FROM THE SPECIAL TONY AWARDS PLAYBILL

When the original cast recording of Side Show was released last December, dozens of the musical's fans crowded a Manhattan record store, meeting the show's creators and asking the stars to autograph the CD. That's one of the joys of musical theatre: Collecting recordings that can enable you to relive some of the magical moments you've spent in a darkened theatre.

Unfortunately, plays are more elusive to relive. Sure, you can sometimes purchase the script, but that doesn't generate the same excitement as turning the stereo up full volume while Ethel Merman blasts "Rose's Turn." Imagine if you could press "Start" on your CD player and hear Linda's "Attention must finally be paid to such a person" speech from Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, or Blanche DuBois's haunting last lines, "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers" in the Tennessee Williams classic, A Streetcar Named Desire.

So, to celebrate and commemorate the eighteen plays -- revivals and new works -- that opened on Broadway in the 1997-98 season, Playbill asked each playwright to choose the quintessential moment from his or her play. In cases where the playwright is no longer living, we asked the director of the production. The result is a photo gallery of this season's plays. The next time you want to hear an eleven o'clock spot, take a look at the following photo gallery of this year's highlights.

"On nights like this, my mind goes back to this house, this time of year... and in particular, to that last night of that summer when we packed to close it up... not knowin' it would be for the last time."
Neil Simon
Proposals "Keep them guessing Jackie. They may not understand you, they may not even like you, but at least they'll never forget you."
Gip Hoppe
Jackie

"You see that house? I used to live there."
David Mamet
The Old Neighborhood

"How spent I am, how I despise myself. I hear my own voice and I hate it. I look at my own hands, my clothes, my feet even and I seem to know them too well."
Anton Chekov
Ivanov

"Unless you write yourself, you can't know how wonderful it is. When I write I shake off all my cares. But I want to achieve more than that. I want to be useful and bring enjoyment to all people, even those I've never met. I want to go on living even after my death."
Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett, newly adapted by Wendy Kesselman
The Diary of Anne Frank

"Willie, we did comedy together for 45 years and I don't think you enjoyed it once."
Neil Simon
The Sunshine Boys

"Just remember, kid, you can quicker get back a million dollars that was stole than a word that you gave away."
Arthur Miller
A View from the Bridge

"Fausto, ever since we've been together you've had the Midas touch in reverse -- everything you touch turns to caca."
John Leguizamo
Freak

"My friend Serge has bought a painting."
Yasmina Reza
Art

"You sort of forget the moon was the same back then -- and everything."
Eugene O'Neill
Ah, Wilderness!

"There was talent there. Just a spark, that's all. Not a great fire, I'm not saying that. But the world is a dark enough place for even a little flicker to be welcome."
Terence Rattigan
The Deep Blue Sea

"I hope you've invited everyone -- all the big names -- all the property developers and experts."
Eugene Ionesco, translated by Martin Crimp
The Chairs

"My father, Tieng-Bin, this one thing I will never forget -- you see, he is the one -- who take the bindings from my feet."
David Henry Hwang
Golden Child

"In the country of the dark the one-eyed woman is queen."
Frederick Knott
Wait Until Dark

"So long as it's you and me, and the warmth of us cuddled up, and the skins of us asleep, is all I ever really wanted anyway."
Martin McDonagh
The Beauty Queen of Leenane

"Is passion love?
Joanna Murray-Smith
Honour

"Love is not the illusion, life is."
David Hare
The Judas Kiss

-- By Dick Scanlan