What is your 10 Best & 10 Worst Theatrical Experience (Season '06-'07 only

[jaystarr]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 4:56pm

Hi All-

Its Memorial Day again. I was fortunate to see 35 shows this year (including off- broadway ) and here were my thoughts on the best & worst things Ive seen on Broadway this year.

Best Theatrical Moments (that changed me )

1. Christine Ebersole's Revolutionary/Another Winter numbers in "Grey Gardens"
2. Raul Esparza's Being Alive in "Company"
3. The Opening of Coast of Utopia --Voyage (1st-- 5 mins)
4. Julie White's monologue about "My Word" in "Little Dog Laughed"
5. The Bombing Scene & the Curtain Call in "Journey's End"
6. Frank Langella's close up in the big screen in" Frost/Nixon"
7. The Drowning Scene in "The Coram Boy"
8. Spring Awakening (the concept, the music )
9. Audra McDonald's Raunchy & Old Maid numbers in "110 in the Shade"
10. End of Act 1 number "So Much Better" in "Legally Blonde"

Worst Theatrical Experience (that bored me to death)

1. LoveMusik- I just dont get it !
2. Jenn Collela in "High Fidelity"
3. Supercalifra..number in "Mary Poppins"
4. The Amateurish production of Evil Dead
5. The Music & the "too much" Irish Tap Dancing in "The Pirate Queen"
6. Les Miserables- im sooo miserable too !
7. Yelling, Screaming & Constant Running in "The Coram Boy"
8. Watching Angela Lansbury & Marian Seldes looking from right to left for the "imaginary" tennis ball & talking nonsense that I dont get where is it going ?? in "Deuce"
9. Maggie Lacy as Rachel Brown (the teacher's girlfriend) in "Inherit The Wind"
10. The "wanna be-hip" factor of "In The Heights"

and what's yours ??? you can include current long running shows t ex..jersey boys, wicked, if you cant fill top 10-j*




Updated On: 5/28/07 at 04:56 PM

[theperformer]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 5:09pm

TOP TEN BEST

1. Mary Poppins flying over the audience
2. "Around the World" in Grey Gardens
3. Finale "One" from A Chorus Line
4. "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast
5. Overall, the magic in Mary Poppins
6. Wicked's "Defying Gravity"
7. "I Have a Dream" from Mamma Mia
8. "Fantine's Death - confrontation" during the duet from les miz
9. The entrance of Elphaba in Wicked
10. The entrance of Elle in Legally Blonde


TOP SIX WORST (I don't have 10)

1. Daphne Rubin-Vega in Les Miserables
2. "So Much Better" from Legally Blonde
3. Laura Bell Bundy in Legally Blonde (overall)
4. The Producers (way overrated)
5. Les Miserables Finale (very very weak in my opinion)
6. Jersey Boys (very overrated in my opinion)

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 5:10pm

Ten Best Theatrical Moments (on and off):
1. Tony Shalhoub's monologue about his friend's hideous TV pilot in "The Scene"
2. The first blackout, leaving Una quivering with fear in "Blackbird"
3. The bomb-dropping finale of "Journey's End"
4. The opening moments of all 3 "Coast of Utopia" parts
5. "He Did It" from "Curtains"
6. Virginia's temper tantrum in "The Clean House"
7. Bert dancing upside-down and Mary flying away in "Mary Poppins"
8. Any number of Diane monologues in "Little Dog Laughed"
9. Shickelgruber in "LoveMusik"
10. Christine Ebersole's double entrance applause in "Grey Gardens"

Honorable Mention: Jay Johnson and company

Worst Moments:
All of Pirate Queen, Deuce...most of Coram Boy's dialogue...Kevin Spacey in "Misbegotten."


