great performances you have seen

[spike3]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 10:25am

some I had the honour of, Dorothy Loudon in Ballroom,and Sweeney Todd, Pearl Bailey, Hello, Dolly!, Toni Collette,The Wild Party, Eartha Kitt, Timbuktu!, Christine Ebersole, Grey Gardens, the OBC Follies, Ann Reinking in Dancin, Chita and Gwen in Chicago, Liza in The Act, and Liza in Chicago and Chita in Kiss of the Spiderwoman. Just a few off the top of my head.

[spike3]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 10:39am

God help me, I forgot Patti Lupone in Evita, and Ann Miller and Mickey Rooney in Sugar Babies

[MermansMan]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 10:42am

Carol Channing in the '95 Revival of Dolly, Glenn Close in Sunset Blvd, Patti LuPone's first preview of Gypsy at the St. James, Matthew Broderick & Nathan Lane in The Producers, opening weekend of John Doyle's Sweeney Todd... Alot more, but these are just a few that stick out in my memory.

[Katia2]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 11:38am

Oh hell I feel so privileged, thank god for being the sort of **** kid that "ran away" on a daily basis and had access to a bus to NYC.
Bernadette Peters in A Little Night Music and Gypsy, Murphy in Follies and Anyone Can Whistle and LoveMusik, Patti LuPone in Sweeney Todd and Candide and Gypsy, Barbara Walsh in Company, Alice Ripley in Next to Normal, and LaChanze in The Color Purple.

[OhTossums2]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 11:45am

know this isn't a classic or anything, but watching the OBC of In the Heights the week after they won the Tony's was AMAZING! The energy and passion on that stage brought a stream of tears.

[broadwaybabywannabe]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 11:58am

GLYNNIS JOHNS A Little Night Music OBC
ALEXIS SMITH Follies OBC
PATTI LUPONE Evita OBC
ANGELA LANSBURY Gypsy Touring
HARVEY FIERSTEIN Tourch Song Trilogy OBC

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 12:01pm

More than I can count, but here are a few that I will absolutely never forget:

Vanessa Redgrave, Long Day's Journey Into Night
Robert Sean Leonard, Long Day's Journey Into Night
Cate Blanchett, A Streetcar Named Desire
Simon Russell Beale, The Cherry Orchard
Meryl Streep, Mother Courage and Her Children
Joe Mantello, The Normal Heart
John Benjamin Hickey, The Normal Heart and Mary Stuart
Ellen Barkin, The Normal Heart
Janet McTeer, Mary Stuart
Harriet Walter, Mary Stuart
Jessica Hecht, A View From the Bridge
Liev Schreiber, A View From the Bridge and Macbeth
Jennifer Ehle, The Coast of Utopia and Macbeth
Victoria Clark, The Light in the Piazza and Juno
Patti LuPone, Gypsy and Sweeney Todd
Laura Benanti, Gypsy, Women on the Verge..., and In the Next Room...
Marianne Jean-Baptiste, The Winter's Tale
Rebecca Hall, The Cherry Orchard
Sinead Cusack, The Cherry Orchard and Rock 'n' Roll
Billy Crudup, The Pillowman and The Coast of Utopia
Christine Ebersole, Grey Gardens
Laura Linney, Time Stands Still
Bernadette Peters, A Little Night Music
Donna Murphy, Wonderful Town and Follies
Boyd Gaines, Journey's End and Gypsy
Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed
Anne Hathaway, Twelfth Night
Martha Plimpton, Pal Joey, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Coast of Utopia
Elizabeth Marvel, Seascape and Top Girls
Alison Pill, Blackbird and The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Eve Best, A Moon for the Misbegotten and The Homecoming
Janel Maloney, 100 Saints You Should Know
Frances McDormand, Good People
Lauren Ambrose, Awake and Sing and Hamlet
Zoe Wanamaker, Awake and Sing
Mark Ruffalo, Awake and Sing
Laurie Metcalf, Brighton Beach Memoirs
Edie Falco, Frankie and Johnny and The House of Blue Leaves
Marin Mazzie, Next to Normal
Lili Taylor, Landscape of the Body
Roslyn Ruff, Seven Guitars
Viola Davis, Fences
Jan Maxwell, Coram Boy and Entertaining Mr. Sloane
Michael Cumpsty, Richard III

