Single Favorite Moment Ever Witnessed on Stage- Page 2

[chess12]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 12:30pm

Act 2 of TITANIC, Isidor and Ida Straus have just finished singing "Still" to each other as the ship is sinking. He wraps their champagne glasses in a napkin, lays the glasses down on the deck, stamps his foot on the glasses and exclaims "Mazel Tov." I lost it right then and there.

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 12:34pm

The entire final Broadway performance of Les Mis. I cried like a whimpering baby from 'One Day More' onward. I've never felt energy in a theatre like that before or since. And the added finale material and curtain call speaches were electrifying.

[baddadnpa]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 12:36pm

Gypsy Overture
One Day More from Les Miz
Defying Gravity from Wicked
Overture from Phantom of the Opera
Shall We Dance from The King & I
Every minute of Avenue Q
Finale of Carousel
Company from Company
A Little Priest from Sweeney Todd
Act One Finale from Sunday In The Park With George

[Albin]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 12:40pm

Eder. Noll. Jekyll & Hyde. "In His Eyes." nuff said.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 12:55pm

Tonya Pinkins singing "Lot's Wife".
Donna Murphy and Jennifer Westfeldt singing "Ohio".
Mary-Louise Parker's entire performance in "Proof"
Every moment of "Passion".

[Mimi Imfurst]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 3:03pm

Seriously, there are too many amazing moments in theatre to account for.

Seeing Raul pull off an amazing and super eerie Jonathan Larson in Tick Tick Boom

Euan Morton's entrance in Taboo

Glory for the first time(RENT)

WLT reprise in Hedwig

Children Will Listen in Into The Woods (in the finale)

Tom Hewitt's Sweet Transvestite in Rocky

The end of I am my own wife- when Charlotte says she still maintains furture with the scratches- that its part of the history.

[got-a-light]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 3:45pm

Almost nine years ago I saw Rent for the first time in Boston (you never forget your first time!). It was the first stop of the first national tour (Angel company) and it stayed in the city for 8 months. I saw the show several times during its stay and it instantly became a life changing one for me. The night the show closed in Boston will go down for me as one of my greatest experiences. The energy in the theater that night reached a level I've never experienced before or since. The theater was filled with fans of the show and when all the cast members took to the stage to start the show there was a standing ovation that lasted about 5 minutes. The show was interrupted several more times with additional standing ovations and ended with everyone singing the finale along with the cast. It was a special night that ended with an emotional standing ovation from the audience that took us all well into the evening. I still get chills thinking about that night.

My second was seeing Daphne singing "Out Tonight" in LA. I got her understudy when I saw the OBC in NY and then she left the show. I was devastated that I would never get to hear her sing that song, but luckily for me she decided to rejoin the show for a limited engagement in LA and San Fran! When I saw her in that robe leaning against that brick wall, getting ready to straddle that railing... It was heaven!

My third was Michael Cerveris in Hedwig doing the final number in the show at the Henry Fonda theater in LA. One word... Amazing!
Updated On: 1/27/05 at 03:45 PM

[Joshua488]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 4:48pm

This is pretty damn cheesy, but I absolutely ADORED seeing "Suddenly, Seymour" performed live and in context during LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. I had never seen a production of the show, but I knew the film and the score like the back of my hand. To actually see and hear Jessica-Snow Wilson belt the climax of that song was amazing. I got so many chills that I was COLD!! My friend Jessica told me that I was leaning completely forward in my seat with my jaw on the floor and my eyes as wide as they would go. It was so entrancing! Hehe! :)

[jo]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 6:40pm

From LES MISERABLES --

*The first time I heard the song Do You Hear the People Sing ( very stirring)
*The hush that fell after everyone was killed on the barricade ( very poignant)

From MAN OF LA MANCHA --

*Richard Kiley singing The Impossible Dream

From ASPECTS OF LOVE --

*Michael Ball opening the show with the song LOVE CHANGES EVERYTHING ( and I was seated right in front of him the first time I saw the show in London)

From THE BOY FROM OZ --

*Hugh Jackman getting out of character when he sang ONCE BEFORE I GO on the closing show. It felt like it was he who was saying goodbye to his incredible year on Broadway!

[broadwaybaby1624]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 6:47pm

JANUARY 9th 2005--

Idina Menzel coming onstage to finish the last 5 minutes in a sweatsuit and no makeup. I was sobbing. A little disappointed because I missed her final show, but I saw it once before and she's amazing... I was so touched that she did that for her fans.

[RumTumTugger22]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 7:05pm

One Day More during Les Miz. I was 12, and I cried buckets. NEver been the same since.

I saw Cats, in a regional thater, one of the most electrifying experiences ever.

Fiddler on the Roof. THe whole thing still gives me the willies.

ANd finally STOMP.

[Corine2]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 9:51pm

Stephanie D'Abruzzo singing "It Sucks To Be Me" "Fine Fine Line" And
"The Internet Is For Porn"
Updated On: 1/27/05 at 09:51 PM

[Razz77]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 10:32pm

Agh there are so many...

