#1
Posted: 12/20/09 at 5:37pm
Top ten:
1) HAIR
-Gorgeously directed with an impeccable cast, this production will always hold a special place in my heart. From the second the lights went down and the cast walked onstage, I was totally sold. It's a joy from start to finish but it's also incredibly moving and touching in many ways. This is theater that inspires, something rare and foreign but clearly not dead. The best musical revival of the last fifteen years.
2) NEXT FALL
-A masterpiece in so many ways, I couldn't be more excited about this show's Broadway transfer. The ensemble is flawless and there are only brief moments in the writing that don't work but they hardly hinder the brilliance of the other 97% of the show. It's incredibly funny but also one of the most moving new plays to hit New York in a while. I hope it wins the Pulitzer and the Tony and I hope it finds an audience on Broadway. This is a play with the potential to change lives.
3) NEXT TO NORMAL
-A startling 180 from the 2ST production, the Broadway production of N2N is an alarmingly powerful experience. I've always had some issues with the first act (not many at all, but they're still there) but find the second act to be very, very close to flawless. The score is, along with SPRING AWAKENING, the best rock score of the last ten years (and one of the best scores in recent memory), and the brilliant, can't-miss lead performance from Alice Ripley deserves to go down in the history books.
4) A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
-This is a STREETCAR that takes its time to tell the story (it's over three hours long) but hardly ever drags or falters. Cate Blanchett, Joel Edgerton, and Robin McLeavey are sensational in their roles and the straight-forward direction doesn't feel stale. Liv Ullman breathes a sexual, raw, real, electric life into this STREETCAR that makes it hard to forget.
5) RAGTIME
-Marcia Milgrom Dodge's overwhelmingly beautiful production of this fantastic musical deserves to run for years and I find it unbelievably upsetting that it may be gone in a month. Christiane Noll, Bobby Steggert, and the rest of the sensational cast are simply perfect. If you don't feel the power, talent, and vigor from the Neil Simon stage flood over you while sitting through this production, you need to have your pulse checked.
6) OUR TOWN
-It's been done to death but the truly ingenious David Cromer managed to breathe new life into this American classic. I found myself swept up in the story and really invested in these characters and was impressed by the minimalist staging and the entirety of the sensational third act. "Minimalist staging" seems to be a new movement on Broadway and directors attempting this approach should take note from Cromer and his impeccable work on OUR TOWN. This is how it should be done.
7) TWELFTH NIGHT
-Waiting in the standby line for hours and hours was very much worth it for this excellent and endlessly entertaining production at the Delacorte in Central Park. Anne Hathaway proved to have retained her theatrical chops and the rest of the cast couldn't be better. Sitting out in Central Park on a warm summer night, watching this blissfully lovely production, I found myself feeling guilty for getting in for free.
8 ) REASONS TO BE PRETTY
-The best new play to open on Broadway in the last year (take that, GOD OF CARNAGE) was LaBute's REASONS TO BE PRETTY. Its awful ad campaign proved a major roadblock in finding an audience, and it's a true shame. If it had, it would have won the Tony and would probably still be running. Thomas Sadoski was very funny and very real in the lead role and the scene where (spoiler?) he finally kicks Steven Pasquale's ass (end spoiler) had the audience wanting to jump out of their seats and cheer. A mature move for LaBute that ultimately pays off to be sure.
9) RUINED
-I had more issues with this play than many others did but that's not to say I didn't still enjoy it very, very much. I still am not sure how I feel about the ending (nearly a year after seeing it) but there is definite brilliance in much of the writing, staging, and acting. Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Condola Rashad, and the powerhouse Saidah Arrika Ekulona each gave masterful performances in this gripping play.
10) THE NORMAN CONQUESTS
-ROUND AND ROUND bumped this play into the latter half of my top 10 (I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the other two parts) but it's still undoubtedly one of my top ten theatrical experiences of 2009. There's really no eloquent way of putting it; this trio of plays directed with gusto and flair by Matthew Warchus (who should've won the Tony for this and not GOC) is just so damn funny. The cast just couldn't have been better and I regret seeing LIVING TOGETHER and TABLE MANNERS only once.
