Great Rants in Shows
Great Rants in Shows
jdshatz2
Swing Joined: 7/18/16
#1Great Rants in Shows
Posted: 2/20/17 at 12:07am
I was wondering, what are some great RANTS that have been heard on (or off) Broadway?
For example, (SPOILER ALERT) the calm, quiet Vanya's show-stopping tirade in VANYA AND SONYA AND MASHA AND SPIKE -- "We licked postage stamps!..." The character just unleashes so much energy/stress -- and, perhaps, so does the actor. It's almost like a primal scream, but there is some real content there.
chewy5000
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/1/09
jdshatz2
Swing Joined: 7/18/16
#3Rants! (And Other Ways to Un-Twist the Tongue)
Posted: 2/21/17 at 2:33pm
Love this! But this wasn't exactly what I had in mind.
I'm looking for scripted rants/monologues, that are actually written into the show, where the character (and/or the actor) blows off steam.
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#5Rants! (And Other Ways to Un-Twist the Tongue)
Posted: 2/21/17 at 2:52pm
Yvan's wedding invitation monologue in Art comes to mind - about two and a half full pages in the script, but the bulk of it is one sentence.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
#6Rants! (And Other Ways to Un-Twist the Tongue)
Posted: 2/21/17 at 2:55pm
Gideon Glick has a pretty terrific one to Lindsay Mendez in Act Two of Significant Other.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
#7Rants! (And Other Ways to Un-Twist the Tongue)
Posted: 2/21/17 at 3:34pm
Simon Stimson's "ignorance and blindness" speech from Our Town. It's not a rant in the sense that the character is hemming and hawing, but when done correctly, the anger and pain that comes across in those sentences can be absolutely chilling.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
Updated On: 2/21/17 at 03:34 PM
#8Rants! (And Other Ways to Un-Twist the Tongue)
Posted: 2/21/17 at 3:38pm
Valere in David Hirson's La Bête goes on uncontrollably for about 30 minutes.
KathyNYC2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/2/10
#9Rants! (And Other Ways to Un-Twist the Tongue)
Posted: 2/21/17 at 3:40pm
John Adams has a few in 1776, as do a number of other characters at various times.
Ranger Tom
Leading Actor Joined: 7/6/14
#10Rants! (And Other Ways to Un-Twist the Tongue)
Posted: 2/21/17 at 4:29pm
"The Story of Jerry and the Dog" monologue from Albee's The Zoo Story has a solid rant near the end.
#11Rants! (And Other Ways to Un-Twist the Tongue)
Posted: 2/21/17 at 5:30pm
Emma's wonderful tirade in THE NORMAL HEART.
#12Rants! (And Other Ways to Un-Twist the Tongue)
Posted: 2/21/17 at 6:05pm
https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-TV-FENCES-on-Broadway-Video-Preview-20100426
from 9:44
Julie Yard
Stand-by Joined: 8/29/13
#13Rants! (And Other Ways to Un-Twist the Tongue)
Posted: 2/21/17 at 7:49pm
wonderfulwizard11 said: "Gideon Glick has a pretty terrific one to Lindsay Mendez in Act Two of Significant Other.
Wizard... that rant virtually knocked me out of my chair both times I saw the show. It is 1 of the most powerful moments I've seen in theater. Fabulous!
Dolittle
jbird5
Broadway Star Joined: 12/20/15
#14Rants! (And Other Ways to Un-Twist the Tongue)
Posted: 2/21/17 at 8:33pm
Kyra's rant about Thatcherism in David Hare's Skylight which was inevitably followed by her getting a standing ovation from a bunch of people who paid $200 and up for their seats.
#16Rants! (And Other Ways to Un-Twist the Tongue)
Posted: 2/21/17 at 9:31pm
Julie Yard said: "Wizard... that rant virtually knocked me out of my chair both times I saw the show. It is 1 of the most powerful moments I've seen in theater. Fabulous!"
I know there's still a bit of the season yet left, but I'd love to see him win a Tony for that Significant Other. He's absolutely wonderful in it- one of my favorite performances of the last few years.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
yfs
Featured Actor Joined: 11/1/13
#17Rants! (And Other Ways to Un-Twist the Tongue)
Posted: 2/21/17 at 10:39pm
Pale's entrance speech BURN THIS is the greatest one I've ever heard. And listening to John Malkovich deliver it was simply astounding.
#18Rants! (And Other Ways to Un-Twist the Tongue)
Posted: 2/21/17 at 10:40pm
August Osage County had a great one at the end of one of the first two acts.
ghostlight2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
#19Rants! (And Other Ways to Un-Twist the Tongue)
Posted: 2/22/17 at 1:02am
Mickey's monologue from The Normal Heart. always breaks mine.
I can't imagine an actor could go through that speech, especially on a stage, and not be affected by it.
Another draining monologue, though not a rant, Paul's, from A Chorus Line.
@z5
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/30/15
#20Rants! (And Other Ways to Un-Twist the Tongue)
Posted: 2/22/17 at 1:10am
Cate Blnchett is giving an excellent one in The Present- towards the second scene of act 1...the one with the vodka, the detonator, and about getting older. Was definitely an incredibly memorable speech for me.
