Oh, Theatre Queens, if you could go back in time and see any production what would you pick?

Six Degrees with Stockard on Broadway would certainly be on my list.

Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre "Julius Caesar" and "Macbeth."

Barbra in Funny Girl.

What am I, chopped liver?

BTW I saw Stockard in Six Degrees. Fantastic.

Ethel Merman in Gypsy - assuming I did not no the story in advance.

OP, that's so hard to pick one. I was born in the 80s. My first visit to NY was in the early 2010s and have been fortunate to be back several times, so there's SO MUCH I've missed. But, a few off the top of my head...

SWEENEY TODD: Early in previews, before most of the audience would have known what they were about to experience. I've heard an early in the run soundboard recording and the audience absolutely lost their minds -- especially during the macabre A Little Priest.

CHICAGO: with Chita & Gwen and the revival, early in the run with Bebe and Anne

ANGELS IN AMERICA: The original Broadway run. Must've been an incredible experience, inextricably linked to that moment in time, too. No matter how fine a revival may be, seeing that work in the context of that time is probably something that cannot ever be replicated.

The original Chicago was amazing. Incredibly sexy men in ratty underwear.

R7, I'm old enough to have seen all those productions with the original cast. I feel blessed.

r6 - I'm SO jealous! Make sure you take your Ginkgo every morning so that you can retain those treasured memories. Would love to hear what some of your other favorite performances were over the years!

I'dd want to see a Chorus Line with the Original cast.

Angela Lansbury, Mame

Richard Kiley, Man of La Mancha

Robert Morse, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

I saw Zero Mostel in Fiddler and Carol Channing in Hello Dolly. Saw Richard Harris in Camelot, too. Jerry Orbach was in the production of Chicago that I saw. I saw Evita but I don't remember if Patti was in it. I think she was. It was long ago.

Hair on Broadway in 1968,

I just want to see Nine with Raul Julia and Anita Morris.

Gertie in Lady in the Dark

Gwen in Redhead

Brando and Tandy in A Streetcar Named Desire

R11 I did and your wish is well-placed. The energy and love in the early days was astounding.

Ethel Barrymore in her youth, Bankhead in TLF, Maureen Stapleton in Plaza Suite

Opening night of:

Gypsy

My Fair Lady

South Pacific

Anything Goes

A Streetcar Named Desire

Over the Teacups

The Most Happy Fella

Tom Bosley in Fiorello!

Reba, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN

Aged in Wood the night Eve went on.

[quote]Tom Bosley in Fiorello!

I... ? What...? Are you SURE you're a homosexual, dear?

Some of you are throwing away your shot.

Opening night of The Music Man.

I’ve seen seven of your list, OP, Julie Andrews in My Fair Lady, Liza in Chicago, Elaine Paige in Evita, Barbra in Funny Girl, the original production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Kathy Bates in Night Mother and Frankie & Johnny. All good, yet I have seen them originally and even since. R1’s Six Degrees I’d sure like to see with Kelly Bishop. Another is Mary Louise Parker in Proof, and see again a star following her, Anne Heche. I’d kill to see the Broadway opening of The History Boys. Frances de la Tour just does it for me as an actress. The top of my I’d like to have seen musical list is Oh, Captain! I saw Merman close Act II of Gypsy several times, yet I’d rather see again Jennifer Holliday close Act I of Dreamgirls, seen a few times in previews. Tom Eyen helped me hang a living room overhead light, so …… initially that cast seemed not to know its way around a stage and a week after opening and ever afterward just stomped all over the stage, were terrific. Two, no, three, opening nights I’d like to have been there: May 6, 1960, a little off-Bway probably-wont-make-it tiny musical, The Fantastics; a ’67 play, After the Rain and an ’06 play, Three Days of Rain.

Steve’s apartment, ‘69. Angie stopped by and sang an impromptu LADIES WHO LUNCH. She rattled the building. Neighbors stopped by with champagne to celebrate her performance! And it was 2 am! Elaine was food, of course. But if you were there, you know.

[quote]I just want to see Nine with Raul Julia and Anita Morris.

It was excellent!

My first choice was opening night of Guys & Dolls, a pretty perfect musical.

I'm old and got to see a lot of the shows and stars mentioned here. My list would include:

Laurette Taylor in The Glass Menagerie

The orignal production of Carousel

Ethel in Gypsy

The Lunts in anything

I just want *one* person to say "I saw Laurette in Menagerie and she SUCKED."

I would have liked to have seen Sandy Duncan's Roxie.

R31 I was going to post Taylor, too. My choice for the Lunts would be The Visit—like nothing they’d ever done—taking risks in their farewell. Mary Martin either South Pacific or The Sound of Music. Yes, too old to play a postulante, but I grew up on the OBC and imprinted on her Maria.

At the risk of being called a philistine, I'm happy with most of the filmed versions of these plays, so I can live with having missed the original productions. But I was sorry to have missed Amadeus when I heard Tim Curry was Mozart, and when the movie came out, that regret was only fueled by my hatred for Tom Hulce in the role. I've also heard that Mozart's music in the production was played in a distorted way to represent the way Salieri heard it. Can anybody confirm?

Opening night of [italic]Show Boat[/italic].

