*UPDATE: I forgot 1 cabaret that I saw (and also helped changed my mind about cabarets, which I usually don't appeal to me), and have also updated my Best Performance List.
And again, as my own rule, only new shows I've seen are eligible to be on the list (shows that are new to me, even if they opened in previous years, unless there are significant changes). Thus this year, shows like Ragtime and Next Fall are ineligible since they landed on my list in 2009 already.
Actually, the 90 count also doesn't count the numerous times I saw the show I was involved in this year (I counted it as once), which is also why I decided to disqualify it from the contenders list (but the original review will note which show I had ties to).
Here's my compilation of my the Best of 2010's Stage offerings (with the full list of all the productions I went to, after the Top 20). I've got to say, my top 5 picks were all so equally strong but so different from each other that I had a hard time choosing the order and an argument could be made for any of the top 5 to be in 1st place.
Here's the Best of Stage 2010:
1. A View From The Bridge (Play Revival) - Cort Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - (Review)
Written by Arthur Miller, Directed by Gregory Mosher

2. Studies in Motion: The Hauntings of Eadweard Muybridge (Play) - Electric Theatre Company at Canadian Stage's Bluma Appel Theatre in the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts - Toronto, ON - (Review)
Written by Kevin Kerr, Directed by Kim Collier, Choreographed by Crystal Pite

3. Candide (Musical Revival) - Sidney Harman Hall (Shakespeare Theatre Company) - Washington, D.C. - (Review)
By Leonard Bernstein, Directed and newly adapted from Voltaire by Mary ZImmerman

4. In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play (Play) - Woolly Mammoth Theatre - Washington D.C.
Written by Sarah Ruhl, Directed by Aaron Posner

5. The Pride (Play) - Lucille Lortel Theatre - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - (Review)
Written by Alexi Kaye Campbell, Directed by Joe Mantello

6. The Glass Menagerie (Play Revival) - Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - and - Mark Taper Forum - Los Angeles, CA - (Review)
Written by Tennessee Williams, Directed by Gordon Edelstein

7. Venice (Musical) - Kirk Douglas Theatre, Culver City, Los Angeles - (Review)
Music by Matt Sax, Lyrics by Matt Sax and Eric Rosen, Book and Directed by Eric Rosen, Choreography by John Carrafa and Tanisha Scott

8. The Scottsboro Boys (Musical) - Lyceum Theatre - Broadway - New York, NY - (Review)
Music and Lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, Book by David Thompson, Directed and Choreographed by Susan Stroman

9. Red (Play) - Golden Theater - Broadway, New York, NY - (Review)
Written by John Logan, Directed by Michael Grandage

10. The Metal Children (Play) - Vineyard Theatre - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - (Review)
Written and Directed by Adam Rapp

11. The Boys in the Band (Play Revival) - Transport Group Theatre Company at 37 W. 26th Street Penthouse - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - (Review)
Written by Mart Crowley, Directed by Jack Cummings III

12. American Idiot (Musical) - St. James Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - (Review)
Music by Green Day, Lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong, Book by Billie Joe Armstrong and Michael Mayer, Directed by Michael Mayer, Choreographed by Steven Hoggett

13. Richard II (Play Revival) - Sonnet Repertory Theatre and Matchbook Productions at The Tank at 45th Street Theatre - Off-Broadway - New York, NY - (Review)
Written by William Shakespeare, Directed by Steven Cole Hughes

14. Fences (Play Revival) - Cort Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - (Review)
Written by August Wilson, Directed by Kenny Leon

15. A Little Night Music (Musical Review) - Walter Kerr Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - (Review)
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by Hugh Wheeler, Directed by Trevor Nunn, Choreographed by Lynne Page

16. As You Like It (Play Revival) - Stratford Shakespeare Festival - Festival Theatre - Stratford, ON - (Review)
Written by William Shakespeare, Directed by Des McAnuff

17. Leap of Faith (Musical) - Ahmanson Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Glenn Slater, Book by Janus Cercone with Glenn Slater, Direction and Choreography by Rob Ashford

18. Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Musical) - Princess of Wales Theatre - Toronto, ON - (Review)
Book by Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott, Directed by Simon Phillips

