Tiny moments that have stuck with you

Completely starved for some live theatre, I've been going through all my old playbills/programmes/flyers, thinking about my favourite shows. I got to wondering - what are some tiny (or not so tiny) moments in shows that have stuck with you?

"Ephraim. Let me go." I was lucky enough to see Donna Murphy's final performance in Hello, Dolly. The entire night was single handedly the most thrilling experience I've ever had in a theatre but that one moment in particular really stuck with me and, genuinely, can still bring a tear to me eye.

Another highlight, from the same theatre trip, was the end of The Band's Visit when Katrina Lenk is closing the cafe door and says "Once not long ago, a group of musicians came to Israel from Egypt. You probably didn't hear about it. It wasn't very important". I had certainly been enjoying the show but I think it wasn't until that point that I realised just how emotionally invested I was in the story.

Other personal favs include:

* Two moments during the hill scene in Once; when the lights in the stage floor flicker on and "It looks like rain". I was a mess.

* Laura Benanti's laugh, walking off stage for the final time in Gypsy

* Viola Davis' "well I've been standing with you" in the Fences revival and the audience reaction that followed.

In the revival or Ragtime during New Music when Mother came down the stairs and I heard Bobby Steggert quietly say to her "he's in the house" referring to Coalhouse. Not sure how much of the audience caught that, it certainly wasn't played to the audience. But that little character moment spoke volumes to me.

- Philip Seymour Hoffman shuffling onstage in Death of a Salesman

- Candice Bergen saying "Thank you, Andy" through tears in Love Letters

- The opening of act 2 of Airline Highway

-Katrina Lenk slicing watermelon in The Band's Visit

-Andre de Shields' "All right" at the beginning of Hadestown

Walking down to an orchestra pit during the exit music of a musical and meeting that performance's conductor. Most of the time, I used to be the only person in the theatre that would do this, which added a level of intimacy to my conversations and made me feel more comfortable/less stressed. It was absolutely better than stage door.

For those who haven't noticed, my current profile picture is a shot of me with Meg Zervoulis, the former MD of The Prom and associate of West Side Story at the time of the shutdown. Oh how I will miss these interactions dearly after B'way reopens.

Updated On: 10/6/20 at 04:04 PM

- Billy Porter's Lola saying "It was nice to see you, Dad" after singing "Hold Me In Your Heart" in "Kinky Boots"

- Kerry Washington's screaming at the end of "American Son"

- Every ad-lib John Cameron Mitchell did in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch".

When Eliza takes Alexander’s hand in “It’s Quiet Uptown”.

When the painting comes together and the music soars as act one closes in “Sunday”.

When the Abuela portrait is revealed to Usnavi.


Such powerful moments.

Updated On: 10/6/20 at 08:09 PM

I saw a horrible production of Assassins in a tiny church my sophomore year of high school. I was enthralled with the entire show, but the minute the Balladeer walked out in the Oswald costume I can honestly say I've never been so entranced.

Before I really got into theatre I went to see Cabaret with my best friend. Obviously the show has a mix of comedy and tragedy, but those final seconds with the Emcee and the drumroll stunned my friend I. We still talk about how we walked to the train that night without conversation, we were totally speechless.

Oh so many

the final image of the Once on this Island revival where the little girl and Ti Moune reach out to each other

Erzulie sprinkling sand on the dolls as magic dust falls on Ti Moune and Daniel



the cast on the grate at the end of Phantom

the bolts of lightning in Phantom

Christian Borle and the rose in Little Shop, and then the bit with Seymour’s glasses in act 2



Alice Ripley’s face when Gabe returns in the I’m Alive reprise of N2N



Emma Hunton’s reaction to ECT in the N2N tour



I could go on....

So many...but those that come to mind are:

The snow beginning to fall as the villagers move out of Anatevka during the 2007 West End revival of Fiddler on the Roof in London.

The look the King gives Anna right before the Shall We Dance polka (Watch Fred Ebb get emotial talking about this moment on the Broadway: The American Musical extra features)

The one note that sounds when Belle appears behind a book for the first time in Beauty and the Beast after the narrator says "for who could learn to love a beast".

Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin stepping into the light, staring into the audience, and saying nothing during the opening vamp of "Another Hundred People" at the opening of their two person show.

The reaching of Emile and Nellie's hands at the table in the final moments of South Pacific

The enterance of Karen Ziemba, Michael McCormick, Jason Danieley, and Deb Monk in Curtains.