Newintown, it would really be interesting to hear your reaction to the new cast. I saw the show with both casts, and the new cast is a revelation. Look at how many others in this thread rate it among the year's highlights. Thanks for the reply.
CZJ at opening night party for A Little Night Music, Dec 13, 2009.
Broadway: American Idiot Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson Memphis Promises, Promises
Regional/Tour: Dreamgirls (Ahmanson in LA) South Pacific (Ahmanson in LA) Next to Normal (Ahmanson in LA) Leap of Faith (Ahmanson in LA) Rent (Hollywood Bowl)
"I wish the stage were as narrow as the wire of a tightrope dancer, so that no incompetent would dare step upon it." Goethe
These are the ten performances I saw this year that stood out to me the most, listed in alphabetical order.
Kristin Chenoweth - Promises, Promises Katie Rose Clarke - Wicked Meghann Fahy - next to normal Katie Finneran - Promises, Promises Mandy Gonzalez - Wicked Sean Hayes - Promises, Promises Marin Mazzie - nexy to normal Bernadette Peters - A Little Night Music Alice Ripley - next to normal Elaine Stritch - A Little Night Music
The top two for me were Ms. Mazzie and Ms. Peters.
Promises, Promises - great except for Kristin(miscast)
La Cage - really funny! Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge were phenomenal and Kelsey was so gracious at the stage door!
A Little Night Music - The highlight of the year! Elaine Strich was amazing and Bernadette took my breath away way. I finally understood Send In The Clowns with Bernadette's interpretation.
"Look I made a hat... where there never was a hat."
"Think of how I adore you, think of how much you love me. If I were perfect for you, wouldn't you tire of me?"
"Somebody, crowd me with love. Somebody, force me to care. Somebody, make me come through, I'll always be there, as frightened as you, to help us survive. Being alive. Being alive. Being alive!"
"There are worse things than staring at the water as you're posing for a picture after sleeping on the ferry after getting up at seven to come over to an island in the middle of a river half an hour from the city on a Sunday!"
2010 theatre for me: Time Stands Still – January 17 Billy Elliot – January 23 In the Heights – February 21 A View From the Bridge – March 6 Next to Normal (Jessica Phillips as Diana) – March 21 Anyone Can Whistle – April 10 A Little Night Music (Catherine Zeta Jones / Karen Murphy) – April 17 Sondheim on Sondheim – May 2 A Little Night Music (Jayne Patterson / Angela Lansbury) – May 30 God of Carnage – forgot, I’ll have to find my ticket stub The Tony Awards – June 13 Promises, Promises + Broadway Barks – July 10 In the Heights – August 1 Million Dollar Quartet – August 28 Avenue Q – September 18 Rock of Ages + Flea Market – September 26 Next to Normal (new family, my final time) – October 23 A Little Night Music (Bernadette Peter / Elaine Stritch) – October 27 mat American Idiot – October 27 eve The Phantom of the Opera – November 6 Time Stands Still – November 16 The Pee Wee Herman Show – November 27 Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown – December 22
Total: 22 (17 not counting repeats) 12 musicals, 4 plays 2 off-Broadway, the rest on Broadway
ALthough I live out west, I came into New York multiple times this year and was able to see 36 productions. Here are my Top 10 of 2010 Lists (in alphabetical order):
TOP 10 FAVORITE NEW PRODUCTIONS OF 2010: American Idiot Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson Fences The Merchant of Venice Next Fall Red The Scottsboro Boys Sondheim on Sondheim Time Stands Still A View From the Bridge
TOP 10 FAVORITE INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES OF 2010: Laura Benanti in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Viola Davis in Fences Katie Finneran in Promises, Promises James Earl Jones in Driving Miss Daisy Alfred Molina in Red Al Pacino in The Merchant of Venice Eddie Redmayne in Red Mark Rylance in La Bete Liev Schreiber in A View From the Bridge Denzel Washington in Fences
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS OF 2010: The Addams Family A Free Man of Color The Glass Menagerie
For the record, since everyone is listing them, here are the New York productions I saw in 2010---
BROADWAY PLAYS: Next Fall Collected Stories Fences Lend Me a Tenor Red The Pitmen Painters Brief Encounter Lombardi La Bete The Importance of Being Earnest Time Stands Still Driving Miss Daisy The Merchant of Venice A Free Man of Color
BROADWAY MUSICALS: Promises, Promises American Idiot (twice) The Addams Family South Pacific In the Heights (3rd time) Come Fly Away Everyday Rapture Sondheim on Sondheim La Cage aux Folles Next to Normal (3rd time) The Scottsboro Boys Elf Chicago (2nd time) Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
OFF-BROADWAY PRODUCTIONS: The Glass Menagerie The Burnt Part Boys The Screwtape Letters Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson Freud's Last Session
OTHER: The Tony Awards
*FYI, I actually saw A View From the Bridge in 2009 in previews, but since it didn't open until 2010, I included it in my Best of 2010 lists. Similarly, I did not consider The Importance of Being Earnest in those lists since I saw it in previews and it will not open until 2011.
I loved them both. In Toronto, I also saw Rock of Ages and Priscilla: Queen of the Desert. I can't wait for Priscilla to premiere in NYC in the new year. You guys are in for a treat.
As a college student living in Virginia, I only get to visit once or twice a year. I saw seven shows in NY this year.
Broadway: Next to Normal - July 19 (first performance of Marin, Jason, Meghann) Lend Me A Tenor - July 20 The Addams Family - July 21 Million Dollar Quartet - July 21 Promises, Promises - July 22 The Lion King - July 23 Time Stands Still - September 25
National Tour: Legally Blonde - October 27 (non-Equity)
Community Theatre: Greater Tuna - March 26 Social Security - April 10 Don't Dress for Dinner - May 22 The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) - June 12 Alice in Wonderland - July 3 Annie, Jr. - July 9 Hamlet - July 25 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - September 11 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - September 17 (different theatre)
College: The Fantasticks - March 27 Is He Dead? - April 22, April 23 Dog Sees God - May 2 Hairspray - October 9 Hecuba - October 10 The Secret Garden - October 14 The Good Woman of Setzuan - October 23 A Christmas Carol - December 10
High School: Peter Pan - March 6 The Foreigner - April 17 Dracula - October 15 The Wedding Singer - October 16 Lend Me A Tenor - December 9
Was In: Thoroughly Modern Millie (as Millie) (College Production) - February 25-28 Into the Woods (as Florinda) (Community Theatre) - May 7-15 Originals: A New Musical (Community Theatre) - July 15-18 Urinetown (as Hope) (Community Theatre) - November 5-20
Top 4 NY Shows: Next to Normal Lend Me A Tenor Promises, Promises Time Stands Still
Top 4 Non-NY Shows: Complete....Shakespeare Hamlet Is He Dead? Peter Pan
Starting off 2011 by rehearsals and performances of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG (as Mary), auditioning at SETC and seeing "Catch Me If You Can," "Anything Goes," and "The Book of Mormon" during my Spring Break.
Will you all circle me with rocks and stone me to death if I admit that the Bway event I most enjoyed over the past 6 months was ELLING?
Okay, I confess, ELLING is the only show I saw. Wait, no, I did also see PeePee, with the miscast cast, and the over-rated Katie Finneran, and the shoe-horned-in-songs that never belonged there in the first place.
And I saw ElaineandBernadette in ALNM, and I don't care what anyone says, Stritch was a revelation, and Peters a profound disappointment, except for her one nice song. Beautiful show - still Sondheim's best, a pox on FOLLIES! - but an awful, awful production.
As for ELLING: I was forced to buy two tickets for a friend, I had to stand for 90 minutes in bitter cold NYC wintry weather at TKTS, I couldn't afford to go to a stupid Swedish play, or whatever the hell it was, I was about to dump my friend forever the minute the show was over, and then: shazzam! I kind of liked it. Much to my absolute surprise. The play had no interest in women, and it's a good thing they cast Jennifer Coolidge, who is so sublime that she makes an impression even when playing non-entities. But Dennis O'Hare and Brendan Fraser were both excellent. Excellent, I say!
Oh, right, and I saw - once again very much against my will - BELLS ARE RINGING, which. I. Loathed. Someone explain to me why Kelli O'Hara is so beloved. She has no comic timing and no charisma.
I haven't felt lately like there's much NYC theater out there that I can't live without. I've sort of been wishing I lived in Chicago, so I could go see VIRGINIA WOOLF and a bunch of other stuff.
10 - REGIONAL2: R&H'S CINDERELLA 15 - COLLEGE1: SOUTH PACIFIC 18 - REGIONAL3: ETHEL WATERS - HIS EYE IS ON THE SPARROW (Triad Stage) 27 - EVENT1: 24th ANNUAL EASTER BONNET COMPETITION 27 - BWAY1: LA CAGE AUX FOLLES 28 - BWAY2: EVERYDAY RAPTURE
JUNE
30 - REGIONAL4: THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL (Hot Summer Nights at the Kennedy)
JULY
24 - REGIONAL5: ALIEN CHILD (T. Schreiber Studio) 31 - OFFBWAY1: THE WINTER'S TALE
AUGUST
21 - BWAY3: NEXT TO NORMAL 24 - OFFBWAY2: ME, MYSELF & I 25 - OFFBWAY3: ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S BIG GAY DANCE PARTY
SEPTEMBER
5 - BWAY4: IN THE HEIGHTS 7 - OFFBWAY4: IT MUST BE HIM 9 - OFFBWAY5: THE REVIVAL 12 - BWAY5: IN THE HEIGHTS 14 - BWAY6: WICKED 16 - OFFBWAY6: ANGELS IN AMERICA - PART TWO: PERETROIKA (First Preview) 18 - BWAY7: BRIEF ENCOUNTER 24 - BWAY8: NEXT TO NORMAL 26 - BWAY9: NEXT TO NORMAL
OCTOBER
