What is a memory from a show that will stay with you forever?- Page 2

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 4:03pm

The original "Sunday in the Park with George", when, during the second act reprise/finale of "Sunday", all the characters from the painting bow to the grandson George. Tears were streaming down my face.

Barbara Cook's "A Concert for the Theatre", when, as an encore, she laid her microphone down on the piano, came to the footlights of the stage and sang "Why Did I Choose You?" (I'd never heard the song before and when I saw that it was on the "Live From London" album, I squealed out loud in the middle of the record store.)

So many things in "Grand Hotel": the song "Love Can't Happen" and those thrilling high notes at the end of it, how heartbreaking Michael Jeter was when he realized that the Baron was trying to steal from him, "Tango of Love and Death"

[[tos]fan999]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 4:10pm

-When the Man In Chair's apartment transformed into the set of The Drowsy Chaperone. I got chills.

-The closing performance of Grey Gardens. Another Winter In A Summer Town. Holy f*ck.

-More recently, during Night Music, when Alexander Hanson went "..and of course, Fredrika." and the music swells, I legit started sobbing.

[CockeyedOptimist2]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 4:10pm

The first time I saw "A Chorus Line" at the end of "I Hope I Get It" when they all appear on the line for the first time and on the beat and with the lights up they are all holding their headshots in front of their face. From that moment, I knew it was going to be one of those very special shows. I was right!

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 4:31pm

-The closing performance of Grey Gardens. Another Winter In A Summer Town. Holy f*ck.

The entire final performance of Grey Gardens was one of the best (and most traumatic) theater experiences of my life...I was sobbing so hard during Another Winter In A Summer Town that I couldn't even see Christine Ebersole onstage. Such a wonderful show.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 4:32pm

The staging of "Who's That Woman?" in Encores! Follies, especially when all of their younger selves join in the line.

Also from that production, Victoria Clark and Victor Garber singing "Too Many Mornings," Donna Murphy's "Ballad of Lucy and Jessie" and the two hysterical chorus girls in "Buddy's Blues."


oh, and the first time I saw Gypsy at City Center, the look on Laura Benanti's face at the beginning of The Strip. It got me every time I saw the show: the way she was clutching the boa, the look of sheer terror/wanting to melt into the floor. My heart always broke for Louise.

Updated On: 8/9/10 at 04:32 PM

[sondheimfan2]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 4:42pm

The first time I saw N2N and experienced "I Am the One (reprise)" with J. Robert Spencer. Up until that point, I was had only allowed a few tears to escape, but by the end of that song the floodgates were open.

[rosekwbp]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 4:59pm

The first time I heard Bernadette Peters sing Some People is a night I will never forgot. I was totally blown away by her entire performance as Rose.

[Nick2]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 5:06pm

I'll bite: Anything Goes revival at Lincoln Center. I sat in the last row. LuPone belts last note of "Anything Goes." Crowd cheers, but I stand, clapping, whistling, the whole bit. She saw me and blew me a kiss from the stage. I was 14 and the experience sent me right into gay puberty.

[tamra2]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 5:32pm

too many to properly write about

the final performance of rent. being in that theater at that moment with everyone else there was an experience liek no other

the halloween performance of Rent where everything that could go wrong, went wrong... from missed cues to malfunctioning props, to being in the front row with all of my friends...

the times that i was pulled up onstage during Something About You during Altar Boyz by Kyle Dean Massey, Michael Kadin Craig (twice), and Yannick Lanthier (he was in Montreal)

the time I got to be FOg GIrl in Altar Boyz and having everyone in the audience cheer for me, and seeing some of the boyz cheering for me offstage as i exited.

the opening scene of tarzan, and when tarzan kills the panther (or whatever animal that is)

when i saw spelling bee and during barrett foa made his mitch mahoney letter about me

anytime i was onstage at xanadu and spring awakening. hearing the actors' sing right next to me, without microphone was always chilling

the time frances was on as Adult Women in SA and threw her hat at me during totally ****ed and it hit me in the face. (thats more of a painful memory, i screamed i was so startled but luckily the song was so loud no one heard)

the final dress rehearsal of [tos] so much love in that room

opening night of the little mermaid and having a better seat than jodi benson

the first time i saw Kyle Dean as Fiyero in CT

seeing Adam andAnthony's first night back in Rent, and when i saw Gwen's as well.

heck the first time I saw Rent

The final performances of Altar Boyz

[SNAFU]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 5:33pm

It would have to be the finale of my very first Broadway Musical, Man of La Mancha with Richard Kiley. Once the Spanish guards showed up, the draw bridge lowered and Cervantes and Sancho were led away to the reprisal of Impossible Dream, I was transfixed. Didn't want to leave the theatre.

