Your Top 10 Productions of the Decade (2000-2009)

[CapnHook]

Posted: 12/12/09 at 9:53pm

It's easy for me to know what shows I have seen in the past decade. I save my ticket stubs and playbills for EVERY piece of theatre that I see. It has been an ongoing project of mine to catalog my theatre-attending, which I have finally completed. So I will now open my Excel spreadsheet and put it to use, since I don't plan on seeing any more productions between now and January 1.

MY TOP 10 PRODUCTIONS OF 2000-2009
[this is not a "favorites" list, but a compilation of productions that I thought best excelled in presenting its material through a blend of acting, direction, and design]

Honorable Mention (Musical): RAGTIME (North Carolina Theatre - Raleigh, NC)
Honorable Mention (Play): THE SEAFARER (Steppenwolf Theatre Company - Chicago, IL)
10] THE HISTORY BOYS (Broadhurst Theatre - New York, NY)
9] SPRING AWAKENING (Eugene O'Neill Theatre - New York, NY)
8] ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (Berkshire Theatre Festival - Stockbridge, MA)
7] THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE (Lyceum Theatre - New York, NY)
6] AVENUE Q (Golden Theatre - New York, NY)
5] GYPSY (St. James Theatre - New York, NY)
4] GREY GARDENS (Walter Kerr Theatre, New York, NY)
3] BILLY ELLIOT (Imperial Theatre - New York, NY)
2] AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (Imperial Theatre - New York, NY)
1] FROM THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA (Triad Stage - Greensboro, NC)

Updated On: 12/12/09 at 09:53 PM

[madbrian]

Posted: 12/12/09 at 10:22pm

These are in no order, and since I don't have tickets or Playbills to refer to, I reserve the right to amend.

Elaine Stritch: At Liberty
Irena's Vow
Noises Off (NJ Shakespeare)
Jersey Boys
South Pacific
Doubt
Grey Gardens
Gypsy (LuPone)
In The Heights
Light In The Piazza

[singtopher]

Posted: 12/12/09 at 11:24pm

I don't keep ticket stubs and programs, so I'll go for the ones that stick out in my mind

Les Miserables (Original Broadway. I never saw the show until 2001, so for me it counts)
Haphestus (Lookinglass Theatre, Chicago)
Next to Normal (Broadway)
August: Osage County (Broadway)
Metamorphoses (Western Michigan University)
Sunday in the Park with George (Broadway)
Rent (2005 Tour. Again, didn't see it until then)
Hair (Broadway)
The Drowsy Chaperone (Broadway)
The Light in the Piazza (Broadway)

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/12/09 at 11:38pm

10) Coram Boy
9) Urinetown
Grey Gardens
7) The Drowsy Chaperone
6) Assassins
5) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
4) August: Osage County
3) Nine
2) The Goat...Or Who Is Sylvia?
1) Caroline, Or Change

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/12/09 at 11:44pm

Wicked
Brooklyn
Good Vibrations
All Shook Up
The Story of My Life
In My Life
Lennon
Hot Feet
Glory Days
Blonde In The Thunderbird

[Marianne2]

Posted: 12/12/09 at 11:46pm

No order for me:

1. Spamalot
2. In the Heights
3. Xanadu
4. Gypsy
5. Shrek
6. Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab
7. Next to Normal
8. Avenue Q
9. Chicago
10. Hairspray

I guess my list is more limited than some of you because I only started going in 2008.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/12/09 at 11:48pm

ljay, you didn't put Bobbi Boland on your list?? It was AH-MAZING!

[strummergirl]

Posted: 12/12/09 at 11:48pm

1.) Doubt
2.) Hairspray
3.) The Producers
4.)Spamalot
5.)Avenue Q
6.) The Drowsy Chaperone
7.) Fiddler on The Roof
8.) The Color Purple
9.) Sweeney Todd
10.) Billy Elliot

[NakedMaid]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 12:17am

The Light in the Piazza
Nine
Cabaret
Urinetown
The Pillowman
Dreamgirls (Prince Theatre, PA)
Our Town
August: Osage County
Brighton Beach Memoirs
Why Torture is Wrong and Those Who Love Them (The Public)

[Marlothom]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 12:25am

No particular order:
Drowsy Chaperon (Broadway)
Guys and Dolls (Melbourne)
Hairspray (Broadway)
Company (Broadway)
Wicked (Broadway)
Assassins (Broadway)
Kiss Me Kate (Broadway)
Billy Elliot (Sydney)
Medea (Broadway)
All Shook Up (Broadway)

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 12:42am

Ones with Songs:

Caroline, Or Change
Hairspray
Spring Awakening
Passing Strange
HAIR
Avenue Q
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
The Producers
Gypsti (that's Gypsy crossed with Patti)
The Full Monty

Extra Two: Assassins, Urinetown

Ones without Songs:

Homebody, Kabul
Well
The Long Christmas Ride Home (Trinity Rep)
Entertaining Mr. Sloane
Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune
Summer & Smoke (Hartford Stage)
I Am My Own Wife
Present Laughter (Huntington Stage)
The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
Punchdrunk's Sleep No More (American Repertory Theater)

[Pippin]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 1:08am

NakedMaid, I'm SO happy you gave well deserved credit to the Philadelphia production of Dreamgirls. I was a staff member at the Prince at the time, and saw the show countless times. It was an amazing production. I just saw the final show at the Apollo tonight, and it doesn't hold a candle to that stellar production!!

that being said, I will have to say, in no order

August: Osage County
Lupone's Gypsy
the 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Company
Journey's End
Sunday in the Park With George
Gypsy w/ Bernadette
Xanadu
Bat Boy: the musical
Noises Off!

