Broadway's Greatest II

The titanic men of Broadway--men I've actually seen on-stage.

A note: Obviously Butz and Patinkin would be on this list if I'd seen them live, but I haven't.

Another note: Men on Broadway? Who cares about the men? I know, I know. Still, it's fun to think about which ones you would elevate above the rest.

(5) Joshua Henry.
(4) Gavin Creel. (Ridiculously charming and talented, but how much depth can you find there?)
(3) Raul Esparza.
(2) Andrew Rannells. (Especially because his memoir has this line: "STILL ALICE is the Julianne Moore movie that teaches us you can be pretty and sort of young, and still get dementia.")

(1) Christian Borle. I feel weird making this choice. I do not have a Borle obsession the way I have a Patti LuPone obsession. I didn't even see Borle's two Tony-winning roles. And I don't love "Falsettos"; I think it's over-rated (though the second half is stronger than the first).

Borle wins the prize mainly because of his version of "What More Can I Say?" It's toward the end of "Falsettos," and it's William Finn being direct and nakedly emotional and idiosyncratic and clumsy, as is Finn's wont.

I like Borle's version because, I think, the only way to do this song is to underplay, underplay, underplay. And Borle understands, and does that well. Borle is so quiet--and this makes the song much more devastating. https://www.google.com/search?q=borle+what+more+can+i+say&oq=borle+what+more+can+i+say&aqs=chrome..69i57.3984j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

I'm interested in Borle's strange wounded-ness--which makes him mysterious and a bit Bernadette Peters-esque--and I'm curious to see what he will do next.

It would great to see him with his hands on a Sondheim score!

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