Glenda Jackson in Three Tall Women

the first production of Who's Afraid of Virgnia Woolf

Streetcar of course and Glass Menagerie

Marat/Sade

Ben Vereen in Pippin

Still kicking myself for missing Cherry in The Heiress.

Angela Lansbury in the first revival of Gypsy

Judith Anderson as Medea, and also as Clytemnestra in The Tower Beyond Tragedy

Tallulah Bankhead and Patricia Collinge in The Little Foxes

Madeline Kahn on the famous opening night of ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

[quote]r50 = Angela Lansbury in the first revival of Gypsy

Angela played her roles with such zest. Even at a matinee in Denver you knew you were seeing a Broadway *Star*.

The first play I ever saw was Marat/Sade with Glenda Jackson. It was amazing.

Oh! Calcutta!

I can't believe that some of these I actually saw. I saw the original casts of both halves of Angels in America, and I thought at the time it was overrated, although I really did love many of the performances, especially Kathleen Chalfant in the amazing opening eulogy in Part I.

I saw Kelly Bishop as Ouisa in Six Degrees of Separation, and thought she was wonderful. The production was mostly memorable for me, though, by hearing an elderly lady S-L-O-W-L-Y unwrap two candies from their cellophane, until finally some queen sitting near me hissed at her to knock it off (which caused several of the people i was sitting near to giggle with relief).

I really wish I had seen Patti LuPone in Evita. I saw it with both her later replacements, Derin Altay and Loni Ackerman, and though Altay was quite decent, Ackerman must have completely blown out her voice by the time I saw her because she spoke-sang some of the songs. The production itself was incredible, though.

^^Oh, and I also saw Cherry Jones in The Heiress late in her run--I was disappointed, because her performance had been so hugely talked up at the time, and by the time I saw it a lot of the surprise had gone out of it.

I didn’t see a lot of these, but I will always feel incredibly fortunate to have seen Natasha Richardson’s final preview of Cabaret and the Glenda Jackson/Laurie Metcalf Three Tall Women. Electricity.

Brando, Tandy in "A Streetcar Named Desire"

Stapleton, Wallach in "The Rose Tattoo"

Gazzara, Bel Geddes in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"

Bankhead, Hunter, Seldes, "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore"

Oh, and Roger Rees and Steven Pasquale in Man of No Importance. Rees was stunning, even his clothing acted the part. When Pasquale sang The Streets of Dublin, both the song and the singer jumped off the stage.

Judy at The Palace 1951

Yes!

So the show sucked. Who among us wouldn't want to be at the opening night of Wildcat?

The original CANDIDE.

I like that one too, r53.

John Wilkes Booth in "Our American Cousin."

The Pink Jungle

[quote]r37 Streetcar, of course...

That would be great, but I almost would prefer to see Our Faye's production at the Ahmanson in 1973. Jon Voight played Stanley and they CLASHED offstage.

A teacher of mine was involved with it somehow, and said she delivered Blanche's final line to the doctor flirtatiously. He said, "This was a Blanche you knew was going to get out of the asylum."

So I hope you'll understand my wondrous thrill!

Cuz Vaudeville's back at the Palace and I'm on the bill!

I've seen three of OP's list. The Scofield/Callow/Kendal Amadeus and the Paige Evita justify their legend status. Also saw LuPone's Evita and it was (literally) unmemorable beside Paige's. All these years later I can remember specific impressive choices of Paige's, but the only thing I recall about LuPone is how much she garbled the lyrics. BTW, while you can see only the one speech from that Amadeus that's on YouTube, you CAN hear it in full. Link below.

The production I most want to have seen never happened. About 15 years ago the (then) newly appointed artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company wanted to do Long Day's Journey with Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis, but there was some major upset and he never took up the role. Instead they hired Picture of Dorian Gray guy. Sigh.

R57, I've read that Faye's interpretation of Blanche was certainly original. She played her flirty, funny, and [italic]resourceful[/italic], qualities that made you think "Oh well, she'll get over this." Voight's Stanley, OTOH, was too cerebral and sensitive. Not an ounce of threat in his demeanor.

Yeah, Faye wasn't a Blanche for the ages.

A tie for me: Streisand in 'Funny Girl' and Lupone in 'Evita'.

Runner-up tie: Lupone in 'Sunset Blvd' and Tyne Daly in 'Gypsy' (again - saw her in 1991).

I'd like to see all the replacement Dollys that David Merrick hired. (Ginger Rogers, Martha Raye, Betty Grable, Phyllis Diller, Ethel Merman and Pearl Bailey.)

[quote]r61 I've read that Faye's interpretation of Blanche was certainly original. She played her flirty, funny, and resourceful, qualities that made you think "Oh well, she'll get over this." Voight's Stanley, OTOH, was too cerebral and sensitive. Not an ounce of threat in his demeanor.

I also heard someone say that Dunaway was the only Blanche they ever saw who seemed believable as an English teacher.

Maybe because of their rocky experience on that play, they are touchingly believable playing a divorced couple in THE CHAMP a few years later. It's one of the few times I've seen a couple onscreen and thought, "Okay, I can see them together, and why it went wrong." He makes himself so vulnerable in the scene where he asks her to come back to him and their son. He knows she is now more than ever out of his league, but he still gives it one last shot. It's such a good performance.

That movie is such a tearjerker!

