Posted: 12/28/24 at 8:41pm
Where were your most memorable stage moments in 2024?
Here are 15 of mine.
Posted: 12/28/24 at 8:57pm
Masquerade and the full Bright in Stereophonic
Predatory Wasp in Illinoise
Easy in Water for Elephants
Dr. Jazz in Jelly’s Last Jam
Gayle Rankin’s Cabaret
Audra’s Rose’s Turn
Gimme Shelter and the panic attack in Hills of California
The montage in The Effect
Updated On: 12/28/24 at 08:57 PM
Posted: 12/28/24 at 9:12pm
“The Seers Tower” from ILLINOISE just destroyed me. it’s seared into my brain.
Posted: 12/28/24 at 9:54pm
My favorite moment is the climax of Oh, Mary.
Posted: 12/28/24 at 10:10pm
Robbie Fairchild performs “The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts” in Illinoise in Illinois
Audra’s turn at “Rose’s Turn” in Gypsy
Nicole Scherzinger gives me goosebumps in “With One Look” in Sunset Blvd
Watching Tom Francis perform “Sunset Boulevard” on 44th St outside of Sunset Blvd
Adam Lambert kills the vibe with “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” in Cabaret
Megan Hilty gives me what I paid for with “For the Gaze” in Death Becomes her
The stagecraft of Maybe Happy Ending
Worst:
Nicole Scherzinger making me snicker with her super serious growl at the climax of Sunset Blvd
Nicole Scherzinger making me cringe with her super serious and self important curtain call at Sunset Blvd
Remembering what I paid to see All In: Comedy About Love
Updated On: 12/28/24 at 10:10 PM
Posted: 12/28/24 at 10:51pm
6 personal ones for me:
Updated On: 12/28/24 at 10:51 PM
Posted: 12/28/24 at 11:01pm
Robbie Fairchild in Illinoise (at the Armory). It was my first time seeing him dance and from the start I couldn't take my eyes off of him. I saw the show twice more (with different people as "Clark" each time) and no one moved me as much as Robbie.
The fall down the stairs in Death Becomes Her.
Every moment of Oh, Mary!
The last minute of "Rose's Turn" and the choices made at "Someone tell me when is it my turn..." but I'm going to try to forget the rest of the show's direction.
The last minutes of Appropriate.
Seeing Sweeney Todd in the time before Sutton took over and Delaney Westfall's Lovett was spectacular.
Eddie Izzard's one-person Hamlet
Posted: 12/28/24 at 11:06pm
I really loved this year of theater. Some of my top moments:
Posted: 12/29/24 at 12:33am
- Literally EVERYTHING in CATS: THE JELLICLE BALL.
- “Satan Pulls The Strings” from SWEPT AWAY
- Watching Denise Gough’s total breakdown in rehab (sitting on stage) during PEOPLE, PLACES & THINGS - West End
- “Predatory Wasp” from ILLINOISE
- “Listening To You” (Finale) from THE WHO’S TOMMY
Posted: 12/29/24 at 1:37am
- choreography of Sunset Boulevard. And that’s it
- Lesli Margharita in Gypsy
- Autumn Hurlbert In Tammy Faye
- All of Heart of Rock ‘n’ Roll
- That hunky guitarist in Swept Away
- A side view of Kelly O’Hara, singing her heart out in Days of Wine and Roses
- Gayle Rankin’s Maybe This Time and Cabaret
- Daniel Breaker in Mattress
- Job
-
Posted: 12/29/24 at 1:46am
The fireflies in Maybe Happy Ending.
The whole deranged humor in Death Becomes Her and the chemistry of the leads. Tell Me Ernest is a good example.
Posted: 12/29/24 at 2:21am
Ooooo, I like this one! More specific than just favorite shows!
A few that come to mind (in no particular order):
Posted: 12/29/24 at 4:44pm
Just chiming in with my additional 7th choice.
Admittedly, I'm not surprised it slipped my mind since I found every moment of Three Houses enchanting, helped greatly by Dave Malloy's addictive music. But looking back on it, Sadie's New Mexico story sticks with me the most. Two particular moments stand out for me:
Posted: 12/31/24 at 8:11pm
Love this question. Some personal faves:
Posted: 12/31/24 at 9:54pm
YES that brilliantly creative iceberg in Titanic at City Center, thank you for the reminder!
Echoing everyone re: the fireflies in Maybe Happy Ending, but really all of the tech of that show. I was oohing and aahing the whole time.