Like I said, this is just the tip of the iceberg. I could go on all day.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 12:06pm

John Owen-Jones as Jean Valjean and The Phantom.
Sarah Lancashire in Betty Blue Eyes (yes, this one WILL go down as a great performance)
Michael Ball as Edna Turnblad

[egghumor]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 12:42pm

Out of so many great ones, the indelible performances that usually come to mind are:

Alice Ripley in NEXT TO NORMAL
Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou in SWEENEY TODD
Ann Miller and Mickey Rooney in SUGAR BABIES
Anne Patoniak in 'NIGHT, MOTHER
Charles Dutton in MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM
Charles Dutton in THE PIANO LESSON
Bernadette Peters and Joanna Gleason in INTO THE WOODS
Constance Cummings in WINGS
Donna Murphy in PASSION
Gregory Hines in SOPHISTICATED LADIES
Irene Worth in THE LADY FROM DUBUQUE
Janet McTeer in A DOLL'S HOUSE
Jennifer Holliday in DREAMGIRLS
Judith Light in W;T
Judy Kaye, John Cullum, and Kevin Kline in ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Kevin Kline in THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE
Meryl Streep in ALICE
Victoria Clark in A LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 12:44pm

Ben Vereen, Jill Clayburgh, John Rubenstein, Betty Buckley, Leland Palmer, Ann Reinking, Irene Ryan, Priscilla Lopez in PIPPIN

Chita Rivera, Gwen Verdon, Jerry Orbach, Alaina Reed, Ann Reinking, Lenora Nemetz in the original run of CHICAGO

Original Broadway cast, Ann Reinking, Bebe Neuwirth in original run of A CHORUS LINE

Original Broadway cast, Alice Ghostley, Sarah Jessica Parker, Betty Hutton in original run of ANNIE

Patti LuPone, Bob Gunton and Mandy Patinkin in EVITA

Original Broadway cast, Betty Buckley, John Barrowman, Elaine Page in SUNSET BLVD.

Too many others to list and way too many original Broadway casts from 1972 to the present to list.

[spike3]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 12:53pm

sorry, these things just keep popping into my head. Maureen Stapleton in The Gingerbread Lady, Dorothy Loudon, Noises Off

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 1:06pm

Patti and Bernadette in Gypsy
Ebersole in Grey Gardens
Clark in Piazza
Mazzie in N2N
Murney in Wicked
Audra in 110
Stokes in KM,K and MolM
Everyone in the recent ALNM
Updated On: 5/29/11 at 01:06 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 1:21pm

Henry Fonda - Clarence Darrow
Christopher Plummer - Barrymore
Hugh Jackman - BFO
Brian Dennehy - DOAS

[Mamie]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 1:59pm

Chita Rivera, Gwen Verdon, and Jerry Orbach in "Chicago"
Hugh Jackman in "Boy From Oz"
Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick in "The Producers"
Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Dennehy in "Long Day's Journey Into Night"
Richard Easton and Robert Sean Leonard in "Invention of Love"
Michael Crawford in "Phantom of the Opera"
edit to add:
Norbert Leo Butz in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"

Updated On: 5/30/11 at 01:59 PM

[east side story]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 2:03pm

Patti LuPone - Gypsy
Patti LuPone - Sweeney Todd
Michael Cerveris - Sweeney Todd
Viola Davis - Fences
Denzel Washington - Fences
Cherry Jones - Doubt
Natasha Richardson - A Streetcar Named Desire
Amy Ryan - A Streetcar Named Desire
Ellen Barkin - The Normal Heart
Amy Morton - August: Osage County
Deanna Dunagan - August: Osage County
Kelli O'Hara - South Pacific
Kelli O'Hara - Light in the Piazza
Victoria Clark - Light in the Piazza
Sara Ramirez - Spamalot
Raul Esparza - Cabaret
Laura Benanti - Gypsy



