Scenes You'll Never Forget- Page 4

[nexttotheheights]

Posted: 6/21/11 at 9:42am

I agree with all the ones from NEXT TO NORMAL, but the last ten minutes from Maybe to Light are just heartbreaking and incredible it's just one hit after another and I just get chills whenever they form the pyramid during Light.

From RENT New Years has always been a great scene for me.

[kissynose]

Posted: 6/21/11 at 12:51pm

So many here are a few.


Michael Cerveris wicked Little Town (reprise) believe it or not I went to that show 45 times

Kiki and Herb Performing Moments of Pleasure in their off broadway show.

Closing night when Tonya Pinkins sang Lot,s Wife

Around the World from Grey Gardens closing night off broadway.

Closing night of Civil War when They sang Freedoms Child

First time seeing Les Miz.

Free at last from the Deaf west production of Big River

Donna Murphy singing Conga in wonderful town


Updated On: 6/21/11 at 12:51 PM

[Ellen2]

Posted: 6/24/11 at 6:34pm

The plough scene in War Horse.

[wcoyote]

Posted: 6/24/11 at 9:36pm

The finale of "A Chorus Line" - Original Cast

The Finale of "The Who's Tommy"

Both these gave me chills every time!

[2ndBalcony]

Posted: 6/25/11 at 1:25am

No question in my mind. That would be the original ending of Assassins. Before they added the lame "Something Just Broke", the ending was awesome!

John Wilkes Boothe turns to the window and the lights go out. Over the loudspeaker comes the rollcall of the assassins. Name after name of assassins who changed the world, but didn't kill a president, so they weren't in the show.

It left me gasping for breath.

It has been 30 years, and it is still burned in my memory. I've reconnected with my companion at the show that day, and he feels the same way.

Whatever they did to that show, it was not for the best. They should have left it with Kennedy still alive for the next few seconds, and remind us that nothing has changed and never will.

I will never forget it. Ever.

[vcaniglia591]

Posted: 6/25/11 at 1:49am

In the Heights: When Abuela Claudia sings "Paciencia y Fe."

La Cage Aux Folles: When Albert screams "No! No!" and stops the Cagelles and says "Please" while crying in the Act 1 Finale. Heartbreaking.

Into the Woods: When the Witch tells the Baker that he is not the only person to suffer a loss when his Wife is found dead. Bernadette Peters owns as the Witch.

Brigadoon: "Come to Me, Bend to Me" is such a romantic song.

Inherit the Wind: When Henry Drummond is interrogating Matthew Harrison Brayd about evolution. Most intense scene I have ever read.

[peerrjb]

Posted: 6/25/11 at 4:25am

1a. Jessica Tandy in "Foxfire" when she, with the aid of a shawl, instantaneously BECAME a young girl at a country-fair dance where she met her husband. BREATH-TAK-ING. Times 10.

1b. Brian Stokes Mitchell singing "This Nearly Was Mine" in the Carnegie Hall "South Pacific" concert version. The tempo is so slow (or so it seems at first) one wondered where it was going. Then it just went (and goes) into brilliance.

2. Cliff Gorman's death scene in "Lenny" wrapped in reel-to-reel tapes as he battled the sound of his own words.

3. Tyne Daly and Jonathan Hadary in "Gypsy", letting us know that Rose and Herbie were actually sleeping together (aka having sex.) Never got that from the Merm or La Lansbury.

4. John Lithgow's final scene in "Virginia Woolf" (1987...?), after dealing with Glenda Jackson's very ...curious... Martha for three acts. The man transcended even the pretty brilliant material.

5. The original company of "Cabaret" (aka "Scottsboro Boys" of the '60's) at the end of the show. SO much more devastating than the ootchy-kootchy throw-'em-a-bone ending of the revival. (A scary smear of the Emcee's makeup told a greater story than Cumming's "DO YOU GET IT, PEOPLE???" concentration camp costume.)

6. Every minute Dorothy Collins was onstage in the original "Follies". Alexis WHO?

7. Dean Jones to Elaine Stritch in the original "Company": "But who will I take care of?"

[thehillsarealive]

Posted: 6/25/11 at 12:31pm

When I was eight, I saw Hairspray, the night after opening, for my first broadway show. I didn't even know what a musical was. When Harvey Feirstein entered for the first time, the audience applauded for long enough that Marissa Jaret Winokur and Kerry Butler sat down and waited it out instead of staying in the scene. That was the moment I knew I loved theatre... I'll always remember the whole show, but that moment stands out for me.