The first play I ever saw was Mourning Becomes Electra with Glenda Jackson at the Citizens’Theatre, Glasgow. She was brilliant.

Music Man with Robert Preston and Barbara Cook

Maybe something more with real star power...Kathy Bates in Night Mother

I saw the first production on Broadway. Kathy was not a star when she did it. And she wasn't as fat as she later got. But her being a nobody I think added to the character who was suicidal. If she was star you would have said But you have so much to live for!

Amanda Plummer in Agnes of God. By the time I got to Broadway Amanda had been replaced by Carrie Fisher. Then the night I went Carrie was out because of illness and we got Maryann Plunkett.

Then I went to Sunday in the Park with George, and Bernadette was out and we got...Maryann Plunkett.

[quote]Maybe something more with real star power...Kathy Bates in Night Mother I saw the first production on Broadway. Kathy was not a star when she did it

Yes, but she's a fucking huge star now, and deservedly so.

That's the whole fucking point

Anyone up for a trip to see Judi Dench in Cabaret?

"Auntie Mame" with Roz Russell. Sure, we have the fabulous movie, but I can only imagine what it would have been like to see it live at the Broadhurst in 1956. And I wouldn't have minded catching both of Roz's replacements, Greer Garson and especially Bea Lillie.

For me it would be a toss-up between “Over the Teacups” and “The Most Happy Fella”

A legendary Off-Broadway production of a play called Angelo's Wedding, I think it was Circle Rep in the Village. 1985 maybe?

Written by Julie Bovasso. Starring Scott Glenn. First (and last?) preview, Saturday night performance. Julie was in the audience, had already had a few. Didn't like the way lead actor Scott Glenn was interpreting her words.

She rises and starts bellowing something like "This is not my play! Shut your fking mouth!." Then marches up to the stage and starts beating up poor Scott Glenn before security pulls her off, as she is led away and screams to the audience, "Go home!"

I heard about it the next day in the Theatre Office I worked. There were a few articles, I think it made the NY Times.

Man, I wish I'd been there to see that!!

Without a doubt for me, it’s Barbra in Funny Girl. And what a time to be a faggot in New York City.

So many I would like to have seen, but I'd probably go for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the legendary Bernstein flop. Close runners up would be Barbara Harris in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, and Anyone Can Whistle.

NYTimes

05/21/1985

————————

Circle Rep Closes Show In Dispute With Author

Circle Repertory Company has canceled its production of 'Angelo's Wedding' because of conflicts with the author, Julie Bovasso, it was announced yesterday by Marshall W. Mason, artistic director of the theater.

Subscribers will be given tickets to their choice of 'Orphans,' 'Isn't It Romantic,' 'Three Guys Naked From the Waist Down' or 'Doubles' in place of the canceled play.

Performances of 'Angelo's Wedding,' a drama about an Air Force veteran trying to determine his true parentage, were halted last week because of the dispute, including an incident in which Miss Bovasso went onstage during a performance on May 11 and told the audience to go home and also scuffled with Circle Repertory employees. The lead of the play, Scott Glenn, quit the cast the next day.

For those who mentioned Sweeney Todd, the original production is available on DVD although it was filmed three years after the premier with George Hearn instead of Len Cariou.

I found it in a bargain bin for $10 around 2008. It must have been that year because when I took it up to the cashier he said "That's not the Johnny Depp version." You can imagine the Bea Arthur-like glare I gave in return.

R7 I was so blessed to see the first preview for Perestroika on B'way. I had tickets for it and got to the theater and it was canceled for that night and told to come back the next night. George C. Wolfe and Tony Kushner came out before it started to apologize for the delay; they were having technical issues and they were still ongoing so we had the extra excitement that...SOMETHING COULD GO WRONG!

Nothing major happenend; they had to stop once briefly when something went wrong technically, but it was a very exciting night of terrific theater.

R60 Cate Blanchett and her husband were running the Sydney Theatre Company from 2008 to 2013. They did a production of Long Day's Journey in 2011 with William Hurt and Robyn Nevin. It was awful. One of the reviews said it was obvious Mr Hurt and Ms Nevin didn't like each other. Another said it felt like the four actors had rehearsed in separate rooms and then came together for the performance. I agree with both.

So I'm curious to know where you got the information about Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis because I can't imagine either of them in those roles.

Rush's career took a dive when he was accused of being a sleazebag. He sued for defamation and won, but that was 2017.

The production was directed by Mr. Blanchett and probably also adapted by him too so he could get two salaries.

The Band Wagon with Fred and Adele Astaire.

I Married an Angel

Guys and Dolls which Comden and Green both said was the best show they ever saw.

Dubarry Was a Lady

My Fair Lady which I believe Sondheim said was the most entertaining evening he ever spent in a theater.

Porgy and Bess in its pre Broadway run in Boston where they said it was even more electric than it was on Broadway.

And yes The Glass Menagerie. I would be a wicked queen and say she's not all that much.

I saw Company in '70 and Follies in '71. They were so resonant of their time I could not imagine seeing them in any other year. Does anyone still wear a hat? really meant something at that time and was jolting. And in Follies the old actors were genuinely a part of the theater the ghosts evoked. Did go to a see Company at NYU. Huge mistake.

Once More With Feeling (1958)

Beekman Place (1964)

Don't tell my you theater queens wouldn't love to see Arlene Francis on stage...

