What were your favorite shows in 2016?

I can't resist a Top 10 list, and why can't we have our own? For 2016, there were quite a few shows that I liked well enough but didn't love. But I did have my favorites. Here are mine. What are yours?

Top 10 Favorites This Year (in no particular order):

Sunday in the Park With George (City Center concert): My first exposure to this show, and I loved it!

The Robber Bridegroom: Just an over-the-top, hilarious and fast-moving romp. Steven Pasquale rules.

She Loves Me: A beautiful and well-sung production of what some people consider the perfect musical

Familiar (Playwrights Horizons): Yes, a kitchen sink drama complete with a shocking secret, but I loved every minute of this show, and the touching ending ranks up there as one of the best in my book.

The Three Gabriel Plays (Public): I love these kitchen-table plays for their fascinating digressions and super acting.

Dear Evan Hansen (Second Stage): A touching show, well-sung and acted, that stayed with me despite my being several decades older than the target audience. Great score!

Indecent (Vineyard): I love shows that bring to light a little-known and little-remembered aspect of history. Hope to see it again on Broadway.

Hadestown: I fell in love with the score and the inventive staging. Wonderful performances all around. I hope for a complete cast album in 2017.

Pirates of Penzance (Barrington Stage Company): Such a fun production, with Will Swenson as a charismatic Pirate King.

Spamilton (Triad): My love for this show is equaled only by my love of Hamilton. Brilliant show by Gerard Alessandrini with an awesomely talented cast.

Sense and Sensibilty (Gym at Hudson): The adapter of this Jane Austen classic knew just what to keep intact and what to modernize. I loved the staging too.

DISLIKED:

Dot (Vineyard)

Head of Passes (Public)

Death for Five Voices (Sheen Center)

Love, Love, Love (Laura Pels)

Updated On: 12/22/16 at 12:58 PM

Some that are really memorable this year and i enjoyed a lot are:

Blackbird

American Psycho

Shuffle Along

Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Eclipsed

Falsettos

Oh, Hello

Cats

Updated On: 12/22/16 at 01:36 PM

I know some of these were from 2015, but I'm including them since I saw them in 2016...

8. TUCK EVERLASTING

7. ON YOUR FEET

6. GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE

5. SPRING AWAKENING

4. THE COLOR PURPLE

3. FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

2. DEAR EVAN HANSEN

1. FALSETTOS

Not in any particular order:

Tuck Everlasting

The King and I

She Loves Me (Live Stream)

Dear Evan Hansen

Paramour

The Great Comet

Cats

Fiddler on the Roof

School of Rock

Something Rotten

Dear Evan Hansen, She Loves Me, Great Comet, American Psycho, Waitress, Long Day's Journey

The Wolves, The Harvest, Kings of War, and Skeleton Crew.

Hamilton, Bright Star, Dear Evan Hansen, and Falsettos. And I would like to share my love for each of these.

Hamilton: When I went to NYC in February, I knew I had tickets for it, but I wasn't prepared for what it would do for me. It, along with other aspects of that vacation, revived me from a funk I was in, and got me into theatre again. Since then, I have done four productions, and played the lead in one of them. Hamilton rejuvenated me, and I am so thankful for that.

Bright Star: This show. Oh Lord, this show. I didn't know I needed it, until it saved my life. Seeing a character who had something unimaginably traumatic happen to her, remain focused, and still hopeful...it helped me remain just that. And when everything ended the way it did, it helped me (and still does) keep a positive outlook, no matter my situation. "The sun is gonna shine again" is a phrase I try to tell myself whenever I'm having a bad day, and it usually helps me. Not only this, but I have gained some of the greatest friends I could ask for, because of Bright Star. I feel like I've known these people for years, and they truly are forever friends. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Carmen Cusack. I'm not going to go into detail, but she has become my biggest role model and inspiration. If anyone wants to know details, feel free to PM me!

Dear Evan Hansen: This show taught me about myself. I don't think I've ever related to a character in musical theaters much as I relate to Evan. I feel like I'm watching myself onstage. And it has taught me that I matter, I'm not alone, and I bring something to the world. I forget that sometimes.

Falsettos: This show was a major healing factor, after a presidential election that really shook me. The song "Unlikely Lovers" felt like a song that needed to be sung to me (and to, I'm sure, countless others) at the specific time. Such a relevant, important show, in terms of what all is going on in the country right now.

In no order:

American Psycho

Hadestown

The Great Comet

Dear Evan Hansen

The Grand Paradise

Figaro! (90210)

The Color Purple (with Heather Headley)

New Productions:

Noises Off

School Of Rock

Shuffle Along

Finian's Rainbow

Sweet Charity

She Loves Me



Shows that had been open, but I didn't see until this year:

Fun Home

The King and I

American Psycho

Blackbird

Dear Evan Hansen

Falsettos

Hamilton

Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812

She Loves Me

Hamilton Fun Home were the best they were well written and well crafted shows. The Color Purple had terrible writing but was great production

American Psycho was the standout when it comes to the musicals. Truly brilliant and fresh

In no order:
1. Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812

2. Oh, Hello

3. She Loves Me

4. Bright Star

5. Pirates of Penzance at Barrington Stage

6. Noises Off

7. Dear Evan Hansen

8. Hadestown

9. Shuffle Along

10. Cats

Glad to see TUCK EVERLASTING on a few lists. I really liked the show. It was charming. Was it perfect, was it the best ever, no. I adore Carolee and always enjoy seeing her perform. AKB and Terrence are favorites too, Andrew was perfectly cast. So happy it got a cast recording. It will have a long life in regional and summer theater. It's family-friendly (though they need to edit out when Andrew's character shoots his father) and a star-maker for that little girl who shines in the school choir and/or is ready to move on from playing Annie.