19. Time Stands Still (Play) - Friedman Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - (Review)
Written by Donald Margulies, Directed by Daniel Sullivan

20. Stuffed and Unstrung (Play) - Henson Alternative at Union Square Theatre - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - (Review)
Created by Brian Henson and Patrick Bristow, Directed by Patrick Bristow

Breakthrough Performances (in alphabetical order):
Nick Adams in Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Justin Bartha in Lend Me A Tenor
Justin Bott in The Man in the Mirror
Dmitry Bulkin in Banana Shpeel
Eddie Clendening in Million Dollar Quartet
Lauren Collins in Love, Loss, and What I Wore
Patch Darragh in The Glass Menagerie
Katie deBuys in In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play
Kevin Dennis in A Year with Frog and Toad
Mac Fyfe in The Great War
Kimberley Gilbert in In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play
Mark Huisman in Kissing Swinburne
Scarlett Johansson in A View From The Bridge
Keira Keeley in The Glass Menagerie
Levi Kreis in Million Dollar Quartet
Geoff Packard in Candide
Eddie Redmayne in Red
Matt Sax in Venice
Tony Sheldon in Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Morgan Spector in A View From the Bridge
Benjamin Walker in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Christian Dante White in The Scottsboro Boys
Great Performances (in alphabetical order):
Laura Benanti in Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Rodrick Covington in Venice
Wendy Crewson in Love, Loss, and What I Wore
Billy Crudup in The Metal Children
Hugh Dancy in The Pride
Viola Davis in Fences
Colman Domingo in The Scottsboro Boys
Raúl Esparza in Leap of Faith
Edie Falco in This Wide Night
Katie Finneran in Promises Promises
Judith Ivey in The Glass Menagerie
Yves Jacques in The Andersen Project
Ryan Kelly in Craplicker
Pasha Kovalev in Burn the Floor
Athena Lamarre in Communion
Linda Kash in Love, Loss, and What I Wore
Nathan Lane in The Addams Family
Judith Light in Lombardi
Laura Linney in Time Stands Still
Kevin Mambo in Fela!
Andrea Martin in Love, Loss, and What I Wore
Sharron Matthews in Sharron Matthews: Garland Cabaret Series *UPDATE
Eric McCormack in Glengarry Glen Ross
Alfred Molina in Red
Moya O'Connell in An Ideal Husband
Lily Rabe in The Merchant of Venice
Andrea Runge in As You Like It
Stark Sands in American Idiot
Liev Schrieber in A View From The Bridge
Bobby Steggert in Yank
Will Swenson in Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Michael Therriault in Peter Pan
Denzel Washington in Fences
Ben Whishaw in The Pride
Here is every Stage Show I saw in 2010 in alphabetical order. All reviews are based on a 5 stars system (Cabarets and workshops not given grades):
A Behanding in Spokane (Play) - Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - Review **
The Addams Family (Musical) - Lunt-Fontanne Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - Review **1/2
A Funny Thing on the Way To the Forum (Musical Revival) - Canon Theatre - Toronto, ON - **1/2 (Original 2009 Stratford Review ***1/2)
A Girl's Guide To Washington Politics (Play) - Woolly Mammoth Theatre - Washington D.C. - ***
A Little Night Music (Musical Review) - Walter Kerr Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - Review ****
American Idiot (Musical) (x2) - St. James Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - Review ****1/2
The Andersen Project (Play Revival) - Canadian Stage at Bluma Apel Theatre in St. Lawrence Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto, ON - ***1/2
An Ideal Husband (Play Revival) - Shaw Festival's Festival Theatre - Niagara-On-The-Lake, ON - ***1/2
Art (Play Revival) - Bluma Appel Theatre at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts - Toronto, ON - Review **
As You Like It (Play Revival) - Stratford Shakespeare Festival - Festival Theatre - Stratford, ON - Review ****
A View From The Bridge (Play Revival) - Cort Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - Review ****1/2
A Year with Frog and Toad (Musical Revival) - Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People - Toronto, ON - Review ****
Cirque du Soleil's Banana Shpeel (Circus) - Beacon Theater - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - Review **1/2
Beauty and the Beast (Panto) - Ross Petty at Elgin Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***1/2
The Bilbao Effect (Play) - The Center for Architecture - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - Review ***