1 - BWAY10: THE PITMEN PAINTERS 2 - BWAY11: MRS. WARREN'S PROFESSION 8 - BWAY12: A LIFE IN THE THEATRE 9 - BWAY13: BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON 12 - BWAY14: LA BETE 13 - BWAY15: PROMISES, PROMISES 15 - BWAY16: LOMBARDI 17 - EVENT2: BROADWAY ORIGINALS CONCERT 17 - EVENT3: SWAN LAKE 18 - EVENT4: THE NORMAL HEART - A STAGED READING BENEFITING THE ACTOR'S FUND 20 - OFFBWAY7: BLUE MAN GROUP 23 - OFFBWAY8: WINGS 23 - BWAY17: A FREE MAN OF COLOR (First Preview) 24 - OFFBWAY9: SPIRIT CONTROL 24 - BWAY18: AMERICAN IDIOT 25 - BWAY19: COLIN QUINN - LONG STORY SHORT 26 - BWAY20: RAIN - A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES (Opening Night) 31 - BWAY21: NEXT TO NORMAL
NOVEMBER
2 - BWAY22: WICKED 3 - BWAY23: MEMPHIS 5 - EVENT5: NY COMEDY FESTIVAL (ROSIE O'DONNELL) 6 - BWAY24: ELF 7 - BWAY25: THE PEE-WEE HERMAN SHOW 8 - BWAY26: NEXT TO NORMAL 14 - BWAY27: ELLING 15 - BWAY28: NEXT TO NORMAL 18 - BWAY29: A FREE MAN OF COLOR 20 - REGIONAL6: [TITLE OF SHOW] (George St. Playhouse) 22 - BWAY30: BRIEF ENCOUNTER 28 - BWAY31: SPIDER-MAN - TURN OFF THE DARK 29 - BWAY32: ROCK OF AGES
DECEMBER
1 - BWAY33: WEST SIDE STORY 2 - REGIONAL7: WINTUK 8 - BWAY34: THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS 14 - BWAY35: A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC 16 - BWAY36: WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN 18 - BWAY37: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ERNEST 29 - BWAY38: SPIDER-MAN - TURN OFF THE DARK
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
Had a great theater filled year, especially being as far away from the city as I am.
Spring Awakening (tour) Jersey Boys (tour) In the Heights (3rd time seeing the show, winner of Be In the Heights Contest) Next to Normal (3rd time seeing show, first night with Marin and Jason, Met Tom and Brian!) A Little Night Music (Bernadette and Elaine) Billy Elliot Promises, Promises Memphis Lend Me a Tenor La Cage Our Town (Helen Hunt's Last Performance, met her and David Cromer afterwards) Freud's Last Session La Cage (second time) A Little Night Music (second time) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (local production) Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Time Stands Still Merchant of Venice Scottsboro Boys (great finish to my year of Broadway, really hoping it returns)
So that's 2010. Starting off 2011 early with a Patti LuPone concert in the next few weeks.
*Update* Was able to get two rush tickets to the Young Frankenstein tour yesterday, so that was my official last performance of 2010 Updated On: 12/31/10 at 09:09 PM
I feel like a horrible theater fan...this past year I have not seen nearly as many shows as I normally do/would like to Most are regional/community shows since the nearest touring city is Rochester and not a lot of shows came through this year :/ WICKED (2x) In The Heights Seussical Scrooge A Christmas Carol (non musical) Fences RENT Les Miserable How I Got My Drivers License Into the Woods The Wizard of Oz and a few other high school shows...if ya cant get professional productions they still do the trick... and played one of my dream roles... The Secret Garden - Archibald and did a lot of learning about the making's of a musical with a few local readings/workshops
"Life in theater is give and take...but you need to be ready to give more then you take..."
Only one NY production this year -- WEST SIDE STORY. Loved the dancing, hated the physical production. Performances were meh, but it was interesting to see it performed bilingually.
About all we get in this part of the world, aside from the usual community, university and school shows, are really awful touring productions (the BILLY ELLIOT that was in Raleigh this fall was unbelievably dreadful). But arguably my favourite show of the year was, believe it or not, an hour-long contest production of THREE BAGS FULL done by a high school in Georgia. Quick, smart, brilliantly staged -- gives me real hope for the future of this art form.
Counting a show that is booked for next week, I will have seen 68 plays this year. The full list is below in my signature. In summary:
NYC Broadway: 39 NYC Off-Broadway: 12 (including one Encore!) Other venues: 17
Highlights: Disclaimer: What I consider highlights is subject to change, as tastes change over time. These are more off the top of my head, without a lot of deep thought: Yank! Come Fly Away Jersey Boys (second time seeing this) Red La Cage aux Folles The Producers (yes, it was in a barn but I just love this play!) Mauritius The Scottsboro Boys Bells Are Ringing The Merchant of Venice
An ealier poster asked this: "Good golly, how do you guys remember all this stuff? " My answer: I keep a spreadsheet of my theatergoing.
Foe what it's worth, here are amended counts from my prior post: I didn't factor in the Las Vegas show that I saw. I always considered those to be in a separate category. Including them, amended counts for 2010 are:
NYC Broadway: 39 NYC Off-Broadway: 12 (including one Encore!) Las Vegas shows: 4 Other venues: 17 TOTAL: 72