I'm very indecisive, so here are a few of my favorites! I know they're all recent, but I think they're better than some of the older performances I've seen.
Alice Ripley, Next to Normal Audra McDonald, 110 in the Shade Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson, Grey Gardens LaChanze, The Color Purple Patti Lupone and Laura Benanti, Gypsy
Brian Stokes Mitchell, Man of la Mancha Raul Esparza, Company
Eve Best, A Moon for the Misbegotten and The Homecoming Deanna Dunagan and Amy Morton, August: Osage County Janet McTeer, Mary Stuart Kristin Scott Thomas, The Seagull Tovah Feldshuh, Irena?s Vow
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon Geoffrey Rush, Exit the King Kevin Kline, Cyrano
Oh, and I'm 20.
"In theater, the process of it is the experience. Everyone goes through the process, and everyone has the experience together. It doesn't last - only in people's memories and in their hearts. That's the beauty and sadness of it. But that's life - beauty and the sadness. And that is why theater is life." - Sherie Rene Scott
runner ups: Charlotte d'Amboise CHICAGO, Kristen Chenoweth WICKED (I know its a cliche but she was truly was fantastic), Laura Benanti GYSPY, Harvey Fierstein HAIRSPRAY
I'm a professional. Whenever something goes wrong on stage, I know how to handle it so no one ever remembers. I flash my %#$&.
"Jayne just sat there while Gina flailed around the stage like an idiot."
I'm 19 - my first season was 07-08 so although I've seen 40++ (I've honestly lost count at this point) shows, I'm pretty limited.
Play - I was specifically blown away by two dynamic duos I saw last year. [Both just happened to have Norbert Leo Butz] Norbert Leo Butz + Elizabeth Marvel - Fifty Words Norbert Leo Butz + Raul Esparza - Speed the Plow
Musical - Female - Patti Lupone - Gypsy Male - Paulo Szot - South Pacific
Best Actress (Musical): Tonya Pinkins, Caroline, or Change (thanks all for bringing Caroline to London!).
Best Actor (Musical): Raul Esparza, Company (I thought this'd be a more common reply, but I guess not. He was still totally electrifying!).
Best Actress (Play): Penny Downie, Hamlet (I completely utterly lost my heart to her Gertrude, and I don't think I'll ever get it back).
Best Actor (Play): Jonathan Slinger, Richard II, Henry V, Richard III (I know that's three plays, but they were essentially one production, and part of his genius is how utterly different but superbly realised all these characters were).
And if I had to pick a Best in Show of those four, Slinger ALL THE WAY! He is, hands down, the very best actor I've ever seen in anything EVER. And it breaks my heart every day that he's not as successful and renowned as a man of that phenomenal talent should be. ;_;
Norbert Leo Butz was pure magic in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," and comedy is tough to pull-off, but he had me in stitches.
Lupone in "Gypsy," although it took me a while to full come around and appreciate what she brought to the role. And Laura Benati has to get special mention because she gave such a wonderful transformation in that show.
[I saw Ripley's first performance after winning the TONY, and while she had some great moments - "Didn't I see This Movie" - there were moments that didn't feel genuine and felt really forced and not spontaneous.
Amy Morton in August: Osage County Cherry Jones in Doubt Victoria Clark in The Light in the Piazza Judy Kaye in Souvenir Jayne Houdyshell in Well Bill Irwin in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Zeljko Ivanek in The Pillowman Geoffrey Rush in Exit the King Stephen Mangan in The Norman Conquests
Best Ensemble performance: I'd have to go with The Norman Conquests
Performance in a Play: KATHY BATES and ANNE PITONIAK in 'NIGHT MOTHER CHERRY JONES in THE HEIRESS AMANDA PLUMMER as a wacky and watchable Juliet in ROMEO & JULIET (La Jolla Playhouse, circa 1983) LILY TOMLIN in THE SEARCH...
Performamce in a Musical: PENNY HAMILTON in BEACH BLANKET BINGO GOES TO THE STARS REN WOODS in THE WIZ TONYA PINKINS and ANIKA NONI ROSE in CAROLINE, OR CHANGE CAROL CHANNING in HELLO DOLLY (1977 and 1997?)
This is a tough one. All Ties:) Plays: Amanda Plummer in Agnes of God,Rosemary Harris in Hay Fever, Tony Lo Bianco in View From The Bridge, BD Wong in M Butterfly, Lois Smith and Gary Sinise in Grapes of Wrath, Linda Lavin in Broadway Bound, Cast of Noises Off (1984 version), Sutton Foster in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Victor Garber in Lend Me A Tenor.
Jennifer Holiday in Dreamgirls, Anita Morris in Nine, Bernadette Peters in Song and Dance, Petula Clark in Blood Brothers and Patti Lapone in Gypsy, Betty Buckley and Linzi Hateley in Carrie.
Anna Manahan - THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE Frank Wood - SIDE MAN Kathleen Turner - WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? Tonya Pinkins - CAROLINE, OR CHANGE Joanna Gleason - INTO THE WOODS Blair Brown - JAMES JOYCE'S THE DEAD
and I will even add a few performances from just last season into the mix - Geoffrey Rush - EXIT THE KING Harriet Walter/Janet McTeer - MARY STUART