After 337 productions, there's no way one performance stood out musically for me. I guess my favorite performance in a show would have to be Roger Rees in The Life and Times of Nicholas Nickleby.
Musicals, hmmm...possibly Bernadette Peters in A Little Night Music or Angela Landsbury in Sweeney Todd or Bebe Newirth in Chicago or Raul Esparza in Comapny or Patti Lupone in Gypsy or Harvey Fierstein in Hairspray or Alice Ripley in Next to Nothing or Sutton Foster in Anything Goes or Anne Reinking in Dancin or Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens. Updated On: 7/15/11 at 09:52 AM
Wow- I agree that I have been fortunate enough to have seen a lot of great performances so I will cheat and pick two- Patti Lupone in Sweeney Todd and Alice Ripely in N2N.
Tonya Pinkins in CAROLINE, OR CHANGE Bernadette Peters in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC Patti LuPone in GYPSY Donna Murphy in FOLLIES Victoria Clark in JUNO
"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
Christopher Fitzgerald - Finian's Rainbow Jere Shea and Donna Murphy - Passion Lea Salonga - Miss Saigon, Les Miserables Will Chase - Miss Saigon, Rent, The Story of My Life Joan Almedilla - Miss Saigon, Les Miserables Megan Hilty - Wicked Rachel York - Victor/Victoria Ali Ewoldt - Les Miserables Alan Cumming - Cabaret Telly Leung - Allegiance (workshop) Jonathan Groff & John Gallagher, Jr. - Spring Awakening
"I love acting. It is so much more real than life." Oscar Wilde "After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." Aldous Huxley
BrodyFosse123, I was naming the musical, not the role in my list. :) Yes, Rachel York should have received the Tony for her role of Norma from the production.
"I love acting. It is so much more real than life." Oscar Wilde "After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." Aldous Huxley
Mine are all women. I can't really think of a male performance that moved anywhere near as much as the ones I've listed below.
Victoria Clark - Piazza Christine Ebersole - Grey Gardens The 'Pone - Gypsy Donna Murphy - Passion Audra Mcdonald - Ragtime and 110 In The Shade Tonya Pinkins - Caroline and Change
And a special mention to Jennifer Holiday (Dreamgirls) and Angela Lansbury (Sweeney Todd) who I've only seen on video.
Carol Channing - Hello, Dolly Pearl Bailey - Hello, Dolly Patti LuPone - Gypsy Eva LaGallienne - The Royal Family Liza Minnelli - The Act Peter Firth - Equus
From what I've seen live, Alice Ripley in Next to Normal takes the cake, with Bernadette Peters in A Little Night Music coming in a close second.
Now, if I had been fortunate enough to see Raul Esparza in Company live, I'm sure that he would be my number one, because from my many viewings of the dvd, he's already up there.
Give me a bottle of bourbon and half a chicken and I'll conquer the world!
Long list of great women: Glynnis Johns in A Little Night Music Angela Lansbury in Gypsy and Sweeney Todd Priscilla Lopez in A Chorus Line Pearl Bailey in Hello Dolly Madeline Kahn in On the Twentieth Century Nell Carter in Ain't Misbehavin' Faith Prince in Guys and Dolls Audra McDonald in Carousel, Ragtime and Marie Christine Natasha Richardson in Cabaret Donna Murphy in Wonderful Town
Short list of men: Mandy Patinkin in Sunday in the Park Michael Jeeter in Grand Hotel Antonio Banderas in Nine Nathan Lane in Guys and Dolls and Forum
I would have to say one of my favorite performances was Ashley Brown as Mary Poppins.
On a side note, I saw the N2N tour and I thought Emma Hunton's performance not only out shined Alice, but was probably the best performance I have seen in person.
Nathan Lane in THE PRODUCERS and THE ADDAMS FAMILY.
Patti LuPone in GYPSY.
Mandy Patinkin and Patti LuPone in EVITA.
Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth in WICKED.
Daniel Radcliffe in HOW TO SUCCEED...
Bernadette Peters and Joanna Gleason in INTO THE WOODS.
Bernadette Peters in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC.
Raul Esparza in COMPANY.
Ashley Brown and Gavin Lee in MARY POPPINS.
"TO LOVE ANOTHER PERSON IS TO SEE THE FACE OF GOD"- LES MISERABLES---
"THERE'S A SPECIAL KIND OF PEOPLE KNOWN AS SHOW PEOPLE... WE'RE BORN EVERY NIGHT AT HALF HOUR CALL!"--- CURTAINS
Alice Ripley in Next To Normal, Patti Lupone in Gypsy, Sutton Foster in Anything Goes. I totes thought these before they won the Tony which obviously just makes me the best audience member ever.