I'll also always remember Elaine Stritch's monologue at the beginning of Night Music when she talks about the three smiles. She got them all confused and then skipped the third smile and went straight to the nonexistent fourth. It was priceless. Bernadette doing Send in the Clowns was priceless in a much different way.

The moment in the reprise of I Am the One in Next to Normal where Gabe grabs Dan and hugs him gives me chills every time, even just on the recording.

The two best ending moments of shows that I've ever seen are when Bobby finally blows out the candles at the end of Company and in the 2008 revival of Gypsy when Louise walks out on Rose and the marquee fades to black.

[Bwaynerd]

Posted: 6/25/11 at 1:42pm

he's not here- N2N

dance at the gym- West Side Story

during omigod you guys when the girl slides down the fire poll ending up wearing something else- Legally Blonde

Bend and Snap- Legally Blonde

the entracte when the tassel dances- Addams Family

[Skywalker3]

Posted: 6/25/11 at 2:13pm

The ending of 'Once we were Kings' in Billy Elliot.

[dragonlp86]

Posted: 6/25/11 at 2:44pm

"Next to Normal" : 'I Am the One (Reprise)'. That whole scene.

[frazer]

Posted: 6/25/11 at 5:13pm

Billy Elliot -The miners going down the lift in 'once we were kings' when the band stops, and its just acapella voices singing. so powerful.

'The Year Turns Round Again' from war horse. that whole sequence is amazing.

[Pippin]

Posted: 6/25/11 at 5:34pm

the Final 3 minutes of "Journey's end" : the amazing sound design of the war in the darkness, and the final reveal of the soldiers with the backdrop of numerous dead soldiers. - So affecting, so poignant.

The sinking of the Titanic

Estelle Parsons running up 2 flights of stairs at the end of "August: Osage County"

Michael Berresse scaling the set of "Kiss Me, Kate" during Bianca

the flying scene in "Brief Encounter"

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Posted: 6/26/11 at 12:15am

People strolling through the trees
Of a small suburban park
On an island in the river
On an ordinary Sunday
Sunday
Sunday

The final scene of the first act of the original production of Sunday in the Park with George, before anyone had any idea what the play was about and what these strange seemingly unrelated people could possibly have to do with one another.

When Mandy Patinkin as George massaged and manipulated the characters to complete his vision, and the music and voices swelled in magnificent harmonies, all building to the miraculous moment when the figures on the stage were replaced by the completed painting, it was simply glorious.

[Jake01]

Posted: 6/26/11 at 12:47am

Four words: "I'M RUNNING THINGS NOW!", as delivered by the extraordinary Amy Morton, of course.

Laura Benanti commanding the stage during the whole "The Strip" montage in "Gypsy". And I mean truly commanding the stage, more so than any performer I have ever seen.
Updated On: 6/26/11 at 12:47 AM

[Taryn]

Posted: 6/26/11 at 2:05am

I was a sophomore in high school when I saw the '98 revival of Cabaret, and I can still remember that feeling like I'd been punched in the gut when the dark brick lifted to reveal the blinding white of the showers.

Two act one closers: the brilliant musical theatricality of Coram Boy when they close the first act digging up corpse after corpse of the murdered infants. And then "Angry Dance" in Billy Elliot. My friend had to take me out to a stairwell to help me calm down after that one.

[justafan2]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 6:26am

frazer---I agree with you---that scene with the miners descending is so emotional. Then, immediately after---when the mom speaks to Billy for the last time--wow.

[Renart]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 8:50am

Walter Lee Younger's monologue that ends with "You won't have to live next to no stinkin'....." I get chills thinking about it.

[RickyMT]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 9:16am

The final scene of "Blood Brothers"
Its heartrenching but beautiful.

[RickyMT]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 9:16am

The final scene of "Blood Brothers"
Its heartrenching but beautiful.

[Leia947]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 10:13am

West Side Story (movie only, because the revival was awful): Maria's "Don't you touch him!" and then covering Tony with her body. Awful, awful tears.

RENT: Seeing Angel walk off, looking at his friends as they speak during his eulogy.

Hair: Seeing Claude walk out in the crew cut and military garb.

Angels in America: The fight between Louis and Joe, followed by Louis' (paraphrasing) "I'm just going to lie here and bleed."

Million Dollar Quartet: Yes, I know everyone on this board hates it, but I truly enjoyed it. And at the end when they lowered the picture and played a clip of the original "Down By the Riverside," I got chills.