[singingbackup]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 5:33pm

Sunday In The Park With George(Sondheim Celebration/DC)--Second Act, right at the end of this brilliant production--after the very last note and before the place went ballistic--the silence was broken by a very audible sob. Most of us were choked with emotion and that moment clearly summed up everyone's feelings.


Drowsy Chaperone (LA)--Second preview--Realizing what was happening, I blurted out to my friend a bit too loudly that the Man In Chair 'put on the wrong record' with the whole production team sitting behind me. (they were tickled that I was so into it, thankfully!)

Drowsy Chaperone (NY)--Closing night--besides the entire show, Beth Leavel's emotional "As We Stumble Along."

Patti Lupone Live (Westwood Playhouse/LA)--1992, before she was to cross the pond to do Sunset Blvd, there was incredible buzz about the show. The evening was about Patti's career and all the shows/roles she had performed. Everyone was anxious to here about Sunset. She launched into some patter and then proceeded to recite the Norma D lines from the movie, which led into a song that was to be in the show (I think it got cut?). It was mesmerizing start to finish. You could hear hearts beating, the audience was so wrapped up in the moment. Chills for sure.

Victor/Victoria (NY)--The privilege of seeing the legendary Julie Andrews recreate a role from one of my all-time favorite films. And what a knockout Rachel York was.

Ragtime (LA)--besides the entire production, the opening number. I had been to the show once before, but my friend was tardy, so we were sat past curtain 'at the appropriate moment in the show', and didn't know what we had missed! That added another level to my appreciation of Ragtime, having fallen in love with it the first time I saw it.

A Chorus Line (NY)--1978, a sophomore in high school--my first Broadway show will forever live in my memory. We even went to Sardi's before the show!

[TrpleThreat89]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 5:35pm

Got a few:

The Producers - when the mirror tilts at an angle so you can see the swastika formation

Phantom of the Opera - when my dad saw it the first time, he teared up during "Music of the Night"

The Glass Menagerie - A little old man was snoring very loudly in the 2nd row (Sunday matinee). Christian Slater broke character and said, "I'm sorry. Can somebody please wake him up? It's hard enough to do this, but even harder when somebody's SNORING!!" The audience erupted in cheers and Jessica Lange started laughing.

Billy Elliot - Angry Dance

9 to 5 - Stephanie J. Block singing her face off in "Get Out and Stay Out"

Shrek - seeing two of my favorite stars in the flesh (or prosthetic flesh) - Sutton Foster and Brian d'Arcy James from the 4th row center

Next to Normal - seeing Marin, Jason, and Meghann's first performance. Wonderful energy and emotional performance. My parents were completely amazed by it.

Promises, Promises - The first scene in Act II and "I'll Never Fall in Love Again"

The Lion King - "Circle of Life" and the stampede.

[sowren1020]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 5:51pm

RAGTIME's Robert Petkoff singing "Gliding" to his little girl and the last ensemble number at the end of the show. Still get emotional remembering those voices and that production.

Robert Lindsay and Maryann Plunkett in ME AND MY GIRL.

Amy Morton in AUGUST, OSAGE COUNTY.

Sally Murphy in GRAPES OF WRATH at the end of the show.

[D2]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 5:59pm

Angela Lansbury's wild, glazed-over eyes at the end of ROSE'S TURN.

Madeline Kahn's hilarious reading of just two words in ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: "That's okay." She brought the house down.

The look on Bernadette Peters' face in the final moment of her production of GYPSY.

Amy Morton in AUGUST, OSAGE COUNTY: "I'm in charge now!"

There are hundreds more, but those 4 are truly indelible in my mind.

[DirtyRottenGirl]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 6:34pm

The first time I saw Phantom of the Opera when the curtain comes off the chandelier and it flys up and the music starts.

Stage door at Chitty Chitty Bang Bang...I saw Raul Esparza and I was like he is so pretty

Woman in White-When the train projection made it look like the train was coming right into the audience.

[Haybe]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 6:49pm

I remember being totally entranced when I saw Cats (give me a break, I was 4 and didn't know any better) and they all came out at the beginning and crawled around the audience.

More recently, that last "shiiiine" that Gabe sings during the last verse of Light in Next to Normal when everybody else is singing "when we open up our lives...". I wasn't used to that (if it's on the cd, I can't hear it) and immediately burst into tears. It didn't help that Kyle Dean Massey was staring right at me as he sang it.

Also, when Aida and Radames spot each other in the museum at the end of Aida.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 6:50pm

The first time I saw it, we were on such an extreme angle, that none of the visuals really played for me.

