THEIR FAVORITE THINGS: Nine-Time Tony Winner Tommy Tune Shares His Theatregoing Experiences
By Andrew Gans
November 21, 2012
Playbill.com's new feature series, Their Favorite Things, asks members of the theatre community to share the Broadway performances that most affected them as part of the audience.
This week we spotlight the choices of nine-time Tony Award winner Tommy Tune, who is currently offering Taps, Tunes, and Tall Tales through Nov. 26 at Feinstein's at Loews Regency.
Read Playbill.com's Leading Men interview with Tune here.
(Clicking on a name bolded in blue will take readers to that actor or show's entry in the Playbill Vault.)
Opening night of Gower Champion's original production of Hello, Dolly! with Carol Channing
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"The show moved like a well-oiled Swiss watch. There was no wasted movement. Every gesture and every note counted. Carol Channing was red." |
Anthony Newley in Stop The World, I Want To Get Off
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"I was there opening night. and it was the latest bit of make believe. Newley was Marcel Marceau, Charlie Chaplin and Caruso all rolled into one." |
Franco Zeffirelli's production of The Lady of the Camellias at the Winter Garden Theater
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"Susan Strasberg in the title role was luminescent. It was one of the best star entrances I've ever seen – in what looked like an unmade bed, she simply rolled over into our sight and she was there." |
Andre Serban's production of The Cherry Orchard on the night the lights went out in New York City
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"The cast, including Meryl Streep, Raul Julia and Irene Worth, graced Santo Loquasto's breathtaking set." |
The Mike Nichols production of E.L. Doctorow's Drinks Before Dinner at the Public Theater (star Christopher Plummer pictured)
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"Urban poetry and social terror." |
Hal Prince's original production of Cabaret on its last preview before opening night
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" I couldn't get out of my seat to leave the theatre. It was stunning." |
Ethel Merman in Happy Hunting
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"Just because I was 17 and it was my first Broadway musical. Somehow I knew it was bad, but it was just so good to be there." |
The Light in the Piazza
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"I kept going back to see it over and over. The music, the story, the production." |
Once
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"...which I've seen five times so far. It brings nuance back to our savaged, vulgarized musical theatre form" |
Michael Bennett's brilliant choreography for the musical Coco at the Mark Hellinger Theatre
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"It occurs when Chanel invents the little back dress. Michael's choreographic design embodies the elegance and restraint of Chanel's classic garment itself. It would take an essay to describe how he did it, but it was the equivalent of a perfectly tailored black suit for a gentleman. Both Michael and Chanel's designs merged right there on that stage. Both are astonishingly and enduringly classic." |