What is the best show you have ever seen?

[budfrump]

Posted: 7/16/11 at 10:40pm

It doesn't have to be a Broadway production. National tour, regional production, West End, anything!
I've seen alot of shows, but one of the best I've seen is the 2010 revival of La Cage on Broadway.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 7/16/11 at 11:23pm

Well, I'll divide this into two categories.

Professionally: the original FOLLIES, when it went to LA. I got to see it as a graduation present from my aunt, and it was arguably the most thrilling thing I ever saw.

Amatuer: a high school production of FORUM, back in 2007. I designed it for them, but I had no idea how truly brilliant it was until they sent me a DVD some month later. Hysterical and very, very polished.

[quizking101]

Posted: 7/16/11 at 11:33pm

It's a crime to make one choose only one show...so I'll split.

Play: HIGH with Kathleen Turner (What a Broad!). Hands down, the most darkly comedic and thrilling piece I've seen on a Broadway stage. I left the theatre with chills down my spine.

Musical: Tie: BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON and SOUTH PACIFIC, since both had magnificent set designs, scores, and extremely handsome leading men.

[littlegreen2]

Posted: 7/16/11 at 11:45pm

Play: I saw a production of Othello a few years back and was completely enthralled. The actress playing Desdemona was so expressive with her entire body. I was blown away. I wish I could remember her name.

Musical: Next to Normal, with the closing Broadway cast. Marin and Jason had phenomenal chemistry that really cannot be matched. They brought the show to a whole new level and it had me weeping every time.

I also recently saw a regional production of Hairspray that was absolutely incredible. I saw it three times and wish I could have gone back for more before it closed. It reminded me why I love theatre so much.

[CockeyedOptimist2]

Posted: 7/16/11 at 11:49pm

I don't know how I'll ever choose between South Pacific (LCT Revival) and The Scottsboro Boys.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 12:02am

The most recent Spring Awakening national tour completely blew me away. I saw a production of Nine at a professional theatre company that was probably one of the most beautiful shows I have ever seen on stage. It was perfection. From the accents to the costumes and set, it was truly incredible.

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 12:12am

Noises Off

[hairspraydude1962]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 1:34am

My username says it all. Well, it really doesn't literally "say it all," but you get my drift.
Updated On: 7/17/11 at 01:34 AM

[Q]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 2:47am

AMADEUS - original Broadway production.

Ian McKellen - Salieri
Tim Curry - Mozart
Jane Seymour - Constanza
Supporting cast was used almost intact in the movie

It formed a lot of my opinion of what is possible through theater.

[willrogers2008]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 3:07am

Grand Hotel (Maury Yeston, directed by Tommy Tune).

[willrogers2008]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 3:07am

Grand Hotel (Maury Yeston, directed by Tommy Tune).

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 3:11am

The Sam Mendes production of Cabaret. There's a longer list of things I love very, very much -- but the "best"? Hands down.

[AC126748]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 5:16am

The 2003 revival of LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT. It was a marathon performance (4 hours and 15 minutes, with two intermissions), and the audience sat perfectly still throughout, completely enraptured. Vanessa Redgrave performed Mary Tyrone's final monologue so beautifully I could barely breathe. It truly had the best of everything: perfect cast, perfect direction, great physical production.

More recently, this season's revival of THE NORMAL HEART.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 6:03am

Musical: The original production of GYPSY with a triumphant Ethel Merman and a wonderful Jack Klugman. This choice will come as no surprise to those who read my posts.

Play: CIrcle in the Square's 1975 production of Arthur Miller's brilliant DEATH OF A SALESMAN, directed by and starring a moving George C. Scott and the always excellent Teresa Wright. At the conclusion there was not a dry eye in the house. The entire engagement was sold out, with people lining up for standing room at 6.00am each day. ( I was one of them). There was no Lotto back then.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 7:20am

PLAYS of years gone by:
Amadeus & Dustin Hoffman's Death of a Salesman

MUSICALS of years gone by:
Sunday in the Park with George (OBC) & Caberet revival


Of recent years:
The Normal Heart & The South Pacific revival

Locally/regional: The ART's production of Caberet with Amanda Palmer

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 9:55am

The answer is in my screen name: Caroline, or Change with the fantastic Tonya Pinkins (both Broadway and L.A.) It is the musical that rejuvinated my love for the artform. Everything about it was perfect and the Cast Album still gives me chills.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 9:58am

Musical - MY FAIR LADY with Julie Andrews and Alec Clunes
Runner-up - HOW TO SUCCEED... with Robert Morse and Michele Lee

Play - THE MIRACLE WORKER with Suzanne Pleshette and Patty Duke
Runner-up - WAIT UNTIL DARK with Lee Remick and Robert Duvall

[HopeChanged]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 10:12am

Next to Normal with Jason and Marin easily tops my list.

Also loved the recent national tour of Spring Awakening.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 10:14am

musical: the revival of South Pacific

play: Wit with Kathleen Chalfant Off-Broadway

[Idiot]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 11:40am

THE GOAT or WHO IS SYLVIA? at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. I've never left a show so devastated and enlivened before or since.

[charlesjguiteau]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 1:10pm

Johnboy2, please tell us more of what you remember of Julie's performance in My Fair Lady. Such a legendary union of show and actor-- all we have is the LP and photos to go by, so would love to hear what it was like to actually see that show and that cast live. (I was born 4 months after My Fair Lady arrived on Broadway and always felt it was one of those guiding-star shows for me.)

[suttonequalslove]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 1:13pm

Wicked is really what started my love for musical theatre so that's my choice. I know a lot of people would disagree, but you can't beat the feelings and score for the show.

[Q]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 1:15pm

I'm curious if JohnBoy only saw Clunes, hence mentioning him, or if he also saw Harrison and just preferred Clunes.

[tazber]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 2:24pm

I'm with emcee. There are tons of shows that I have loved passionately, but nothing has ever rocked my world like Mendes' Cabaret at 54.

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 7/17/11 at 2:46pm

For many years, it was the David Esbjornson production of The Normal Heart at The Public in 2004. Now however, it's Peter and the Starcatcher. I'm still waiting and keeping my fingers crossed for news of a Broadway transfer.