Tiny moments that have stuck with you

[jvoom]

Completely starved for some live theatre, I've been going through all my old playbills/programmes/flyers, thinking about my favourite shows. I got to wondering - what are some tiny (or not so tiny) moments in shows that have stuck with you? 

"Ephraim. Let me go." I was lucky enough to see Donna Murphy's final performance in Hello, Dolly. The entire night was single handedly the most thrilling experience I've ever had in a theatre but that one moment in particular really stuck with me and, genuinely, can still bring a tear to me eye. 

Another highlight, from the same theatre trip, was the end of The Band's Visit when Katrina Lenk is closing the cafe door and says "Once not long ago, a group of musicians came to Israel from Egypt. You probably didn't hear about it. It wasn't very important". I had certainly been enjoying the show but I think it wasn't until that point that I realised just how emotionally invested I was in the story. 

Other personal favs include:

* Two moments during the hill scene in Once; when the lights in the stage floor flicker on and "It looks like rain". I was a mess. 

* Laura Benanti's laugh, walking off stage for the final time in Gypsy

* Viola Davis' "well I've been standing with you" in the Fences revival and the audience reaction that followed.

[jvoom]

Oh! I've thought of one more (and can't edit for some reason) - in Druid's "The Beauty Queen of Leenane", the moment the lights slowly face on the rocking chair, still rocking.

[Dollypop]

Dolly appearing at the top of the staircase

[PianoMann]

Many, but the first that came to mind is from the closing performance of the 2011 Follies revival. As Buddy and Sally exit the theatre at the end of the show, Danny usually went to put his arm around Bernadette but quickly pulls it away. During the closing performance, though, Danny wrapped his left arm around Bernadette's waist and they walked out together. Incredibly moving. More later.

[SeanD2]

In the revival or Ragtime during New Music when Mother came down the stairs and I heard Bobby Steggert quietly say to her "he's in the house" referring to Coalhouse. Not sure how much of the audience caught that, it certainly wasn't played to the audience. But that little character moment spoke volumes to me.

[MattieIce2018]

The first show I saw at the professional level was the national tour of Wicked, all the way up in the rear balcony of a huge theater. I’ll never forget looking down to the pit as the house lights went out and watching the conductor start the opening of the show.

[Fordham2015]

- Philip Seymour Hoffman shuffling onstage in Death of a Salesman

- Candice Bergen saying "Thank you, Andy" through tears in Love Letters

- The opening of act 2 of Airline Highway

-Katrina Lenk slicing watermelon in The Band's Visit

-Andre de Shields' "All right" at the beginning of Hadestown

[Alex Kulak2]

In "Sincerely, Me" from DEH, when Jared comes in near the end, you can tell from the staging that he's trying to insert himself in Evan and Connor's dynamic, but is failing because he is just as lonely and friendless as Evan is.

[Jordan Levinson]

Walking down to an orchestra pit during the exit music of a musical and meeting that performance's conductor. Most of the time, I used to be the only person in the theatre that would do this, which added a level of intimacy to my conversations and made me feel more comfortable/less stressed. It was absolutely better than stage door.

For those who haven't noticed, my current profile picture is a shot of me with Meg Zervoulis, the former MD of The Prom and associate of West Side Story at the time of the shutdown. Oh how I will miss these interactions dearly after B'way reopens.

[stoptheworld38]

Prayer in Come From Away. Most moving, powerful scene I've ever witnessed on a stage.

Also the bus scene in Come From Away, specifically the 2 African passengers reading the Bible and when they say "And that's how we started speaking the same language."

Answer Me from The Band's Visit

[SoCalDirector]

In the original production of Falsettos on Broadway the moment that has stuck with all these years. In the final scene in the hospital room when Whizzer dies and Marvin is standing there numb, Jason goes and takes his hand. That was so powerful. I missed that moment greatly in the revival (especially considering that James Lapine directed both.)

