Favorite Musical Revival & Dramatic Revival Ever

[chanel]

This makes a case for "Guys & Dolls" and "Death of a Salesman"

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailymusto/2012/10/the_best_broadw_1.php

[Musicaldudepeter]

Have to agree re Guys & Dolls 1992... Truly breathtaking.

[lupone76]

I have a few favorite musical revivals. Cabaret 98 , Chicago(1996-present) Tyne Daly Gypsy, LuPone Gypsy.

[bjh2114]

My favorite musical revivals were the recent Finian's Rainbow and LCT's South Pacific (I'd add the revival of A Chorus Line, but that was more for the show as there were no real production changes from the original).

My favorite play revivals were Mary Stuart for drama and Norman Conquests for comedy. I'd also add the production of Design for Living that the Old Vic did in London a few years ago.

[defyingravity11]

That's tough, but the ones that instantly come to mind are LuPone Gypsy and Top Girls at MTC.

[yankeefan7]

Add me to the list that agree.

[little_sally]

I started to think about my favorite musical revivals and I realized that they are many of the recent Sondheim ones (Sunday, Sweeney, Follies to be exact).

As far as plays go, I think the current production of Virginia Woolf takes the cake.

[GlindatheGood22]

Musicals:
1998 Cabaret
2009 Ragtime
2009 Hair

Plays:
current Virginia Woolf
1999 Death of a Salesman

[little_sally]

Oh, how could I forget the Hair revival? So fantastic.

[SondheimFan5]

I was thinking the exact same as Musto.

LCT's South Pacific, Jerry Zaks' FORUM, Normal Heart (if that counts), and the '05 Virginia Woolf are close runners-up.

[dreaming]

Cabaret and South Pacific would be my musical picks.

The Brian Dennehy Death of a Salesman had a bigger impact on me than the more recent one. However, I loved the revival of The Real Thing with Jennifer Ehle. I think that would be up there for me. (Normal Heart is, too.)

[henrikegerman]

South Pacific (200 The Real Thing (2000) Morning's at Seven (1980)

[bwaylvsong]

Kiss Me, Kate (1999)
A Little Night Music (2009)

[RENT_is_Wicked2]

Gypsy (200

Chorus Line (2006)

Hair (2009)

Rocky Horror Show (2000)

[My Oh My]

For me, the fact the 2006 A Chorus Line revival was a faithful recreation of the incredible original production is what made it great. To have such an iconic and awesomely theatrical classic return in its original form, giving new audiences a chance to experience it for themselves, was a gift.

It's my 3rd favorite musical and I was so happy to see it honored and its integrity preserved and respected, a celebration of some of the best Broadway has had to offer that is also homegrown. It's sad that some people consider it a rehash of something old.

Nuh uh. It was a true REVIVAL! =)

[CurtainPullDowner]

CABARET
NORMAL HEART

[ajh]

For me, the 2009 HAIR would be the best musical revival; thrillingly staged and magnificently cast, it genuinely felt that the show's time had come again and the piece resonated politically and spiritually with the world at large in a way that earlier revivals hadn't. My favorite play revival would have to be THE NORMAL HEART in 2011: passionate, powerful, emotionally shattering, stunningly well acted and tragically still relevant. One of the most draining yet exhilarating experiences I have ever had in the theatre, although the current WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF runs it a pretty close second. I thought I knew Albee's play like the back of my hand but this new production made me think again, and all of the new shades and nuances that this astonishing staging reveals feel 100% right.

[bobs3]

Musical: Cabaret (199 without a doubt.

Play: Long Days Journey Into Night (it was the first time I saw Vanessa Redgrave perform on stage and she blew me away with her performance). The only drawback to the play that night was the c*nt sitting a few rows in front of me whose cell phone started ringing during the big confrontation scene between Mary and Edmund.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

The ones that instantly popped in my mind were HAIR (2009) and THE NORMAL HEART (2011). There was true theatrical magic happening nightly at the Hirschfeld when HAIR was there. They absolutely caught lightning in a bottle with that production. And while there are a number of exceptional musical revivals that are swimming around in my head (RAGTIME, LuPone's GYPSY, etc...), THE NORMAL HEART trumps any dramatic revival that I personally have ever seen. Nothing even comes close. That production was seriously flawless; not an accolade I throw at very many shows at all. I've seen a lot of wonderful theater, but THE NORMAL HEART was just perfection in every single aspect. How that cast did what they did eight times a week is something I will never understand. Mark Rylance should return that Tony to its rightful owner, Joe Mantello, pronto.

[bwayphreak234]

Anything Goes (2011 Roundabout revival)
Jekyll & Hyde (the current pre-Broadway tour)
Hair (most recent revival)

[strummergirl]

The recent productions of South Pacific, Follies, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

[Gothampc]

Guys & Dolls (Nathan Lane/Faith Prince)

The Heiress (Cherry Jones/Philip Bosco/Frannie Sternhagen)

[ajh]

I have to agree with Wickedrocks, I also think Mantello should have got the Tony over Rylance, although it was a close-run thing. At least John Benjamin Hickey and Ellen Barkin got the accolades they deserved.

[SonofRobbieJ]

No one has brought up the CAROUSEL revival?? I'm stunned.

I didn't see it, alas, so I'll go with my favorite night in the theatre ever, CABARET.

[Mister Matt]

Chicago (mainly because I saw the original revival cast in previews) and An Inspector Calls.

[qolbinau]

A lot of people seem to like HAIR. What did you think of the show when it was re-mounted at the St. James last summer?