Monday, December 31, 2007

SOB's Singular Sensations Of '07 - Honorable Mentions

SOB's Singular Sensations Of '07 - Honorable Mentions

During the course of 2007, I’ve been extraordinarily fortunate to have been in the audience for 82 stage productions ranging from the very small-scale play to the most elaborate of spectacles.

In my quest to see great theatre, my year began in Sydney Australia and took me to such far-flung destinations as London, Beijing, Stuttgart, Tokyo and Winnipeg. I've traversed the United States, crisscrossing from California to Massachusetts, Washington State to Georgia, Nevada to Connecticut, Colorado to Wisconsin. Then there were the three American communities that really know how to do live theatre: Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul and of course, New York.

Throughout my travels, several outstanding plays and musicals captured my heart, thanks in no small part to the enormously talented array of actors who found a way to strike a nerve and tap into a vein like few others. They've mesmerized, wowed and inspired me with a unique turn of a phrase, fluidity of movement or sublime singing voice or a combination of all three -- all provided that rare spinetingling sensation that can only be found through a live performance.

While I’ve been singling out SOB’s 7 Singular Sensations of ’07, please allow me to add my special honor roll of outstanding performances from the past year that simply took my breath away. Although they narrowly missed making my top seven for 2007, I won't soon forget how captivating each of these singular sensations was:

Harriet Harris - The Glass Menagerie (Guthrie, Minneapolis, MN) and Old Acquaintance (American Airlines Theatre, New York, NY)

Saycon Sengbloh - The Color Purple (Broadway Theatre, New York, NY)

Bebe NeuwirthChicago (Ambassador Theatre, New York, NY)

Chazz PalminteriA Bronx Tale (Walter Kerr Theatre, New York, NY)

Vanessa RedgraveThe Year of Magical Thinking (Booth Theatre, New York, NY)

Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon (Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, New York, NY)

Martha PlimptonCymbeline (Lincoln Center at the Vivian Beaumont, New York, NY)

Kevin KlineCyrano de Bergerac (Richard Rodgers Theatre, New York, NY)

Andrea MartinYoung Frankenstein (Hilton Theatre, New York, NY)

Christopher Fitzgerald Young Frankenstein (Hilton Theatre, New York, NY)

Kerry ButlerXanadu (Helen Hayes Theatre, New York, NY)

David PittuIs He Dead? (Lyceum Theatre, New York, NY)

Yasen PeyenkovThe Diary Of Anne Frank (Steppenwolf, Chicago, IL)


With the addition of these thirteen, I’ve singled out twenty consummate performances that were singularly sensational. Each of these performers has my utmost respect and appreciation, and I look forward to the opportunity to see them perform another day.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Related Stories:
SOB's 7 Singular Sensations Of '07 - #2: Christine Ebersole (December 30, 2007)
SOB's 7 Singular Sensations Of '07 - #3: Amy Morton (December 29, 2007)
SOB's 7 Singular Sensations Of '07 - #4: Elena Roger (December 28, 2007)
SOB's 7 Singular Sensations Of '07 - #5: Raúl Esparza (December 28, 2007)
SOB's 7 Singular Sensations Of '07 - #6: John Gallagher, Jr. (December 28, 2007)
SOB's 7 Singular Sensations Of '07 - #7: Jennifer Holliday (December 27, 2007)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #1: Patti LuPone (December 30, 2006)
Honorable Mentions: SOB's Singular Sensations Of '06 (December 30, 2006)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #2: Cate Blanchett (December 30, 2006)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #3: Chita Rivera (December 29, 2006)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #4: Barry Humphries (December 28, 2006)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #5: Kitty Carlisle Hart (December 28, 2006)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #6: Meryl Streep (December 26, 2006)

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