Your Year In Theatre - 2010- Page 2

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 2:49pm

Finian's Rainbow - January 2, 2010
Wishful Drinking - January 17, 2010
A Little Night Music - January 27, 2010
Present Laughter - January 29, 2010
Clybourne Park - February 27, 2010
A Behanding in Spokane - March 6, 2010
LOOPED - March 13, 2010
Time Stands STill - March 27, 2010
Lend Me A Tenor - March 31, 2010
La Cage aux Folles - April 14, 2010
The Addams Family - April 21, 2010
ENRON - April 24, 2020
Sondheim on Sondheim - April 28, 2010
White's Lies - May 3, 2010
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson - June 28, 2010
Everyday Rapture - July 6, 2010
Promises, Promises - July 14, 2010
The Ptimen Painters - October 3, 2010
A Life in the Theatre - October 10, 2010
Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson - October 16, 2010
The Scottsboro Boys - November 5, 2010
Women on teh Verge... - November 13, 2010
Brief Encounter - November 22, 2010
The Pee-Wee Herman Show - November 28, 2010
La Bete - December 23, 2010

[flaemmchen]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 3:11pm

Favorites:
1) Brief Encounter--Great performances, gorgeous production values, and I left grinning like an idiot!
2) Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson--No, it's not the best musical to come along in the last five years, but I had a blast and couldn't get the score out of my head. Oh, and Ben Walker...
3) Merry Wives of Windsor--Caught this tour of The Globe UK's production at Pace. I loved seeing this less performed comedy, and the cast looked like they enjoyed every minute of it. I really hope The Globe brings another tour through the U.S. soon!
4) Macbeth (The Globe UK)--Bloodier than the 2008 revival if possible. Keith Dunphy was particularly excellent as Macduff and had me in tears during the "What, all my pretty chickens and their dam in one fell swoop" section.
5) La Bete--Smart, funny, and an epic performance from Mark Rylance. Seeing Joanna Lumley live on-stage was also thrilling.

I'm most excited for:
The Field with Brian Dennehy in Dublin (seeing it!)
War Horse
How to Succeed...
The Importance of Being Earnest

Updated On: 12/22/10 at 03:11 PM

[dragonlp86]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 3:17pm

Actually, this was my first year to actually make it to New York City. I've been several times, however, and we've managed to cram in as many shows as possible each time!

March - Time Stands Still, The Addams Family, Next to Normal, & Hair.

April - Wicked (tour stop in New Orleans)

May - Young Frankenstein (tour stop in Houston)

June - Next to Normal (with Brian d'Arcy James)

August - A Little Night Music, La Cage aux Folles, Promises Promises, In the Heights, Memphis, Next to Normal

December - Elf, In the Heights, Next to Normal, Time Stands Still, and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

I've enjoyed all of them, really. 'Next to Normal' is obviously a favourite of mine (and I'll be there on the 16th of January as well). BBAJ was amazing, as was 'A Little Night Music'. Also, I'm very glad I was able to see 'In the Heights' those two times, as I absolutely love that show and am very sad it's closing.

[Lucien2]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 3:19pm

I'm fairly new to theater going, up until last fall I had been to 4 shows total.After seeing God of Carnage, A Steady Rain and my personal favorite Superior Donuts,I was hooked and vowed to go to as many shows as I could afford this year. This year I went to 22 shows.Here's the list:
A Behanding In Spokane
Race
A View From The Bridge
Time Stands Still
Red
Fences
The Addams Family
A Little Night Music(Lansbury)
This Wide Night
Red
Lend Me A Tenor
Death Of A Salesman(Weston,VT-Christopher Lloyd)
Million Dollar Quartet with Jerry Lee Lewis
Trust
The Pillowman(Concord,NH)
39th Annual Community Theatre Festival(Milford,NH)
American Idiot with Billie Joe Armstrong
Time Stands Still(Opening Night #2)
Death Of A Salesman(UNH-Christopher Lloyd)
A Life In The Theatre
Driving Miss Daisy
The Merchant Of Venice

Top 5:
1.Red-Alfred Molina was just incredible both times.I'm not much for awards shows but I found myself really excited when Red won.
2.This Wide Night-Amazing performances.I hope this gets the recognition it deserves.
3.The Merchant Of Venice-Loved everything from the set to the characters.It was an honor to see Al Pacino and Lily Rabe perform.
4.Time Stands Still-Both times were great.I saw it once with Alicia and once with Christina.Laura Linney is a pleasure to watch perform.
5.Fences-Viola Davis stole the show for me.Great play.