Updated On: 5/30/11 at 02:03 PM

[spike3]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 2:06pm

Robert Morse - Sugar

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 2:23pm

Amy Morton and Estelle Parsons in AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
Carey Mulligan in THE SEAGULL
Lauren Ambrose in ROMEO & JULIET and HAMLET
Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter in MARY STUART
Joe Mantello, Ellen Barkin, and John Benjamin Hickey in THE NORMAL HEART
Mark Rylance in BOEING-BOEING and JERUSALEM
Patti LuPone and Judy Kaye in SWEENEY TODD
Douglas Hodge in LA CAGE AUX FOLLES
Kelli O'Hara in SOUTH PACIFIC
Reed Birney in THE DREAM OF THE BURNING BOY
Geoffrey Rush in EXIT THE KING
Updated On: 5/29/11 at 02:23 PM

[spike3]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 3:09pm

Debbie Reynolds - Irene - she was very good, the show was iffy

[steven22]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 3:20pm

Alice Ripley in NEXT TO NORMAL
Idina Menzel in WICKED
Marin Mazzie in NEXT TO NORMAL
Lea Michele in SPRING AWAKENING
Karmine Alers in RENT
Gavin Creel in HAIR

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 4:16pm

Stephanie Mills in THE WIZ
Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera in CHICAGO
Julie Andrews in VICTOR/VICTORIA
Carol Burnett in MOON OVER BUFFALO (maybe not a great show, but I have always LOVED her)
Tonya Pinkins and Anika Nani Rose in CAROLINE, OR CHANGE
Doug Henning in THE MAGIC SHOW (I was a star-struck teen, what can I say?)
Harvey Fierstein in HAIRSPRAY
LaChanze in COLOR PURPLE
Fantasia in COLOR PURPLE
Lupone in GYPSY
Idina in WICKED (just before she departed)

These are the memorable ones that stand out for me right now. I'm sure I'll think of more later......

[ILParis]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 4:57pm

Ms Light in Lombardi. outstanding performance.

[ahhrealmonsters]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 5:32pm

Bernadette Peters- Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy, and A Little Night Music
Alice Ripley- Next to Normal
Marin Mazzie- Next to Normal
Brian d'Arcy James- Next to Normal
Nina Arianda- Born Yesterday
The revival cast- Ragtime
Douglas Hodge- La Cage Aux Folles
The OBC- The Scottsboro Boys (if there were only a Tony for ensemble...)
Donna Murphy- The People in the Picture
Bobby Steggert- Yank Updated On: 5/29/11 at 05:32 PM

[HopeChanged]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 6:22pm

Marin Mazzie - Next to Normal
Will Chase - RENT
Renee Elise Goldsberry -- RENT

[philly03]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 6:28pm

James Barbour - A Tale of Two Cities
Christiane Noll - Ragtime
Patti LuPone - Gypsy
Marla Schaffel - Jane Eyre
Elaine Paige - Sunset Boulevard
Douglas Sills - The Scarlet Pimpernel

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 6:37pm

Too many to name, but here's a few ...

Michael Crawford in Phantom of the Opera
James Earl Jones and Mary Alice in Fences
Yul Brynner in The King and I
Cherry Jones in The Heiress and Doubt
Harvey Fierstein in Torch Song Trilogy and Hairspray
Geraldine Page and Elizabeth Ashley in Agnes of God
Betty Buckley in Cats and The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Brian Stokes Mitchell in Ragtime
Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson in Grey Gardens
Tyne Daly in Gypsy
Natalia Makarova in On Your Toes