John Gallagher's portrayal of Moritz in SPRING AWAKENING. Beautiful, heartbreaking, wonderful.
Raul's "Being Alive" in COMPANY.
Every minute of JOURNEY'S END. Truly glad I saw that play.
This season was filled with so much heartbreak. I haven't really cried at the theatre in forever, and this season, I did.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
In no order, Broadway and Off:
The quiet desperation of Frank Langella to regain positive notoriety as Nixon.
The revolution sequence in Shipwreck, ice skating in Moskow in Voyage, and the finale tableau of Salvage.
Julie White's Tibetan salad mandala monologue in Little Dog Laughed, as well as the restaurant scene.
The overwhelming joy that came across me while watching Curtains.
The massive applause which greeted Angela Lansbury and Marian Seldes.
The hard to breath, feeling like I was punched in the stomach reaction after watching Blackbird.
The wonderful diva performances: Christine Ebersole, Audra McDonald, Donna Murphy, etc., etc.
But, above all, the non-stop choking and shaking from laughter after The Scene.
When Ashley Brown, as Mary Poppins, pulls the lamp and plant and other things out of her carpet bag and then makes the bed appear. I know that sounds silly, but being that Mary Poppins in one of my favorite movies of all time I was in complete awe and amazement. It was like I was 4 years old again thinking, How did she do that? She's gotta be magic! What a special moment.
The final scene of the first act in Grey Gardens when Christine Ebersole sings "Will You?" I absolutely love this song and it completely set the tone of the wondering, floundering unknown and suffocation that Little Edie feels the rest of the show. Brilliant.
The first few moments of Spring Awakening. I was really looking forward to seeing the show, and although I didn't LOVE it, the opening song, "Mama Who Bore Me" with the lilting strings and Lea Michele's calm and beautiful voice was just awesome.
Although I loved practically every moment on this show--these two were my favorite. In Coram Boy Jan Maxwell's character is confronted by the Ashbrook family. Her sensitivity and poise onstage is absolutely breathtaking. The way she shakes her head and says "No!" ugh...it kills me every time.
And Xanthe Elbrick and Charlotte Parry's exchange as Young Alexander and Young Thomas when they both realize one another's passion and gift for music. The scene is absolutely adorable and also very touching. I freaking loved that show.
Updated On: 6/18/07 at 11:33 AM
1. Donna Murphy in LoveMusik
2. Christine Ebersole's 'Around the World' (and her whole performance in general)
3. First time hearing Raul's 'Being Alive'
4. First time seeing Spring Awakening
5. The last 10 minutes of Grey Gardens
1 - Sarah Saltzberg misspelling 'vug' and throwing herself into Derrick Baskin's arms.
2 - 'What I Did For Love' by the new original Broadway cast of 'A Chorus Line.'
3 - Eden Espinosa's 'Defying Gravity.'
4 - Celia Keenan-Bolger's heartbreak at hearing the bell for 'elanguescence.'
Spelling Bee: Broadway Night - Raul, Stokes, and Lea were amazing. Such great moments.
GG - "Entering Grey Gardens" scene
Company - Raul singing "marry me a little"
Journey's End - the curtain call - breathtaking
Drowsy - seeing Bob's last show and him kissing Troy
Stand-by Joined: 10/16/06
would seeing high fidelity count?
Broadway Star Joined: 12/19/04
Seeing Curtains and seeing my parents laugh and really love it, especially after the rough year.
In Company, while Being Alive is of course stunning, for me I'm still struck by the scenes that occur during "Another Hundred People", particularly the park scene. The scene is just so heartbreaking, when Kathy almost broke down saying "I'm going to be a good wife." it was perfect.
The last scene of GREY GARDENS. Mary Louise Wilson was unbelievable. Absolutely heartbreaking and shocking. I get chills whenever I think of that moment.
1. When the curtain went up on the very first big dance number in Curtains. I just got chills, it was all so big and exciting and happy...
2. DHP singing "Coffee Shop Nights" in Curtains. I love that song, loved his performance.
I know it didn't actually open this year, but I finally got to see Spelling Bee, and I have too many moments to write up here, but I'll try to narrow it down...
3. When my dad was a guest speller and he spelled lysergic acid diethylamide correctly!
4. The entire cast coming to our seats (and cramming in the small aisle space in front of us) to sing my dad's goodbye song and Dan Fogler poked me in the arm repeatedly!