Sooo, when I saw "A Chorus Line" on tour, I had been generally impressed, but as the writers say, "At the Ballet" is when the show takes off. Right at the climax, when Maggie hits the money note, and the black wall dissolves into the mirrors and the lights come up on the cast doing the ballet positions, took my breath away.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 6:53pm

Seeing Daniel Sunjata full frontal in Take Me Out. I got the vapors and almost lost consciousness.

[Scottsacto]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 7:02pm

Jennifer Holliday singing "And I Am Telling You" in the original "DreamGirls"

The final scene of "Agnes of God" with Elizabeth Ashley & Amanda Plummer. RIVETTING!!!

Getting TKTS for "FoxFire" and ending up in the front row, with Hume Cronyn doing a speech on the corner of the porch --his foot about 1 foot away from my head.

Laura Benanti doing her strip and talking to me,while she was doing it in "Gypsy"

Cassie Levy coming behind me a flipping her hair over my Bald Head, rocking my head from side to side during "Hair". Funny as all get out.

Finally seeing Barbara Cook Live in "Sondheim on Sondheim"

[SweeneyPhanatic]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 7:30pm

Tim Martin Gleason's performance as the Phantom in "The Phantom of the Opera," and at the same performance, watching the "invisible" techies free a drop cloth that had gotten stuck on the proscenium during the Overture.

Seeing "Les Miz," "Curtains," and "Mary Poppins" during my first trip to NYC. Really, that whole trip is forever seared into my memory.

Sitting 7th row to see Patti LuPone in "Gypsy," and the story the older couple behind me told of seeing the Merman production on their honeymoon.

Harvey Fierstein in the tour of "Fiddler On the Roof."

Not Broadway, but just as memorable: a local theatre is currently doing a production of "Singin' In the Rain," and they make it RAIN on stage at the end of Act One. I know water on stage is nothing new, but it's the first time I've ever seen it.

[wdwfreak]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 7:43pm

My favorite would have to be the 5th and 6th (closing performance) seeing the Starshine tribe of HAIR. The 5th time I saw it, June 24th, the cast has gotten to know me well, especially since I sit front row every time. Catherine Brookman played with me during Aquarius. Then Kate Rockwell sat on my lap during "Electric Blues". Then Jeanette Bayardelle was fooling around with me during "White Boys". She was looking at me, making sexual gestures, winking.

At the final performance, it was so breathtaking. Kyle laid across me and my friend during "Hair". Then Catherine Brookman was like petting me during "Hare Krishna" when they walked down the aisle to the stage. Then at the stagedoor, saying goodbye to my favorite cast and making each one of them cry, and then making me cry, again.

[sara2]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 7:43pm

Ethel Merman doing "Roses Turn",the final perf.of The Boy from Oz.Reba McIntire as Annie Oakley singing I Got Lost in His Arms,Paulo Szot singing Some Enchanted Evening in South Pacific

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 7:49pm

The opening and the curtain going up on the convicts on the ship - Les Miserables.

The opening sequence - An Inspector Calls.

Totally F****d - Spring Awakening, and the 5 minute ovation that followed on closing day.

The Scherzo and Ballet Sequence - West Side Story.

Earl Carpenter flying through the air as Javert - Les Miserables.

Seeing Michael Ball in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Hairspray.

The Sabbath Prayer - Fiddler on the Roof.

[jv92]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 7:51pm

When LuPone flicked her nipples at the audience during her final "Rose's Turn" at the final Gypsy

In Road Show, where the dying Mother Mizner is singing "Isn't He Something?" about the slime doing a soft-shoe upstage under a mirror ball, while her devoted son is at her side. Cerveris' sleazy charm made that show for me.

The opening number and finale of Scottsboro Boys, particularly the finale, which scared the hell out of me

Jenna Russell uttering "Goodbye, Momma" at the end of "Children and Art" in the recent Sunday in the Park... revival

[After Eight]

Posted: 8/9/10 at 7:57pm

There are so many indelible memories in over 50 years of theatregoing. Some, from my first years of theatregoing- the best in my opinion- make me so sad because of how wonderful they were that I really try to avoid thinking of them.

But here are 3 standouts that don't make me sad, and I will definitely never forget them.

1) Marlene Dietrich at the Mark Hellinger. Was it a put-on or for real? The lady toyed with the audience and had us eating out of her hand. One of a kind, and never to be forgotten.

2) The closing performance of the last revival of "Hello, Dolly!" with Carol Channing. The atmosphere was electric, and it was like bidding a final farewell to an era now past.

3) Judy Garland's closing performance at the Palace. Since it was indescribable, I won't attempt to describe it.