Updated On: 5/28/07 at 05:10 PM

[jordangirl]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 5:14pm

Hmmm... Let's see... (In Letterman-style reverse order)

10 Best...

10 ~ No Child... ~ the first time I saw it. I was in Teaching Fellows boot camp and seriously in need of inspiration.
9 ~ Wicked ~ with my friend Kristen. She'd never seen a Broadway show before, and she won the lotto, so we were front and center.
8 ~ A Chorus Line ~ the original production (not cast, but production) was my first ever Broadway show, so it holds a special place in my heart.
7 ~ The Pirate Queen ~ the second time I saw it. Not only was it better than the first time, I met up randomly with an old friend at the stage door.
6 ~ Eve Best in A Moon For The Misbegotten
5 ~ Coram Boy ~ both times I saw it.
4 ~ 110 In The Shade ~ all three times I've seen it so far.
3 ~ No Child... ~ with an audience composed entirely of teachers.
2 ~ The Year of Magical Thinking ~ the first time I saw it. I was literally shaking at the end, and I immediately called my parents and told them to get their calendars together and figure out a weekend they could come up and we'd go see it.
1 ~ The Vertical Hour ~ every single time I saw it.

10 Worst...

10 ~ Missing out on getting to take my parents to see The Drowsy Chaperone or The Vertical Hour when they visited in November because they insisted they didn't want to see a show. Then at 3pm on Saturday decided they did. Parents, meet TKTS.
9 ~ The bus groups STILL being seated 40 minutes into The Color Purple. VERY distracting.
8 ~ Trying the Avenue Q lottery a bunch of times and never once winning it.
7 ~ Spending $50 on the TDF ticket draw thingy at the BC/EFA Flea Market and not winning ONE envelope while people I saw around me spent like $5 and won on every ticket. Boy did I feel unlucky that day.
6 ~ Coram Boy closing. And not offering rush or discounts for their closing performance.
5 ~ Spring Awakening ~ IMHO, very overrated. I'm glad I only paid student rush for it. (Yes, I'm a full-time grad student with legit ID as well as being a first year teacher.)
4 ~ Company ~ I just didn't get it. The music was ok, but I didn't GET it. "Another Thank God for St. Rush" moment.
3 ~ The closing date of The Vertical Hour being moved up and losing the front row center ticket I had for the 4/1 closing.
2 ~ Talk Radio ~ couldn't stand it. Didn't see what the big deal was. Couldn't make myself care about ANY of the characters.
1 ~ Walking down 45th and seeing "The Evil Clown Sign" (the poster for Deuce) on The Music Box marquee.

Updated On: 5/28/07 at 05:14 PM

[nealb1]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 5:16pm

If I had to narrow it down to the best of Broadway this season....

1. Christine Ebersole in GG
2. John Lloyd Young in JB. He has such intensity...such passion.
3. Audra in "110"
4. Raul singing "Being Alive" in "Company"
5. "A Chorus Line"
6. "Year of Magical Thinking"
7. "Pirate Queen" AND Stephanie Block.....yes...GASP, I liked the show!
8. "Les Miz"
9. Carolee Cammelo (sp?) in "Mamma Mia" - she was amazing!
10. Liev S in "Talk Radio"

Worst...

1. "Butley" - just a bad play....no one could rise above the material. Glad that Dana was nominated, though.
2. "Wicked" - so overrated. Saw it when it first opened...didn't "get it" then. So, I figured I'd see it again last year. Still didn't get it.


Updated On: 5/28/07 at 05:16 PM

[jaystarr]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 6:00pm

nealb- I must agree with you with "Wicked" being one of the WORST THEATRICAL Experience !

[nealb1]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 6:02pm

Hey, Jaystarr...thanks so much.

[jv92]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 6:09pm

I'll narrow it down to five.

BEST
1. Grey Gardens- just the whole damned show
2. Victoria Clark's "In Buddy's Eyes" at The Encores Revival of Follies
3. Esparza's "Being Alive"
4. Donna Murphy's "Could I Leave You?" at Encores' Follies
5. Frank Langella as Nixon

WORST
1. The Pirate Queen- May it rest in pieces someday
2. Legally Blonde- Ditto
3. Having Les Mis back on Broadway
4. Spring Awakening's success
5. Gosh, I can't think of one. I would say Deuce, but I loved Lansbury and Seldes. I guess I can say seeing two great ladies of the American theatre in such a bad play.

