What are Your Definitive Productions?

[ukpuppetboy]

Posted: 8/21/16 at 11:14pm

I was initially excited about the casting of Declan Bennett in the current Regents Park version of Jesus Christ Superstar, however I feel I've probably already seen MY definitive production in the 1996 London version which was brilliantly staged, designed and cast (Steve Balsamo's performance was in a league of it's own).

My reluctance to have this memory tarnished stems from having seen 2 very different productions of Ragtime: the original Toronto version (prior to Broadway) with it's stellar cast and lavish production values was in every way definitive to me - the recent London revival (again at Regents Park) was a travesty in almost every aspect.

I'm curious as to other people's examples of definitive productions (subjective though that maybe). Especially often revived pieces and what made them so special.

Updated On: 8/21/16 at 11:14 PM

[Valentina3]

Posted: 8/21/16 at 11:19pm

The current National Touring production of The Sound of Music (with Ashely Brown as Mother Abbess). That production removed all the book flaws for me, without a single word being changed.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 8/21/16 at 11:37pm

SHE LOVES ME 2016

Sheer perfection.

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 3:39am

I was unable to see the original Gypsy, but the revival with Patti LuPone, Laura Benanti and Boyd Gaines was definitive in my experience. (Likewise Laura in the recent She Love Me revival as mentioned by a previous poster)

LIkewise, I think Bart Sher's revival of South Pacific with Kelli O'Hara would qualify.

Since my personal Broadway theatregoing experience only goes back 20 years or so, I must rely on video for some other answers. I adored Patti and Michael Cerveris in John Doyle's take on Sweeney Todd, but I really think that Hal Prince's original production with the steel mill set and Angela Lansbury is definitve. (Preferably with Len Cariou - but I know the tour video version with George Hearn who is fantastic). Likewise, the original cast of Sunday in the Park with George (Bernadette & Mandy). 

Updated On: 8/22/16 at 03:39 AM

[broadwayguy91]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 3:47am

The Color Purple revival.

2016 She Loves Me. (though the original production comes in a close second purely based on the cast recording and those lovely photos of the set that were kindly posted by Mr. Nowack)

Deaf West Spring Awakening Revival.

 

[Sondheimite]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 3:55am

John Cameron Mitchell and Lena Hall doing Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway was the definitive way to see Hedwig.  It will never get better than that.  

[ukpuppetboy]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 4:38am

Have been lucky enough to have seen a few of these mentioned as my only experiences of the show (Color Purple and Lena Hall/JCM in Hedwig) and kicking myself about missing a few others (Deaf West's Spring Awakening and Bartlett Sher's South Pacific), but I'll admit to having Sondheim productions in mind when I posted.

Sweeney Todd was the one show where I didn't think I could pick MY definitive. I've loved tiny chamber productions (NT Cottesloe with Julia McKenzie and Alun Armstrong) and grand Operatic versions (Lyric Opera, Chicago at The ROH) as well as semi staged concerts and everything in between. It just always seems to work as if it were originally conceived that way.

Updated On: 8/22/16 at 04:38 AM

[JoeyEvans1206]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 5:00am

Any of Bart Sher's revivals - particularly South Pacific, The King and I, Fiddler, and Golden Boy. And should Piazza be revived, I'm sure his original LTC will be definitive.

 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 7:34am

She Loves Me - 2016

The Color Purple revival

The King and I at Lincoln Center

[newintown]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 8:10am

Unless you have seen every production of a show (especially the original), you aren't really able to identify one as "definitive," are you? That would be like writing a biography of a person when you only know a few things about them.

That said, I have never seen a revival of any show that was equal or superior to the original production (if I saw the original production live - videotape doesn't count, as it can't capture that ephemeral quality a live performance has).

Updated On: 8/22/16 at 08:10 AM

[devonian.t]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 8:50am

Do you just mean this year?- some people seem to think theatre started in 2016...

[thirtythirtyninety]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 9:22am

It's hard for me to imagine a better staging of The Who's Tommy than McAnuff's Broadway production, although I'd love to see someone else take a stab at it.

[ukpuppetboy]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 10:07am

"Do you just mean this year?- some people seem to think theatre started in 2016..."

Well maybe we're living in a golden age! Though to tie it into another thread (and to back up another post on here) the over use of projection in the scaled down Donmar revival of City of Angels definitely had me craving the imaginative sets of the original (London) production.

Obviously I'm not suggesting people will be able to compare with every staging - or even the major ones. Just a production of a show that for them was too perfect to need to revisit and (potentially) have that memory tarnished. (Though of course they may yet be pleasantly surprised). It may be contentious but the cast, book and immersive design of the 2001 production of Follies at The Belasco so evoked the right sentiment and mood of the piece for me that I passed up seeing the most recent revival.

Updated On: 8/22/16 at 10:07 AM

[10086sunset]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 10:50am

Guys and Dolls, 1992.

[cknick]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 11:03am

Donmar/Roundabout Cabaret

Seconded LCT/Sher South Pacific and King and I

Johny Tiffany's Glass Menagerie 

[temms]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 11:07am

Interestingly my immediate thought was JCM as Hedwig, but at the Jane Street in the late '90s. I never saw it on Bway because it just never felt right to me - part of the appeal was the whole experience of walking down the cobblestone street to that dumpy hotel on the river and going to that old ballroom for this glam/punk show. It epitomized a moment in my life in the city. I'm sure I would have enjoyed the revival but I just never felt the pang to see it in a Broadway house.

