Rank the Best to Worst Shows You've Seen in 2015 — Page 2

I saw 17 shows in 4 trips to NYC in 2015 and my best shows (that opened in 2014-2015): Hamilton, On the 20th Century (I saw 3x, counted only one of 17), Something Rotten, The Last Ship, Amazing Grace, Altar Boyz reunion concert at 54 below

Also liked these shows that opened in prior years: Les Miz, Wicked, Mamma Mia, Beautiful, Alladin, Matilda

Just ok: The King and I, On the Town

The rest were plays

Updated On: 12/22/15 at 05:39 PM

Well, here's my top 10:

1. Wolf Hall Parts 1 and 2
2. Mercury Fur
3. The King and I
4. Something Rotten
5. The Christians
6. John
7. King Charles III
8. The Humans
9. Airline Highway
10. Ripcord

Hard to pick my worst shows of the year but I really did not enjoy Theresa Raquin, A Delicate Balance, Hir, or Hand to God.

Updated On: 12/21/15 at 08:50 AM

I can't really rank everything because it's more than 130 shows but here's some of the best and worst.

BEST:

1) Verité

2) Hamilton

3) Thérèse Raquin

4) Who's Your Baghdaddy

5) Fun Home

6) View from the Bridge

7) The King & I

Little Shop of Horrors (Encores)

9) Let the Right One In

10) Steve

WORST:

1) Nevermore

2) These Paper Bullets

3) Fondly, Collette Richland

4) A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes

5) Laugh It Up, Stare It Down

6) The Gin Game

7) Gigantic

Mercury Fur

9) Big Love

10) China Doll

11) Important Hats of the Twentieth Century

12) Living on Love

13) It's Only a Play

14) Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Taye Diggs)

15) Songbird

I saw tons of shows this year, from LA to NY to London. My favorites, in alphabetical order:

American Idiot (DOMA Theatre Co.)

Bakkhai (Almeida Theatre)

Bent (Mark Taper Forum)

The Book of Mormon (Eugene O'Neill Theatre and The Prince of Wales Theatre)

Farinelli & the King (Duke of York's Theatre)

Fun Home (Circle in the Square Theatre)

Girlfriend (Kirk Douglas Theatre)

Guards at the Taj (Geffen Playhouse)

Gypsy (Savoy Theatre)

Hangmen (Royal Court)

Newsies (Pantages Theatre)

On the Twentieth Century (American Airlines Theatre)

Picnic (Antaeus Theatre Co.)

Something Rotten! (St. James Theatre)

Spring Awakening (Wallis Annenberg Center)

There were also shows that fell well short of their goals and/or my expectations. My least favorite, in alphabetical order:

Hamlet (Barbican Centre)

Matilda (Ahmanson Theatre)

The Sound of Music (Ahmanson Theatre)

Updated On: 12/21/15 at 08:22 PM

Among my best: Hamilton, Hedwig with John Cameron Mitchell, The King and I, Fiddler on the Roof, Something Rotten!, On the Town, Fun Home, Curious Incident, The Audience, Honeymoon in Vegas

The worst: It Shoulda Been You, Finding Neverland, On the Twentieth Century, Hedwig with Taye Diggs

Updated On: 12/23/15 at 02:41 AM

Have not yet seen Hamilton and can't get to View.

FAVORITE:

King Charles III -- incredible, in a word

Curious Incident (didn't get to see it until 2015)

Finding Neverland: I know it isn't perfect but I love it. I think the score is much maligned

The Audience

Something Rotten

Kinky Boots: saw it a third time in Boston and a fourth time in Tampa...loved it as much as the first time

Waitress...It is hard to believe that Jessie Mueller probably doesn't have a chance at the Tony, since here performance was ever better than in Beautiful.

An American in Paris

On The Town

LEAST FAVORITE:

Wolf Hall -- What a ----ing bore

Fun House -- I hated this show, which is really interesting considering that I like the CD, which is virtually the entire show. I was disappointed with the staging, based on the reviews, and I really did not like Cerveris' performance, which was also not a leading role, per the Tonys.

