Perhaps the first performance I remember that really stayed with me. Ferocious, delightful and just plain fabulous.
That initial moment early on when he transformed from old Salieri to young was remarkable, something I had never witnessed on stage before, and the performance just got better from there.
Angela Lansbury in Sweeney Todd
I've been fortunate (and old!) enough to see her play Mame and Mama Rose, but this was a performance for the ages, and we're so lucky that it was captured on video for all to see.
Such energy, wit, enthusiasm and warmth, he did it all so effortlessly. Oh, AND he walked a tightrope!
Another wow moment in her onstage transformation to her younger self. It was breathtaking, and the first time I had ever seen this extraordinary actress on stage.
Lily Tomlin in Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
I think she is finally appreciated for the fine actress she is, but in 1985 she proved to us all what a master storyteller and actress she was. Unforgettable.
Tom Courtenay in The Dresser
I'll never stop hearing in my mind the absolute heartbreak, fear and sorrow in his final line, "What about me?" Devastating, a beautiful performance.
Such a fine performance, capped by that Act Two monologue so full of joy, promise and regret. I've tried never to miss her on stage since, she's so singular and remarkable.
Ok, so I'm a little biased, but it really was a master class in stage comedy. And I'm grateful to have taken that class nightly for a year.
Colman Domingo and Forrest McClendon in The Scottsboro Boys
I put them together because they functioned so beautifully as a team. Transforming brilliantly from one character to another, they were our tour guides through this extraordinary and devastating piece, so theatrically told.
