Okay, whats the greatest performance you've ever seen on stage?- Page 4

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 10:58pm

I'm very indecisive, so here are a few of my favorites! I know they're all recent, but I think they're better than some of the older performances I've seen.

Alice Ripley, Next to Normal
Audra McDonald, 110 in the Shade
Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson, Grey Gardens
LaChanze, The Color Purple
Patti Lupone and Laura Benanti, Gypsy

Brian Stokes Mitchell, Man of la Mancha
Raul Esparza, Company

Eve Best, A Moon for the Misbegotten and The Homecoming
Deanna Dunagan and Amy Morton, August: Osage County
Janet McTeer, Mary Stuart
Kristin Scott Thomas, The Seagull
Tovah Feldshuh, Irena?s Vow

Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Geoffrey Rush, Exit the King
Kevin Kline, Cyrano

Oh, and I'm 20.

[Jamie Pierce]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 11:43pm

It's so hard to pick just one!

Musical: Christine Ebersole GG

runner ups: Charlotte d'Amboise CHICAGO, Kristen Chenoweth WICKED (I know its a cliche but she was truly was fantastic), Laura Benanti GYSPY, Harvey Fierstein HAIRSPRAY

Play: Dennis O'Hare TAKE ME OUT

Age: 29
Updated On: 6/17/09 at 11:43 PM

[pc1145N2]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 2:11am

Musical:

Patti LuPone in Gypsy
Heather Headley in Aida

Those are the only 2 times that I just knew from watching that they'd win the Tony!

Drama:

Cherry Jones in Doubt. Just perfect

[Janki]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 4:27am

Helen Sjöholm in "Kristina från Duvemåla!" in Stockholm! She was just amazing, and I'm so glad she gets to do it in NY in September!


Glenn Close in "A Streetcar Named Desire" @ The National Theatre in London....(But then again, has se EVER done anything wrong)

[mattonstage]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 7:20am

Just turned 44.

Play: Christopher Plummer and James Earl Jones in Othello
Maggie Smith in Lettice and Lovage.

Musical: Tyne Daly in Gypsy (Yes, I said Tyne Daly!!)
Hugh Jackman in The Boy from Oz.

[Oldschool]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 7:55am

Albert Finney, Hamlet (uncut), National Theatre, London 1976.

Nothing else comes close.

[billee0918]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 8:11am

Age: 38 (how'd that happen?)

Ebersole - GG (i'm not a big crier...i was sobbing)

Ripley - N2N (saw for the 1st time earlier in the week...blown away)

Buckley - Sunset Blvd (electrifying!)

[janice4]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 9:20am

70+ Definitely Streisand in Funny Girl
James Earl Jones in Great White Hope

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 9:54am

Karen Olivo- West Side Story

(Don't say anything)

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 10:19am

Male:
Musical - Michael Crawford in Phantom of the Opera
Play - James Earl Jones in Fences

Female:
Musical - Tyne Daly in Gypsy / Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens
Play - Cherry Jones in The Heiress

Posted: 6/18/09 at 10:20am

I'm 47

Musicals- Butz Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Ebersole Grey Gardens

Play - Langella Frost/Nixon
Fiona Shaw Medea (still get chills remembering)

[shh282]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 5:04pm

I'm 19 - my first season was 07-08 so although I've seen 40++ (I've honestly lost count at this point) shows, I'm pretty limited.

Play - I was specifically blown away by two dynamic duos I saw last year. [Both just happened to have Norbert Leo Butz]
Norbert Leo Butz + Elizabeth Marvel - Fifty Words
Norbert Leo Butz + Raul Esparza - Speed the Plow

Musical -
Female - Patti Lupone - Gypsy
Male - Paulo Szot - South Pacific

[neil30043]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 5:55pm

53 years old....

Best Actress (Play): Lily Tomlin-"The Search for...."
Best Actor (Play): James Earl Jones-"The Great White Hope"

Best Actress (Musical): Angela Lansbury-"Sweeney Todd"
Best Actor (Musical): Richard Kiley-"Man from La Mancha"

[Weez]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 6:02pm

26, been theatre-going regularly for three years.

Best Actress (Musical): Tonya Pinkins, Caroline, or Change (thanks all for bringing Caroline to London!).

Best Actor (Musical): Raul Esparza, Company (I thought this'd be a more common reply, but I guess not. He was still totally electrifying!).

Best Actress (Play): Penny Downie, Hamlet (I completely utterly lost my heart to her Gertrude, and I don't think I'll ever get it back).