[ABB2357]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 5:16am

A brief disclaimer: my list features only musicals (haven't sorted through the plays yet), which were chosen based on the merits of the ENTIRE production. Therefore, even though I consider SPRING AWAKENING and THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA to be among the best scores of the decade, other aspects of these shows left me cold and so they are not included on the overall best-of list. In alphabetical order:

THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
AVENUE Q
CAROLINE, OR CHANGE
ELAINE STRITCH AT LIBERTY
GYPSY (2003 revival)
HAIRSPRAY
THE PAJAMA GAME (2006 revival)
THE PRODUCERS
SOUTH PACIFIC (2008 revival)
SWEENEY TODD (2005 revival)

Special mention: THE FIRST WIVES CLUB

Updated On: 12/13/09 at 05:16 AM

[FeelingElectric]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 6:58am

Here is my list, in no particular order.

A Little Night Music (Center Stage-Baltimore)
The Witches Of Eastwick (Signature Theater-VA)
Next To Normal (Broadway,Arena Stage-VA,2ST-Off Broadway)
See What I Wanna See (Public Theater)
The History Boys (Broadway)
Blackbird (Manhattan Theater Club-Off Broadway)
Xanadu (Broadway)
Wicked (Broadway)
Hairspray(Broadway)
Feeling Electric (NYMF 2005)

Updated On: 12/13/09 at 06:58 AM

[AC126748]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 8:59am

MUSICALS
The Wild Party (LaChiusa - Broadway)
Sunday in the Park With George (Revival - London/Broadway)
Caroline, or Change
Bernarda Alba
Gypsy (LuPone)
Spring Awakening
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (Off Broadway revival)
The Light in the Piazza
Passing Strange
The Glorious Ones

PLAYS
Proof
Blackbird
The Coast of Utopia
Happy Days (BAM)
A Streetcar Named Desire (BAM)
Landscape of the Body (Signature Theatre)
The Pillowman
August: Osage County
A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare in the Park - 2007)
Long Day's Journey Into Night (Broadway revival)

Updated On: 12/13/09 at 08:59 AM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 9:51am

I've revised mine since I last posted. Here 'tis:

Avenue Q
August: Osage County
Blackbird
The Clean House
Doubt
Movin' Out
Passing Strange
The Pillowman
The Producers
Ruined

[Testing1232]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 10:11am

No Particular order:

"Caroline or Change"
"August: OC"
"The Seafarer"
"Next To Normal"
"Ruined"
"110 In The Shade"
"Avenue Q"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Doubt"
"Hairspray"

[moowithme85]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 11:50am

Next To Normal (Broadway)
The Seafarer (West End)
Coram Boy (West End)
Wicked (Chicago)
Wicked (Broadway)
Up (Chicago, Steppenwolf)
Mamma Mia (Tour)
Rent (Tour)
Addams Family (Chicago)
Light in the Piazza (Chicago)

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 12:05pm

August: Osage County (Broadway)
Caroline, or Change (Broadway)
Doubt (Broadway)
Eurydice (Second Stage)
Follies (Encores!)
Movin' Out (Broadway)
Ruined (Broadway)
The Pillowman (Broadway)
Ragtime (Broadway)
The Seagull (Shakespeare in the Park)

Updated On: 12/13/09 at 12:05 PM

[mormonophobic]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 1:25pm

My list doesn't really have any order since I spent a good while arguing over which shows deserved a higher spot.

August: Osage County
Billy Elliot
Company
Grey Gardens
Gypsy (LuPone)
Next to Normal
Ragtime
South Pacific
[title of show]
The Wild Party (LaChiusa)

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 1:48pm

In no real order.

1. In The Heights
2. Hair
3. Ragtime
4. The Norman Conquests
5. Brighton Beach Memoirs
6. August: Osage County
7. [title of show]
8. The Last Five Years
9. Company
10. The Drowsy Chaperone

[Gary Indiana]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 3:28pm

In no real order:

1. HAIR
2. August: Osage County
3. The Goat, or Who is Sylvia
4. The Visit (Signature)
5. Dreamgirls (Apollo)
6. Gypsy (LuPone)
7. The Exonerated (I think that was this decade)
8. Proof
9. Billy Elliot
10. Kiss of the Spiderwoman (Signature)
Updated On: 12/13/09 at 03:28 PM