5. Celia Keenan-Bolger's "Mama, mama, mama" part of "The I Love You Song."
6. Sarah Saltzberg's delivery of the "I'm taking it all!..." line.
7. Leaf Coneybear falling off the seat.
There are so many more, but I'm going to stop myself now.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/07
Can someone post or PM me what happens in the last fifteen minutes of Journeys End that is so amazing.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
Spoilers: they all (presumably) die.
But there's two minutes of darkness and the sound of bombs dropping. And then they all appear in uniform in front of the list of people in that battalion.
The scene after "Getting Married Today" in Company. As a matter of fact, that show was filled with those great, small moments.
SPOILER ALERT!
Seeing young Little Edie attempting to escape the house during "Another Winter in a Summer Town". It took my breath away when I saw it.
The backdrop at JOURNEY'S END curtain call represented approximately 6,000 names of dead soldiers from the 60,000 dead soldiers named on the memorial at Ypres, Belgium.
Leading Actor Joined: 12/19/06
1. John Gallagher as Moritz in Spring Awakening- particularly his singing in And Then There Were None, and Don't Do Sadness.
2. Nilaja Sun's amazing achievement in creating and performing No Child.
Absolutely the highlights of the about 30 different theatre productions I've seen this season.
Updated On: 6/20/07 at 09:47 PM
Stand-by Joined: 7/2/06
Two moments for me:
Possible spoiler... I was sitting front row center at Journey's End. When Stark Sands came on stage after that first ambush and sat on the cot and just stared for what seemed like forever, he was staring right at me the entire time. I know that with the lighting he probably couldn't see me, but for me it was like I was staring right into his soul and I completely fell apart. I've never cried so much in my life. When the show ended, I just sat there shaking in silence with my mouth wide open and tears streaming down my face. I literally couldn't move. Never has a show moved me so much.
Second amazing experience: It was my second time seeing Spring Awakening but my first time sitting on stage. There is a scene where several actors are off stage to the general audience but they are actually still on stage directly behind the on-stage seats. As they sang, I was sitting about 4 inches directly in front of them. Thus, I was hearing their actual voices without the distortion of the microphones. It was a feeling I can't even begin to describe in words. Butterflies in my stomach, multiplied ten times!
from "A Chorus Line": Hearing Jason Tam's character bear his soul to Zach. J.T.'s words were so moving and poignant, that tears rolled down my face. I'm sure I wasn't the only one. from RC in Austin, Texas
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/16/04
Drowsy - seeing Bob's last show and him kissing Troy
That's priceless! I wish I was there to see that.
I had two small moments when seeing Grey Gardens this Spring:
I hadn't recalled that the last time I had been to The Walter Kerr Theatre was many years ago when I saw Proof. I walked in and suddenly was hit by how cozy and familiar the theatre felt, with the low ceilings in the back and the little bar that they had to squeeze in somewhere. I just knew that it was going to be a special night. Who knew that I was about to embark on the best theatre experience that I've ever had?
The second occurred during intermission when I saw the t-shirt that read "Jerry Likes My Corn." I thought it odd, but, not knowing the show, I didn't give it a second thought. When the song came on in the second act, I had the best laugh, quietly to myself, since I now was in on the secret. What a magical night. That's why I love the theater.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/8/04
In order, for me:
- Meryl Streep singing THE SONG OF THE GREAT CAPITULATION
- The final moment of JOURNEY'S END
- Not only Langella's final pose in FROST/NIXON, but his "drunken" monologue
- Lorinda Lisitza singing THE SAILOR'S TANGO and SURABAYA JOHNNY in Theater Ten Ten's production of HAPPY END
- Xanthe Elbrick's dual role and Jan Maxwell's "why I did it" monologue in CORAM BOY
Other, overall, moments (still in order):
- Meryl Streep in MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN
- HAPPY END at Theater Ten Ten
- JOURNEY'S END
- Frank Langella and Liev Schreiber in FROST/NIXON and TALK RADIO, respectively
- Melly Still's work on CORAM BOY
Just a few Grey Gardens moments:
1. The end of Act 1 during Will You when Young Edie is leaving as Christine is making her speech and when the character of Brooks comes in at the end of the show and you can see Christine wanting to tell him she's trying to leave and the heartbreak in her face and body. Basically from Another Winter till the end of the show I was a mess.
2. Just being able to sit front row and seeing everything Christine had to offer and watching tears roll down her face although she wasn't really showing physically and vocally how upset she was. Her nuance was incredible, it had me teary eyed.
Also Audra in 110 was just amazing and I got to see her in the last performance before she left because of her dad. Her kartwheel took me by surprise-I loved it! And the delightfulness of Curtains, I just enjoyed myself so much.
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