The whole end of Oh Mary. The end, and then the end-end. Brilliant.
The kid coming down the stairs in Appropriate. You know which part. And the stage design of the epilogue.
Seeing Suffs the last night of the DNC while Kamala was accepting her nomination, and the indescribable feeling as a woman during “Keep Marching.” (And hearing everyone else crying around me too.) A simpler time. 🫤
Impossible to pick a moment from the Jellicle Ball, but I’ll go with either Skimbleshanks (the MTA costume, hilarious genius), or the palpable energy of the audience in the opening number when the cast finally convenes on the stage and the velvet rope is pulled aside for that iconic unison dance down the runway. And god, Mr. Mistoffeles. Couldn’t take my eyes off of them.
Equally hard to pick a moment in Illinoise but I’ll go with Shara Nova’s stunning vocals on John Wayne Gacy. I didn’t know the music going in and I remember my heart being in my throat during that. Shoutout to the sound design too, the acoustics were just gorgeous. (One of my favorite shows I’ve ever seen and I love Justin Peck, so too hard to pick a specific dance element, it was all glorious.)
Shoshana Bean’s “Pawn It All” in Hell’s Kitchen. Hot damn that was impressive.
The sheer power behind the Listening to You finale of Tommy. Spectacular!
The fight scene in The Outsiders - I saw it before everyone was talking about it, so it was unexpected, and I don’t think I breathed.
And a more personal moment, but seeing that my mom was full-on crying from “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” when the intermission house lights came up in Gypsy. I was so moved that she was so moved.
(There are so many really fabulous moments when I really stop to think about it, but I’’m writing a novel so I’ll shut up now!)
Posted: 1/1/25 at 9:45am
Here are mine...
Posted: 1/1/25 at 10:47am
The end of I Love You So Much I Could Die at NYTW. The set was essentially bare the whole show; there was only a table, a chair, a laptop, a lamp, a guitar, and amp/speaker. The house and stage lights remained on for most of the show. The house lights came down somewhere around the midway point. Then, so subtly you almost didn’t realize, the stage lights began to dim until all that was left on was the desk lamp. A song’s final guitar note, brief silence, then a simple turning off of the lamp to end the show. Simple and shattering.
The palpable energy at an early Broadway preview of Stereophonic after “Bright (Take 22)”. The audience erupting with applause like they were at a stadium concert. The silence after, followed by Peter’s “What do you think?” and Diana’s “It’s great.” And the stunned, disgusted response to Peter’s immediate criticism. A moment that always lands, but never quite hit me or the audience in the same way again the other times I saw it.
Posted: 1/1/25 at 12:18pm
*Feeling the palpable energy, hope, and love during Suffs days after Kamala announced her bid. Women supporting women during this terrifying time for us felt very powerful.
*Watching Sutton trying to break Aaron throughout the first Act of Sweeney Todd and succeeding. Their incredible chemistry and her comedic chops made it the best version I've ever seen.
*Robbie Fairchild performing “The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts" in Illinoise
*During The Heart of Rock and Roll when Corey Cott handed me his boombox when he declared his love for Cassandra. I handed it back to him I said "Go get em Tiger!" while he and the audience laughed. Such a fun show.
*Brent Comer's heartbreaking "Throwing in the Towel" in The Outsiders
*While not a performance, being lucky enough to attend Gavin Creel's gorgeous memorial at the St James. The love and heartbreak that day was extremely overwhelming but in the very best way. He will be remembered always.
Posted: 1/1/25 at 2:48pm
Because of a broken ankle, I only saw 10 shows on Broadway this year, and I won’t see Gypsy or MHE for months.
These are my favorites of what I saw:
Interestingly, although I enjoyed Stereophonic, there is not a single scene that stood out for me. I enjoyed the show, but thought it was wildly overrated.
Updated On: 1/1/25 at 02:48 PM
Posted: 1/1/25 at 6:57pm
Of course, I will echo Joshua Henry in Ragtime, the ending (and stairs scene) of Appropriate, and the calibrated lunacy of Oh, Mary! A few other highlights I’d be remiss not to mention:
• Most of Terce stuck with me, but I will forever wonder how they were able to tune that vacuum cleaner to the song!
• Andrew Durand commanding a room without moving a muscle in act 2 of Dead Outlaw.
• Dave Malloy’s gorgeous score for Three Houses, particularly the second house.
• Hearing Christine Ebersole sing “In Buddy’s Eyes” at the Follies concert at Carnegie Hall.
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