Time Magazine Best of Theatre 2006...a peculiar list

[AC126748]

Posted: 12/30/06 at 9:06am

1. Grey Gardens
2. Spring Awakening
3. Mary Poppins
4. Shining City
5. 365 Days/365 Plays
6. Musical Revivals (American style)...mentions A CHORUS LINE and THE PAJAMA GAME
7. Musical Revivals (British style)...mentions SWEENEY TODD and COMPANY
8. Festen (?????????????)
9. The Vertical Hour
10. Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me
http://www.time.com/time/topten/2006/theater/01.html

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 12/30/06 at 9:24am

thats a very interesting group but I like most of them..

[Unknown User]

Posted: 12/30/06 at 9:34am

I'm pleased (enough) with the list. It was interesting int he special year in photos issue of time they had a 2 page Broadway spread and a number of the hits they mentioned they wrote that their critic disliked...

[purpleprince101]

Posted: 12/30/06 at 12:14pm

but festen?

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/30/06 at 12:59pm

Of MARY POPPINS it says:

"Another slick Disney commercial hit? I say bravo."

Are you kidding me?

[jv92]

Posted: 12/30/06 at 1:00pm

Well, at least it gives Grey Gardens some press.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/30/06 at 1:03pm

Of PAJAMA GAME it says:

"Harry Connick Jr., who made women swoon with his silky voice and rippling pecs, and Kelli O'Hara, who made me swoon with the warm, Mary Martin lilt of her soprano."

Umm...correct me if I'm wrong, but the majority of theatergoers swooning over Harry Connick Jr.'s pecs were men.

[jv92]

Posted: 12/30/06 at 1:07pm

Nah, there were plenty of women too.

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 12/30/06 at 1:09pm

WTF???????? Mary Poppins is number 3? If it is on any Top 10 list, it should be number ten.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/30/06 at 1:12pm

I really wish SHINING CITY had received more than just two Tony nominations. A Leading Actor nomination for Brian F. O'Byrne and a Featured Actress nomination for Martha Plimpton, as well as Best Director nomination in addition to Oliver Platt's nomination and the Best Play nomination. The play seems to be receiving so much praise now that it's long gone, not that it was poorly received when it opened. It was just overshadowed by HISTORY BOYS.

Updated On: 12/30/06 at 01:12 PM

[Vespertine1228]

Posted: 12/30/06 at 1:29pm

Festen was painfully, horrifyingly God awful. How it could make anyone's top list is beyond me.

That said, pretty standard. I don't like when best lists are limited just to Broadway. They're so much less interesting that way.

And how many of the 365 Plays/365 Days did they actually do this year? Enough to warrant being included? I guess I've just been behind.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 12/30/06 at 2:02pm

Well, it's a fairly meaningless list anyway since Time Magazine stopped covering theatre altogether in the pages of the magazine a few years ago. This list only appears on their website, not in the magazine itself (I have their year-end issue sittng in front of me and it's not in there), so other than the handful of us here and at ATC and maybe a few people who stumble across it on their site, no one will ever even see this list anyway.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 12/30/06 at 2:29pm

Very true, but the shows involved can at least include this in their publicity--as well as the number of Top 10 lists the shows make. It at least sounds good.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 12/30/06 at 2:33pm

True.