Best and Worst Theater Experiences

[kingfan011]

Posted: 4/18/16 at 9:09pm

Hi everyone. This topic might have been made before but i would love to hear about powerful experiences on Broadway and Off Broadway you have had.

When I was young I was lucky enough that Mom and Dad took me to New York twice specifically to see Broadway and Off Broadway shows. I feel like we saw a lot but we saw a few that really were burned into my brain they were so unexpected, different, or moving.

I got to see Cabaret with Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Wow what a powerful experience. I had vaguely head of the play and movie but I had no idea how dark and moving it would be. In particular the last moment of the play knocked me flat. I think everyone knows what I'm talking about. I distinctly remember hearing the person next to me saying "oh my God" as the lights went out.

I also saw Beauty Queen of Lenane. Neither my parents or I had any idea what this play was walking in. We completely went in on a whim and left shaking. I remember thinking I had never seen anything like that on stage before. I couldn't believe that something like that went on Broadway. It also had the most vocal audience I've ever been in. There's a twist halfway through where the audience got vocally upset. Powerful stuff. Made me a lifelong Martin Mcdonaugh fan. I particularly love In Bruges.

Finally we say the original off Broadway production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Again something we were told to see but walked in totally blind. i distinctly remember the space was some rundown hotel/ballroom? I just remember it looked skeezy. The stage was very simple and the chairs were folding seats. And the minute John Cameron Mitchell walked down the aisle between us we were hooked. We came out of there raving about the music. By the way does anybody who saw the off Broadway production remember this space? Maybe I'm remembering wrong.

Worst theater experience: Having to sit through Tommy at TPAC, Nashville's performing arts center. Why is this show considered great? I didn't get it. I also was baffled at the popularity of The Phantom of the Opera when it finally came to us.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 4/18/16 at 9:17pm

Worst was a production of RHINOCEROS by Ionesco. Never had less fun at the theatre.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/18/16 at 9:18pm

Best:

Deaf West's Big River revival (tour)

Take Me Out tour (rushed it twice)

Let the Right One In at St. Ann's Warehouse

Baz Luhrmann's La Boheme (pre-Broadway in San Francisco)

Fun Home OBC

Worst: 

A Les Miz school edition which I won't say more about, dear god 


A recent Equity showcase production of Rent. Well, it made for a great story later!

Updated On: 4/18/16 at 09:18 PM

[SundayInThePark2]

Posted: 4/18/16 at 9:29pm

Worst theatre experience: I went to see a production of Shrek the Musical and there were about 25 kids more than should have been on stage. At any time. None of them knew what they were doing, save 3. 

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/18/16 at 9:35pm

Best: Mary, Mary; Hello, Dolly!; Dear World, among so many others.

 

Worst: Sweeney Todd, Sons of the Prophet, The Humans, among too many others.

Posted: 4/18/16 at 9:44pm

Best: Patina Miller and the original revival cast of Pippin
         Billy Porter in Kinky Boots
         Cynthia Erivo's "I'm Here" in The Color Purple

Worst: On The 20th Century with Kristin's understudy (it highlighted how lackluster of a musical it really is, plus no one in the cast seemed to have any energy at all without their star). 
           Leslie Odom Jr.'s understudy in Hamilton (the show as a whole was phenomenal, of course, but that understudy was really not good.)

[BakerWilliams]

Posted: 4/18/16 at 9:51pm

Best: The Aliens, The Starry Messenger, Our Town (at the Barrow Street)

Worst: Bye Bye Birdie

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/18/16 at 9:51pm

No doubt the best:  The original production of Sunday in the Park with George.  Entirely cathartic, I was a blubbering idiot.  Runners up: Equus (revival); Fun Home; August: Osage County; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (revival), Hamilton, Our Town (also Barrow Street, thanks for the reminder!)

 

The worst:  Story of My LIfe, Rock of Ages, Rent.  

 

I'm sure there are others on both lists.

Updated On: 4/18/16 at 09:51 PM

[kingfan011]

Posted: 4/18/16 at 9:53pm

Oh and I would also add August Osage County to that list. I saw it here in LA with Estelle Parsons in the lead and i just thought it was amazing.