[SoCalDirector]

In the original production of Falsettos on Broadway the moment that has stuck with all these years. In the final scene in the hospital room when Whizzer dies and Marvin is standing there numb, Jason goes and takes his hand. That was so powerful. I missed that moment greatly in the revival (especially considering that James Lapine directed both.)

[quizking101]

- Billy Porter's Lola saying "It was nice to see you, Dad" after singing "Hold Me In Your Heart" in "Kinky Boots"

- Kerry Washington's screaming at the end of "American Son"

- Every ad-lib John Cameron Mitchell did in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch".

 

[willep]

In Jerusalem, the whole sequence that happened during the song “Who Knows Where the Time Goes.” I’ll never forget that sequence.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

When Eliza takes Alexander’s hand in “It’s Quiet Uptown”.  

When the painting comes together and the music soars as act one closes in “Sunday”.

When the Abuela portrait is revealed to Usnavi.
 

Such powerful moments.  
 

[christhefish]

In Fun Home - Sydney Lucas' face when she wakes up to see her father sneaking out of the apartment during their visit to New York.  

[Leaf Coneybear]

I saw a horrible production of Assassins in a tiny church my sophomore year of high school. I was enthralled with the entire show, but the minute the Balladeer walked out in the Oswald costume I can honestly say I've never been so entranced.

Before I really got into theatre I went to see Cabaret with my best friend. Obviously the show has a mix of comedy and tragedy, but those final seconds with the Emcee and the drumroll stunned my friend I. We still talk about how we walked to the train that night without conversation, we were totally speechless.

[justoldbill]

I saw CABARET at the Imperial Theatre in 1968, my first trip to New York. When the Emcee was singing "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" with the waiters, he clenched his cleaning towel into a fist on the line, "The morning will come when the world is mine." A small gesture, but it telegraphed the threat that, of course, wasn't visible on the album. I stole that same gesture when I did the show years later. Also, in the middle of the "Cabaret" number, when Sally stepped in the "limbo" area, I was swept away.

[7thbighero]

Oh so many 

the final image of the Once on this Island revival where the little girl and Ti Moune reach out to each other 

Erzulie sprinkling sand on the dolls as magic dust falls on Ti Moune and Daniel

 

the cast on the grate at the end of Phantom

the bolts of lightning in Phantom

Christian Borle and the rose in Little Shop, and then the bit with Seymour’s glasses in act 2

 

Alice Ripley’s face when Gabe returns in the I’m Alive reprise of N2N

 

Emma Hunton’s reaction to ECT in the N2N tour 

 

I could go on....

[tmdonahue]

The LCT revival of My Fair Lady when during "The Rain in Spain" Eliza, performed by Lauren Ambrose, realizes she's in love with Higgins.  That realization motivates her next song, "I Could Have Danced All Night." 

[fashionguru_23]

So many...but those that come to mind are:

The snow beginning to fall as the villagers move out of Anatevka during the 2007 West End revival of Fiddler on the Roof in London.

The look the King gives Anna right before the Shall We Dance polka (Watch Fred Ebb get emotial talking about this moment on the Broadway: The American Musical extra features)

The one note that sounds when Belle appears behind a book for the first time in Beauty and the Beast after the narrator says "for who could learn to love a beast".

Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin stepping into the light, staring into the audience, and saying nothing during the opening vamp of "Another Hundred People" at the opening of their two person show.

The reaching of Emile and Nellie's hands at the table in the final moments of South Pacific

The enterance of Karen Ziemba, Michael McCormick, Jason Danieley, and Deb Monk in Curtains.

 

[cknick]

In the 2013 revival of The Glass Menagerie - after Laura/Celia gave away her unicorn she sat at the small table tracing the spot where it was. A very moving and personal moment while the scene continued to play behind her.

[ColorTheHours048]

Carey Mulligan looking out at the audience at the end of act one of The Seagull. The look on her face was shattering and then “...I’m dreaming.” Blackout. Absolutely breathtaking.