John Lithgow's Best Broadway Performance

[kingfan011]

Posted: 2/20/20 at 7:36pm

What is Lithgows best performance?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/20/20 at 7:37pm

“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”

[blaxx]

Posted: 2/20/20 at 7:44pm

He was the only bearable thing about Sweet Smell of Success. That one.

[Wildcard]

Posted: 2/20/20 at 8:22pm

Definitely NOT "Stories By Heart"

[Hot Pants]

Posted: 2/20/20 at 8:40pm

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.

[once a month]

Posted: 2/20/20 at 8:56pm

M Butterfly

He played confused very well.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 2/20/20 at 9:39pm

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.

[MCW1227]

Posted: 2/20/20 at 9:45pm

Jordan Catalano said: "“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”"

So true!  One of my all time fave performances.  

[mlsheehan]

Posted: 2/20/20 at 11:12pm

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.

[NoName3]

Posted: 2/21/20 at 12:43am

The Changing Room.  He got naked and was featured in After Dark.  Changing room in US parlance is locker room.  It's about a rugby team and he won a Best Supporting Tony.  George Hearn and Richard Masur were among those who also stripped off for the US production, after originally being produced in Great Britain.

Yes, I'm cheap and crass.

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 2/21/20 at 6:52am

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.

[kingfan011]

Posted: 2/21/20 at 10:45am

Why did he win for Sweet Smell. Does anybody know? Has he ever been awful on stage?

[Huss417]

Posted: 2/21/20 at 11:06am

M Butterfly

[dry2olives]

Posted: 2/21/20 at 11:08am

I would say Requiem For A Heavyweight.  I felt like I was watching my generation's equivalent to Brando in Streetcar.

[JSquared2]

Posted: 2/21/20 at 1:43pm

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??

[kingfan011]

Posted: 2/21/20 at 7:02pm

JSquared2 said: "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??"

 

It seems like everyone says the show was horrible. Did he really rise that much above the poor quality of everything else?

 

[markypoo]

Posted: 2/21/20 at 9:13pm

I saw the first pre-Broadway Chicago preview of Sweet Smell of Success in December 2001.
I'm still stunned that it managed to achieve a second preview.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 2/21/20 at 11:08pm

Lithgow's turn in Christopher Durang's BEYOND THERAPY is one of the funniest I have ever seen on a stage. His portrayal in M. BUTTERFLY is one of the most tragic. My grandchildren were raised on his albums of children's songs (thanks to their mother who introduced me to Lithgow as a singer).

I doubt there's anything the man can't do. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 2/21/20 at 11:49pm

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.