[nolanativeny]

Posted: 4/18/16 at 10:06pm

Best: Spring Awakening, Beauty and the Beast (my first musical, saw it on tour with my class in 5th grade and wouldn't shut up about that night at dinner much to my family's chagrin)

 

Worst: Breakfast at Tiffany's. It was cool to see Emilia Clarke (only good thing about that evening was her signing my Playbill) but my goodness that was a dreadful play. 

[ZellMorrowsPledge]

Posted: 4/18/16 at 10:25pm

BEST:

Rachel Tucker's last minute of Defying Gravity

Fun Home w/ OBC

Amanda Thripp scene in Matilda

The entire time Cynthia Erivo was onstage in The Color Purple

WORST: 

a production of Bye Bye Birdie at a middle school I wish I never seen

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 4/19/16 at 2:05am

Best

Hamilton

One Man, Two Guvnors - National Theatre

anytime Mark Rylance is on stage

Luise Miller at Donmar

Prsicilla - West End

Sean Hayes in Act Of God

August: Osage County

Tbe Wiz - La Jolla Playhouse

Brighton Beach Memories - Broadway

 

Worst

Fiddler On The Roof - saw a preview performance that started late and went on forever, it still might actually might be going on

Titanic

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Hands On A Hardbody

 

[hork]

Posted: 4/19/16 at 2:49am

Best - American Idiot with Billie Joe Armstrong. It's not the best musical I've seen but it gave me the most pleasure and exhilaration. 

 

Worst - A community theater production of Evita that a friend of mine was in, in which the lead actress couldn't sing and gave a mawkish performance (to make it worse, my friend, who had an amazing voice, was originally supposed to play Evita, but she got sick and missed rehearsals and they demoted her to Peron's mistress).

[valeposh]

Posted: 4/19/16 at 6:04am

Best: 
The Light In The Piazza reunion concert a couple of weeks ago
Hamilton
Cynthia Erivo in The Color Purple
Kelli O'Hara any time I see her on stage 

Worst
A local production of The Nutcracker around Christmas time. It was painful to watch.

[Scarlet Leigh]

Posted: 4/19/16 at 6:24am

Best: Winning the lotto and getting to sit front row at Wicked back when Wicked was the "it" show. Was a big thing for 2004 Me.

Worst: Sitting through a production of Little Shop at an Atlantic City casino my mother drug me along to where they changed the ending to add in a scene after "Don't Feed the Plants" where Audrey II spits up Seymour and Audrey, adds in the line 'Thank goodness the plant was allergic to your hairspray, Audrey!' and then they sang a reprise of "Suddenly Seymour." Just..... stared in shock the whole time. Utter. Shock. And. Horror.

[ThaddeusBristol]

Posted: 4/19/16 at 11:00am

First time on board and having difficulty sorting through all the remarkable moments I was lucky enough to experience in a lifetime of theatregoing. First Broadway musical being On The Twentieth Century with Kahn, Cullum, Kline and Coco, hoofing and belting on Wagner's magnificent Art Deco train was the equivalent of mainlining heroin to an incipient pre-adolescent addict (remember floating out of that auditorium like a helium balloon). Subsequent hits of LuPone and Patinkin in Evita, Gielgud and Richardson in No Man's Land, Lansbury and Cariou in Sweeney Todd, Rickman and Duncan in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, McKellen and Curry in Amadeus, Irons and Close in The Real Thing...each high was never enough, crashing afterwards meant searching out another supplier, scoring something richer, purer, deeper. For us scroungers hooked beyond the hope of rehabilitation, the quest might seem hopelessly quixotic to outside eyes but they, poor souls, will never know the full-body rush which involuntarily steals over every fibre of your being after some previously unknown actor absolutely nails Sit Down You're Rocking The Boat. Or experience that weird telepathy you share with a total stranger during a standing ovation, when your eyes lock and you both think in sync: "Can you believe we just saw that?!" (Red with Alfred Molina and Eddie Redmayne or Ivo van Howe's recent Crucible).