Birnam Wood (Play) - Theatre Passe Muraille - Toronto, ON - *
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Musical) - Newman Theater at The Public - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - Review **1/2
The Boys in the Band (Play Revival) - Transport Group Theatre Company at 37 W. 26th Street Penthouse - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - Review ****1/2
Brief Encounter (Play) - Kneehigh Theatre at St. Ann's Warehouse - Brooklyn, NY - ***1/2
Burn the Floor (Dance) - Canon Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***
Candide (Musical Revival) - Sidney Harman Hall (Shakespeare Theatre Company) - Washington, D.C. - Review ****1/2
Chess (Musical Revival) - The Max at Signature Theatre - Arlington, VA (Greater Washington D.C.) - ***
Communion (Play) - Tarragon Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***
Craplicker (Play) - Fringe Festival at Tarragon Theatre - Toronto, ON - **1/2
Everyday Rapture (Musical) - American Airlines Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - Review ***1/2
Evita (Musical Revival) - Stratford Shakespeare Festival's Avon Theatre - Stratford, ON - ***
Fela! (Musical) - Eugene O'Neill Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - Review ***1/2
Fences (Play Revival) - Cort Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - Review ****
Fuerza Bruta (Theatre) - Daryl Roth Theatre - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - Original 2007 Review ****1/2
The Glass Menagerie (Play Revival) - Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - and - Mark Taper Forum - Los Angeles, CA - Review: Off-Broadway ****1/2
Glengarry Glen Ross (Play Revival) - Arts Club Theatre Company at Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage - Vancouver, BC - ****
The Great War (Play Revival) - VideoCabaret at The Cameron House - Toronto, ON - Review ****
In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play (Play) - Woolly Mammoth Theatre - Washington D.C. - ****1/2
Jitters (Play Revival) - Soulpepper at Bailie Theatre Stage in the Young Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto, ON - **
The Kid (Musical) - Acorn Theater at Theater Row - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - Review ***1/2
Kissing Swinburne (Play) - Fringe Festival at Bread & Circus - Toronto, ON - ****
Kiss Me Kate (Musical Revival) - Stratford Shakespeare Festival's Avon Theatre - Stratford, ON - **1/2
The Last Five Years (Musical Revival) - Studio Theatre at Toronto Centre for the Arts - Toronto, ON - Review ****
Leap of Faith (Musical) - Ahmanson Theatre - Los Angeles, CA - ****
Legally Blonde (Musical) - National Tour at Princess of Wales Theatre - Toronto, ON - Review ***
Lend Me A Tenor (Play Revival) - Music Box Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - Revival ***
Lombardi (Play) - Circle in the Square Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - ***1/2
Love, Loss, and What I Wore (Play) - Westside Theatre - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - and - Panasonic Theatre - Toronto, ON - Review: Off-Broadway **** Review: Toronto ****1/2
The Man in the Mirror (Cabaret) - Bathurst Street Theatre - Toronto, ON
Mary Poppins (Musical) - New Amsterdam Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - **1/2
The Merchant of Venice (Play Revival) - Broadhurst Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - ****
The Metal Children (Play) - Vineyard Theatre - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - Review ****1/2
Middletown (Play) - Vineyard Theatre - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - **
Million Dollar Quartet (Musical) - Nederlander Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - Review **
Miss Saigon (Musical Revival) - Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto, ON - Review **1/2
The M.O.P. Bucket (Cabaret) - Stitch Bar & Lounge - New York, NY
Morro and Jasp Gone Wild (Play) - Fringe Festival at Tarragon Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***1/2
Next Fall (Play) - Helen Hayes Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - 2009 Review ****1/2
Oh What A Lovely War (Musical Revival) - Soulpepper at Baillie Theatre in The Young Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto, ON - Review ***
Onegin (Ballet) - The National Ballet of Canada - Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto, ON - Review ****1/2
Peter Pan (Play Revival) - Stratford Shakespeare Festival's Avon Theatre - Stratford, ON - ***