I must add one thing and this is worse than anything I've seen this year- the Grease reality show. What a load of garbage! I hope the show is a miserable failure that puts David "Schmuck" Ian in hock. I hope that Jim "I wrote one piece of crap but I think I'm freakin' Sondheim" Jacob is never welcomed back to Broadway. I can't wish ill on Kathleen Marshall because she is nice, she is talented, but she's making a terrible mistake. I hope it's a miserable failure. Michael Riedel, I can't wait to read your nasty columns on the show this summer.
Updated On: 5/28/07 at 06:09 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 6:16pm

I'm just gonna do best. Worst bores me, and I had a tough enough time thinking of ten "best," being that I have a lot to catch up on.

Not in exact order:

1. Seeing Company in New York for the first time after so many months of anticipation, that wave of visceral impact that is the reason we go to the theater, and learning all over again what it's like to fall so in love
2. Raúl's "Being Alive" through the finale of Company
3. Finally seeing A Chorus Line for myself -- most especially the opening -- from the front row, no less
4. Sweeney Todd's final performance
5. Barbara Walsh's "The Ladies Who Lunch"
6. The Pirate Queen in its entirety, because only so often comes along something so awesomely bad
7. Spelling Bee's Broadway night
8. The last few minutes of Journey's End -- hello, brilliant sound design!
9. Seeing Christine Ebersole's performance in Grey Gardens
10. King Lear at The Public

Updated On: 5/28/07 at 06:16 PM

[bjh2114]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 6:22pm

BEST:
1. Grey Gardens (everything about it, but especially Christine)
2. A Chorus Line (except Charlotte)
3. 110 in the Shade (especially Audra)
4. The entirety of COAST OF UTOPIA (especially Jennifer Ehle and Billy Crudup)
5. Journey's End (especially Boyd Gaines and Stark Sands)
6. Julie White in The Little Dog Laughed
7. Christopher Plummer in Inherit the Wind
8. Ruthie Henshall in Stairway to Paradise
9. Kate Shindle and Christian Borle in Legally Blonde
10. Jay Johnson and his puppets in The Two and Only

WORST:
1. The Times They Are A-Changin'
2. High Fidelity
3. Curtains
4. Radio Golf
5. Les Miserable revival (except for Celia and Aaron, I saw Daphne who sucked)
6. The Apple Tree (except for Brian Darcy James, and ESPECIALLY Chenoweth)
7. Spring Awakening (except for the good music)
8. Losing Louie tied with Prelude to a Kiss
9. LoveMusik (except for Donna and Michael)
10. Company (except for Heather Laws, whom I loved)

[teka21]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 7:04pm

Best Experiences:
1. Spring Awakening
2. No Child
3. In The Heights
4. Biography (Pearl Theatre)
5. 110 in the Shade
6. Company
7. Curtains
8. Journey's End
9. The Coast of Utopia (Voyage)
10. Hairspray
Worst Experiences
1. Pig Farm
2. Heartbreak House
3. Grey Gardens
4. Suddenly Last Summer (other than Carla Gugino who was great)
5. Howard Katz
6. The Apple Tree

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 8:00pm

Best Experiences
1. The brilliant Grey Gardens
2. Julie White in The Little Dog Laughed
3. Donna Murphy & Michael Cerveris in LoveMusik
4. Kristin Chenoweth's "What Makes Me Love Him?" in The Apple Tree
5. Finally experiencing Bennett's genius live in A Chorus Line
6. The Coast of Utopia
7. The final moments of Journey's End
8. Jay Johnson breaking the news to Bob in The Two and Only
9. The Clean House
10. Pablo Schrieber's brilliance in Dying City

[worrell4077]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 8:11pm

BEST:
Spring Awakening- Saw it with my Play Production class and Intro To Theatre and I went in hoping to really enjoy it since it was my first time and I had recently purchased the cast album at Stop and Shop(Yes, Stop and Shop sells cast albums, who knew). I really enjoyed it and it was the only show that is nominated that I saw and I really loved and I'm hoping to see it again this Summer.

Jersey Boys- Just getting the rush tickets for it the three times I saw it and seeing that wonderful cast and seeing a couple of understudies.

Dr. Seuss's How The Grinch Stole Christmas- It was great to see a different musical adaptation of the book and the sets looked just like Seuss's drawings.

Monty Python's SpamAlot- Saw it for the third time with my Acting class and my Intro to Theatre class. It was my first time seeing it without any of the originals and I was hoping to see Jonathan Hadary as King Arthur, but he was out but Chris Hoch was fantastic as King Arthur.

WORST:
The scalpers at Jersey Boys both in September(there were only three) and then in March(there was like 5).


That's all I have to say

[BroadwayEnthusiast2]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 8:13pm

best:
1. carmello's the winner takes it all
2. i know where i've been
3. hairspray overall
4. springtime for hitler
5. i have a dream
6. when you've got it, flaunt it
7. at the end of hairspray when amber gives tracy the crown
8. hunter foster's leo bloom
9. brooklyn pulver

worst:
1. tony danza's singing voice
2. jerry o'boyle's edna

[BNN]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 8:17pm

Best
1. The final performance of Sweeney Todd
2. Seeing Company and A Chorus Line on the same day after months of waiting
3. All of A Chorus Line (excluding Music and the Mirror)
4. Company as a whole
5. Watching Gary Beach (I believe) flee out of a back entrance of Les Mis and down the street while I watched in amusement
6. The auction of Raul's kazoo after Company
7. Company stage door, a very nice and interesting cast
8. Talking an elderly couple out of seeing Avenue Q
9. Having the 3rd person in our family win the Wicked lottery
10. Heather Parcells, a hilarious person to talk with

Worst
1. Irritating people at the final performance of Sweeney Todd
2. The roof party that interfered with Company
3. tkts, I understand you want tickets, please calm down!
4. Tarzan existing
5. The Drowsy Chaperone marquee with all the fancy lights, unfortunatley it was not lit when I saw it

It's been an interesting season

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 8:27pm

I am interpreting this as 10 Favorite and Least Favorite Theatrical Experiences of the Season:

10 Favorites:
1. Spring Awakening (Atlantic Theatre, off- broadway)
2. [title of show] (Vineyard Theatre, off- broadway return engagement)
3. A Chorus Line (Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway)
4. Grey Gardens (Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway)
5. The Coast of Utopia trilogy (Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Broadway)
6. Elegies: A Song Cycle (Joe's Pub, reunion concert)
7. Rock 'N' Roll (Duke of York's Theatre, West End)
8. Merrily We Roll Along (Derby Playhouse, Derbyshire)
9. Billy Elliot (Victoria Palace Theatre, West End)
10. Curtains (Al Hirschfeld Theatre, Broadway)

Honorary Mention: Legally Blonde (Palace Theatre, Broadway), Follies (London Palladium benefit), Frost/ Nixon (Gielgud Theatre, West End)

10 Least Favorite:
1. Love With a Twist
2. Burleigh Grimes
3. Kiki and Herb: Alive on Broadway
4. Drumstruck
5. Striking 12
6. Zorro
7. Mimi LeDuck
8. Mary Poppins
9. Les Miserables (West End)
10. The Lord of the Rings

[bbonstage]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 8:30pm

best:
in the heights. hands down.

worst:
pirate queen. if anyone's planning on going, a sleep mask would be an appropriate accessory.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 8:37pm

This is so easy.

My ten best theatrical experiences of the season were the ten times I saw GREY GARDENS. (The BEST of those ten being when I saw it with my daughter.)

