Tony Award for 'bestest' Actresses

[binau]

Posted: 1/19/21 at 6:41am

In my opinion, and maybe it's not shared by all, there is an elite group of performances (most but not all Tony winners) that represent the very best of the art form. The kind of 'once every 5-10 years' performances that are expertly crafted, unique, virtuostic, iconic, unforgettable and influential. For example (many of which I have to 'guess' based on archival or other recordings + buzz):

* Carol Channing in Hello, Dolly!
* Angela Lansbury in Mame
* Angela Lansbury in Sweeney Todd
* Patti LuPone in Evita
* Jennifer Holliday in Dreamgirls
* Bernadette Peters in Sunday in the Park
* Donna Murphy in Passion
* Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens
* Alice Ripley in next to normal
* Cynthia Erivo in The Color Purple 

Does such an elite category really exist? If so, who would you exclude/include? 

Updated On: 1/19/21 at 06:41 AM

[kdogg36]

Posted: 1/19/21 at 9:30am

I’d add Victoria Clark for Light in the Piazza and Katrina Lenk for Band’s Visit. 

[LarryD2]

Posted: 1/19/21 at 10:49am

Bernadette didn't win the Tony for Sunday -- she lost to Chita Rivera in The Rink -- if we're including legendary performances that didn't actually win the award, the list should probably also include the likes of Ethel Merman in Gypsy, Elaine Stritch in Company, Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl and Julie Andrews in My Fair Lady.

 

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 1/19/21 at 11:11am

I would have to include Audra. Though which of her performances makes the list would probably vary depending on who you talk to! Ragtime, Porgy and Bess, Lady Day all seem legendary to me. I'd also add Bette Midler's Hello Dolly!

 

Are you only thinking of musicals? If you're also including plays, I would add:

Zoe Caldwell, Master Class

Uta Hagen, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Glenda Jackson, Three Tall Women

Cherry Jones, Doubt

Laurie Metcalf, A Doll's House Part 2

[Jarethan]

Posted: 1/19/21 at 12:28pm

For musicals, I would add:

-- Angela Lansbury in Gypsy.  For my $$, the single greatest musical performance I have seen.

-- Barbara Harris in The Apple Tree.  You had to be there.  Pure genius.

-- Patti Lupone in Anything Goes.  She did not win the Tony -- she lost to Joanne Gleason in one of the most absurd votes ever...Gleason was very good, but it was not a lead role and Lupone created musical comedy heaven (and I am not a Lupone crazy).

-- Bebe Neuwirth in Chicago.  Even superior to Rivera, who was great.

-- Donna Murphy for The King and I.  She proved that she had charisma to spare and her voice was even better than re knew.

-- Pearl Bailey in Hello Dolly.  I would conjecture that her reviews were even better than Channing's.  She was spectacularly good in a larger than life role.

 

For dramas. I would add:

-- Colleen Dewhurst in Moon for the Misbegotten, for my money the greatest female performance I have seen in a play.

-- Zoe Caldwell in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, simply exhilarating.  I have not seen the play on 50 years and I remember multiple lines of dialogue from the play, including 'give me a girl of an impressionable age and she is mine for life'.  50+ years.

-- Vanessa Redgrave in LDJIN.  I have seen some outstanding Mary Tyrones, but nothing as shattering as hers.

-- Maggie Smith in Lettice and Lovage.  Comedic brilliance, staring with the very first scene.  She did not win the Tony for Private Lives, but that should be on the list as well

 

I do not agree with BP for SITPWG.  She was excellent, but it was not a 'bestest' (and she did not win, although I recall your saying they did not have to win. 

I also remember the acclaim that Donna Murphy received for Passion; I hated the show and thought the gave a one-not. i.e., super intense, performance, which is what was in the script.  She gave GREAT performances in The King and I, Wonderful Town and Hello Dolly, so this is not because I don't like her as a performer.

 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 1/19/21 at 12:28pm

I’d like to submit Marin Mazzie anna leonowens

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 1/19/21 at 5:32pm

Not sure what the criteria is, but two star-making performances that come to mind are Sutton Foster in Thoroughly Modern Millie and Lea Salonga in Miss Saigon.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 1/19/21 at 6:23pm

I hesitate to say “They don’t make ‘em like that anymore,” but it’s sort of true. Many of the performances listed in this thread are great, unforgettable performances, but iconic and influential in the way the women on the initial post’s list are? I don’t think so.

I would add maybe Faith Prince in Guys and Dolls.

[fosterfan2]

Posted: 1/19/21 at 6:57pm

HeyMrMusic said: "Not sure what the criteria is, but two star-making performances that come to mind are Sutton Foster in Thoroughly Modern Millie and Lea Salonga in Miss Saigon."

Although Katrina Lenk is (rightfully) already on kdogg36's list,I would put her in this 'category" as well--her performance in The Band's Visit was definitely star-making. It put her on the map.

 

Updated On: 1/19/21 at 06:57 PM

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 1/19/21 at 9:13pm

I’d say LuPone for Gypsy, no?

I saw her and immediately came back the next day.

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 1/19/21 at 9:13pm

I’d say LuPone for Gypsy, no?

I saw her and immediately came back the next day.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 1/19/21 at 9:25pm

Natasha Richardson in Cabaret takes it for me