I also would love to see some of the Kaufman/Hart plays - Once in a LIfetiwe; You Can't Take It With You; The Man Who Came to Dinner.

Also, any of the early Tallulah Bankhead shows.

You would probably want to see Funny Girl opening night. I heard after that Babs could be hit or miss sometimes racing through the show to get it over with. And didn't she start cutting Who Are You Now? Beautiful song. I would have felt cheated.

I agree with Once in a Lifetime. My favorite Kaufman and Hart. And to have seen Jean Dixon with her dry delivery bringing down the house. Who else could say 'Make applesauce?' and get a huge laugh? Too bad she didn't do the film. You can see her as the maid in My Man Godfrey.

Madonna in "Speed the Plow." Peter Allen in "Legs Diamond."

Anything with Lora Meredith, Eve Harrington, or Margo Channing.

You're all LIARS! This is everyone's REAL answer. And now your prayers have been answered!

Andrei Serban's The Cherry Orchard at the Beaumont with Irene Worth, Raul Julia, Meryl Streep (her Broadway debut), Marybeth Hurt, Elizabeth Franz, Diane Lane, Set by Santo Loquasto, lighting by Jennifer Tipton.

Back in the 80s, there was an Off-Bway production of Sam Shepard's Lie of the Mind; a 3-hr opus that featured Geraldine Page and Ann Wedgeworth among other notables, (also notable: Page was the current wife of Rip Torn, Wedgeworth the ex).....There was an early preview and Wedgeworth called in sick. There was no understudy, so Page played both roles! Would have loved to have seen that!

(also I don't know if I could have withstood the 3-hr length!).

^^also, notable fun fact:

Married couple Geraldine Page and Rip Torn shared a studio apt in the West Village. The name tag on the buzzer read Torn/Page.

I just love that!

OP here, how could I have forgotten Promises Promises!

Imagine knowing the interval was coming up and then being treated to *that* routine for Turkey Lurkey Time. Forget the toilet and an ice cream, you'd have needed to be roused from a gay coma.

Goodness me.

I've been pretty lucky but I would have loved to have seen Angela and Len in Sweeney Todd (I saw it in London with Dame Sheila so I'm fine). I was in the audience when the Queen, the Queen Mother, and Princess Margaret came to see "The Importance of Being Ernest" with Patricia Routledge on opening night (the QM's 99th birthday).

I wish I could have seen Merman in anything, Mary Martin in South Pacific, and My Fair Lady.

Judy at The Palace of course. Julie in my fair lady.

There was a documentary on recently about Liza when she talked about going in to Chicago when Gwen Verdon needed surgery.

Liza wasn't announced as the replacement until just before the show.

Imagine the atmosphere!

Elaine Paige said something similar about playing Norma on Broadway, making her debut.

Well, R95, it's true that there was no slip in the program or sign in the lobby, "just" a pre-curtain announcement that "at this performance" Roxie would be played by . . .

But they didn't exactly keep it a secret, and in any case word traveled fast.

[quote]There was a documentary on recently about Liza

Noooo....really?

Not sure if you're being serious R97, but yes, this was on last week and is well worth a watch.

I've seen a few of the shows mentioned including The Cherry Orchard. As soon as Streep came on stage(in a small role) you just knew. A very beautiful production.

I saw that amazingly beautiful and moving Cherry Orchard as well. After the show I saw Irene Worth walking across the Lincoln Center dressed in what looked to be potato sacks. I told her how great she was and she said, "Oh, forget that. But please tell me where you were sitting and if you could hear me? It's a hell of theater work in." (The Beaumont).

Lots of amazing nights at the theater but one I'll always remember is the final performance of the original "Merrily We Roll Along," which closed after 16 performances. I had bought tickets in advance of course never knowing it would be closing night. I remember all those kids on stage weeping while the audience gave them a long standing ovation (which meant something back in those days).

Ages ago, when she was promoting ONE TRUE THING (fall 1998?), Streep told Jay Leno a hilarious and touching story about an exchange that she had offstage with Irene Worth. Apparently there was a memorable moment when Worth, as Ranevskaya, looked into a mirror and began to weep without saying a word. Streep asked her, "Irene, how do you do that every night? How do you just . . .cry?" Worth, every inch the grande dame, and MEANING IT, God bless her: "How do you NOT cry?"

Well, *I* loved it.

[R7]: I actually saw all of those, But, frankly, the earlier production of both parts of “Angels in America” at the Mark Taper Forum in L.A., in the late fall of 1992 was far better than the Broadway productions.

Directed by both Oskar Eustis and Tony Taccone, this production, unlike the Broadway versions directed by George C. Wolfe, presented the everyday scenes and the visionary elements as shifting aspects of reality. Wolfe’s approach, in the other hand, was to clearly differentiate between them, using lighting effects and acting choices to assure the audience this is a fantasy.

The Taper Forum production created a literal fantasia of shifting realities, making for a thrilling ride into alternate consciousness, all to embody Kushner’s profound journey into a change of awareness.

R90 I didn't see that specific production of "A Lie of the Mind" but I have seen it performed and it's a tough, riveting play and with a good cast and direction, it's really powerful.

That's the thing with longer pieces. If the writing is good and it's a well done production, the time flies by.

The flip of that is the more recent trend of short plays (under 90 minutes) and done in one act that feel like you're trapped in Purgatory for the rest of your life.

[R28]: I actually saw “After the Rain” on Broadway, with Alec McGowen. Interesting but arch, one of those dystopian dramas predicting future mind control. McGowen was good, but, overall, the play reminded me of an extended “Twilight Zone” episode. It also had an awkward gay element, when a handsome hunk reveals he has gay feelings, appearing out of left field, near the end, which just seemed gratuitous.

I wasn’t surprised it didn’t last long.

R1 - I saw Six Degrees with Stockard in 1990? Yes, summer of 1990. It was great- but it was NOT the show to take my mom.

It would be so deeply, deeply tempting to choose the original VIRGINIA WOOLF… and yet there is a recording of that.

No such record exists of Bonnie Franklin’s Martha at the Pittsburgh Public Theater in 1999. How many of us on DL would actually prefer attending that??

We must hunt down her costars for comment: Sam Tsoutsouvas, Karl Kenzler, and Penny Balfour.

Saw the original productions of SIX DEGREES, ANGELS IN AMERICA and AMADEUS with the original cast.

Would love to see the original productions of: GLASS MENAGERIE and STREETCAR along with SEX by Mae West, CHILDREN'S HOUR and LITTLE FOXES, the HAPPENINGS of the 1960s, the loft performances of JACK SMITH and RICHARD FOREMAN of the 1970s.

And for the person wanting to see the original cast of A CHORUS LINE...

Streetcar, the original run with Brando and Jessica Tandy.

Phantom of the Opera with Michael Crawford as the Phantom.

Oh and The Boys in the Band in 1968.

r103 - you have a way with words, toots! You really took me there. Those pre-Broadway stagings of Angels sound like they were amazing. Thanks for that!

Why does no one else want to see WHO’S AFRAID OF BONNIE FRANKLIN’S SLAP… i mean WOOLF

[R86]: I saw Peter Allen in “Legs Diamond.” What a mess. Allen kept prancing and leering in shiny costumes, but never once did I believe he was a straight gangster. Then he’d make fun of Julie Wilson, who didn’t have much to do, referring to her as “old.” (I hope she got paid a lot.) tThe only decent song in it was one Allen didn’t sing, “Speak Easy,” and the only reason I bought the CD.

Someone I worked with saw it, r114, and said that it may have been a turkey, but the production values were amazing.

LEGS DIAMOND

Carrie: The Musical from 1988. Sadly, It closed after 5 performances.

I was going to say BOYS IN THE BAND, TEA AND SYMPATHY and BAD SEED, but we are lucky to have many of those original casts in the film versions.

[R7]: Compared to what I saw at the Mark Taper, the Broadway version seemed mundane. At least Liebman, Spinella, Mantello, Chalfant, and McGlaughlin all transferred to Broadway. Marcia Gay Harden did a fantastic job as a wry Harper.. But David Marshall Grant was just miscast as Joe Pitt. Pitt is supposed to be believable as a married but deeply closeted straight guy. Grant seemed gay and not much else. Jeffrey King at the Taper looked like a troubled football player, far closer to the character. Sorry he didn’t transfer.

[R7]: And thanks for the compliments!

[quote]Back in the 80s, there was an Off-Bway production of Sam Shepard's Lie of the Mind;

It was the most mind-numbing bore imaginable. Painful. For the life of me I cannot tell you what it was about, nor could anyone in the audience, many of whom left at the second intermission thinking it was over.

Yet, it ran 6 months and got a rave review from Frank Rich...different strokes for different folks, I guess.

With that cast and my own experience with seeing another production, I'd love to have seen it.

Actually, my favorite number in the awful Legs Diamond was the one written for the three women in his life. Unfortunately, one of the women's parts was cut at some point so they just had some chorus girl sing the third part.

Richard Burton and Julie Andrews-Camelot.

My late neighbor from La Jolla always said Burton was "sex on a stick" and hot as Hell.

Julie Andrews was great-Andrea always said; she had a signed poster& all the leads signed it.

[italic]Dammit, DataLounge!

Frank Rich "raved" about quite a number of bizarrely bad shows.

"The Destiny of Me" comes to mind. I also saw him sneak out at intermission.

I would love to have seen the one night of Moose Murders. Anyone here see that?

[quote]I would love to have seen the one night of Moose Murders.

Eve Arden only played the first preview before being replaced by Holland Taylor, but Moose Murders actually played thirteen previews and one performance, closing on opening night.

I saw Patti in SF for the tryouts of Evita. Electrifying - she'd mastered the role after a tough time in LA.

I saw Follies and Dreamgirls in the Boston tryouts, ten years apart.

Given the choice I'd like to see Brando and Tandy in Streetcar.

The original off-Broadway “Little Shop of Horrors”.

I saw it in LA which was basically the same thing, r130.

“Godspell” with the original tempos and hippie vibes, not the latter day stuff.

Did anyone see Angels in America Part 2 when there was a scene near the end with the Roy Cohn character arguing with the Archangel about why he should not be sent to Hell? It was a fantastic scene, and Ron Leibman was terrific. The scene was eventually cut, but to me, it was a regrettable decision.

Original Camelot - Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, Roddy McDowell, Robert Goulet. I own the original Broadcast vinyl and will never part with it.