The Pride (Play) - Lucille Lortel Theatre - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - Review ****1/2
Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Musical) (x4) - Princess of Wales Theatre - Toronto, ON - Review ****
Promises, Promises (Musical Review) - Broadway Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - Review ***1/2
Ragtime (Musical Revival) (x3) - Neil Simon Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - 2009 Review *****
Red (Play) - Golden Theater - Broadway, New York, NY - Review ****1/2
Richard II (Play Revival) - Sonnet Repertory Theatre and Matchbook Productions at The Tank at 45th Street Theatre - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - Review ****1/2
Ride the Cyclone (Musical) - Atomic Vaudeville at Theatre Passe Muraille - Toronto, ON - ***
Rock of Ages (Musical) - Royal Alexandra Theatre - Toronto, ON - Review **1/2
Romeo & Juliet (Play Revival) - Dream in High Park - Toronto, ON - **1/2
The Scottsboro Boys (Musical) - Lyceum Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - Review ****1/2
Sharron Matthews: Garland Cabaret Series (Cabaret) - Young Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto, ON
Sondheim on Sondheim (Musical) - Studio 54 - Broadway, New York, NY - Review ***
Spring Awakening - Sydney Theatre Company - Sydney, Australia - Review ***
Studies in Motion: The Hauntings of Eadweard Muybridge (Play) - Electric Theatre Company at Canadian Stage's Bluma Appel Theatre in the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts - Toronto, ON - Review ****1/2
Stuffed and Unstrung (Play) - Henson Alternative at Union Square Theatre - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - Review ****
Swan Lake (Ballet) - The National Ballet of Canada - Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto, ON - Review ****
This Wide Night (Play) - Naked Angels at Peter Jay Sharp Theater in Playwrights Horizons - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - Review ***1/2
Time Stands Still (Play) - Friedman Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - Review ****
Too Hot To Handel: The Gospel Messiah (Choral) - Carnegie Hall - New York, NY
24 Preludes by Chopin & A Suite of Dances & The Four Seasons (Ballet) - The National Ballet of Canada - Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto, ON - Review ****
24 Preludes by Chopin - ****1/2
A Suite of Dances - ***1/2
The Four Seasons - ****
Two Faced Bastard (Dance) - Chunky Move at Joey & Toby Tanenbaum Opera Centre - Toronto, ON - Review ***1/2
Cirque Du Soleil's TOTEM (Circus) - Le Grand Chapiteau - Quays of the Old Port of Montreal - Montreal, QC - Review ***1/2
Venice (Musical) - Kirk Douglas Theatre, Culver City, Los Angeles - Review ****1/2
Walter Cronkite Is Dead (Play) - The Ark at Signature Theatre - Arlington, VA (Greater Washington D.C.) - Review ****
West Side Story Suite & Pur ti Miro & Opus 19/The Dreamer - The National Ballet of Canada - Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto, ON - Review ****
Pur ti Miro - ****
Opus 19/The Dreamer - ***1/2
West Side Story Suite - ****
Wicked (Musical) - Capitol Theatre - Sydney, Australia - Review ***1/2
Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Musical) - Belasco Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - Review **1/2
Yank! A WWII Love Story (Musical) - York Theatre - Off-Broadway, New York, NY - Review ****
______________________________________
Best of 2010 Lists:
Best of Music 2010
Best of Television 2010
Best of Stage 2010
Best of Movies 2010
Previous Best-of Lists:
Best of 2009 Lists:
Best of Music 2009
Best of Television 2009
Best of Stage 2009
Best of Movies 2009
Decadeworthy - The Best of 2000-2009 Lists:
SYTYCDworthy (w/ Videos) - List Format
Theatre of the Decade
Best Films of the Decade
Favorite Films of the Decade
Television of the Decade
Television of the Decade - 1 Season Wonders
Best of 2008 Lists:
Best of Music 2008
Best of Television 2008
Best of Stage 2008
Best of Movies 2008
Best of Television Fall '07 - Winter '08 List
Best of 2007 Lists:
Best of Music 2007
Best of Television 2007
Best of Movies 2007
Best of Stage 2007
Best of 2007 (The Final Wrap Up)
Best of Television Fall '06 - Winter '07 List
Best of 2006 Lists:
Best of Music 2006
Best of Television 2006
Best of Movies 2006
Best of 2006
Best of Television Fall '05 - Winter '06 List
Best of 2005 Lists:
Best of Television 2005
Best of Movies 2005
Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment