There are so many examples, but what comes to mind immediately is Carolee Carmello in PARADE.
By the third time I saw Parade, I was doing this thing where I was watching the entire show with tears in my eyes. It was kind of weird, I feel bad for the people around me who might've been wondering why I was so emotional (like, seriously, is there any reason to be tearing up during "The Picture Show?" I guess I was just so HAPPY to be seeing it again). Anyway, during "All the Wasted Time", I just lost it. I suppose some of this is Brent Carver's fault, too, but I think most of it was Carolee and the song and... it was kind of embarrassing, because it was sort of LOUD crying and I was trying to tone it down and... ack. CAROLEE.
And then I tried to play it cool at the stagedoor and be all, "Oh, hello Carolee, you were really very good tonight!" but instead I just CRIED and, ugh, what a mess I was in 1998.
i cant believe i forgot to mention brian stokes mitchell in man of la mancha. when i saw his performance on the tonys, i was bawling from the beginning. i usually think th e impossible dream is such a boring standard song, but he gave a whole new outlook, and when he got a standing ovation after, i bawled even more. ive never seen a tony audience do that before!!! brilliant.
Chorus Member Joined: 1/3/05
Admittedly, it doesn't take much - I can get emotional just from the lights going down and the overture starting sometimes - but as far as a specific performance making me cry...two come to mind. Betty Buckley singing Memory in Cats for the sheer power and emotion she put into it. Marsha Waterbury in Little Shop of Horrors for making me care so much about Audrey that her death brought me to tears (I didn't have as strong a reaction to others playing the same role).
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/11/06
Harvey Fierstein - Fiddler (kinda hard to explain)
Randal Keith..Les Mis
Gary Maur..The Phantom of The Opera
Paulette Ivory...AIDA, she was AMAZING
Eric Brown..The Normal Heart
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/4/05
Idina- Wicked
not even kidding :)
Jesse L Martin - RENT
oy. he leaves me a COMPLETE emotional wreck
Sarah Saltzberg as Logainne in Spelling Bee. When she's eliminated on "vug" and shows her vulnerability, I get emotional.
This was one of the only times I've ever really gotten emotional during a show.
The other was Kim Crosby in Into the Woods. I teared up a little during "No One Is Alone."
Patti LuPone in Gypsy...not on Broadway at all but it should be!!
Stand-by Joined: 2/13/06
Phantom of the opera:
Howard McGillin- Final Lair scene
Sandra Joseph- Wishing You Were Somehow Here Agai
Billy Elliot:
Colin Bates- The Letter
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
I now have to add Patti LuPone in GYPSY. It was an incredibly emotional experience for me and the best birthday celebration I could have ever asked for--even though it was a few days early!
Viva LuPone!
Broadway Star Joined: 8/9/04
Stand-by Joined: 4/20/06
Hugh Jackman in The Boy from Oz
Tyne Daly in Gypsy
Carol Channing in Hello, Dolly
Angela Lansbury in Sweeney Todd
Craig Bierko in The Music Man
Nicole Kidman in The Blue Room
Updated On: 8/15/06 at 09:34 AM
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/23/05
John Lloyd Young in Jersey Boys.
Raul Esparza in THE NORMAL HEART.....brilliant.
Stand-by Joined: 5/21/06
The only musical and the only actor wh omade me cry was John Lloyd Young durning fallin angel
Featured Actor Joined: 8/20/04
I have to add Patti LuPone in Gypsy as well. That was the hardest I've ever cried.
John Lloyd Young in Jersey Boys. The vulnerability he displayed in the 'Fallen Angel' scene alone was enough to bring me to tears.
Patti Lupone in Gypsy
JLY in Jersey Boys. Especially during the Fallen Angel scene.
The entire cast of Piazza (except for Katie Clarke)
Randal Keith and the kid who played Gavroche. Oooh, they were so good.
I cried when Kelli O'Hara sang "Light in the Piazza", during "Love to Me", and during the bows.
I also cried when Stephanie J. Block was lifted up during "Defying Gravity" on the national tour.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/12/05
I don't think it's the PERSON who makes me cry. It's either the character they play (I feel for them), or the show...
Sam Barnett and Desmond Baritt double-teamed to make me tear-up
Well, not the sobbing kind of tears, but Chita Rivera moved me so much in her one-woman show it was crazy. Absolutely amazing.
And, on a side note, I'm extremely jealous of the people who got to see Patti do Mama Rose. I don't even like her that much, but in that role, I can only imagine how much she shines.
OH, and Jennifer Holliday in "Dreamgirls."
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