There are some folks — affluent locals, splurging visitors, critical press, production investors — who sometimes get the opportunity to sit in a Broadway theater and watch phenomenal performances live and upclose on infamous stages. For those who don’t get the chance, there’s YouTube. Making me very gay, here are a few of my favorite Broadway clips so far:

Clip 1: Jennifer Holliday in Dreamgirls belts out “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” @ the ‘82 Tony’s. if you look closely, that’s Sheryl Lee Ralph (from Moesha!) and Loretta Devine in the scene with her. Though Frenchie Davis covers it well, this is Jennifer’s signature song and it made her a star. AMAZING.

Clip 2: Yeah, the famous “Defying Gravity” number from Wicked. In the story about the witches of Oz, the shy Green Witch decides to defy the controlling Wizard and do her own thing instead. The song is thrilling, I had tears in my eyes watching Idina Menzel soar and declare that she’s flying solo but “at least be flying free”.

Clip 3: From Bare: a Pop Opera. The show ran Off-Broadway (the first production to open the new Dodger Stages) and was set in a private Catholic high school,with the token homo totally in love with the closeted jock. The boy on the balcony is actually Aaron Lohr (from Newsies)! Not the best show, but this opening number “Are You There?” was always really touching.

Clip 4: Eden Espinoza sings the shit out of “Once Upon a Time” in Bklyn: the Musical. I saw this cheesy show three times b/c the music was just so incredible — even with just 40 ppl in the audience (IT bombed!) everyone jumped to their feet at the end of this song. The last note she hits gives me chills.

And here’s one I just couldn’t resist posting. She’s clearly a serious Wicked fan. The saddest part is that she sings it better than me.