My biggest surprise was Lend Me A Tenor. I went because I was curious and got a cheap ticket.That show was hilarious, their timing was perfect and I really loved how they did the whole play again in about 2 minutes to close the show.
Maybe it's because I'm new but every show that I saw this year was good.I feel very fortunate and I can't wait for 2011.I'm

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 3:23pm

1/10 - Ragtime
1/22 - Night Music
1/29 - Jersey Boys
1/30 - Next to Normal
2/21 - God of Carnage
3/7 - Hair
4/3 - Next to Normal
5/2 - Next to Normal
6/13 - Sondheim on Sondheim
6/30 - American Idiot
7/18 - Next to Normal
8/13 - Night Music
9/4 - American Idiot
9/4 - La Cage
11/26 - Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

I'm probably forgetting some.

[CockeyedOptimist2]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 3:31pm

I just moved to New York this summer, so I've been overdosing on theatre. Here are my top 10 theatrical events I attended this year (in chronological order):

1. Finian's Rainbow closing performance
2. Sondheim on Sondheim
3. Red
4. Next to Normal- Alice Ripley's last performance
5. South Pacific closing performance
6. Brief Encounter
7. Paolo Szot concert at Cafe Carlyle
8. Kelli O'Hara concert at Feinstein's
9. Bells are Ringing at Encores
10. The Scottsboro Boys closing performance

It's definitely been a good year for me full of some very strong highlights to outweigh the few bad shows I've seen.

[jagfkb]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 3:35pm

I saw near 80 shows this year, the most as of yet. My top pics:

Ragtime (Final Perofmrance w/ Christiane Noll)
American Idiot (Third Preview, still my favorite performance of that show)
The Scottsboro Boys (Vineyard & Broadway, both equally incredible)
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (All 5 times Off Broadway and all 3 on Broadway; easily my favorite new musical of the year)
Fela (Night before Tony Awards, absolutely incredible)
Hair (Saw the two final matinees, absolutely incredible both times)
A Little Night Music (Opening night with Bernadette & Elaine... this year in theatre reached a new pinacle with that performance)
Next to Normal (With Marin... God I love her...)
The Pee Wee Herman Show (Favorite play this year, without question)
Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark (Half because I actually enjoyed it and found Taymor's vision incredible, half because i was there the first preview, and that needs to count for something...)

Greatest Disappointments:

West Side Story (I love the show, and Natalie Cortez as Anita... hate this production)
Promises, Promises (Though it gave us Katie Finneran in easily the best featured performance of the year, it lacked... luster... I still love the actual piece though)

[once a month]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 3:43pm

12-29-10 Brief Encounter
12-11-10 Pee Wee Herman Show
11-27-10 Brief Encounter
11-24-10 Devil Boys From Beyond
11-07-10 Leonard Bernstein Tribute, Concert
11-06-10 Mrs. Warren’s Profession
10-24-10 Dralion-Cirque du Soleil
10-09-10 Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
09-26-10 Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
08-07-10 A Little Night Music, revival
05-12-10 Closer Than Ever, revival
05-08-10 Lend Me a Tenor, revival
05-07-10 La Cage aux Folles, revival
04-25-10 Sylvia, revival
04-17-10 The Scottsboro Boys
04-10-10 Anyone Can Whistle; Concert
04-03-10 Promises, Promises, revival
03-17-10 The Addams Family
03-06-10 Divine Sister

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 4:24pm

Dreamgirls (national tour)
The Comedy of Errors (Chicago Shakespeare Theater)
Ragtime (Drury Lane--Oakbrook)
Into the Woods (high school production)
Chicago (high school production)
Avenue Q (national tour)
Ragtime (Drury Lane again)
Sondheim: 80 (Ravinia Concert)
Annie Get Your Gun (Ravinia Concert with Patti Lupone)
A Chorus Line (Marriot Theater in Lincolnshire)
Rock of Ages (national tour)
Candide (Goodman Theater)

A smaller list compared to most. May top three were: Ragtime, A Chorus Line, and Candide. I was also in a production of Seussical this summer.

