What are Your Definitive Productions?- Page 2

[ukpuppetboy]

Posted: 8/23/16 at 9:19am

"Not necessarily. Certain directors/performers can make you look at a piece in a way you never have before."

Thanks for that post. I couldn't agree more. Original productions may have the advantage of fresh material but may benefit from being rescaled, reconceived or just be ahead of their time. Obviously it depends greatly on the quality of the piece as a whole as to whether there is the substance to flesh out new (or existing) elements, alter the focus of the direction or in some cases even revise the book. 

Thanks for some very interesting posts. And loving the love for Lansbury...

Updated On: 8/23/16 at 09:19 AM

[Ronald Scarlata2]

Posted: 8/23/16 at 10:09am

Sweet Charity with Gwen Verdon at the Palace and Mame with Lansbury at the Winter Garden--same season.  I was young, but both leading ladies blew me away.  Sweet Charity crackled with exciting choreography and Verdon was in a class all her own.  I will never forget either of those productions.

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 8/23/16 at 10:23am

Bartlett Sher's KING AND I, SOUTH PACIFIC, and GOLDEN BOY

I don't know about definitive production, but Tracy Letts was the definitive George for me in VIRGINIA WOOLF

 

[TrChSpHa]

Posted: 8/23/16 at 10:25am

Rocky Horror at Circle in the Square. The rock-heavy score arrangement, Raul Esparza as Riff-Raff.

The Color Purple revival.

[jv92]

Posted: 8/23/16 at 10:31am

I don't know about definitive production, but Tracy Letts was the definitive George for me in VIRGINIA WOOLF

 I could not agree more. I think the production was probably the one that made Martha least monotonous. Uta Hagen was good, and Elizabeth Taylor certainly got the screaming down, but Amy Morton gave her some colors. But Letts was astounding. I would even go so far as to call that production definitive. 

 

For me, it's the original GREY GARDENS, which was a perfect evening of musical theatre, exquisitely directed and designed (By far, Michael Grief's finest work.) and with unsurpassable leading actresses (Wilson, and especially Ebersole). It's a wonderful piece of writing, and I'm glad it's being done a lot and that new performers are getting a chance to explore the parts, but I don't think I'll ever be able to shake my memories of that original production. 

 

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 8/23/16 at 8:29pm

Yeah--this is such a subjective thing...

If we aren't counting productions you've seen on video but only live ones, I can't imagine ever seeing live a better Show Boat then the Hal Prince production I saw (Canadian cast in Vancouver), Galati's Ragtime (LA/Vancouver cast with LaChanze), Prince's Kiss of the Spider Woman (on tour with Chita)...  For that matter the Canadian company of Sunset Blvd with Carroll and Smith even if that's never gonna be one of my fave shows.

Otherwise, it's harder to say.  I do think the John Caird revised Candide that I saw at the National Theatre in London in 1999 is probably the best Candide live I'll see--an amazing cast of top notch actors and I feel his libretto works best.  Umm, I can't imagine seeing a better cast and production of Fun Home than what I saw last year in NY but again, this is where it gets tricky...

[helvizz]

Posted: 8/23/16 at 11:56pm

The 2016 revival of She Loves Me, the 2015 revival of Spring Awakening and the 2010 revival of La Cage Aux Folles (with Harvey Fierstein and Chris Sieber, although Douglas Hodge and Kelsey Grammer were wonderful in their respective roles too).