Your favorite type of performing art

My favorite is dance, but not ballet.

I love Horton, Dunham and Graham.

I also love 20th Century American drama.

performing arts poll
You left out my three top categories: symphonic orchestra and chamber music and solo string recitals. Ashcroft will hear of this.

Dance, dance, any kind of dance. Last good dance I saw was Jose Greco II at a small theater in Austin. There is a troupe called (I believe) the Leslie Avery dancers, all black women that is amazing and takes my breath away (Recall this troupe danced at Jimmy Carter's Inaugural Ball). Used to watch Riverdance for hours on end.

When I was younger (22 or so) I danced in a private actor/actress' club in Cleveland. Just small chorus line stuff but they had to drag me off the stage, especially in a line dancing to Gypsy Rose Lee's "Let me Entertain You." I was the only one who had to memorize and count, the others had studied dance from about age 2.

Cool beans, Tex-Star!

I like a) musical theater (Les Miserables, Phantom, Jolson, the King and I), b) symphonic music, c) jazz music, d) great classical musicians playing solo or duets, e) some ballet, f) some singers, and g) live theater (drama and comedy). c.i.

cicerone, you like it all, guess I do, too. May I be so dumb as to ask about "Jolson." Would that be Al Jolson? Did that have anything to do with The Jazz Singer?

My other-half was also in theater, singing, dancing, playing in bands and orchestras. He played Nixon in Cleveland's City Club Show, a quartet from which sang at the Press Club in Washington, DC.

My favorite musical will always be "Music Man."

Tex, That was Al Jolson, one of the first jazz singers. I was in Toronto, and I asked the tour guide if they had any live theater, and if they did what she would suggest I see. She suggested the Beauty and the Beast. After dinner, I took a taxi to the theater district, and to my disappointment, the show was not playing on that day. I walked down one block, and Jolson was playing. I went to the box office, and asked if they had one seat in the orchestra, and he said "yes." That show was brought over from London, and it was an interactive show. The theater was full, but I had a good seat. The actor that played Jolson sounded just like him, and the singalongs were great! I enjoyed myself thoroughly that day, and I still have good memories of that show. I've often wondered why they never brought that show to the US. c.i.

Ballet!!!! 2nd fav is music (classical, jazz, anything Josh Groban)

Hi BuckshOt, WELCOME to A2K. Glad to see you aboard - especially with that fancy avatar. c.i.

Yes, welcome Buckshot! What do you think of the DVD of the new Royal Ballet "Nutcracker?"

Anybody seen "Chicago?" The dancing is incredibly exciting, Zeta-Jones' legs are at least a mile long.

Tex-Star

That was a great film, Tex-Star. I think I need to see it again on a big screen! Have you checked out the Film thread about it?

Hi, I'm a bit of a redneck from the sticks. The only live theatre I ever saw involving real stars was Elizabeth Taylor in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" A pretty depressing play but Ms Taylor's acting was stunning.
On the other side of the footlights: When I was in college, a student-run group did a musical every year. I was in our production of Gypsy. I had a non-singing role. It was a pretty darned good show. The Gypsy Rose Lee actress could definitely belt out the songs ala Ethel Merman.
Later I ended up in a mid-sized town and got involved in community theatre. I was the mayor in "Music Man" and the old guy in "Brigadoon" who eventually explains the 100-year mystery of the absence of the town. Again, no singing roles for -rjb-; I never understood why.
I was in about a half a dozen other plays before other claims were made on my time. It was incredible fun. My job tends to require
me to wear green eye-shades; it was great to spend some time with a whole different bunch of folks.

rjb, Your post reminded me of the time I was involved with little theater in Roswell, New Mexico, when I was stationed at Walker AFB in the late fifties. That was my only experience with little theater, but I really enjoyed my time there. Never on stage, just helped with everything else; back stage, stage building, ticket sales/taker, sound system, lights, curtain, and almost everything else. We did the Caine Mutiny and some comedies. Our theater group also sponsored the Miss New Mexico Pageant one year. c.i.

I used to go to several theatres in Dublin all the time when I lived there. It was so inexpensive and I loved the plays which could be anything from a regional tale (Blood Brothers; The Matchmaker; Anne of God; Playboy of the Western World; Juno and the Paycock, etc.) to MacBeth.

I went to see Riverdance in Dublin and London - excellent! Never have I been overly fond of Irish dance (we were forced to learn and compete at school) but I couldn't contain the excitement I felt at that production.

I used to go see British stand-up comics like Dame Edna Everage, Eddie Izzard, Julian Clary, Victoria Wood, Les Dawson, Jasper Carrott, Hale and Pace, Billy Connolly, Morcambe & Wise, Jo Brand, Clive Anderson (of the U.K. original "Who's Line is it Anyway") and more.

When I moved to the U.S. I got into the improv (when I finally 'got' the American sense of humor). I enjoy a little ballet (not a huge fan) and dramatic theatre (Phantom of the Opera, etc.)

My favorite is comedy, not straight stand-up or improv but a play with an actual plot/story interspersed with really witty or comedic roles. Singing and dancing is a plus. If I can't bear to leave my seat in case I miss something and almost pee my pants from laughing, then it was a good night.

Heeven, I think we stayed at the hotel Baltimore in Dublin where we saw a Irish cultural show with dancers. They had comedy, music, and dancing. Quite a show. c.i.

In the eighties I saw a Broadway production of "The River"; the musical version of the story of Huck Finn. In the scene where his slave partner Jim gets shot and killed, there was a mournful passage in which a gospel singer comes out and laments.
Her gut-wrenching mournful soul- searching singing brought down the house; no mics; video, hype, any pop-trimmings. Just the pure expressive trained force of the human voice. Probably the most remarkable performance of anything I ever saw.

personally - the work of Complicite (previously Theatre de Complicite) is the best kind of performed art. Internationally accalimed (and rightly so) their unique brand of dance, mime and drama is enough to make jaws drop and heads spin. their best show would have to be Mnemonic -an examination of the memory and of origins. stunning. simply stunning.

btw, it is best classified as physical theatre

That sounds very interesting, apparentlymartin. I'll have to read up on that company.

And welcome to A2K!

apparantlymartin, Did you know a group of A2Kers are meeting in London on March 20 at the Cheshire Cheese at 1800 hours? Please come and join us. And WELCOME to A2K. c.i.