what I hear, it sounds like it was really bad, not even being able to gain a cult following or any other productions of note, and yet he won the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle. And it’s not like his completion was particularly weak, as Patrick Wilson, John Cullum, Gavin Creel, and John McMartin are all great actors who were in shows that managed to pull off other major wins that night. I guess Cullum, Creel, and McMartin weren’t helped by beng secondary leads, but still. I’m guessing Lithgow must’ve really made the most of his material to win that year.

I only saw him in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels but I bet Sweet Smell of Success was great. The score is gorgeous. I don't know what issues the show had but the music could not have been one of them.

I know this doesn't count as I saw it Los Angeles, but he and Glenda Jackson were the leads in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf". He was magnificent. It was an amazing performance.

Wildcard said: "Definitely NOT "Stories By Heart""

You're right. It was probably not his best role. But it was light and enjoyable and he was fun and entertaining and you could see the piece meant a lot to him. There were certainly worse ways I could have spent that Wednesday afternoon.

M Butterfly

kingfan011 said: "Whydid he win for Sweet Smell. Does anybody know? Has he ever been awful on stage?"

I'm guessing he won because he received the most votes that year??

I have always thought that Lithgow is an outstanding actor who, like everyone else, has occasionally bombed. With that perspective in mind, I personally thought that his performance in M Butterfly was atrociously bad, that he overacted more than anyone I can think of. Decades later, I still cringe at his last scene, which I also blamed on the director.

My favorite performance of Lithgow's was actually a small performance in My Fat Friends, some 45 years ago. He and George Rose stole the show (the star, Lynn Redgrave was also excellent, but they stole it), which my wife and I loved. Occasionally, we still repeat a line reading that he did because it was so funny.

I also thought he was great in The Changing Room and The Columnist. Did not see Sweet Smell of Success and didn't like Scoundrels.