Favorite Shows of 2019

We have a thread discussing the best Broadway cast recording of 2019, as well as threads discussing the best and worst of the past decade, but I didn't see a thread devoted simply to what everyone saw this year (apologies if this already exists; I did a search and nothing turned up!).

So, what were your favorite theatrical experiences of 2019? Feel free to list as many or as few as you'd like.

Here's mine:

To Kill a Mockingbird

Hadestown

What the Constitution Means to Me

Mrs. Murray's Menagerie

Octet

A Strange Loop

Six (A.R.T.)

The Wrong Man

Little Shop of Horrors

More specifically, my favorite theatrical experiences of this year were getting a job in the industry (FINALLY) and performing my one-woman show in NYC again (which you, BroadwayGuy, so graciously support). The Across a Crowded Room writers' workshop at Lincoln Center was also great fun.

Broadwaywise, I only saw The Prom, Kiss Me Kate, Merrily We Roll Along, BCEFA's Red Bucket Follies, and Jagged Little Pill. Long story as to why I don't see more stuff. But I really enjoyed all five of them!

Updated On: 12/28/19 at 05:13 PM

SIX (Chicago)

Rock of Ages (NWS)

Yiddish Fiddler

Tootsie

Burn This

The Waverly Gallery

BCEFA Disney on Broadway 25th Anniversary Concert

West Side Story
Little Shop of Horrors (Off- Broadway)
Evita (New York City Center)
The Sound Inside
What the Constitution Means to Me
Oklahoma!
Moulin Rouge!
Hadestown

Updated On: 12/29/19 at 07:46 PM

BroadwayGuy12 said: "So, what were your favorite theatrical experiences of 2019?"


My favorite theatrical experience of 2019 wasn’t a show that opened this year, but closed - KINKY BOOTS. Saw it back-to-back the same day with my other favorite theatrical experience or 2019, again not a show that opened this year but is the longest running - PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. With both shows it was my first time seeing them on Broadway, and was blown away by both of them.

Best musical- Moulin Rouge

Best drama- The Inheritance

My top 10:

1. Choir Boy - Manhattan Theatre Club
2. Octet - Signature Theatre
3. Heroes of the Fourth Turning - Playwrights Horizons
4. Daddy - The New Group and Vineyard Theatre
5. White Noise - Public Theater
6. The Flick - Shotgun Players
7. Hurricane Diane - New York Theatre Workshop
8. Our Dear Dead Druglord - Women’s Project Theatre
9. Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie - Ars Nova
10. The Lehman Trilogy - Park Avenue Armory

After I see Pride and Prejudice at Theatreworks tomorrow, I will have seen 60 shows this year. 49 of them are unique. 12 were Broadway, 4 were off-Broadway, 8 were touring productions, and 25 were Bay Area regional/local shows. I saw 38 musicals and 11 plays, plus 8 concerts/cabaret shows (not included in the totals above).

The show I saw the most was SF Playhouse's production of Groundhog Day (5 times so far), followed by Come From Away (4 times between the tour and Broadway). I also saw Octet, Hello Dolly!, Hamilton San Francisco, and Hadestown each twice.



My top picks:

Come From Away (saw both the tour and Broadway productions)

The Scarlet Pimpernel (concert at Lincoln Center)

Metamorphoses (Berkeley Rep)

Hello Dolly! (tour)

The Jungle (Curran Theater in San Francisco)

Weightless (ACT in San Francisco)

Hadestown

The Ferryman

Octet

Once (42nd Street Moon in San Francisco)

The Cake (New Conservatory Theater in San Francisco)

Groundhog Day (SF Playhouse in San Francisco)



Honorable mentions:

-What the Constitution Means to Me

-The Prom

-Bull in a China Shop (Aurora Theater Company in Berkeley, CA)

-The Daughters (SF Playhouse in San Francisco, CA)

-Cabaret (SF Playhouse in San Francisco, CA)

-The Play That Goes Wrong (tour)

-Hamilton (And Peggy) tour



Notable concert/cabaret:

-Faith Prince

-Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp

-Beth Leavel

In no particular order:

Heroes of the Fourth Turning

The Prom

The Sound Inside

Betrayal

Hilary and Clinton

Greater Clements

Choirboy

Height of the Storm

Scotland, Pa.

Beetlejuice

Listed Alphabetically:

* The Band’s Visit (Broadway - second visit)
* Falsettos (on tour/Sacramento)
* Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish
* Frost/Nixon (Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma)
* Hadestown
* Hamilton (once in Chicago, twice on The Philip Tour in OKC)
* Hello, Dolly! (on tour/OKC)
* Little Shop of Horrors
* Moulin Rouge
* Waitress (on tour/Oklahoma City)
* The Waverly Gallery

Honorable Mention:

Torch Song

To Kill a Mockingbird

Updated On: 12/29/19 at 02:18 AM

The closing performances of THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG & KINKY BOOTS.

COME FROM AWAY(4x in 2019)

HADESTOWN

Updated On: 12/29/19 at 10:34 AM

Musical: Oklahoma!

Play: The Inheritance and The Sound Inside

Immersive: The Blood Comedies and The Winter Machine (both in L.A.). The Blood Comedies is my favorite theatrical experience of any kind. It was just me and one actor in a room for 30 minutes and it was one of the best things I've ever experienced. By the end of it, I was sobbing, the actor was crying, we were hugging, it was extraordinary.