On Broadway, the stage is typically filled with people, all coming together to bring a show to life. However, some of the most riveting productions have come from a single performer. From Elaine Stritch at Liberty to Sea Wall/A Life , look back at 13 socially distance performances that took Broadway by storm—including Song and Dance , with Bernadette Peters earning a Tony Award for her solo Act I performance as Emma.
13 Solo Turns on Broadway Everyone Should Know
13 Solo Turns on Broadway Everyone Should Know
26 PHOTOS
The Belle of Amherst , 1976
Starring Julie Harris, William Luce’s play tells the story of Emily Dickinson, the legendary poet who lived a reclusive existence at her family home in Amherst, Massachusetts, during the Victorian era. Friedman-Abeles/©NYPL for the Performing Arts
Act 1 of Song and Dance ,1985
The first act of Song & Dance is one of the few true solo musicals ever to play Broadway. Bernadette Peters won her first Tony Award in 1985 for her portrayal of Emma, an English girl in New York, whose search for love spanned almost two dozen songs. Kenn Duncan / The New York Public Library
The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe , 1985
In The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe , Lily Tomlin played multiple roles in Jane Wagner’s one-woman play, a comedic look at and critique of contemporary American society. Martha Swope / The New York Public Library
Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 , 1994
Anna Deavere Smith examines the aftermath of the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles in this one-woman show in which she impersonates many of the people she interviewed about the event. Martha Swope/
Freak , 1998
Actor John Leguizamo introduced Broadway audiences to his explosive storytelling style in 1998 when Freak , a semi-autobiographical series of Leguizamo’s family stories co-written with David Bar Katz, opened at the Cort Theatre. Photo by Photo by Joan Marcus