Proud to admit that I cry all the time in the theatre. My short-list includes:
SWEENEY TODD (2006 Revival)
The finale, when all of the characters stand on the lip of the stage (many dressed in the bleeding white lab coats), sawing away on the strings, blaring the brass, banging the triangles, pounding, pointing and screaming: There! There! THERE! My tears would not stop because I was genuinely scared... it was also my 2nd Broadway show and was having an out-of-soul experience where I couldnt believe a piece of live theatre was affecting me so powerfully.
HAIR (2008 Summer Central Park)
The Be-In always sends me over the edge. Yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yippee! What the hell are we fighting for? Make love not war! Drop out drop out drop out drop out be in be in be in be in. The cacophony of voices on-top of each other and the absolute raw-ness to their pleas. The tears did not stop from that moment to the very end. (When we see Claude in the final scene after the tribe has wandered off-stage singing Let The Sunshine In)
SPRING AWAKENING
The moment leading up to I Believe, when Wendla asks to be hit with the switch so she can feel something. Then I cry during the actual sex-scene because their clumsy lustful innocence is so authentic. Of course I also cry during Left Behind... mostly at the moment Melchior looks at Moritz father, accusingly.
WICKED
I am not ashamed to admit that I tear-up 3 times during this show. Defying Gravity just makes me erupt in goosebumps and the tears are involuntary. But curiously, the other 2 moments involve the Animals. As soon as The Wizard reveals that Elphaba has conjured wings onto all of the caged monkeys, and you hear their shrieks of horror and Elphaba is so frightened at her own powers. And then I cry when Dr.Dillamond is found underneath the blanket and can no longer speak.
THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA
Aiutumi makes me cry simply because I get sensational-overload. The 8 voices overlapping each other with the booming orchestra! I cant handle it! And when Margaret sings Looove! Looove! Looove! during the finale. How many times can a mother shout this out? She loves her daughter, thats all that she has meant to do and has done and will continue to do (even as Clara moves into a new and unknown chapter of her life without her).
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (2008 Revival)
Similar to HAIR, I lost track of how many times this production brought me to tears. Namely, the finale of each Act when George frenetically puts the tableau together. But the first time I saw the show, the water-works started with the VERY FIRST musical scale and paint-brush stroke across the white stage.
ALL MY SONS (2008 Revival)
The moment Chris learns what his dad Joe has done, he hits him. Hard. To the ground. Completely pummels him. And I started to cry because I thought to myself: No matter what the circumstance, I could never hit my father. I called my family immediately after the show and laugh/cried to my dad over the phone, telling him that. He said I need to lay-off the theatre for a while! Haha
THE CRUCIBLE
Arthur Miller must have an affect on me. The moment Abigail starts shrieking and claiming Mary Warren is sending the crow down on her, and the rest of the girls follow-suit. Copying her while Proctor and Mary are helpless in the middle of the court... which just climaxes even more when Mary gives-up and falls victim to the pretense (or else she will be killed) so acts like she sees the spirit also.
FLOYD COLLINS
Several moments in this show... specifically the moment they try to pull him out with rope. Floyd is screaming, Skeet is crying for them to stop, but the men on the line cant hear at first. Im overwhelmed with the hopelessness of the situation and his pain. And I love How Glory Goes when the yodels start to echo in the end.
A CATERED AFFAIR
This was definitely a hit-or-miss show... but I was a mess! My sister had just gotten married and I was having a longing for family (bit of homesickness). And I just love good family stories.
FUERZABRUTA & SLAVAS SNOWSHOW
Two very similar emotional theatre-moments: Bizarre indescribable moments where I am just so washed-over by sensation. Authentically human experiences.
JACQUES BREL (2007 Off-Bway Revival)
At the Zipper Factory, this intimate performance was just revolutionary in my respect for minimalistic production but endless artistry. One song after another, expressed so emotionally and seductively. Songs like Marieke, Amsterdam and Next were just dripping in power!
Updated On: 11/29/09 at 11:31 PM