Posted: 5/23/24 at 4:08pm
I saw a subject on the worst, and thought this was natural to make. There have been some really exceptional shows on Broadway! Here are my personal favorites.
Musicals: Hedwig with John Cameron Mitchell and Lena Hall (I saw a Crate Show, which to me just made it even more unbelievable), though the recent Merrily We Roll Along revival is a rather close second. John Cameron Mitchell embodies Hedwig in a way I have never seen an actor embody a role. You believe every single thing he does because his level of commitment is so incredible. A lot of the time, knowing an actor's name and career so well, as I do with him, especially with earlier exposure to them, and especially with somebody whose singing voice is as distinct as his, it's immersion breaking to see them in a show. No. Not for a second. It was the most incredible performance I have seen on stage. If any replacement had to win a Tony, I'm so glad it was him. If you know, you know. And I don't think I need to explain Lena Hall. She was just flawless.
Plays: Leopoldstadt. This is a huge recency bias thing, definitely, but for me the experience of such a show being on Broadway with that huge cast and especially reuniting Brandon Uranowitz with Anthony Rosenthal... It was so emotionally fulfilling and incredible to me. I think everybody know at this point that Brandon Uranowitz is going to be a legendary icon of the theatre world, and I need not explain how effortless and mind-blowing his performance of this incredibly heavy material was. Tom Stoppard ability to mix existential terror with often absurd but never tasteless humor is ever on display in Leopoldstadt and I really do believe it is his best play ever. ... Otherwise, probably the Angels in America revival with Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane.
Special Theatrical Events: La Boheme. I saw it with Alfie Boe. It's the most beautifully composed piece of classical music of all time. I really love it more than anything, and I'm a huge opera nerd. Puccini is so brilliant, so beautiful, even the songs he wrote in the beginning of act three of Turandot right before his death have become so timeless. But nothing will ever dethrone La Boheme. Alfie Boe is one of the best living Lyric Tenors and La Boheme on Broadway was like nothing else that's ever been there. Maybe it wasn't the best production of La Boheme ever, but it is certainly my favorite production of an opera ever on Broadway. ... Second place is probably one of Kristin Chenoweth's concerts. I love her more than life.
Feel free to gush about your favorite ever productions and performances on Broadway! Here's a few individual performances that I didn't talk about here that I loved very much:
Harvey Fierstein in Hairspray, I saw him during his brief return at the end of the show's run, I thought it was absolutely brilliant.
Kristin Chenoweth in On the Twentieth Century, maybe the most baffling Tony loss of all time because she was amazing.
Christian Borle in Falsettos, I feel this is his best role ever. A lot of people don't like how it's a lot more grounded and not as big and showy as his other roles, but, just like with Jonathan Groff in Merrily right now, which I also feel is his best role, the emotional depth he brings in this role outweighs any previous vocal display or comedic role he had, for me at least.
Alan Cumming in Cabaret, I saw the most recent Alan Cumming revival, he was perfect. I do not think there could possibly be a better Emcee. What's crazy is that I also think the same thing about Joel Grey (though I was not alive to actually see it on Broadway, I hear it was every bit as good as in the movie in which he was stellar). I have not seen the Eddie Redmayne revival (on Broadway, I saw him in London and thought he was good but not nearly as good as Alan Cumming), but I'd be shocked if he wasn't completely overshadowed by the performances of these two men.
Updated On: 5/23/24 at 04:08 PM
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