Planned for next year:
Les Miserables (national tour)
Aida (Drury Lane Oakbrook)
Next to Normal (national tour)
Working (Broadway Playhouse)
Sweeney Todd (Drury Lane Oakbrook)

I will also be in The Drowsy Chaperone and The Wizard of Oz (and hopefully some other shows, too)

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 4:49pm

Oh God, I don't remember. I know I saw Legally Blonde and Oliver in London. Candide, Detroit, Billy Elliot, Rock of Ages, Shrek, 39 Steps, August: Osage County, Addams Family and Dreamgirls in Chicago. Xanadu in Cleveland. Maybe some other stuff, too. Julie Taymor won't allow me to think on my own any more, so it's really hard to say.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 5:05pm

Shows I've seen this year, by rank:

1. Ragtime(B'way)
2. La Cage aux Folles(2x)(B'way)
3. A Chorus Line(tour, Wilmington, DE)
4. Memphis(B'way)
5. The Addams Family(B'way)
6. White Christmas(Walnut Street, Philadelphia)
7. Peter Pan(Papermill)
8. West Side Story(B'way)

sadly that's all I've been able to see this year.

[Gink]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 5:20pm

Finnian's Rainbow
Lend Me a Tenor
In the Heights
La Cage
Elf
A Little Night Music

Going to See Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson Next week.
LOVED Lend me a Tenor, La Cage and In the Heights.
Really liked Elf and A Little Night Music and Rainbow which was dated but wonderfully acted.
Updated On: 12/22/10 at 05:20 PM

[Wishing Only Wounds]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 5:31pm

Bye Bye Birdie
Memphis
The Phantom of The Opera
God of Carnage
American Idiot
La Cage aux Folles
Wicked
The Lion King
A Little Night Music (Catherine/Angela)
Everyday Rapture
Promises, Promises
Shrek (tour)
Les Mis (tour)

I feel like I'm forgetting some, but I'll be damned if I can remember what...

Top Five (only doing this for shows I saw for the very first time this year.)
Les Mis
La Cage
Memphis
A Little Night Music
Bye Bye Birdie

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 8:24pm

SHOWS SEEN: (9 TOTAL)
Wicked (tour)
Ragtime
The Lion King (tour)
American Idiot
Fiddler on the Roof (Walnut Street Theatre)
Dreamgirls (tour)
A Little Night Music
Next to Normal
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

MY TOP 5 (in quality order): RAGTIME, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, NEXT TO NORMAL, AMERICAN IDIOT, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

[MadameLibrarian212]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 8:59pm

bye bye birdie
billy elliot
south pacific (with lauara osnes as nellie)
avenue q
phantom of the opera (2nd time)
promises promises

[musical_ash_09]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 9:05pm

I feel kind of ridiculous after seeing other peoples posts but here goes...

Wicked with Andy Karl and Mandy Gonzalez
Mary Poppins
and my FAVORITE THING BY FAR that I experienced this year was LEND ME A TENOR. I miss this show every day. Soooo funny!

[After Eight]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 9:47pm

I haven't counted the exact number, but I've probably seen over 100 shows this year.

The best of these were the revivals of "A View from the Bridge," "The Boys in the Band," "Another Part of the Forest," and "The Merchant of Venice."

Of the new shows, there was little that I found out of this world. The best was "The Aliens," by a playwright whose previous efforts I throughly disliked, and two older plays previously not seen here, "Alphabetical Order," and a reading of "The Men from the Boys." I had a good time, too, at "Women on the Verge."

The duds/horrors were many, most notably: "Mr. & Mrs. Fitch (a lollapalooza still hard to believe); "The Kid"; "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety" (a Pulitzer finalist, alas); "Mistakes Were Made" (the biggest being my seeing it); "The Language Archive;" "The Break of Noon;" "All About Me;" "The Addams Family;" and last, but not least, the biggest one of all: "Spider-man."
Updated On: 12/23/10 at 09:47 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 9:57pm

I would have to say the highlights of my year were the Denver Center Theatre Company's production of "The 39 Steps" (It was excellent and extended as well it should have) and the National Tour of "In The Heights". I expected not to like it and completely fell in love with the show.

[GatorNY]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 10:43pm

I should start keeping a journal so I can remember the dates like you guys. My year pretty much went like this: Started off with Ragtime- final performance.
Then a few visits (2-3) to the Booth to visit with the Goodmans of Next to Normal fame. Next, I discovered a little show off broadway called YANK! which I became totally enamored with and saw twice. After that I checked out South Pacific with my best friend, partner and husband of 13 years. In the Spring, I saw a preview of Promises Promises and then caught American Idiot and La Cage prior to the Tony Awards, and one of the last performances of The Scottsboro Boys at the Vineyard.Around the same time as this, we also saw Next Fall, and were blown away, and I took several of the younger doctors from work to see HAIR before it closed. I went back to the Booth for Alice's last time as diana, then back on Monday for Marin's firsts outing. I took my husband back to Next to Normal to see the new cast a few weeks later with friends from work. He liked Marin better than Alice. As the summer ended, I went back to see American Idiot again and the checked out Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson- I welcomed the opportunity to see it with a friend a week later, since i was not able to pay attention during my first visit at the end due to needing to get to the restroom so badly. I enjoyed the second viewing much more than the first. Next I took a friend to see In the Heights for his birthday, and found that I was was so much more a fan after this time than I was after my first viewing in Summer 2008. Most recently, I've gone back with more friends from work to see Next to Normal. I'm planning to play TKTS surprise on Sunday, and go and just surprise myself with a show. I also enjoyed:
The Miscast Gala
Betty at Feinsteins
Linda Eder at Feinsteins
Alice at Dopo Teatro
and the You are Not Alone Concert with Aaron Lazar, Tony Yazbeck, Mark Kuddish, and who ever the fierce gay girl was who sang" I Got Love" from PURLIE. She was awesome.

[purtynpynk]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 10:52pm

Well, I finally made it to New York this year, and while I was there, I saw three shows:

Memphis
Next to Normal
Hair

The following shows I have seen on tour in Chicago (my hometown) this year:

-Jersey Boys (final performance)
-Mamma Mia
-Stomp
-Avenue Q
-Shrek the Musical
-Billy Elliot
-Rock of Ages
-Million Dollar Quartet

Highlights:
Jersey Boys last show was by far the best experience i've ever had at the theater. Slept overnight on the sidewalk for a rush ticket, and the energy of the performance was perfect.
-Maybe not a performance highlight, but there was a rat crawling around on the floor in the row behind me at memphis. definitely made for some unwanted attention during act 2.
-Say what you want about Million Dollar Quartet, but I thought it was a blast, and it had be on my feet by the end of it!

Low Points:
-Missing a quarter of Hair because I couldn't see around someone's head.
-Shrek the musical. Was excited despite the distaste for it here, but it just didn't do it for me.

[Overkill]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 11:21pm

I didn't make it to New York at all this year. So no Broadway shows. Excluding all the bootlegs. lol But I've seen productions of the following:

Crimes of the Heart
Ragtime
The Producers (Jefferson Performing Arts Soceity, New Orleans)
Scream Queens (Jefferson Performing Arts Soceity, New Orleans)
Marat/Sade
The Yellow Boat
Once On This Island

And then at Disney World (it counts)
Finding Nemo: The Musical (Twice in one day, two different casts)
Festival of The Lion King
Voyage of The Little Mermaid

Jeeeez. I saw less than I thought. This sucks. lol I've just been so busy being IN shows. 2011 will be better.

[HummingAlong]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 12:15am

Pre-Move to NYC:
Addams Family (final Chicago preview)
In The Heights
next to normal (okay, a few times)
Phantom (regional)
State Fair (HS)


Post-Move to NYC:
American Idiot
Addams Family (Broadway)
next to normal (umm..a few more times...)
In Transit (59E59)
Me, Myself & I (Playwright's Horizon)
Wings (Second Stage)
After The Revolution (Playwright's Horizon)
Wicked
Long Story Short
Love, Loss, and What I Wore
Memphis
Promises, Promises
Lombardi
Spider-Man (2nd preview)
next to normal (uh, yeah...)

[April Saul]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 1:15am

Saw too many to count! My favorites were:

A Little Night Music with Bernadette and Elaine
Fences
The Aliens
A Lie of the Mind
American Idiot
Clybourne Park
In the Wake
Gatz
Angels in America
Bells Are Ringing
Merchant of Venice in the park
Dusk Rings a Bell
The Pride
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity
Bachelorette
The Normal Heart (reading with Mantello, Close, et al.)
This Wide Night
Middletown
Zero Hour
Mistakes Were Made
Memphis
Love, Loss and What I Wore
Lend Me a Tenor
Promises, Promises

Had already seen and enjoyed Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Time Stands Still, West Side Story, Fela!, Next to Normal, Brief Encounter, and Everyday Rapture.

Biggest disappointments:
Trust at Second Stage
The Miracle Worker
Mr. and Mrs. Fitch
Mrs. Warren's Profession

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 11:36am

@newintown

With all of the shows you saw in 2010 (and it's an impressive list), some truly wonderful and others not so much (IMHO), I'm curious as to why you didn't see "A Little Night Music", especially with the new cast. I guess you still have two weeks, and truly, just to see Bernadette alone is worth it. There's a reason that Isherwood called it the best new show in town when it re-opened in July.

[newintown]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 11:45am

Thanks for the tip, raised - saw it last December. I would like to see the new gals, but just haven't... no particular reason. Some things get away from you. I've seen a lot of Night Musics, and this one was neither the best nor worst.