[keybowvio]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 8:41pm

best:
1. being last row in WICKED- the first time I had seen it, it was the first show I saw after 6th grade so basically my first bway experience, and really it is quite well put together, despite a boring plot, so you can imagine who enthralled I was with it.
2.Hugh Dancy in JOURNEY'S END
3.Being front row center for Chenoweth's performance in THE APPLE TREE
4.Getting Student Rush for THE PRODUCERS and ending up in the second row center!
5.last but certainly not least- the last while of JOURNEY'S END
6.Getting Cheno's autograph (she really is short!)
7.Doing student rush to like five shows, and never not getting a ticket.
8.Getting autographs from the cast of Les Mis, that was the only good part of that whole show.
9.Being third row center for Phantom, and having the chandelier fall on my head, well almost
10.Seeing my friend's violin teacher (Maralyn Reynolds) perform in THE APPLE TREE (especially since the orchestra wasn't in a pit, under the stage, but instead in the box seats on the side of the theater


worst:
1.Getting hit in the head with a book during JOURNEY'S END, it actually left a bruise (maybe I should make a lawsuit..., no, I could never do that to JE)
2.Watching Journey's end grossses getting worse and worse every week.
3.Les mis. (Yup, that's a period)
4.Seeing THE APPLE TREE from the rear mezz. soooooo cramped.
5.Not going to the bathroom before seeing Journey's end.
6.Waiting in line for the bathroom at the Belasco theater and almost missing the beginning of the second half of Journey's end.
7.Traffic going into the city, nuff said.
8.Not finding this board sooner
9.Not seeing Grey Gardens... yet
10. not yelling at the person who put there feet up on the chair in front of them at Le Mis.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 8:56pm

OK some of mine are from the UK as thats where im based.

BEST
1.The fab lead (rodgers) in Evita
2.Sit Down Your Rocking The Boat(guys and dolls London)
3.Legally Blonde(so much fun,LOVE IT)
4.The Producers in manchester UK with Peter Kay and Corey English
5.Caroline Or Change
6.Grey Gardens(performances more than the show)
7.Ellis in wicked in london singing Defying Gravity WOW
8.Footloose London(turned out to be amazing and had audiences giving it a standing ovation)
9.Little Shop Of Horrors (Sheridan Smith ,she is Awesome)
10.Drowsy Chaperon


WORST
1.Pirate queen-though it was the best sleep ive ever had
2.One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest-Massive let down
3.Menopause the musical-Actually wanted to shoot the cast
4.Mary Poppins London(whole shown was such a let down)
5.Chitty Chitty Bang Bang(so the car flies yawn)
6.Mamma Mia (made me want to eat my head)
7.Dirty Dancing(is it a play? is it a musical? do i care)
8.Porgy and Bess(ouch)
9.Cabaret London(awful production)
10.Helen Dalimore(wicked London, awful glinda )

[bwaygal1]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 9:21pm

I know what you mean, miss pennywise. The numerous times (more than 10!) I've seen it would be my top moments too.

[pc1145N2]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 9:24pm

Best:

Drowsy Chaperone (again)
Grey Gardens
Pirate Queen
Spring Awakening
Mary Poppins (shockingly)

Worst:

Touring Company of Camelot - godawful claptrap.

[MotorTink]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 9:31pm

Best
Journey's End curtain call
Spelling Bee Broadway Night
Grey Gardens
Tarzan
Raul singing "Marry Me a Little"
Hunter Foster in "The Producers"

Worst
Spring Awakening (I liked it but compared to all the other shows I saw this season, it would be on the low end)

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 9:37pm

bwaygal1, if you saw it at least 10 times, it can be your answer too!

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 5/28/07 at 9:50pm

I love how many people have "Hunter Foster as Leo Bloom" on their lists! He is effervescent on stage- he gives 200% constantly, and seems to care infinite amounts about the material, no matter what show he is performing in. I think he is a class act, and having seen five different Leos, he is definitely my favorite. Glad to see so many others loved him in "Producers" too!!!