Newsies (in Tampa) -- worse than on Broadway, because you also had to deal with the huge theatre as well. How is it possible to be in the 10th row of the orchestra and feel like you are in another state...seems to be a common characteristic of these touring barns

Best/Mixed/Worst (LA version: Shows)

Best:

1.Spring Awakening (The Wallis)

2.Bent (Mark Taper Forum)

3.Guards at the Taj (Geffen Playhouse)

4.Newsies (Pantages)

5.The Bridges of Madison County (Ahmanson)

6.The Christians (Mark Taper Forum)

7.Madea on the Run (Dolby)

8.Girlfriend (Kirk Douglas)

9.If/Then (Pantages)

10.The Phantom of the Opera (Pantages)

11.Murder for Two (Geffen Playhouse)

12.Cinderella (Ahmanson)

13.These Paper Bullets (Geffen Playhouse)

14.Spamalot (Hollywood Bowl)

15.Guys and Dolls (The Wallis)

16.Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin (Geffen Playhouse)

17.Annie (Pantages)

Mixed:

1.Carrie (LA Theater)

2.Matilda (Ahmanson)

3.Outside Mullingar (Geffen Playhouse)

4.Riverdance (Pantages)

5.The Sound of Music (Ahmanson)

6.The Price (Mark Taper Forum)

7.We Are the Tigers (Hudson Backstage)

Worst:

1.The Object Lesson (Kirk Douglas)

2.Kansas City Choir Boy (Kirk Douglas)

3.Love Letters (The Wallis)

4.Straight White Men (Kirk Douglas)

5.Immediate Family (Mark Taper Forum)

6.Bad Jews (Geffen Playhouse)

7.Appropriate (Mark Taper Forum)

8.Motown (Pantages)

Concerts (3-Way Tie):

Idina Menzel (Hollywood Bowl)

Kristin Chenoweth (Walt Disney Concert Hall)

Audra McDonald (Hollywood Bowl)

**Seeing 1 more play next week. So I saw 36 different shows this year but went 42 times to the theatre.(some multiple times)

Updated On: 12/23/15 at 01:08 AM

Jarethan said: "Have not yet seen Hamilton and can't get to View.

FAVORITE:

King Charles III -- incredible, in a word

Curious Incident (didn't get to see it until 2015)

Finding Neverland: I know it isn't perfect but I love it. I think the score is much maligned

The Audience

Something Rotten

Kinky Boots: saw it a third time in Boston and a fourth time in Tampa...loved it as much as the first time

Waitress...It is hard to believe that Jessie Mueller probably doesn't have a chance at the Tony, since here performance was ever better than in Beautiful.

An American in Paris

On The Town

LEAST FAVORITE:

Wolf Hall -- What a ----ing bore

Fun House -- I hated this show, which is really interesting considering that I like the CD, which is virtually the entire show. I was disappointed with the staging, based on the reviews, and I really did not like Cerveris' performance, which was also not a leading role, per the Tonys.

Newsies (in Tampa) -- worse than on Broadway, because you also had to deal with the huge theatre as well. How is it possible to be in the 10th row of the orchestra and feel like you are in another state...seems to be a common characteristic of these touring barns

"

Fun HOUSE?

BWAY Baby2 said: "Most disappointing shows I saw because of all the hype-

Fun Home- okay but poorly staged and I just did not connect to it

"

Sam Gold's Tony is saying the opposite

1. Hamilton (Off Broadway was better because all that energy was in a smaller space. On Broadway I was in Rear Mezz and it didn't feel the same. Seeing a Javier performance from the orchestra next)

2. The Color Purple

3. A View From The Bridge

4. Little Shop of Horrors (Encores)

5. King Charles III

6. The Humans

7. Eclipsed

8. Constellations

worst

Hir

A Confederacy of Ducnces

John

heisenberg

My favorites of 2015:

1. Fun Home / Hamilton (TIE)

2. Hedwig with JCM

3. Let the Right One In

4. Hand to God

5. Ghosts (at BAM)

6. The King and I

7. Spring Awakening

8. Incident at Vichy

Really disliked:

Heisenberg

Lives of the Saints

Preludes

Lazarus

Updated On: 12/24/15 at 05:17 PM

I don't consider anything I saw this year bad but will list them from "best" to "worst".

1) Hamilton - lived up to the hype, totally amazing !!

2) Book Of Mormon - don't know why I did not see it sooner, tap dancing was better than I expected.

3) Spring Awakening - excellent production but still liked original better

4) American In Paris - gorgeous dancing and Gershwin music, can't get much better than that IMO

5) Something Rotten - Just a lot of fun plus seeing Christian Boyle and Brian D'Arcy James was great.

6) Finding Neverland - I found it enjoyable, loved the closing number in Act One.

It;s interesting to see what person loves and one person hates. I'm sure my list is going to be controversial.

I'll start with the worst:
Lazarus, The midquided and deadly dull new Fiddler on the Roof, a dull King and I with a king that I did not understand one word he said, School of Rock (like the movie better) On Your Feet, Allegro,

The Best

On the 20th Century!

Sylvia

Dames at Sea

and my perennial favorites Book of Mormon, Wicked and Beautiful