1982 The Curse of an Aching Heart with Faye Dunaway.

New York Times - THIS much can be said for the star, Faye Dunaway, and the author, William Alfred, of 'The Curse of an Aching Heart': they are not playing it safe. Mr. Alfred has tried to write a drama that remakes kitchen-sink naturalism with bold, impressionistic sleight-of-hand. Miss Dunaway, leaving her recent Hollywood viragoes behind, attempts to impersonate a working-class Irish girl who travels between the ages of 14 and 33. As it happens, both playwright and star fail - but not ignobly.

Christopher Durang's parody of "A Lie of the Mind" was called "A Stye of the Eye."

The original “West Side Story” production. I’ve also been enjoying listening to the original-cast soundtrack album.

I would have loved to have seen Robert Patrick's KENNEDY'S CHILDREN (1975) with, most notably, Shirley Knight as a Marilyn Monroe wannabe. She won a Tony Award for it.

When I was a teen I saw a college production of the play and it seemed so emotional and lyrical to me. It has six contrasting characters in a bar who each speak monologues about what the Kennedy era was like for them. The fact that they're all doing alternating monologues gives the play a dreamy, free floating, very heartfelt quality.

I later worked with Kaiulani Lee (who played a disillusioned hippie protester in it) and she said she really was like that character at that time in her life, and that's why she got the part. I believe she crashed the audition without an Equity card (!) She was an utterly lovely, gracious lady and such a strong, grounded actress! I wish I'd asked her more about that production, though.

All nine hours of The Lide and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby.

R101 I was there that night as well. I was not going to see it word of mouth was so bad let alone the reviews. But I had seen the original of every Prince/Sondheim musical so I might as well see this. Went to the Wed night perf. The overture was electrifying. I was like oh my god. The rest of the show wasn't as bad as they said and the score was definitely. good. So I went again Friday night. I thought this really a good show. So I went to that finale perf Sat night (tkts orchestra) and finally knew this is truly a great show and of course was on my feet at the end cheering with everyone else with my eyes a bit watery knowing that this was going to be the last Prince/Sondheim show. I knew I had just witnessed the end of the golden age of the Broadway musical as people had known it for most of the 20th Century. After it was over and my friend and I were on the street outside the Alvin we saw Sondheim very handsome rush by all alone looking very serious. Thought to myself what a great man of Broadway. Saw Lee Remick as well at that performance still beautiful.

I knew I had just witnessed the end of the golden age of the Broadway musical as people had known it for most of the 20th Century

MARY!

and

Cassandra.

R141 I knew you would be here. How predictable you are. Marying your way through life.

R134 there is always the cd. But I know that beautiful gatefold cover and I bet the vinyl sounds better than the cd ever could.

The very first performance of Romeo and Juliet.

[quote]The original “West Side Story” production. I’ve also been enjoying listening to the original-cast soundtrack album.

Oh, dear.

That's not an "Oh, dear", r145. Think about it.

Well, it may or may not be. But I assumed that the album related to the referenced production, not the movie (since movies don't generally use the term "original cast.")

There's two movie versions, r147, therefore one is the "original cast". I told you to think about it.

Gwen Verdon in sweet charity.

[quote]There's two movie versions, [R147], therefore one is the "original cast". I told you to think about it.

I DID think about it, and as I said, movies are rarely referred to with the term "original cast." You might refer to the original version, or the original production, or the year it was released, but not "original cast."

What can I say, r150? It was clear to me.

R144, I raise you the very first production of Hamlet, in which it is believed Shakespeare played the Ghost. That's gotta beat Follies.

[quote]That's gotta beat Follies.

Look up *fat chance*, r152.

Maybe if 24-year-old Sondheim appeared as the Ghost of Young Ben, R153.

[quote] R141 I knew you would be here. How predictable you are. Marying your way through life.

Actually, given your ridiculous comment (which r141 rightly mocks), it sounds much more like you're the one Marying your way through life.

R155 It was one of the greatest nights I've had in the theater like the other poster and yes I knew that Prince and Sondheim immediately by this failure would never create another musical together again. They were the last two creative giants from the golden age, they had been mentored by and worked with the giants, and their work together would never again on the stage of a Broadway musical be matched. I saw them all from 1970 and that night I was about to cry. You can find it ridiculous but I stand by this. The only stage productions I saw that could match their work were the Ingmar Bergman productions in Brooklyn. So you homophobically Mary your way through life since you enjoy tossing the word around.

Which Joan Van Ark play would you (sell your soul to) see?

————————

Barefoot in the Park - role of Corie Bratter - Replacement (May 23, 1966 - May 21, 1967)

The School for Wives (Feb 16, 1971 - May 29, 1971) role of Agnes

The Rules of the Game (Dec 12, 1974 - Dec 21, 1974) role of Silia Gala

Unclench, r156.

#2 - The classics are the true test.

I feel like I WAS at opening night of "Mary Your Way Through Life"!

Eartha Kitt in Timbuktu

Eartha definitely had to be experienced on stage, r161. Some people got it.

I wish I could remember that little known show’s song list : (

When I saw it in New Haven, Act I ended with a rousing group number, [italic]Unclench!

[quote]When I saw it in New Haven, Act I ended with a rousing group number, Unclench!

