Okay, whats the greatest performance you've ever seen on stage?- Page 5

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 1:26pm

Oh gosh, I was just reminded of two more:

Robert Morse - Tru

Audra McDonald - Marie Christine

[TheSeafarer]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 1:53pm

Jim Dale - Scapino
Philip Seymour Hoffman & John C. Reilly - True West
Nathan Lane - Present Laughter
Stephen Lang - The Speed of Darkness
Robert Lindsay - Me and My Girl
Marc Kudisch - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Alison Pill - Mauritius
Lynn Redgrave - Moon Over Buffalo
Lynn Redgrave - St. Joan
Jan Maxwell - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Dorothy Loudon - Annie
Madeline Kahn - On The Twentieth Century

I'm 46

[Weez]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 3:04pm

I..... am a terrible person.

Chiwetel Ejiofor in Othello. I cannot BELIEVE I forgot him. I mean, I'd still pick Slinger over him, but he was still so unbelievably amazing that I'll spend the rest of my life chasing Moors only to find them all falling short.

[Mamie]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 3:30pm

Just turned 59.

Musical - Michael Crawford in Phantom of the Opera.

Play - Daniel Davis in Talking Heads (off-B'way). Christine Ebersole comes in at a real close 2nd place for her performance in the same show.

[LadyDramaturg2]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 7:09pm

How NICE to see so many of us were born before 1969!

Tony Perkins -- Equus (replacement)
Brilliant.

Richard Kiley -- La Mancha
Chills. [I know, I know.]

Mary Martin -- I Do! I Do!
Sealed the deal as the best MT actress of the age.

Elizabeth Parkinson -- Movin' Out
Are you kidding me?

[larry64]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 8:21pm

Musical: JIM DALE in BARNUM

Play: STOCKARD CHANNING in SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION

[little_sally]

Posted: 6/20/09 at 12:59am

After seeing Phylicia Rashad in August: Osage County tonight, I think I would call that performance the best I've ever seen in a play.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 6/20/09 at 6:11am

Best Actress in a musical: Samantha Spiro in the 2001 Donmar production of Merrily We Roll Along.

Best Actor in a musical: Daniel Evans in the 2001 Donmar production of Merrily We Roll Along.

Best Actress in a play: Barbara Leigh Hunt in the original 1992 National Theatre cast of An Inspector Calls.

Best Actor in a play: I'm so tempted to put Daniel Evans in the 2001 Donmar production of Merrily We Roll Along again, but we'll call it a tie between Brian Dennehy in Death of a Salesman and David Threlfall and Neil Stuke both in Blue Orange.

I was the same age as The History Boys at the time that play was set.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 6/20/09 at 6:48am

41 Here..

The entrie cast of "Angels in America' at the Walter Kerr

Nancey Hayes as Mrs Lovett in the State Opera Company of South Australia, Australian premiere production of Sweeney

Anthony Warlow and Phillip Quast singing "Lily's Eyes" in The Secret Garden

The MTC cast of Death and the Maiden- Brillant

[provocation]

Posted: 6/20/09 at 8:04pm

Someone is gonna tear me apart for this but:

Musical: Caissie Levy in Wicked (LA). Her last performance in LA beats any Espinosa, Dodd, or Block performance I have ever seen.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 6/21/09 at 12:50pm

Musical: Ethel Merman in GYPSY

Play: George C. Scott in DEATH OF A SALESMAN

I am 67 years old. My first Broadway musical was FLAHOOLEY with Barbara Cook in 1951.

[Blueberry Pie2]

Posted: 6/21/09 at 1:44pm

For a musical it would have to be Alice Ripley in Next to Normal and for a play it would have to be Amy Morton in August: Osage County.

[Chuck012]

Posted: 6/21/09 at 5:18pm

Play: Paul Muni in the original production of Inherit the Wind
Musical: Ethel Merman or Mary Martin in any number of productions in the '50s and 60'.
Yes, I am 72

[CapnHook]

Posted: 6/21/09 at 5:34pm

Musical (male): Norm Lewis as Coalhouse Walker in North Carolina Theatre's production of RAGTIME.

Musical (female): Christine Ebersole as Little/Big Edie in GREY GARDENS on Broadway.

Play (male): Benjamin Walker as Mercutio in ROMEO & JULIET at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. This one is the only one I can think of that truly stands out from theatre-going experiences. This was the most difficult category to choose.

Play (female): Amy Morton in AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY on Broadway.

I have 23 years of age.

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 6/21/09 at 7:20pm

I am 23.