In recent seasons:

-Donna Murphy completely forgetting her lines and having to stop the orchestra and restart TWICE during "One Hundred Easy Ways" in Wonderful Town

-The end of the revival of "Cabaret"

-The "Never Gonna Dance" number in "Never Gonna Dance" with all of the mirrors on the back -- it just sort of got me for some reason

-Nearly ALL of "A Number" off-broadway - I sat on the edge of my chair completely still for at least the last 30 minutes. I don't think I was breathing.

-"Il Adore" in Taboo -- killed me, for some reason.

-The end of "RECKLESS" - Perhaps this is the most random. I thought the entire play was kind of stupid [with some great performances in it]...but for some strange reason at the end of the play when there is the huge twist involving Mary Louise Parker's character and her son, it just went straight to the heart -- I was a huge mess for like twenty minutes after that show -- RANDOMLY.

-The "Moon Trio", "Lots Wife", and the finale from Caroline or Change -- and the moment where Caroline's boys are standing in a line downstage and she walks behind them and puts money in each of their hands -- just really got to me and stuck out to me.

-When the video of the Kennedy Assassination was projected onto Oswald's stomach in silence after shooting Kennedy in "Assassins"

-Tovah Feldshuh screaming "SHALOM!" at the end of Golda's Balcony - going into an abrupt blackout


So thats more than one -- but what can I say, really.

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 11:00pm

There are many; but there are two that stand-out to me. Julie Andrews singing "I Could Have Danced All Night" at the Royal Drury Lane in MY FAIR LADY, and the first time I saw the astounishing, "Chapter 54, Number 1909" in SEESAW. At both shows, the audience lept to their feet in thunderous applause, stopping the shows.

[LetMeLeave]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 11:02pm

Obviously, most of you aren't aware of the definition of the word "single"...but I digress...

My favorite memory was when I saw RENT for the first time from rush seats.

[Corine2]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 11:07pm

Let Me,
I have hundreds. The few i listed was tough.

[Razz77]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 11:07pm

I consciously broke the "single" rule.

Don't put limits on the artist! Muahaha.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 11:07pm

I saw Jeff Mays in I Am My Own Wife this afternoon - that is definately on my list!

[thespian geek]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 11:42pm

"My favorite memory was when I saw RENT for the first time from rush seats."

That is definitely up there, tied with seeing the stage production of Beauty and the Beast for the first time. I was watching my favorite Disney movie come to life before my eyes and it made me feel like I was 10 again.

[PJ]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 11:44pm

Probably Bernadette's entrance in Gypsy. I knew it was coming and still nearly wet my pants when she came storming down the aisle yelling, "Sing out, Louise!"

[La Vie Boheme]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 11:51pm

First time i saw Wicked original cast i was so excited! During the "Popular" scene in which the beds come out for the girls' dorms, Kristens bed didn't come out! I didn't really notice anything untill Idina goes "Kristen...Where's youre bed?". I DIED! I thought it was the funniest thing in MY LIFE and balled my eyes out. It was even funnier how they didn't try to cover it up, they just kept making fun of it. Kristen at one point said "and to think, this whole set cost over 1 million dollars!!!". BY FAR the greatest moment of my life. (lol) They also just kept ad-libbing untill about 5 minutes later Kristens bed slowly inched on stage...stopping and starting occasionally. At one point she was edging it on and i thought she was honestly gonna race it...

Also in a later scene when G(a)linda is trying to work the wand, Kristen said: "well if my bed didn't work...WHY SHOULD THIS!?!?!".

You can obviously see how it was the best moment ever


~Peace Out~

Updated On: 1/28/05 at 11:51 PM

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 11:58pm

Actually, no, I can't see how that was the best moment ever. I'm not saying it shouldn't have been to you; but I hate when things go wrong in a show. Especially, if the actor's break character when it happens. I don't like the spell to be broken.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 11:58pm

The opening of 42nd Street

Every single solitary individual moment of Urinetown

when the ensemble sings "Tradition!" for the first time

for some reason, curtain calls always get me

the very last moment of The Last 5 Years

"Our Time" in Merrily

"Hello 12, Hello 13..." in A Chorus Line

the last moment of "Fran and Janie"

"Make Them Hear You" oohhhh what a moment

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 1/28/05 at 12:23am

"Our Time" is such a beautiful song. It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I want to see a production of Merrily so bad.

I forgot to mention the first time I saw Sutton Foster sing "Not For the Life of Me" and the first time I saw Cabaret. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. All the anticipation, and then everything being better than I could have ever imagined. Oh hell, I have a billion!

[pab]

Posted: 1/28/05 at 1:11am

I posted this in the Jennifer Holliday thread but it fits here as well:

I have only had one experience in the theatre where the show actually stopped because of a standing ovation in the middle of a song. It was Jennifer Holliday performing 'And I Am Telling You' in "Dreamgirls". It's a moment that I will never forget.