It was [italic]Hit the Sky![/italic] starring Helen Lawson.

If you’ll forgive me, I believe “Unclench!” was indeed written for HIT THE SKY, but Helen had it cut on the road because it featured Neely too much.

The same songwriting team later wrote the revue MARY YOUR WAY THROUGH LIFE, and, pressed for time, recycled the song there.

Please correct me if I’m wrong…

Even with Eartha, TIMBUKTU was a terrible show.

It ran a hundred performances and then toured with Eartha where I think it sold some tickets.

Peter O’Toole as Baby Blonde Hamlet for me.

But curious what Hedwig was like fresh out of the box…the Oh Mary! of her day? or mind-blowing like what I thought of her onscreen as a teenie-weenie?

Hedwig was an off Broadway hit that weirdly didn't transfer but it's really best in an off Broadway/rough edged kind of setting anyway. I don't thing it plays as well in some huge theater.

It was somewhat similar to "Oh Mary" in that it was unabashedly queer and it became one of those "must see" media darling hit shows.

MARY YOUR WAY THROUGH LIFE walked so HEDWIG could run.

R69 continued.

Then I was booked to see Lily Tomlin in The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life. And I thought if Lily is out and I get Maryann Plunkett I will run amok.

I saw both parts of Angels in America during its original run.

I'd want to see Merman in Gypsy and Harrison and Andrews in My Fair Lady. More recently I would have liked to see The Producers with the original cast.

"Timbuktu" might have fared better if they'd used the proposed title of "Hello, Mali!"

Liz and Maureen in The Little Foxes.

"House Of Flowers" with Pearl Baily, Diahann Carroll, Juanita Hall and Ray Walston" (My Favorite Martian)-1954-55. Book by Truman Capote, Music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by Capote& Arlen Sets& costumes by Oliver Messel, dance numbers by Herb Ross.

My Broadway Gay Marc said it was a "beautiful, glorious mess". He was there, got so many props-artwork from the sets.

I have some Oliver Messel artwork from the show I bought from my buddy.

I was at the first preview of HEDWIG at the Jane St Theater. I knew nothing about it - I went with a downtown friend who knew a person involved with the show (doing the wigs of all things). It was so great seeing it before all the (deserved) hype.

The original production of Death of a Salesman, with Lee J. Cobb, Arthur Kennedy, Cameron Mitchell and Mildred Dunnock.

R1, I worked at that production as a lowly usher, but I got to see it dozens of times. What a great show. We knew it was very special from the very first preview.

I would love to go back and see the original Sweeney Todd with Angela Lansbury.

The Robber Bridegroom at the Saratoga Arts Festival with Kevin Kline and Patti LuPone in 1975

The national touring company of 'Master Class' starring Faye Dunaway. She is indelibly etched in my mind forever. She was spectacular.

(And I see a lot of shows.)

Late '70s, Colonial Theatre, Boston...

'King of Hearts.' Brilliant.

Six Degrees would have sunk like a boulder in the ocean had Blythe Tanner played the lead, as originally intended. Thank God she left after 1st day of rehearsal to do Prince Of Tides.

Another vote for 'Six Degrees of Separation' starring Stockard Channing at Lincoln Center. Outstanding performance on stage and screen. She deserved a Tony and Oscar.

I was visiting NYC in 1991 and saw Stockard in Six Degrees. Very lucky visit. The best American actress of our generation.

Some of the best performances I have seen:

Derek Jacobi & Sinead Cusack (doing both Cyrano & Much Ado in rep) Lena Horne, A Lady and Her Music Maggie Smith, Lettice & Lovage Colm Wilkinson and Alfie Boe, Les Miserables Cherry Jones, Doubt Gary Sinese, Streamers Ian McKellan, Amadeus Zoe Caldwell, Medea Zakes Mokae, Master Harold ... and the Boys Hugh Jackman, The Boy from Oz

Even though I am not a big fan of David Rabe's plays, the Steppenwolf production of Steamers with Gary Sinese was a perfect fusion of cast, script and production. I still think about that production after 40 years.

[quote]R182 I was visiting NYC in 1991 and saw Stockard in Six Degrees… The best American actress of our generation.

A friend of mine worked with Channing onstage post Six Degrees. He found her to be a very selfish performer, refusing to make eye contact on stage.

Then when he got a million hidden laughs once they were before an audience, she wanted their scene restaged. To her advantage.

Management refused.

March of the Falsettos with Alison Fraser as Trina.

What I’d have loved to see:

The original My Fair Lady and Camelot. (One aspect of their original staging included the curtain closing for scene changes, while short scenes took place in front. The touring company of Camelot I saw in 1963 had a marvelous interactive march of banner bearers, during the scene change, who then climbed up to stand and hold their banners from the upper galleries of the throne room. Very grand.)

Goldilocks - Because I love the score and the funny book. I bet it would work with Sutton Foster and Hugh Jackman.

The original Private Lives, Lady in the Dark, and, of course, Glass Menagerie. The Cherry Jones Heiress. The original Candide, which, though overstuffed with fancy Baroque sets and costumes, was really a serious show, not like the mundane, anything-for-a-laugh later Prince revival.

Though I love the score of the original Carrie, I’ve seen enough of the press reels to see that the outlandish design and staging likewise worked against it.