Honorable mentions: EXIT THE KING, SPEED-THE-PLOW (with Norbert Leo Butz, not with William H. Macy), CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION
Bottom five:
1) ROCK OF AGES
-Just because a musical is "fun" doesn't mean it's good. And to go even further, I didn't find this show to be "fun" at all. Sorry. Just not for me. The cast is fun, I guess, but I just couldn't get over how unfunny and absolutely horrendous the book was, how amateur the direction was, and just how low everyone involved with this show had set the bar. And I'm not talking about the bar that undoubtedly makes an embarrassment of riches every night.
2) MEMPHIS
-We all know how I feel about this feebly constructed show that just seemed to be going through the motions of what it thought a Broadway show should be. There is no substance, the cast is really not up to par, the production is big and brash just for the sake of being big and brash, and it got overall positive reviews from the critics. So go figure.
3) ACCENT ON YOUTH
-A repeat of CURTAINS, although I liked CURTAINS more than AOY, David Hyde Pierce once again tries to save the day in a really unenjoyable show. This time, the production is just so bad that it doesn't work. At all. At times it was painful to sit through. A lumbering bore.
4) WAITING FOR GODOT
-Speaking of lumbering bores, WAITING FOR GODOT got rave reviews, three Tony nominations, and many BWWers love, love, loved it. Count me out. This is just a simple case of different strokes for different folks. I didn't "get" it, I found it to be beyond boring, and only found salvation in the cast who did what they could to make it worthwhile. I was very glad I only spent $10 on my ticket. Sorry folks...just not my cup of tea at all.
5) THE PHILANTHROPIST
-What can be said about this show? Quite honestly, I don't remember much of it besides how awful Matthew Broderick was and how interminable it felt. My review is floating around BWW somewhere so if you want specifics, look there. Because I forgot most of this dismissible production. I do remember clearly not enjoying myself.
Not-so-honorable mentions: HAPPINESS, BYE BYE BIRDIE, HAMLET, THE WIZ, THE STORY OF MY LIFE
2009 was, overall, a really strong year in theater in my opinion. Here's hoping 2010 tops it.
If I forgot something, I might edit. But I think this is should be it unless there's a glaring omission somewhere. And there are things I haven't seen yet (like FELA!, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, etc).
1) HAIR
-Gorgeously directed with an impeccable cast, this production will always hold a special place in my heart. From the second the lights went down and the cast walked onstage, I was totally sold. It's a joy from start to finish but it's also incredibly moving and touching in many ways. This is theater that inspires, something rare and foreign but clearly not dead. The best musical revival of the last fifteen years.
2) NEXT FALL
-A masterpiece in so many ways, I couldn't be more excited about this show's Broadway transfer. The ensemble is flawless and there are only brief moments in the writing that don't work but they hardly hinder the brilliance of the other 97% of the show. It's incredibly funny but also one of the most moving new plays to hit New York in a while. I hope it wins the Pulitzer and the Tony and I hope it finds an audience on Broadway. This is a play with the potential to change lives.
3) NEXT TO NORMAL
-A startling 180 from the 2ST production, the Broadway production of N2N is an alarmingly powerful experience. I've always had some issues with the first act (not many at all, but they're still there) but find the second act to be very, very close to flawless. The score is, along with SPRING AWAKENING, the best rock score of the last ten years (and one of the best scores in recent memory), and the brilliant, can't-miss lead performance from Alice Ripley deserves to go down in the history books.
4) A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
-This is a STREETCAR that takes its time to tell the story (it's over three hours long) but hardly ever drags or falters. Cate Blanchett, Joel Edgerton, and Robin McLeavey are sensational in their roles and the straight-forward direction doesn't feel stale. Liv Ullman breathes a sexual, raw, real, electric life into this STREETCAR that makes it hard to forget.
5) RAGTIME
-Marcia Milgrom Dodge's overwhelmingly beautiful production of this fantastic musical deserves to run for years and I find it unbelievably upsetting that it may be gone in a month. Christiane Noll, Bobby Steggert, and the rest of the sensational cast are simply perfect. If you don't feel the power, talent, and vigor from the Neil Simon stage flood over you while sitting through this production, you need to have your pulse checked.
