Best Plays 2003 - 2004

[MargoChanning]

Best Plays 2003 - 2004#0

Posted: 6/27/04 at 5:27pm

Not sure if anyone has already posted this, but the Best Plays series (which dates back to 1920) has released the volume for 2003-2004. The top-ten list is from a mix of Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway productions that opened between June 1, 2003, and May 31, 2004 (by the way, "I Am My Own Wife" made last year's top ten list):

Anna in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz
Caroline, or Change by Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori
Frozen by Bryony Lavery
Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage
Living Out by Lisa Loomer
The Long Christmas Ride Home by Paula Vogel
Omnium Gatherum by Theresa Rebeck and Alexandra Gersten Vassilaros
Small Tragedy by Craig Lucas
The Violet Hour by Richard Greenberg
Well by Lisa Kron

A good list overall, though I'd have preferred "Beard of Avon" or "Bug" or "Blackbird" to "Omnium Gatherum," "Anna In The Tropics" or "The Violet Hour."

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

[Borstalboy]

re: Best Plays 2003 - 2004#1

Posted: 6/27/04 at 9:55pm

SMALL TRAGEDY made it in the book!!!! Yay! I think THE VIOLET HOUR is actually Greenberg's best work....I didn't see the NY production but I did read it and I have a feeling it will get a more together production in the future a la Shepard's TRUE WEST.
LIVING OUT on the other hand, I just don't get it.

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” ~ Muhammad Ali

[Matt_G]

re: Best Plays 2003 - 2004#2

Posted: 6/27/04 at 9:56pm

Interesting that CAROLINE OR CHANGE made the list since it was a musical.

"Noah, someday we'll talk again. But there's things we'll never say. That sorrow deep inside you. It inside me, too. And it never go away. You be okay. You'll learn how to lose things..."

[Borstalboy]

re: Best Plays 2003 - 2004#3

Posted: 6/27/04 at 9:59pm

Oh, they usually include the noteworthy musicals in this series.

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” ~ Muhammad Ali

[MargoChanning]

re: Best Plays 2003 - 2004#4

Posted: 6/27/04 at 10:05pm

Several dozen musicals have been selected during the series' history.

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

[Matt_G]

re: Best Plays 2003 - 2004#5

Posted: 6/27/04 at 10:07pm

But don't they have a seperate series for musicals?

"Noah, someday we'll talk again. But there's things we'll never say. That sorrow deep inside you. It inside me, too. And it never go away. You be okay. You'll learn how to lose things..."

[MargoChanning]

re: Best Plays 2003 - 2004#6

Posted: 6/27/04 at 10:29pm

No. It's just a name -- they choose the ten finest theatrical productions (in the estimation of the editors) of the New York season and have for the better part of a century. You should check them out in your local library (I read and re-read every single volume over and over when I was a teenager). There are essays evaluating the season that's past -- Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway and regional theater around the country, discussing every production from every theatre of note in the US (making it an invaluable resource). They used to also include Hirshfeld drawings and very detailed summaries of each of the top ten plays and musicals with large excerpts from each. They now just have essays about each of the ten written by noted critics. Definitely worth checking out if you don't know about the series.

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

Updated On: 6/27/04 at 10:29 PM

[Matt_G]

re: Best Plays 2003 - 2004#7

Posted: 6/27/04 at 10:31pm

I used to read them all the time from the library, too. For some reason I thought I remembered two seperate volumes, though. One for plays and one for musicals.

"Noah, someday we'll talk again. But there's things we'll never say. That sorrow deep inside you. It inside me, too. And it never go away. You be okay. You'll learn how to lose things..."