 

That said there is a special circle of hell the unsuspecting writhe in after being sold something cynically cut with baby laxative or Drano. Musicals, god love them, often fall in this category: Harold Prince's production of Comden and Green's A Doll's Life remains a strangely indelible stain on my memory. David Hare's musical at the Public, The Knife, was the kind of show Max Bialystock could only dream of producing. But watching Bebe Neuwirth "talk" her way through an aria in The Golden Age was cringe-inducing enough to make any inveterate theatregoer, however battle-scared, want to disappear under the seat to save everyone concerned the excruciating embarrassment of having to endure something so monumentally misconceived.

And yet...the search goes on.

[Broadwaywest]

Posted: 4/19/16 at 11:34am

Best:

Raul Esparza singing "Being Alive" in John Doyle's company...heartbreaking and chilling.

Cynthia Erivio singing "I'm Here" in John Doyle's The Color Purple at the Meneir Chocolate Factory. The theater was pretty much flooded for the rest of the show. Please showcase this on the tonys.

Brian Dennehy's entire performance in Death of a Salesman. More specifically the scene where Biff, played by Kevin Anderson catches his father with his mistress. No dialouge in the scene, but so profoundly heartbreaking.

Molly Ringwald acting the hell out of the title song in Cabaret.

Steven Pasquale's electrifying Soliloquy in Carousel at the lyric opera. Yes, I jumped to my feet at the end.

I'm sure there are many more, but those stick out the most.

Worst:

The entire production of Beauty and the Beast on broadway. Why not just show the movie?

A local community theater production of The Music Man I saw when I was a teenager. It was my first time ever seeing this piece. It was so painful, I can't even sit through the film or any professional production.

 

 

 

[AaronRichert]

Posted: 4/19/16 at 11:34am

Best:

Hedwig with John Cameron Mitchell (2015 revival)

Hedwig with NPH

Cabaret (current national tour)

Peter and The Starcatcher (OBC)

etc.

 

Worst:

On the Twentieth Century (Revival) - even with Kristin it's just not a very good show

 

[Robert16]

Posted: 4/19/16 at 11:42am

BEST: Patti in EVITA - Opening Night of WICKED - original cast of DREAMGIRLS - original cast of RENT - Hugh Jackman in The Boy From Oz

WORST: - CARRIE the musical - Pacino in CHINA DOLL - Hugh Jackman in The River

[GreatBroadwayFan]

Posted: 4/19/16 at 1:20pm

BEST:

Mary Poppins with Scarlett Strallen and Rebecca Luker (It was my first Broadway show!)

Side Show (La Jolla Playhouse Pre-Broadway revival)

Kiss Me, Kate (The Old Globe 2015)

Wicked x2 (National Tours- 2011 & 2014)

Rain (The Old Globe 2016- Original Musical)

WORST:

A Chorus Line (National Tour Mid 2000s)

You're a Good Man Charlie Brown (community theatre)

Legally Blonde (community theatre)

[Valentina3]

Posted: 4/19/16 at 1:32pm

My best are these.

The Color Purple with Cynthia Erivo tops the list - I was crying through most of the second act, and gave her a breathless standing ovation in middle of I'm Here when she went "i'm beautiful". Someone in the audience chose that moment to scream "YAAAS QUEEN" and her next line "yes, I'm beautiful.." was a slight nod in their direction. The audience interaction in that show affects the entire energy so much. In a panel discussion, Erivo said that she feels like she's absorbing a lot of pain from the audience, which is why it's such a spiritually uplifting show. I 100% agreed with that sentiment. I really felt changed after that experience. 

Hedwig with JCM and Lena Hall (Lena's last night) - the sheer energy in the room, geez. This one blundering buzzed foreigner sitting next to me had no IDEA who or what Hedwig was. He had applied for (and won) the lottery because they had told the guy at the stage that it was a rock show. He was crying. Like crying. And screaming. It was that good. John just takes you in, and f***s you up so much. And Lena's finale... transforming.