6) OUR TOWN
-It's been done to death but the truly ingenious David Cromer managed to breathe new life into this American classic. I found myself swept up in the story and really invested in these characters and was impressed by the minimalist staging and the entirety of the sensational third act. "Minimalist staging" seems to be a new movement on Broadway and directors attempting this approach should take note from Cromer and his impeccable work on OUR TOWN. This is how it should be done.
7) TWELFTH NIGHT
-Waiting in the standby line for hours and hours was very much worth it for this excellent and endlessly entertaining production at the Delacorte in Central Park. Anne Hathaway proved to have retained her theatrical chops and the rest of the cast couldn't be better. Sitting out in Central Park on a warm summer night, watching this blissfully lovely production, I found myself feeling guilty for getting in for free.
8 ) REASONS TO BE PRETTY
-The best new play to open on Broadway in the last year (take that, GOD OF CARNAGE) was LaBute's REASONS TO BE PRETTY. Its awful ad campaign proved a major roadblock in finding an audience, and it's a true shame. If it had, it would have won the Tony and would probably still be running. Thomas Sadoski was very funny and very real in the lead role and the scene where (spoiler?) he finally kicks Steven Pasquale's ass (end spoiler) had the audience wanting to jump out of their seats and cheer. A mature move for LaBute that ultimately pays off to be sure.
9) RUINED
-I had more issues with this play than many others did but that's not to say I didn't still enjoy it very, very much. I still am not sure how I feel about the ending (nearly a year after seeing it) but there is definite brilliance in much of the writing, staging, and acting. Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Condola Rashad, and the powerhouse Saidah Arrika Ekulona each gave masterful performances in this gripping play.
10) THE NORMAN CONQUESTS
-ROUND AND ROUND bumped this play into the latter half of my top 10 (I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the other two parts) but it's still undoubtedly one of my top ten theatrical experiences of 2009. There's really no eloquent way of putting it; this trio of plays directed with gusto and flair by Matthew Warchus (who should've won the Tony for this and not GOC) is just so damn funny. The cast just couldn't have been better and I regret seeing LIVING TOGETHER and TABLE MANNERS only once.
Honorable mentions: EXIT THE KING, SPEED-THE-PLOW (with Norbert Leo Butz, not with William H. Macy), CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION
Bottom five:
1) ROCK OF AGES
-Just because a musical is "fun" doesn't mean it's good. And to go even further, I didn't find this show to be "fun" at all. Sorry. Just not for me. The cast is fun, I guess, but I just couldn't get over how unfunny and absolutely horrendous the book was, how amateur the direction was, and just how low everyone involved with this show had set the bar. And I'm not talking about the bar that undoubtedly makes an embarrassment of riches every night.
2) MEMPHIS
-We all know how I feel about this feebly constructed show that just seemed to be going through the motions of what it thought a Broadway show should be. There is no substance, the cast is really not up to par, the production is big and brash just for the sake of being big and brash, and it got overall positive reviews from the critics. So go figure.
3) ACCENT ON YOUTH
-A repeat of CURTAINS, although I liked CURTAINS more than AOY, David Hyde Pierce once again tries to save the day in a really unenjoyable show. This time, the production is just so bad that it doesn't work. At all. At times it was painful to sit through. A lumbering bore.
4) WAITING FOR GODOT
-Speaking of lumbering bores, WAITING FOR GODOT got rave reviews, three Tony nominations, and many BWWers love, love, loved it. Count me out. This is just a simple case of different strokes for different folks. I didn't "get" it, I found it to be beyond boring, and only found salvation in the cast who did what they could to make it worthwhile. I was very glad I only spent $10 on my ticket. Sorry folks...just not my cup of tea at all.
5) THE PHILANTHROPIST
-What can be said about this show? Quite honestly, I don't remember much of it besides how awful Matthew Broderick was and how interminable it felt. My review is floating around BWW somewhere so if you want specifics, look there. Because I forgot most of this dismissible production. I do remember clearly not enjoying myself.
Not-so-honorable mentions: HAPPINESS, BYE BYE BIRDIE, HAMLET, THE WIZ, THE STORY OF MY LIFE
2009 was, overall, a really strong year in theater in my opinion. Here's hoping 2010 tops it.
If I forgot something, I might edit. But I think this is should be it unless there's a glaring omission somewhere. And there are things I haven't seen yet (like FELA!, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, etc).
Updated On: 12/20/09 at 05:37 PM
