Time Magazine's Top 10 Productions of 2008

[commasplice]

Posted: 12/8/08 at 11:08pm

As per their website:

1. Billy Elliot
2. Hair
3. All My Sons
4. The Visit
5. Black Watch
6. Reasons to be Pretty
7. The Little Mermaid
8. Blasted
9. South Pacific
10. Farragut North

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2008/top10/article/0,30583,1855948_1863948,00.html

This is a definite improvement over last year, where Grease was their top musical. But...the Little Mermaid? Really?

Updated On: 12/8/08 at 11:08 PM

[James885]

Posted: 12/8/08 at 11:09pm

The Little Mermaid shouldn't be on that list at all, and it definitely shouldn't be above South Pacific.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 12/8/08 at 11:09pm

Don't forget they listed Tarzan one year.

[TimeSquare3]

Posted: 12/8/08 at 11:09pm

Mermaid got their opening pushed back to January because of the strike.

[commasplice]

Posted: 12/8/08 at 11:12pm

Yeah, that'll do it. I remembered previews beginning in the fall; my brain didn't factor in the strike. Thanks!

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 12/8/08 at 11:24pm

Yes, to THE VISIT.
Get Thee to Broadway!

I guess they didn't see ADD1NG MACH1NE.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/8/08 at 11:29pm

Adding Machine and Black Watch - two shows I missed and really wish I had seen. Esp Adding Machine!

[once a month]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 8:25am

Isn't there some legitimate connection between Time mag and Disney? I recall their long Lion King piece. The photo of the giraffes crossing the sun onstage is the image that made me go out to buy tickets in the first place. It would make some sense then, for including Mermaid and Tarzan, if Time and Disney are some kind of partners.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 9:14am

I hate the fact that LM made that list...and a bit suprised (but only from what I'd heard here) that All My Sons made it.

What about August: Osage County -- or did that make LAST years list?

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 9:18am

August is from 2007...

That list is strangely ordered. Obviously there is some kind of bias. Okay...put it on the list, but not above South Pacific for goodness sakes!

[BroadwayBoy2]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 9:24am

(Throws chair) WHERE THE HELL IS SUNDAY IN THE PARK!?

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 9:58am

Who cares what they list...last year they picked "Grease" as one of the top 10.

[jennamajig]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 9:58am

(Throws chair) WHERE THE HELL IS SUNDAY IN THE PARK!?

They need to replace The Little Mermaid with Sunday in the Park. I cannot believe Mermaid made this list.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 10:40am

Come on. You were really expecting reasonable choices?

[DrewBill]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 11:09am

This list is ridiculous. Actually, if you look at the rest of Time's best of the year lists (movies, music, tv, etc.), they are all pretty off base. I guess budget cuts at Time Inc. have taken their toll.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 11:17am

Who cares what they list...last year they picked "Grease" as one of the top 10.

I believe it was their #1 pick. Which the production attempted to use to their benefit no end.

[Anakela]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 11:25am

I believe it was their #1 pick. Which the production attempted to use to their benefit no end.

Actually, even better- technically it was #7 on the list, but since #1-6 were plays that meant that "Grease = #1 musical according to Time Magazine." lol

(eta: and I know this off the top of my head because, the first time I saw one of those "Grease = #1 musical according to Time Magazine" ads I *totally* Googled that, to try and figure out in just what context that was actually printed.)
Updated On: 12/9/08 at 11:25 AM

[homeimp]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 11:27am

I loved The Little Mermaid and would definitely put it on my top 10 list. When will the NYC critics give up their vendetta against Disney for moving onto Broadway? Classic songs, a meaningful storyline, splendid performances. This is the kind of show that belongs on Broadway to lure the next generation of potential theater-goers into the theater. I thought Tarzan was pretty entertaining as well. As far as I can recall the NYC critics have given a cool reception to every single family-oriented musical in the last two decades with the notable exceptions of Lion King and now Billy Elliot. I do NOT believe all the other shows of this type were bad or even disappointing. If the critics had their way families would have taken their kids to see nothing but LK and Billy, and I think that would have been tragic.

[H.Higgins]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 11:58am

I don't think it's a vendetta against Disney at all. It's a vendetta against mediocrity and crap.

I've been a lover of most things Disney since childhood and I have been thrilled with several of their Broadway outings; Beauty and the Beast was magical (before the move to the Lunt-Fontanne), Aida was a bold new piece, and The Lion King was artful and stunning. The Little Mermaid (on Broadway, the film is incredible) is a slap in the face to theatre-goers everywhere. Disney Theatricals knew they were putting together what looked like a plastic freak show and a joke, but they didn't care. The executives referred to their atrocity as "Bank of America" when it played in Denver because they KNEW they failed with this one, but chose not to strive for better because they also knew it would rake in millions with families everywhere on its name alone. Instead of having some integrity, they settled. Why work for the almighty dollar when it would come for free?

That's the opposite of the kind of commitment, care, or artistry with which Walt Disney founded and led his company. It's shameful.

I had hoped for better and, given the glowing reviews The Lion King received in 1997, I imagine the critics would have given The Little Mermaid fair credit had it lived up to the bar that Julie Taymor and Disney set with that production.

[HometownGlory]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 1:52pm

THANK YOU, Higgins. As a lover of Disney myself, I was horrified at how bad Mermaid was. It is probably one of the ugliest shows I have ever seen. Poor Sierra Boggess was trying so hard to shock some life into it, but everyone else was phoning it in - and I saw the third official performance! But of course, when I criticized it, friends would say "Well of course you hated it, it's Disney on Broadway!" And I would constantly have to defend both my love of Disney and my dislike for the show. The most frustrating thing is how wonderful the show could've been - I really do like the score - and all of the missed opportunities it presented.

[caitlinette]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 2:05pm

I'm glad South Pacific made the list, though I find that odd because the article sounds a bit down on it -- "less than ideal", Kelli O'Hara channeling Mary Martin "better in her singing than acting" (like that has anything to do with how good the production is).

[Kad]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 2:14pm

They put Speed Racer in their Top 10 movies.

[yeah]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 2:24pm

Where is "Gypsy"?

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 3:17pm

At the St. James.

[jennamajig]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 3:26pm

THANK YOU, Higgins. As a lover of Disney myself, I was horrified at how bad Mermaid was. It is probably one of the ugliest shows I have ever seen. Poor Sierra Boggess was trying so hard to shock some life into it, but everyone else was phoning it in - and I saw the third official performance! But of course, when I criticized it, friends would say "Well of course you hated it, it's Disney on Broadway!" And I would constantly have to defend both my love of Disney and my dislike for the show. The most frustrating thing is how wonderful the show could've been - I really do like the score - and all of the missed opportunities it presented.

Agree with all of this as well. I loved Beauty, really enjoyed the Lion King, enjoyed Aida, and had heard good things about Mary Poppins. I wanted to see Mermaid because of my love of the film and was warned. I went and was shocked. There was so much wasted potential in the show I wanted to scream. Several of the costumes had me scratching my head and saying "is that supposed to be a fish?" and I did not like how they rewrote the movie in Act II. I had seen the show they do at Disney World years before and it was much better.

But interesting enough, when I said I hated to someone, their reaction was the opposite: "Oh it can't be bad - it's Disney!" Go figure.