Once national tour - this was the first show I saw with my boyfriend. He was coming out of a long term relationship which had ended really badly. His feelings were still unresolved, only he wasn't ready to deal with the baggage. The song "The Hill" had him weeping. This guy, who simply does not cry (or did not cry since he cried through Color Purple a year later haha), a stoic stone-faced person, was forced to see someone on stage go through the worst moments of his own life. The pain that actress (Dani de Waal) put in the song was raw. Left me numb. And the fact that ending wasn't cheesy leaves you stung.

Honorable mentions - Wicked (Broadway as well as national tour - I am a sucker for different takes on Glinda and Elphaba), Hamilton (which did live up to the hype and was worth a ticket more expensive than my rent), The Sound Of Music current national tour (directed by Jack O'Brien - that production is a gem, and Kerstin Anderson a legit star).

Worst

A non-equity school production of Rent for me as well. Our Mimi was super young (15), but Roger was 32. The actors, that is. And they looked like it. It was very uncomfortable to watch that.

Newsies national tour. It was just bad. Repetitive choreography, and not nearly enough plot points. It could easily have been a 1 hour musical.

The Beauty And The Beast - I was a sleeping beauty about 40 mins into the show. 

Updated On: 4/19/16 at 01:32 PM

[5377brian]

Posted: 4/19/16 at 3:52pm

kingfan011 said: "Hi everyone. This topic might have been made before but i would love to hear about powerful experiences on Broadway and Off Broadway you have had.

 By the way does anybody who saw the off Broadway production remember this space? Maybe I'm remembering wrong.

No, you got it right. The Jane Street Theatre  I believe, right next to the Westside Highway in the meatpacking district. 

"

 

[A Canadian in NYC]

Posted: 4/19/16 at 4:36pm

Faves 

1.  Hamilton

2.  Book of Mormon - OBC

3.  Hedwig - JCM & LH

4.  all the other Hedwigs except Taye Diggs (did not see) & Darren Criss (meh)

5.  Once - totally surprised me.  No expectations and it was lovely -Broadway but not OBC

6. Peter and the Starcatcher - again, no expectations.  off-broadway

 

Worst

1. Rock of Ages - National Tour - omg - could not get out of theatre fast enough.

2. Aladdin - OBC - JMI was amazing, but on the whole, totally unimpressed. pretty much feel that way with all disney productions.

3. The Real Thing - Roundabout production with Ewan McGregor, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Cynthia Nixon.   I've come to realize that maybe I just prefer musicals to drama, but I was really bored with this one.

4. Dreamgirls - community theatre - butchered it completely.

[Tom5]

Posted: 4/19/16 at 4:47pm

My worst experience was at ACT, the American Conservative Theatre in San Francisco. While paging through the playbill during the intermission of a very fine Alan Ayckbourn play I heard a loud rumbling and then the seats began to shake. So I looked up and found myself directly below the largest chandelier ever made. Fortunately, this wasn't "The Big One" and I lived to see the curtain call. My best, by comparison, was everywhere else.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 4/19/16 at 4:47pm

I'm not going to talk about the worst because why waste the time? I've ranted about Memphis enough. Wait a minute...

Anyway, my best are these: The Normal Heart revival, never before or since have I been in an audience that had such a communal experience. There were audible sobs and sniffles by the end, and at the curtain call the entire theater rose as one and simply applauded for a long time, no cheers, just applause. It was a profound experience from beginning to end. 

John Cameron Mitchell's first and last performances as Hedwig on Broadway. It was so special to get to see him live in that character's skin so many years after he had first done it, and he was truly extraordinary and clearly feeding off the amazing energy the audience was giving him. Crate and all, he was flawless. 

See What I Wanna See at the Public in 2005. I was already a huge Idina fan from Wicked, but See What I Wanna See was my first LaChiusa show and totally shifted my perspective on what musicals could be and what they could accomplish. I was sold from pretty much the first note, and I'll see pretty much anything LaChiusa now as he's my favorite contemporary composer. 

Hello Again at the Transport Group. That production was fantastic and used the space in an extremely effective way. I had never seen a musical done in an immersive way like that before, and it was so exciting to see that show done so well literally right in front of my face.