Amy Morton in AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
Cherry Jones in DOUBT
Swoosie Kurtz in FROZEN

Christine Ebersole in GREY GARDENS
Alice Ripley in NEXT TO NORMAL
Victoria Clark in THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA
Tonya Pinkins in CAROLINE, OR CHANGE
Jenna Russell in SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE

J. Robert Spencer in NEXT TO NORMAL
Michael Cerveris in SWEENEY TODD
Raul Esparza in COMPANY
Denis O'Hare in ASSASSINS
Michael Cerveris in ASSASSINS

Jeff Daniels in BLACKBIRD
Geoffrey Rush in EXIT THE KING
Bill Irwin in WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?
Michael Stuhlbarg, THE PILLOWMAN
Brian F. O'Byrne, FROZEN

[willrogers2008]

Posted: 6/21/09 at 10:50pm

Musical : Barbra Streisand in FUNNY GIRL
George Hearn in LA CAGE AUX FOLLES

Play: Zoe Caldwell in MASTER CLASS
The two leading actors of NICHOLAS NICKELBY

[ActingIsLovee]

Posted: 6/21/09 at 11:02pm

I'm 16

Musical: Patti in Gypsy, Alexander Gemignani and Norm Lewis in Les Mis (random choice, i know, but i really love their performances) and (I'll probably get bashed but) Rapp and Pascal in RENT.

Play: Daniel Radcliffe in Equus
(while i haven't seen many plays, his performance was truly amazing and I was shocked he didn't receive a Tony nomination.)

[Nydiva]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:21pm

In my fifties (darn)

Musical: collectively, the revival cast of 1776; individually, Kevin Kline in Pirates of Penzance; close second Hugh Jackman in Boy from Oz (terrible show; amazing performer)

Play: three obscure ones - Tom Aldredge in Incommunicado (off-Broadway), Ken Jenning as Shylock in Merchant of Venice (in a cornfield in Pennsylvania!) and Carole Shelley in a national tour of Royal Family; close runners up Ian McKellan in Amadeus and Jim Dale in Scapino

And that was whittling down things to the bare bones.

Nydiva

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 6:28pm

I'm 18, and I confess I've never seen a straight play.

However, for most memorable performance in a musical (speaking strictly of what I've seen live), I'd say Carl Anderson as Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar. I'd seen him in the film and expected him to be good, but I also thought maybe his age would hinder his performance. Man, was I wrong.

I have never seen someone with so much energy on a stage in my life. It was a commanding performance, and he carried himself with a sort of dignified passion. Watching him destroy himself as Judas was like seeing a man set himself on fire before your eyes in terms of how intense this guy was. His voice was beautifully musical, and in a sense it was muscular.

His performance was the closest to actual method acting that I think I'll ever see. He put so much emotion into his performance that it scared me (especially during the Last Supper, where his delivery of "Cut out the dramatics / You know very well who" left me with a strange, eerie deja vu feeling). I'll never forget the moments before Judas committed suicide, seeing Carl staring into the spotlight with tears flowing from only one eye as he sang, "When he's cold and dead, will he let me be? / Does he love me too? / Does he care for me?"

Met him at the stage door after the show when I was seeking an autograph, and if it's ever said that anyone has given 110% for a show, it would apply to Carl. He literally had "no voice" when it was over. A few months later, he was gone. This performance remains one of my fondest theatre memories so far.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/24/09 at 1:37pm

Jan Maxwell - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Holy cow! I am thrilled to see someone else recognized how utterly brilliant she was in that show. Once of the best female comedic performances I've seen.

I'm so tempted to put Daniel Evans in the 2001 Donmar production of Merrily We Roll Along again, but we'll call it a tie between Brian Dennehy in Death of a Salesman and David Threlfall and Neil Stuke both in Blue Orange.

Ahhhhh...Blue/Orange...I almost forgot about that play. That was absolutely brilliant. I actually saw the same cast at the Duchess. I found Neil Stuke to be just a hair better than the other two, however. His transformation throughout the play was astonishing.

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 6/24/09 at 1:56pm

I'm actually going to plug the Chicago theatre scene here for a minute and say that I recently saw a production of Hedda Gabler at the Raven Threatre, and it just blew my mind. One of the better performances I've seen. The Actress's name is Mackenzie Kyle...

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 6/24/09 at 5:38pm

I'm 35.

Musials:
Patti LuPone in GYPSY
Nathan Lane in THE PRODUCERS

Plays:
Nathan Lane in BUTLEY
The cast of DOUBT