Curiously, I wonder if the reputation of the original production of Streetcar has engendered unrealistic expectations of what it was actually like. Though the appearance and behavior of Brando as Stanley was a shock to original audiences, I doubt he would have the same effect on us, after 75 years of social change. To contemporaries, wearing a t-shirt was looking almost naked. It was underwear. Brando actually popularized t-shirts. The underlying original effect means nothing to us now, when no doubt many of us would be watching this while wearing t-shirts. Also, Brando’s behavior might now just seem like overacting. The origin of change may not seem as effective after later decades of imitation and development.

Lastly, I’d love to see one of those stage spectacles from the 1920’s, like The Bluebird, or Max Reinhardt’’s The Miracle, for which set and costume designer Norman Bel Geddes transformed the entire interior of the theater into a huge cathedral. My mother saw both of these, and described amazing lighting and design effects. No one does anything like that anymore.

Guare needs the right directorial touch and casting. That 98-99 Guare season at the Signature Theatre was pretty great. I saw Lake Hollywood, Marco Polo Sings a Solo with Florence Jean Castleberry playing trans, and Bosoms & Neglect with the legend herself, Miss Mary Louise Wilson.

R186 The movie of Streetcar is still affecting to many people, so that ought to give you a clue.

[quote] To contemporaries, wearing a t-shirt was looking almost naked.

Not really. It just wouldn't be worn everywhere, like now.

If wearing a T shirt was "almost naked," folks must have been really shocked when they went to the beach and saw hundreds of men without shirts on!!

Ad: "It's an undershirt. It's an overshirt." Returning GIs popularized wearing T shirts as outerwear.

Guys in T shirts.

I have photos of my dad and grandad both wearing T shirts. What my dad usually wore around the house in the 50s/early 60s was a white T and khakis.

Come to think of it - I don't recall Stockard Channing making eye contact with the performers onstage at Six Degrees either. I wonder what stories Courtney B. Vance has....

Everyone's quick to poo poo R186 's thoughts on "Streetcar" but they have a point.

Yes, your dad/grandpa might have worn a t-shirt around the house or even in the yard doing chores but it's not the same thing as seeing it on a STAGE. Society was very rigid; "nice people" didn't go out in t-shirts. Kids could wear them while playings and accepted beachwear/athletic wear but you didn't go to the store in a tshirt. That all very quickly changed. (And, it didn't start with Streetcar...Gable DIDN'T wear an undershirt in "It Happened One Night" and undershirt sales dropped dramatically).

Streetcare was a shock because it was very frankly intimate. People...at home...having VERY private discussions and encounters. It's a very sexually frank show. Stanley is all about fucking. He loves to fuck and he wants to fuck Blanche (and of course ends up raping her). It's a shocking show now (if well directed and with good actors) but originally, it was even more so. Like peeping through someone's keyhole to see all their dirty little secrets.

Why are so many of the great theatre queens homos?

Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams, Cole Porter, Stephen Sondheim, Terrence Rattigan, Joe Orton, Terrence McNally, Peter Shaffer, Oscar Wilde, Noel Coward, Anal Bennett, Tony Kushner, John Kander,

Yeah there are a few token straights like Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice but theatre is inundated with homos!

For me, Blythe Danner's departure from SIX DEGREES is one of the great theater mysteries. It doesn't seem to have been that she walked away because she booked a movie -- from what I've read, it was some kind of "artistic differences" situation. Could it have been that she just didn't "get it"? Ouisa seems like a perfect part for her.

"The Black Crook."

I own the LP and the CD of the musical, High Spirits. The show ran in NYC before I was attending theatre. I love, love, love the score.

This is the show I would want to go back in time to see. A terrific cast, a jazzy, jazzy score. It's based upon Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, so fun, fun, fun.

This show went by quietly in 1964 I think, which is the season that included the openings of Funny Girl and Hello Dolly!.

Did anyone see Allison Janney in Six Degrees? How did she compare?

I saw Lesley Manville in London and she was very good.

Yes, r195, Barbra was hot and Dolly! was a juggernaut. She Loves Me also got lost in the shuffle.

Janney was fine but not great, R196. The whole production was pretty misconceived, including moments when Trip Cullman appeared to have directed "Flan" to be into "Paul" sexually.

I was very excited for the production, but it just sat there and made me question whether the show still was relevant. Janney wasn’t terrible, but it just didn’t fit her. I think the problem was that Janney doesn’t seem to be the type who would be drawn in to Paul’s fictions. Corey Hawkins also was fine, but off. Paul needs to have mystery that he just couldn’t convey.

Tim Curry in Spamalot

Michael Crawford in Phantom of the Opera

Colm Wilkinson and Michael Ball in Les Miz.

Davy Jones in Oliver.

I would like to have seen the original run of "Hair" at the Aquarius theatre just to see Ted Lange nude.

Should have added Alfie Boe and Lea Salonga to the Les Miz wishes.

Gotta say Patti Lupone in Evita.

I’d like to have attended the first performance of Hamlet, to see London right at the end of the first Elizabethan era, and to work out if audiences believed Shakespeare to be a genius or just one playwright amongst many.

The original production of Don Giovanni, in Prague, with Mozart conducting.

Would love to have experienced any show at the Grande Guignol.

Julie Andrews - Victoria Victoria

Angie Lansbury - Mame