The PerformanceThat Knocks Your Socks Off
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URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1696
Printed Date: 11/23/24 at 2:44pm
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Topic: The PerformanceThat Knocks Your Socks Off
Posted By: tristanrobin
Subject: The PerformanceThat Knocks Your Socks Off
Date Posted: 10/28/05 at 10:09pm
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You know that thrill you get when you see a riveting piece of
theatre?! Whew. I just saw "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill" at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven. What a performance - the concentration, the focus, the intent, the moment-to-moment surprises - the joyful uplifting spirit - the tragic realizations - and THE VOICE. One woman in a real tour de force piece. I'm still in aglow from seeing it. One of the few times in my life when I didn't hesitate, but instinctively jumped to my feet to applaud. What's your favorite performance (other than your own magnificent ones, of course LOL)? |
Replies:
Posted By: Juliet
Date Posted: 10/29/05 at 10:20pm
| I saw The Miracle Worker a couple of months ago. The production had been done 10 years ago with the same people playing helen and anne sullivan as the one most recent, but you wouldn't have ever known it. It was amazing! and so inspiring... |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 10/30/05 at 4:49pm
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I saw Much Ado About Nothing in March of 2003 at the South Coast Reperatory Theatre in Costa Mesa, CA. It was incredible! Douglas Sills played Benedick to the hilt! ------------- |
Posted By: Joan54
Date Posted: 10/31/05 at 8:56am
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Medea/Macbeth/Cinderella....at Yale....magic. ------------- "behind a thin wall of logic panic is waiting to stampede" |
Posted By: POB14
Date Posted: 10/31/05 at 9:48am
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Well, since that leaves out the VERY best . . . Christopher Plummer as Iago. (Opposite James Earl Jones as Othello, who was rather good himself Sometimes I'm asked why I don't join the crowd in their standing ovations for local shows. ------------- POB Old Bugger, Curmudgeon, and Antisocial B**tard |
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I tell people that I gave Plummer a standing O for that show, and the next performance I see that's that good will get one too.Posted By: Shatcher
Date Posted: 10/31/05 at 10:23am
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great topic! I have seen a few shows that blew me away but 2 come to mind. 1) Woman in Mind at ISU Summer Stage 1989. I had never seen such a powerful play.(at that time) 2) My own dear husband(before I met him) As Peter Patrone in the Heidi Cronicles. Beautiful play and his preformance was flawless. I married him after all |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 10/31/05 at 4:05pm
Amen! Don't remove what makes the standing ovation special by giving it at every performance, even if it makes you seem rude. And don't be upset when you don't get one. You'll appreciate the ones you do get for truly inspired work even better. ------------- |
Posted By: Joan54
Date Posted: 11/01/05 at 1:32pm
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I think that the over-use of the standing ovation is an American trait. Anywhere else in the world ( that I have experience with) it seems that they are rare and well deserved events. Here everyone seems to leap to their feet ( perhaps their bums are numb) at every play. I think it should be as described above... a spontaneous "leaping to your feet without hesitation." I rather like it when the theater is really bad and the audience let's them know it's bad. I was at a bad play once when an audience member stood up at intermission and announced "I want my money back" and several people agreed with him. Now that's drama. ------------- "behind a thin wall of logic panic is waiting to stampede" |
Posted By: dougb
Date Posted: 11/02/05 at 12:20pm
| Not long ago I attended a very long, very boring production of a play followed by an even longer, even more boring curtain call. Then they started the curtain call over again!!! By the time the second curtain call was well underway we were leaving in droves. The director thought it was a standing ovation!!! |
Posted By: jtonner
Date Posted: 11/03/05 at 10:03am
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In 1984 I saw a professional dinner theatre production of Annie. This was closing night and the entire cast of the next show, which happened to be 1776 was in the audience. This was a theatre in the round. When the orphans completed "Never Fully Dressed" reprise in Act II, the audience would not stop applauding. The ovation, and this is not an exaggeration, was over 4 minutes. To this day I can still see a girl on each corner of the stage and the center entrances to the stage with their arms up, not knowing what to do, and tears streaming down their faces, with huge smiles at the same time. The best part was that Miss Hannigan did not blow the whistle until the ovation was over. Truly a memorable night. John ------------- John |
Posted By: Shatcher
Date Posted: 11/03/05 at 10:29am
Just remembered this one: When I was about 9 I saw my uncle play Teddy in Arsnic and Old Lace. That show is the reason I am still in theatre today. Was it the best production ever? maybe not but it did get help foster my life long love of theatre. Does that count?LOL
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Posted By: TheActingTechie
Date Posted: 3/13/06 at 8:03pm
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Les Miserables at Capital Playhouse in Olympia, Washington. It was a youth production, but saying that makes it seem like it was less than it really is. Honestly better than almost all professional theatre that I have seen.