Best Actor (Play): Jonathan Slinger, Richard II, Henry V, Richard III (I know that's three plays, but they were essentially one production, and part of his genius is how utterly different but superbly realised all these characters were).

And if I had to pick a Best in Show of those four, Slinger ALL THE WAY! He is, hands down, the very best actor I've ever seen in anything EVER. And it breaks my heart every day that he's not as successful and renowned as a man of that phenomenal talent should be. ;_;

Updated On: 6/18/09 at 06:02 PM

[hotjohn]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 6:32pm

Musical: Nathan Lane - "The Producers"

Play: Anthony Hopkins - "Pravda"

BTW: I'm 50

[AbbyNormal13]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 8:26pm

I'm 19

Male (Musical) - Christopher Fitzgerald in Young Frankenstein

Female (Musical - Patti Lupone in Gypsy

[goober1632]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 8:40pm

Musical:
Tonya Pinkins - Caroline or Change
Kristin Chenoweth - Wicked
Michael Cerveris - Sweeney Todd
Raul Esparza - Company

Play:
Chita Rivera - House of Bernarda Alba

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 9:24pm

Norbert Leo Butz was pure magic in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," and comedy is tough to pull-off, but he had me in stitches.

Lupone in "Gypsy," although it took me a while to full come around and appreciate what she brought to the role. And Laura Benati has to get special mention because she gave such a wonderful transformation in that show.

[I saw Ripley's first performance after winning the TONY, and while she had some great moments - "Didn't I see This Movie" - there were moments that didn't feel genuine and felt really forced and not spontaneous.

[lvpblues]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 9:46pm

Amy Morton in August: Osage County
Cherry Jones in Doubt
Victoria Clark in The Light in the Piazza
Judy Kaye in Souvenir
Jayne Houdyshell in Well
Bill Irwin in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Zeljko Ivanek in The Pillowman
Geoffrey Rush in Exit the King
Stephen Mangan in The Norman Conquests

Best Ensemble performance: I'd have to go with The Norman Conquests

For the record, I am 25.

~Kev

[soubrette]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 1:49am

Performance in a Play:
KATHY BATES and ANNE PITONIAK in 'NIGHT MOTHER
CHERRY JONES in THE HEIRESS
AMANDA PLUMMER as a wacky and watchable Juliet in ROMEO & JULIET (La Jolla Playhouse, circa 1983)
LILY TOMLIN in THE SEARCH...

Performamce in a Musical:
PENNY HAMILTON in BEACH BLANKET BINGO GOES TO THE STARS
REN WOODS in THE WIZ
TONYA PINKINS and ANIKA NONI ROSE in CAROLINE, OR CHANGE
CAROL CHANNING in HELLO DOLLY (1977 and 1997?)

[emilyfaye48]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 4:09am

I'm 21

Patti LuPone Gypsy

[mattonstage]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 6:55am

Even though not a Broadway performance, I feel remiss in not mentioning Meryl Streep in Mother Courage in Central Park. Stunning.

[duffny1]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 7:23am

This is a tough one.
All Ties:)
Plays: Amanda Plummer in Agnes of God,Rosemary Harris in Hay Fever, Tony Lo Bianco in View From The Bridge, BD Wong in M Butterfly, Lois Smith and Gary Sinise in Grapes of Wrath, Linda Lavin in Broadway Bound, Cast of Noises Off (1984 version), Sutton Foster in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Victor Garber in Lend Me A Tenor.

Jennifer Holiday in Dreamgirls, Anita Morris in Nine, Bernadette Peters in Song and Dance, Petula Clark in Blood Brothers and Patti Lapone in Gypsy, Betty Buckley and Linzi Hateley in Carrie.

I am 46.

[AlgonquinProd2]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 1:13pm

Older than most, hence....

William Daniels in "1776", followed closely by John Cullum in "Shenandoah". What a voice.

Walter Matthau as Oscar in the original "Odd Couple", followed closely by Art Carney as Felix in the original "Odd Couple".

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 1:22pm

Anna Manahan - THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE
Frank Wood - SIDE MAN
Kathleen Turner - WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?
Tonya Pinkins - CAROLINE, OR CHANGE
Joanna Gleason - INTO THE WOODS
Blair Brown - JAMES JOYCE'S THE DEAD

and I will even add a few performances from just last season into the mix -
Geoffrey Rush - EXIT THE KING
Harriet Walter/Janet McTeer - MARY STUART