Nathan Lane’s Greatest Performance

I only saw him in "Guys And Dolls" and "The Producers and he was wonderful in both shows but I would give slight edge to "The Producers".

Ever? “The Birdcage”.

Definitely NOT Gary

Hand in a toilet, Difficult People

The press clips of that stunning “happy endings in musicals” alone leads me to believe that, historically, it probably was LOVE! VALOR! COMPASSION!, but of the ones I’ve seen, THE NANCE.

BTW, he was excellent in GARY, which is a worthy play I’m glad was seen on Broadway. What Lane does really well is turning emotion on a dime— going from funny to suddenly devastatingly sad. There was a moment in THE NANCE where he did that, and he did that in the LVC monologue, too.

His performance in Love! Valor! Compassion! for me ranks as his greatest stage role ever. He was equally funny and heartbreaking in a role that was written for him. To this day his major monologue brings tears to my eyes.

I also believe his screen role as Albert in The Birdcage is a triumph. There are so many moments in that movie where he alone finds the heart of the piece-my favorite being right after he discovers that it is in fact Val who is home, and goes into his room to check on him - pure quiet brilliance. He obviously nails the comedy and it was casting genius to have Williams play the more subdued of the two leads because everyone at that point was used to his over the top performances. Lane again is equally funny as he is poignant and the movie for all of its many laughs has real heart - mostly due to his very touching performance.

On stage, I have seen Lane in A Funny Thing, Guys and Dolls, The Producers, It's Only a Play, Butley, The Front Page, The Nance, November, The Man Who Came to Dinner, The Odd Couple, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Love Valor Compassion, and Gary. Even given that I HATED Gary, I have never seen him give a lee-than-wonderful performance,



I did not see the Angels in America revival, nor was I able to see Waiting for Godot, as neither worked with my out-of-towner calendar.



With that background, the decision is very easy for me. I think Lane gave the greatest musical performance I have ever seen by a actor, with Christopher Plummer in Cyrano being second. I know that people like to diss The Producers now, but they need to remember that they are dissing it because they feel it is not as good as they thought because Nathan Lane left.

My second favorite Lane performance: The Nance or The Man Who Came to Dinner, two wildly different roles.

I don't think Lane has ever given a bad performance. But for his screen work, Birdcage for sure. For stage, hard to say, as I didn't get to see him live when he was at his peak for musical comedy (Guys and Dolls, Forum, The Producers). His performance in Angels was exceptional, an unexpected masterstroke of casting.

Even at his worst (which, in his case, would be at his most schticky and self-indulgent), he ends up elevating a production.

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Updated On: 1/8/21 at 01:08 PM

I happen to be one of the lucky few who saw Nathan Lane play Mr. Toad in Wind in the Willows. It was a case of a star is born. He stole the show with his brilliant comic antics. I seem to recall he borrowed liberally when he created Max. He did it first as Toad.

Smaxie said: "Far and away -The Lisbon Traviata,"

i saw this production when it came to Los Angeles, and fell in love with Nathan Lane at that point!!...i totally agree...

I’ve seen him several times and he’s always outstanding but I think my favorite performance was the Nance. He had to switch gears constantly to portray a terribly tormented man while also being a hilarious vaudevillian performer.. Very different and very powerful.

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