Time Out NY'S 25 Best Tony Performances

[Kad]

Posted: 6/3/11 at 1:02pm

Some interesting and strong choices, though I'm not sure I'd say that Patti's barely intelligible Anything Goes belongs in the top 10.
The 25 best Tony Awards performances

[Matt2]

Posted: 6/3/11 at 1:26pm

Liza Minnelli's performance from "The Act" at the 1978 Tonys should have been included. One of the best Tony performances ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPfZKFbpcmQ

[newintown]

Posted: 6/3/11 at 1:46pm

What is it with Feldman's obsession with "Best" lists? Can't he just write a column?

[trentsketch]

Posted: 6/3/11 at 2:09pm

Tonya Pinkins would like a word with this journalist. Or is he just going to pretend that she didn't destroy the audience with "Lot's Wife" at the 2004 Tony Awards? http://youtu.be/FGju5KsIYG0

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 6/3/11 at 2:32pm

I agree with the top 3. But Evita at 20 and Anything Goes at 7? That must be a mixup.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/3/11 at 2:38pm

I'm glad Betty's "Memory" Made the Top 10. It was one of the best vocal performances she's ever given.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 6/3/11 at 2:45pm

I agree with the top 3. But Evita at 20 and Anything Goes at 7? That must be a mixup.

I think I would've switched them, too.

And I was delighted to see "We'll Take a Glass Together" in the top 5. That performance is just fantastic.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/3/11 at 2:54pm

Perhaps Feldman didn't truly appreciate the imagery of Tonya Pinkins slamming the iron down on her sex.

I would agree that The Act probably deserves a place on that list most likely instead of The Life. And A Chorus Line deserves spot #1 not only for the performance, but the honor it was awarded by its length and placement in the telecast.

And though I'll probably get flack for this, I'd replace Bernadette's Rose's Turn and Spring Awakening with On the Twentieth Century and Rent.

Honrable mentions:
42nd Street revival
Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
On the Twentieth Century

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 6/3/11 at 2:56pm

No love for the Conga? I mean...swing?

Updated On: 6/4/11 at 02:56 PM

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 6/3/11 at 3:03pm

I totally agree with Jordan re: Buckley. I (and everyone else, I'm sure) has heard that song performed hundreds of times, in so many different contexts, and by so many different singers, but I have never heard it sung better than that.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/3/11 at 4:12pm

Love Feldman and love his lists. They're designed to engage people, and they do.

[castlestreet]

Posted: 6/3/11 at 4:22pm

By far the best Memory- couldn't agree more. Also am shocked at how high Anything Goes was.

I would have liked to see We'll Take A Glass in the Top 3, and although it was not a performance from 1 musical, I would like to have seen the opening from 2 years ago with every single musical and revival featured get some love- I still get chills when the curtain rises and everyone begins singing "Let The Sunshine"!

[WholeMegillah2]

Posted: 6/3/11 at 4:53pm

Love this list.

Feldman is a huge supporter of "Caroline, or Change" so I'm surprised he didn't include Pinkins's performance. But she was not in very good voice that night.

Evita is number 20 because it was lip-synched, as the article says. And "City Lights" just goes on forever.

[Steel Pier Fan]

Posted: 6/4/11 at 7:51pm

Think Ragtime should be on the list and ranked in the top five. Something was just so phenomenal about it.

[LuPonatic]

Posted: 6/4/11 at 8:24pm

This one gets my vote!
There you are!

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 6/4/11 at 8:29pm

Completely agree with adding Drood to the list- fantastic performance. I'd much rather have that than Company- I think Esparza's performance, at least on the Tonys, was awful.

[suttonfoster]

Posted: 6/4/11 at 10:57pm

No love for SIDESHOW with Ripley and Skinner???? That was an amazing performance

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 6/4/11 at 11:10pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEVi5oug7Rk

My favorite opening number in the years since I started watching telecast (which was 1995). Watching that cast pour out of the Ford/Hilton/Foxwoods and ending up on that enormous stage of Radio City, and still fill it out nicely, was incredible. No wonder the show was not able to turn a profit after a four year run, with a cast that size.

I also loved the design for that show. That blue dress they put Kate Levering in anchoring that line of gold and silver was simply stunning.

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/4/11 at 11:12pm

I wouldn't have included "Spring Awakening". Wasn't Pinkins sick that evening. I seem to remember hearing that she didn't want to do "Lot's Wife". It was a good performance but not as powerful as she normally did it. I saw her shortly before the Tonys and she tore the house down.

[sing_dance_love]

Posted: 6/5/11 at 12:57am

I still think Judy Kuhn's performance of the title song from "Rags" is one of the most powerful I've ever seen.

So simple. So phenomenal.