Stageworthy: Best of Stage 2025
So saw 78 different shows (and concerts) (79 times) this year (and not counting the shows I saw at amusement parks again). Still a far cry from pre-pandemic days, but starting to see more shows than the last few years. Got to go to London more than I initially anticipated so the list might be London heavy, but also saw shows in Manchester, Boston, and of course Toronto and the surrounding area.
As always, my self made rules are any shows (same production version) I had seen in previous years are ineligible for this year's list.
Here's the Best of Stage 2025:
1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Ambassador Theatre - West End - London, UK
Music and Lyrics by Darren Clark, Book and Lyrics and Directed by Jethro Compton
Just pure musical magic. A beautiful journey of the life of Benjamin Button, the man who ages backwards, transposing the F. Scott Fitzgerald tale to a Cornish fishing village, and brought to full life by John Dagleish who magically ages in reverse on stage before our eyes without any special effects or makeup, just some costume changes and physicality. The world around Benjamin Button is brought full with an amazing cast of actor/musicians playing Clark and Compton's glorious folk songs to bring us a love story of Benjamin's love for Elowen (a transcendent Clare Foster) and how love can fit into his backwards life. Easily the best British musical and one of the best new musicals in ages.
2. Anne of Green Gables - Stratford Theatre Festival in the Avon Theatre - Stratford, ON
Written and Directed by Kat Sandler
Who knew we needed a completely new fresh take on the very traditional Canadian tale of Anne of Green Gables?! Kat Sandler takes Lucy Maud Montgomery's iconic story and breathes in a modern essence into Anne (a fantastic Caroline Toal) without ever losing sense of who Lucy's Anne was, or is, and then flips everything we know about Anne of Green Gables that somehow both feels radical (just like Anne herself) while painting this traditional world around her.
3. Evita - London Palladium - West End - Lonton, UK
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Book and Lyrics by Tim Rice, Directed by Jamie Lloyd
Rachel Zegler Rachel Zegler Rachel Zegler. Take Jamie Lloyd's stripped down musical productions however you want, though in this case, the almost concert like production that centres on its star Evita, makes sense for the star quality that is the central character. And the coup here is casting the absolute movie star Rachel Zegler as Evita on stage, showing us she's truly got that star quality to back her up. A megastar in the making. Lloyd also surrounds her with two terrific men in Diego Andres Rodriguez and James Olivas who help prop her up, but ultimately, this production lives or dies by its central star Evita, and Rachel Zegler easily proves she did not get plucked out of nowhere by Steven Spielberg himself for no reason.
4. The Welkin - Soulpepper Theatre Company, Crow's Theatre, and The Howland Company in the Baillie Theatre at the Young Centre - Toronto, ON
Written by Lucy Kirkwood, Directed by Weyni Mengesha
The beautifully haunting lighting and set makes way for a group of women in this 1759 village who are forced to become jury to a murderous woman (bahia watson in a stunning performance) who claims to be pregnant, which would excuse her actions. There's some serious and dark issues abound in all the moral uncertainty these women must contemplate and discuss, instead of doing their household chores and duties, and did I mention this play is often funny?
5. Inter Alia - National Theatre Lyttleton Theatre- London, UK
Written by Suzie Miller, Directed by Justin Martin
While not technically a one-woman-show, it IS Rosamund Pike's show, who plays a judge who must weigh her ethical and professional stance when an incident and accusation hits her own family. Pike is given the full weight of the play to carry and she runs around carrying it all on the Lyttleton stage, in set pieces that took my breathe away, in again, what almost feels like a one-person play despite a small (terrific) ensemble cast. Martin's production is gripping and epic in scale, weaving us through the hazy moral maze Suzie Miller has place Pike's judge in.
6. Corny Dion
Titanique - Criterion Theatre - West End - London, UK
Written by Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli, Tye Blue, Directed by Tye Blue
Shucked - Regent's Park Open Air Theatre - London, UK
Music and Lyrics by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, Book by Robert Horn, Directed by Jack O'Brien
I never saw these when they first premiered in America, so cannot comment to those original casts, but based on the London casts for both of these musical imports, I laughed until I cried, and then laughed some more. Both completely ridiculous with some of the corniest jokes that would sink a comedy set, yet delivered with gusto by the most game and hysterical casts on this side of the Atlantic. Both sung to the brims, yet a cast with such comedic timing, it was hard to imagine the originals could have been better or funnier than Kevin Ramsay as Peanut, Layton Williams as The Iceberg, Lauren Drew as Celine, Sophie McShera as Maizy, Stephen Guarino as Ruth, Ben Joyce as Beau, Rob Houchen as Jack and more. Just completely ridiculously fun AND the most amazing singing to boot.
7. The Importance of Being Earnest - National Theatre Lyttleton Theatre- London, UK
Written by Oscar Wilde, Directed by Max Webster
Take the terrific and terrifically fun classic play, add in a game cast including Sharon D. Clarke, Ncuti Gatwa, and Hugh Skinner, and make it VERY GAY. VERY VERY GAY. Without actually being gay. but still, VERY VERY GAY. An absolute delight that doesn't change the play in the slightest and yet does, making it a deliriously confection of theatrical joy.
8. The Haunts
Theatre of Dreams - Hofesh Shechter Company at Sadler's Wells Theatre - London, UK
Music and Choreography by Hofesh Shechter
Procession - National Ballet of Canada at Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto, ON
Choreography by Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber
One a frantic fever dream, the other, a slow procession as a ritual of memory and grief. Both haunting memories from within or for expelling it out to continue on, both using modern dance as expressions of whatever our bodies and mind needs to do to continue on, in mind-blowing choreography that takes the narrative of dance to new realms.
9. Bringing Up BABY
Second Best - Riverside Studios - London, UK
Written by Barney Norris, Directed by Michael Longhurst
Hypothetical Baby - Factory Theatre - Toronto, ON
Written by Rachel Cairns, Directed by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
Two one-person plays from the opposite ends of the spectrum, both in view and presentation, about bringing up baby, in idea, concept, conception, possibilities, responsibilities and every messy diaper in between, or not. On the giant Riverside Studios black box stage sits a large white walled space with a scattering of items, frames on the floor along a wall, a hospital bed in the air and more, in what ends up to be a theatrical stage box full of magical tricks, with Asa Butterfield contemplating life as it is and everything that could have been just as fatherhood is about to happen. On the other side of the pond, Rachel Cairns sits on a simple chair and white screen backdrop for data projections in the smaller Factory stage and retells her autobiographical moment of her abortion, using a deeply personal experience and frames it with data and societal factors as she contemplates her hypothetical baby. Both plays revealing more and more (both physically, in stagecraft, with projections, and emotionally) as we follow these actors along (with Asa playing an actor who came 2nd to playing a famous boy wizard in a series of movies) their journeys of bringing up the subject of baby.
10. The Fifth Step - @sohoplace - West End - London, UK
Benevolence - Factory Theatre and Why Not Theatre at Tarragon Extraspace - Toronto, ON
Born with Teeth - Wyndham's Theatre - West End - London, UK
Bright Star - CAA Theatre - Toronto, ON
The Christmas Market - Crow's Theatre in the Studio Theatre at Streetcar Crowsnest - Toronto, ON
The Code - Southwark Playhouse Elephant - London, UK
The Lady from the Sea - Bridge Theatre - London, UK
The Last Laugh - Opera House - Manchester, UK
Punch - Apollo Theatre - West End - London, UK
Romans - Almeida Theatre - London, UK
Solid Revivals:
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee - Shifting Ground Collective at Native Earth's Aki Studio - Toronto, ON
Annie - Stratford Theatre Festival in the Festival Theatre - Stratford, ON
Bridgadoon - Regent's Park Open Air Theatre - London, UK
Every Brilliant Thing - @sohoplace - West End - London, UK
Oliver! - Gielgud Theatre - West End - London, UK
The Sound of Music - National Tour at Princess Wales of Theatre - Toronto, ON
Here is every Stage Show I saw in 2025 in alphabetical order. All reviews are based on a 5 stars system (Workshop, Labs, Readings, Concerts and Cabarets are not graded):
The Importance of Being Earnest (Play Revival) - National Theatre Lyttleton Theatre- London, UK - ****1/2
Inter Alia (Play) - National Theatre Lyttleton Theatre- London, UK - ****1/2
Just For One Day (Musical) - CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***1/2
The Lady from the Sea (Play Revival) - Bridge Theatre - London, UK - ****
The Last Laugh (Play) - Opera House - Manchester, UK - ****
Life After (Musical Revival) - CAA Ed Mirvish - Toronto, ON - ***
Like Water For Chocolate (Ballet) - Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House Mainstage - London, UK - ****
The Lion King (Musical) - Princess of Wales Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***
The Little Prince (Play) - Theatre Passe Muraille - Toronto, ON - ***
Macbeth (Play Revival) - Stratford Theatre Festival in the Avon Theatre - Stratford, ON - **
Made in Italy (Play) - CAA Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***1/2
Mary Page Marlowe (Play Revival) - The Old Vic - London, UK - ***1/2
MJ (Musical) - National Tour at CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***
The Mush Hole (Dance) - Young People's Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***1/2
My Master Builder (Play) - Wyndham's Theatre - West End - London, UK - **1/2
My Neighbour Totoro (Play) - Gillian Lynne Theatre - West End - London, UK - ***1/2
Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 (Musical) - Crow's Theatre at the Royal Alexandra Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***
Octet (Musical) - Crow's Theatre in the Guloien Theatre at Streetcar Crowsnest - Toronto, ON - ****
Oliver! (Musical Revival) - Gielgud Theatre - West End - London, UK - ****
Operation Mincemeat (Musical) - Fortune Theatre - West End - London, UK - ***
People, Places And Things (Play Revival) - Coal Mine Theatre - Toronto, ON - ****
Peter Pan (Musical Revival) - CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***
Predictable Holiday Rom-Com: The Musical (Musical) - Theatre '73 at Second City Toronto - Toronto, ON - ***
Procession (Ballet) - National Ballet of Canada at Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto, ON - ****1/2
The Producers (Musical Revival) - Garrick Theatre - West End - London, UK - ***
Punch (Play) - Apollo Theatre - West End - London, UK - ****
Quadronphenia (Ballet) - Lowry - Manchester, UK - ****
Richard II (Play Revival) - Bridge Theatre - London, UK - ***
Ride the Cyclone (Musical Revival) - Shifting Ground Collective at Annex Theatre - Toronto, ON - **1/2
Romans (Play) - Almeida Theatre - London, UK - ****
Second Best (Play) - Riverside Studios - London, UK - ****
Shrek The Musical (Musical) - Young People's Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***1/2
Shucked (Musical) - Regent's Park Open Air Theatre - London, UK - ****
Slave Play (Play) - Canadian Stage at Berkeley Street Theatre - Toronto, ON - ****
The Sound of Music (Musical Revival) - National Tour at Princess Wales of Theatre - Toronto, ON - ****1/2
Stranger Things: The First Shadow (Play) - Phoenix Theatre - West End - London, UK - ***
Tell Tale Harbour (Musical) - Royal Alexandra Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***
Theatre of Dreams (Dance) - Hofesh Shechter Company at Sadler's Wells Theatre - London, UK - ****1/2
Titanique (Musical) - Criterion Theatre - West End - London, UK - ****1/2
The Triumph of Love (Play Revival) - Huntington Theatre - Boston, MA - **1/2
Truck (Play) - Factory Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***1/2
Virginia to Vegas: An Examination Of It All Tour (Concert) - TD Music Hall at Allied Music Centre - Toronto, ON
The Welkin (Play) - Soulpepper Theatre Company, Crow's Theatre, and The Howland Company in the Baillie Theatre at the Young Centre - Toronto, ON - ****1/2
Wicked (Musical) - Victoria Apollo Theatre - London, UK - ***
The Winter's Tale (Ballet) - National Ballet of Canada at Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto, ON - ****
Women at Play(s) 7 (Plays) - Alumnae Theatre Upstairs - Toronto, ON
Previous Best-of Lists:
Best of 2023 List:
Best of 2021/2022 List:
Best of 2020 List:
Best of Stage 2020
Best of 2019 List:
Best of Stage 2019
Best of 2018 List:
Best of Stage 2018
Best of 2017 List:
Best of Stage 2017
Best of 2016 List:
Best of Stage 2016
Best of 2015 List:
Best of Stage 2015
Best of 2014 List:
Best of Stage 2014
Best of 2013 List:
Best of Stage 2013
Best of 2012 Lists:
Best of Music 2012
Best of Stage 2012
Best of 2011 Lists:
Best of Music 2011
Best of Television 2011
Best of Stage 2011
Best of 2010 Lists:
Best of Music 2010
Best of Television 2010
Best of Stage 2010
Best of Movies 2010
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
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