[LFazin]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 10:26am

I've loved so many shows over the years, but there are a few scenes that still stick out strongly in my mind:

RENT: "I'll Cover You: Reprise"/the funeral scene, when Angel walks slowly across the stage, draped in his white cloth as his friends deliver his eulogies. At the very last second, Angel stops, turns, and looks at his friends with a smile, and then turns to leave the stage. Incredibly poignant and very subtle.

Phantom of the Opera: the finale scene, when Christine returns her ring to the Phantom, and he professes his love to her one last time. The Phantom weeps as she leaves him, and in a rage he smashes all of the mirrors in his lair, collapses into his chair, and drapes his cloak over his body. When Meg and the mob make their way to capture him, Meg removes the cloak, only to find that he's vanished, and all that's left is his mask. She holds it up to the audience and a single white spotlight shines down on it, and the curtain slowly comes down onto the scene. Chills just typing that.

Tarzan: I wasn't a fan of this show, but the visual effects were absolutely stunning, and that opening/shipwrecked scene is still something I talk about to this day. Incredible!

The Lion King: "The Circle of Life"...such a beautiful scene and so thrilling, especially with the aisle seats we had! Moving beyond words.

American Idiot: "American Idiot"...I've never witnessed a more exciting opening number, between the curtain slowly drawing up and revealing the cast members, to all of those tvs playing and showing various media outlets at the same time. Andof course the insane energy throughout that number, carried out throughout the entire show. Also, any scene with St. Jimmy. Tony Vincentwas so mesmerizing and just absolutely brilliant in that role.
Updated On: 6/30/11 at 10:26 AM

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 2:35pm

Mark Rylance and Missi Pyle's (I saw her as a replacement for Mary McCormick) first odd confrontation love scene in Boeing-Boeing. Hilarious.

Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter with the rain coming down in the garden in Mary Stuart.

Jan Maxwell and Peter Gowen as Christine and Krogstad in Act III, Scene I of the last Bdwy revival of A Doll's House

The final scene of the Long Day's Journey into Night revival with Colleen Dewhurst and Jason Robards.

Charles S. Dutton, S. Epatha Merkerson and company in the last scene of The Piano Lesson.

Joanna Gleason's thinking through those "Moments in the Woods."

Claire Bloom's first scene opposite Zoe Wanamaker's Electra.

Sutton Foster and Raul Esparza in the hotel room scene of Anyone Can Whistle, Encores.

Katie Finneran and Sean Hayes in the bar on Christmas Eve; Promises, Promises.

The Carousel Waltz opening of the last Bdwy revival of Carousel (which I otherwise didn't much care for, besides Audra McDonald's performance as Carrie).

Maggie Tyzack firing Maggie Smith in Lettice and Lovage.

Dorothy Loudon, 50%, Ballroom (I didn't see this live, but watch it constantly on youtube).

Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin in the final scene of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf

Vanessa Redgrave in the final scene of Orpheus Descending

Heather Laws as Amy in the Esparza revival of Company. "Not Getting Married Today"

[ajh]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 3:05pm

1. The extraordinary dual scene in Millenium Approaches/ANGELS IN AMERICA where Joe and Louis tell Harper and Prior respectively that they are leaving them. The raw dynamism and emotionalism of the dialogue is ebthralling, and in both productions I've seen the ferocious energy with which it was performed took my breath away.

2. The whole of the current B'way NORMAL HEART is deeply memorable and affecting, but Ellen Barkin's coruscating monologue and the famous "milk scene" (in which Mantello and JBH ripped my heart out and then stamped on it for good measure) are etched in my memory always.

3. Seeing "One Day More" at the end of Act1 of LES MIS at the Barbican in London about a week after press night in 1985 was truly thrilling. It's a bit old hat now but, at that point, it was one of the most exciting, hair-raising musical numbers I've ever seen.

[Ftworthguy]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 3:08pm

Next to Normal: The moment that Dan says, "Gabriel" -- just kills me.

The Full Monty: Let it Go!!

Death of a Salesman: Brian Dennehy's entire performace, but particular his towering speech at the end.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: (The Turner/Beatty revival) Seeing Kathleen Turner make her first entrance. It was my very first Broadway show and I was mesmerized.

Gypsy: Patti's Rose's Turn

The Boy From Oz: Hugh Jackman's entire performance

Grey Gardens: The Revolutionary Costume for Today -- Christine was astonishing in that performance

Company: Raul Esparza at the lip of the stage in the final moments of Being Alive

Wicked: For Good

Rent: I will Cover you, the reprise with the space missing in the line.

Noises Off: The entire second act

Ragtime: The entire opening sequence and the Act I finale.