What is the best Stage Performance You Have Ever Seen? — Page 3

I love thinking about this, and like many here, it seems impossible to name one of the hundreds (or thousands?!) of performances I've seen in my life as the "best", but I like the challenge!  Let's go with 5, and see if I can decide on one of those as the BEST...

Brian Dennehy - Death of a Salesman (and interwoven so carefully - Elizabeth Franz!)

Patti LuPone - Gypsy

Jennifer Holiday - Dreamgirls

Stephen Spinella - Angels in America (and the whole cast; I could Andrew Garfield in this spot just as easily, and be happy with that - he was extraordinary in the revival)

George Hearn - La Cage (singing "I Am What I Am"

Those are the ones that rush forward in my mind, elbowing hundreds of others out of the way, pushing aside Pearl Bailey in Hello, Dolly!, Nathan Lane in the Producers, Stephanie Mills in The Wiz....

But if I have to name the BEST performance on any stage I have EVER seen in my life, I have to say it was Liza Minnelli in concert, two years in a row, in Pittsburgh, 1979 and 1980.  I have never been as astonished since - that one single performer up there on stage could single-handedly bring characters to life so vividly in song, tear the heartstrings one minute and have the audience roaring with laughter the next, and gripping my soul and never letting go....I never got to see greats like Jolson or Garland (before my time), but to me, Liza was a theatrical volcano, channeling bigger-than-life greatness...  Ok!  Back to work! :)

 

Updated On: 11/5/18 at 02:39 PM

For me, there's Tonya Pinkins in CAROLINE, OR CHANGE...and then there's everyone else.

Frank Langella  Frost/Nixon

Fiona Shaw       Medea

John Gallagher Jr.  Spring Awakening

Alice Ripley        Next to Normal

Vespertine1228 said: "I remember seeing A Streetcar Named Desire at BAM, with Cate Blanchett as Blanche, and thinking to myself after it was over "Well I never need to see that again. No one could possibly do it better."

And just because drama always seems to take precedent over comedy in discussions like these, James Corden's comic geniusin One Man, Two Guvnors cannot be overstated."

I chose Colleen Dewhurst bot Moon for the Misbegotten, but debated between she and Cate Blanchett.  I agree with you in that I do not expect to see a Blanche as real as hers again; interestingly, if someone asked me to identify the best movie performance, ever I would pick either Vivien Leigh for Gone With the Wind or Vivien Leigh for Streetcar.  Kudos to Tennessee Williams for writing such great roles; they provide opportunities for great actors to excel; unfortunately, the also provide opportunities for great and not so great actresses to fail miserably, witness Jessica Lange and Natasha Richardson, both of whom I thought were terrible.  Interestingly, i have read that Rachel Weisz and Gillian Anderson have both given great performances, although I have not seen either.

My top ten plus:

Angela Lansbury as MAME

Barbra Streisand in FUNNY GIRL

Barbara Harris in THE APPLE TREE

Luba Lisa in THE PAJAMA GAME

Ann Sothern in GYPSY

Geraldine Page in THE LITTLE FOXES

Gwen Verdon in CHICAGO

Sandy Duncan in PETER PAN

Anita Morris in NINE

Douglas Sills in THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL

Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner in SIDE SHOW

Rachel York in DESSA ROSE

Jill Paice in MATILDA

Laura Benanti in SHE LOVES ME

The third guy from the left in the shower scene in TAKE ME OUT

I didn't mention Liza Minnelli but feel I should. Thanks to my theatre-going family, I was able to see her in three musicals while she was still in her teens (17, 18 and 19) and was truly impressed. I found it remarkable that this young girl could generate so much electricity and attention on stage in her own unique way ably carrying off leading roles with much deserved success. She was quite a force in those early years.  

 

 

Billy Piper - Yerma

Gillian Anderson - Streetcar Named Desire

Frank Langella - The Father

Fiona Shaw - Medea

Imelda Staunton - Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf/Gypsy

 

The idea of choosing the best performance I've ever seen is hurting my brain, but one that is staying with me after a recent overloaded theatre trip to NY is Yvonne Woods in Uncle Vanya. I'll happily admit it's influenced by over-association with the character, but her balance of vulnerability and hope was heartbreaking. It's rare for a human to be so beautifully transparent.