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

[ebontoyan]

Posted: 12/20/15 at 5:39pm

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

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 12/21/15 at 8:32am

BEST

1) The King and I
2) Fiddler on the Roof
3) King Charles III
4) Hand To God
5) An American In Paris
6) On The Town
7) A View From The Bridge
Spring Awakening 
9) The Bandstand
10) Fun Home

WORST: Sylvia, Les Miserables, Hedwig with Taye Diggs

[little_sally]

Posted: 12/21/15 at 8:50am

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

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 12/21/15 at 10:06am

On the Town

On the Twentieth Century

Something Rotten

An American in Paris

Finding Neverland

The Visit

Fun Home

The last 5 are really almost interchangeable for me.  They were all really good, for their own reasons, in their own way.  Very different musicals.

OTT and OTTC were the standouts for me though.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 12/21/15 at 10:28am

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

[jpbran]

Posted: 12/21/15 at 10:38am

Best for me: Hamilton, Fun Home, Curious Incident..., Hedwig..., Cabaret

Disappointing: If/Then, Gentleman's Guide...

Really disappointing: Misery, Something Rotten

Not best, but grateful to have seen: The Visit, Tuck Everlasting (Atlanta)

Quite bad, but somehow enjoyable ("junk food show": Finding Neverland

Updated On: 12/21/15 at 10:38 AM

[PepperedShepherd]

Posted: 12/21/15 at 8:22pm

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

[Markie27]

Posted: 12/22/15 at 12:46am

Best Musical

1. Fun Home 

2. Hamilton

3. Into the Woods (Fiasco at Roundabout Theatre)

4. The Color Purple

5. Fiddler on the Roof

 

Best Play

1. The Iceman Cometh (BAM Harvey Theatre, Brooklyn)

2. Steve (The New Group at Signature)

3. Significant Others (Roundabout)

4. Ghosts  (BAM Harvey Theatre, Brooklyn)

5. King Charles III

 

Worst Play:  Fish in the Dark

Worst Musical: Allegiance

 

I will add:

Best Performance:

1. Leslie Manville - Ghosts

2. Michael Cerveris - Fun Home

3. Judy Khun - Fun Home

4. Cynthia Erivo -The Color Purple  

5. Gideon Glick  - Significant Other 

Updated On: 12/30/15 at 12:46 AM

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 12/22/15 at 2:41am

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

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 12/22/15 at 11:17am

I hate to say best to worst but here are my favorite to least favorite roughly (although many within the first two categories are interchangeable)

Loved:
Hamilton
Hedwig
Hand to God
The Herd (Steppenwolf)
Color Purple
On the Town
Fun Home
Something Rotten
The King and I
Spring Awakening
The tempest (Chicago shakes)
Sylvia
Fiddler
Finding Neverland

 

Liked:
It Shoulda Been You
Honeymoon in Vegas
School of Rock
King Charles III
Fish in the Dark
On the Twentieth Century
Skylight
Curious Incident
Constellations
Gentleman's Guide
Act of God
On Your Feet
Dames at sea

Misery
Therese Raquin
Lazarus

 

Meh:

bad Jews (theater wit)
disgraced (goodman)
Amelie (Berkeley rep)

 

Did not like:
View From the Bridge
Marie Antoinette (Steppenwolf)
If/Then
Feathers and teeth (goodman)

Updated On: 12/22/15 at 11:17 AM

[Jarethan]

Posted: 12/22/15 at 12:04pm

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

 

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 12/22/15 at 11:22pm

I'll only include shows that I saw for the first time in 2015.  I approached this list thinking if someone asked me to see one of these shows again, which would I be most enthusiastic about? 

Ranked from Best to Worst

 

Hamilton

Something Rotten!

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder

The King and I

Fun Home

An American in Paris

Fiddler on the Roof

On the 20th Century

On Your Feet!

School of Rock

The Visit

Fish in the Dark

The Elephant Man

Hand to God

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 1:08am

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

[hork]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 1:17am

Jarethan said:  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.  

 

Of course it's a leading role. The whole show is about his character and his daughter's relationship with him.

 

[ZellMorrowsPledge]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 1:19am

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]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 1:56am

Most disappointing shows I saw because of all the hype-

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

A View From The Bridge- I was unmoved by it.

 

 

[ZellMorrowsPledge]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 2:51am

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

[Jarethan]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 10:17pm

hork said: "Jarethan said:  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.  

 

 

 

Of course it's a leading role. The whole show is about his character and his daughter's relationship with him.

 

 

To me, the whole show is about the daughter and the impact that he had on her, in life and in death.  I am going to get yelled at for this, but I also expect the Tony winner for lead in a musical to have a little more singing than he had.  It was an ensemble show and everyone should have been considered featured IMO.

The underlying issue is that people have different tastes and react differently to shows and I just did not like this.  In response to another comment, Sam Gold may have a Tony, but over the years lots of people / shows have won and didn't really deserve to.  I saw zero special about his direction, whereas I loved the choices made by Christopher Wheeldon and Bartlett Sher, and even Casey Nickolaw and Diane Paulus.

"

 

[cjmclaughlin10]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 10:30pm

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 

[pct230]

Posted: 12/24/15 at 12:34am

The best are Hamilton, Spring Awakening and the amazing Little Shop of Horrors Encores show.
The worst without question is Finding Neverland. I also really didn't care for the Fiddler on the Roof revival.

Updated On: 12/24/15 at 12:34 AM

[macnyc]

Posted: 12/24/15 at 5:17pm

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

[mg2685a]

Posted: 12/27/15 at 4:13am

1. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time -- I caught one of Sharp's last performances and was blown away. A+

2. Hamilton -- I bought a cancellation ticket for the first Friday preview and loved it. There were certainly a few moments that bored me but it definitely deserves the hype. Renee Elise Goldsberry is a revelation. A

3. Little Shop of Horrors (Encores) -- What a night. So incredibly special. I'd love to see Jake Gyllenhaal return to Broadway. Ellen Greene was lovely as well. A

4. King Charles III -- Exceptional cast. The show dragged a bit at points but I still really enjoyed it. A-

5. If/Then -- Admittedly I liked this show more than most on this board but I couldn't resist going back a week before it closed. Idina gave it her all and was masterful. It was so special seeing this show first in DC (a few times) and then on Broadway (a few times). I hope it gets more appreciation as time passes. B+

6. Fun Home -- A very special piece with a great cast. I won't deny that I was slightly disappointed, perhaps because I went in with such high expectations. B

7. Something Rotten -- Simply put, this is a lazy attempt at being the next Book of Mormon. The cast is great and some of the songs are catchy but overall I felt like nothing really happened. It's fun but nothing particularly special. C+

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 12/27/15 at 10:48am

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.

[AppleSunday]

Posted: 12/27/15 at 2:47pm

Top 3:

1. Spring Awakening (without Camryn Manheim) - While a lot of my friends got very into the original production I was just kind of ambient  toward it. This production however bowled me over. ASL was the magic missing piece. I see in this production what they saw in the first and I'm not sure I'll want to see it again without the ASL component.
2. Hedwig and the Angry Inch (with Darren Criss and Rebecca Naomi Jones) - They both brought so much to it and made those characters their own. And vocally they were a powerhouse pairing.
3. Fun Home (with Sydney) - I didn't really have the greatest seat. The Telecharge website didn't display the seating correctly so I ended up in the corner behind the band instead of along one of the sides as intended. The sound wasn't very clear there (especially when more than one person was singing at once) so I had to really concentrate on not missing anything instead of just losing myself in the show. But it was still fantastic.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 12/27/15 at 3:45pm

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