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Posted By: MoonlightFlame
Date Posted: 3/14/06 at 11:05am
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I saw a production of the current Mamma Mia! cast of tour. It was amazing! The acting, the music, the set, what more could a techitor want?
Smit |
Posted By: red diva
Date Posted: 5/18/07 at 3:20pm
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I know this is an old thread, but I just came upon it and thought it might be interesting to bring it up to date.
My contribution is two community theatre pieces which, in intensity, investment, and believability, put any professional performance I have seen to shame:
"Agnes of God" by the Canton, Ohio, Theatre Guild (seen at a FAACT competition in the early '80's - FAACT was the predecessor of AACT). I came away from the production feeling like I had been punched in the gut, stunned, in tears, in awe.
"A Lesson Before Dying" by the Youngstown, Ohio, Playhouse (I think that's the name of it. Apologies if I'm wrong) about 3 years ago. Actually, I was adjudicating this piece at an OCTA Regional, and found myself unable to pull my eyes away from the stage to write notes! I have seldom been so moved by anything, due to their committment, intensity, depth of emotion, and obvious love for the piece. It was shattering. I still get tears in my eyes when I describe this performance to others.
And re: standing ovations? I've been in and/or directed real dogs that have gotten them, and I've been in and/or directed absolutely wonderful pieces that have not. To me, they mean nothing. It's frustrating when other actors, especially ones that are young or new to theatre, get all excited by the "standing O", and think that the play they have been in is the "best one ever done at the Playhouse" (it's amazing how many plays in the same season at the same theatre have received that accolade!)
It's nice that the audiences want to show their appreciation for the efforts of the actors, but let's not cheapen true quality. ------------- "I've worked long and hard to earn the right to be called Diva!" |
Posted By: Nanette
Date Posted: 5/18/07 at 9:18pm
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During a production of Fame ~ specifically the song "These Are My Children" ~ I found myself crying before the song was half finished.
I rushed out at intermission to purchase the songbook and learned the song the next day with a music teacher at the school where I worked. We performed it for the next teacher meeting and recorded it, along with photos taken throughout the year, as an "end of the year" gift for each of my students. ------------- In a world of margarine, be butter! |
Posted By: EddyZ
Date Posted: 5/18/07 at 10:45pm
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I recently saw two separate high school productions that were top-notch. Aida, a show I've seen 3 or 4 times, including the travelling Broadway production and that I often describe as "really not my favorite show in the world," was performed by students of Cambria Heights Senior High School (Patton, PA) that was simply stunning from start to finish. Shortly after Aida, Central Cambria High School (Ebensburg, PA) presented Godspell, which simply blew me away. Being an athiest once a Catholic schoolboy, I don't particularly care for the content of the show but know the stories more than well enough to follow along, and I have to say, this was the most magical show I've ever seen. I dare call it a letter-perfect performance. The actors were polished, the singing solid, the choreography incredible -- one particular scene paired two male students, one a lifetime student of ballet and the other a complete novice -- such that each's ability complemented the performance of the other instead of overshadowing it or dragging it down. It was kind of a back-and-forth between classical ballet and a mix of Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton that just played off each other perfectly. Simply wonderful! The "scene changes" were non-existent -- the show just "flowed." It's a pity I opted to go the last night of the run -- I would have *loved* to see them run it again. ------------- EddyZ http://webpages.atlanticbb.net/~ezahurak/ - http://webpages.atlanticbb.net/~ezahurak/ http://www.nailsouptheatre.com - www.nailsouptheatre.com/ |
Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 5/20/07 at 7:17am
I saw that! It was, indeed, magic. I have never understood why it didn't get a Broadway run. I've always said it is one of the finest productions I've ever seen. Are you in New Haven, too?! 
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