The OBC of "Hairspray" was one I'd call definitive. The show is basically indestructible and I've never seen it not work, but that original company just soared like no other. 

[Wildcard]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 12:59pm

Phantom of the Opera - Las Vegas (as long as the lead wasn't Anthony Crivello)

Lion King - Las Vegas

Miss Saigon - Manila

Sunset Blvd - Los Angeles

 

[Mike Bevel]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 1:29pm

I'm not trustworthy with this question because I am not always great at separating "definitive" from "this was the first one I saw and that's why it's definitive."

For instance, no other version of Into the Woods works for me but the Original Broadway Cast. However, I prefer the Raul Esparza version of Company -- but only probably because that was the first version I saw. (However, Elaine Stritch's "Ladies Who Lunch" is, of course, the definitive version. Also, Donna Murphy's version of "Could I Leave You" is the definitive version.)

So, how do you separate your emotions from your declarations?

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 3:25pm

-- Original Follies on Broadway. Have seen 5 other versions and none come close...well, the Papermill Playhouse version was damned good

-- Gypsy with Angela Lansbury...didn't see Merman, but saw pretty much everyone else.  

-- Moon for the Misbegotten with Robards and Dewhurst...no one else came remotely close to the 1973 production

-- Cyrano de Bergerac with Derek Jacobi.  He was incredible and the production even worked in the (then) Uris, which sucks for most musicals

-- A Streetcar Named Desire with Cate Blanchette.  Saw it at the Kennedy Center from 5th or 6th row, and it was amazing.  Planchette wiped away all other Blanches I have seen, with the exception of Vivien Leigh, whose performance e I consider to be the single greatest movie performance I have ever seen

-- A Little Night Music at The City Opera.  I loved Sally Anne Howes and thought the directions even better than Harold Prince's.  I thought the music benefitted from a larger orchestra.

-- A Funny Thing with...Phil Silvers.  So different from anyone else.  Such a shame that it was not a hit and that he died so (relatively) young during the run, but it was right after he won a Tony, which has to be a good way for a performer to go out. 

-- Original Sweeney Todd.  I have seen more different productions of ST than probably anything else, and -- good to excellent as a lot of them were -- they didn't measure up.  Not even Patti Lupone came close to Lansbury, the physical production was incredible (and one of the reasons it did not return its investment).

-- The John Tiffany Glass Menagerie.  I did not see the original...was not born yet, but I have seen a lot of stage productions, at least 3 movie versions, to the point where I did not almost see this. The reviews changed my mind.  The physical production was inspiring, all 4 performances were outstanding, and it just provided a new perspective on what had become for me another kitchen sink drama.

-- Medea with Fiona Shaw.  This was under appreciated, but I thought it was better than any of the many productions I have seen, and that she was incredible.  A shame she appeared the same year Vanessa Redgrave was in LDJiN...otherwise, in many / most other years, the Tony would have been hers.

-- You Can't Take It With You...the production in which Jason Robards played Grandpa.  As much as I enjoyed the last revival, it just didn't have the warmth that the Robards version had.  I love this show and have seen many versions...none came close.

[Princeton2]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 3:39pm

If you take casting out and just look at the physical production id say the original beauty and the beast, sunset blvd and lion king are hard to top. Id also agree with hairspray, ive not seen a production since match the original staging

[theatregeek6]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 3:57pm

Jarethan said: "
-- Gypsy with Angela Lansbury...didn't see Merman, but saw pretty much everyone else.  
 

"

AGREE.  Saw Daly, Lavin, Lapone, and Bernadette and none even came close to Lansbury's Rose.  Funny, heartbreaking and powerful.

.

[Oak2]

Posted: 8/22/16 at 4:01pm

This question seems kind of silly to me, because isn't it just in human nature to treat the first version you ever saw/heard as the "definitive" version and judge all later versions to the original, which may be impossible depending on the level of nostalgia you may then have for that original version? 

[SidebySidebyLogan]

Posted: 8/23/16 at 12:38am

Oak2 said: "This question seems kind of silly to me, because isn't it just in human nature to treat the first version you ever saw/heard as the "definitive" version and judge all later versions to the original, which may be impossible depending on the level of nostalgia you may then have for that original version?"

Not necessarily. Certain directors/performers can make you look at a piece in a way you never have before. I found Twelfth Night a bit trite having seen two productions regionally but after having the good fortune to see the most recent Broadway revival I look at it in a whole new light. There's comedy and romantic insight I would have never realized had I not been treated to that wonderful production. 

 

 

[ukpuppetboy]

Posted: 8/23/16 at 9:19am

"Not necessarily. Certain directors/performers can make you look at a piece in a way you never have before."

Thanks for that post. I couldn't agree more. Original productions may have the advantage of fresh material but may benefit from being rescaled, reconceived or just be ahead of their time. Obviously it depends greatly on the quality of the piece as a whole as to whether there is the substance to flesh out new (or existing) elements, alter the focus of the direction or in some cases even revise the book. 

Thanks for some very interesting posts. And loving the love for Lansbury...

Updated On: 8/23/16 at 09:19 AM

[Ronald Scarlata2]

Posted: 8/23/16 at 10:09am

Sweet Charity with Gwen Verdon at the Palace and Mame with Lansbury at the Winter Garden--same season.  I was young, but both leading ladies blew me away.  Sweet Charity crackled with exciting choreography and Verdon was in a class all her own.  I will never forget either of those productions.