Stageworthy - Best of Stage 2021 & 2022

Because these lists are based on my own arbitrary rules anyways, I had decided to combine my list from 2021 and 2022 since I'm still easing into going back to see live shows on stage. 

In the last 2 years, I went to see live stage shows 72 times (of 66 individual shows including concerts). With 8 shows in 2021 and 64 shows in 2022. 

Any shows (same production version) I had seen in previous years are ineligible for this year's list.
For previous years Best of Stage Lists:

Best of Stage 2020

Best of Stage 2019
Best of Stage 2018 
Best of Stage 2017
Best of Stage 2016 
Best of Stage 2015 
Best of Stage 2014 
Best of Stage 2013  
Best of Stage 2012
Best of Stage 2011 
Best of Stage 2010
Best of Stage 2009
Best of Stage 2008 
Best of Stage 2007

Here's the Best of Stage 2021 and 2022:

1. The Last Return - Druid at Gate Theatre - Dublin, IE

Written by Sonya Kelly, Directed by Sara Joyce

It starts with what feels like bad expository writing until you realize what Sonya Kelly is doing in her absurdist comedy about people waiting in line for the last return ticket at the theatre. So yes, I'm putting this wild ride of a theatrical play about trying to get into a show, at the top of my list of the best shows on stage. 

2. Alice in Wonderland - Bad Hats Theatre at Soulpepper Theatre Company in the Michael Young Theatre at the Young Centre - Toronto, ON

Adapted by Fiona Sauder, Music by Landon Doak and Victor Pokinko, Directed by Sue Miner, Dramaturgy by Matt Pilipiak

Bad Hats Theatre has yet again turned a children's classic that is one of my least faves, and with some ingenious creativity, original catchy songs, and a cast brimming with hearts and humour, turned in an original version of Alice in Wonderland. 

3. & Juliet - Princess of Wales Theatre - Toronto, ON

Book by David West Read, Music by Max Martin and Friends, Directed by Luke Sheppard

If you think Shakespeare needed more Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys songs in them, well I did too. What a blast, with a Broadway-bound cast that squeezed in all those Max Martin songs with just the right cheeky humour that finally understood the Shakey assignment. 

4. Red Velvet - Crow's Theatre in the Guloien Theatre at Streetcar Crowsnest - Toronto, ON 

Written by Lolita Chakrabarti, Directed by Cherissa Richards

This play had made its rounds in theatres around the world after a London debut a decade ago, and for good reason. An immensely entertaining imagined play about the true events of Black actor Ira Aldridge as he makes a name for himself in the acting world, particularly when he takes the role of Othello in 19th century London. 

5. Kamloopa (Play) - Soulpepper Theatre Company and Native Earth Performing Arts in the Michael Young Theatre at the Young Centre - Toronto, ON

Written and Directed by Kim Senklip Harvey

While it ends as a road trip play, the first act is grounded in an apartment with three young Indigenous women trying to make their way in our current world in this freshly funny and sneakily heartfelt play. 

6. Best of Enemies - Young Vic Theatre - London, UK

Written by James Graham, Directed by Jeremy Herrin

This time, it's 1968 and William F Buckley and Gore Vidal are debating about the next US Presidential election. Considering I knew nothing of these two, Graham is an expert in taking real life political moments and dramatizing them into entertaining and enlightening plays, with this latest, directed with efficient flair by Herrin. 

7. Carousel - Regent's Park Open Air Theatre - London, UK

Music by Richard Rodgers, Book and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Directed by Timothy Sheader

The Rodgers and Hammerstein classic that usually isn't one of my faves, directed here by Sheader in a magical night out in the open air that somehow made clearer the magic of this musical theatre classic. The chemistry between Carly Bowden and Declan Bennett, and Bennett's Billy Bigelow that actually felt troubled, sharpened Rodgers' story, making the ultimate ending all the more heartbreaking. 

8. (Tie) Modern Classics Revivals

Doubt: A Parable - Breaking and Entering Theatre in The Church of the Holy Trinity - Toronto, ON

Written by John Patrick Shanley, Directed by Stewart Arnott

The Weir - Abbey Theatre - Dublin, IE

Written by Conor McPherson, Directed by Catriona McLaughlin

Somehow I had never seen these two modern classics until these two revivals. With Doubt: A Parable done by a new local Toronto theatre company performed in an actual church, while The Weir haunted the Abbey Theatre starring Brendan Coyle in the older role after having been in the original production as the barkeep. Both beautiful productions with terrific casts showing why these modern classics are great plays deserving to be modern classics

Breakthrough Performances (in alphabetical order):

Philippe Arroyo in & Juliet

Gabrielle Brooks in Get Up Stand Up!: The Bob Marley Musical

Lorna Courtney in & Juliet

Carly Mercedes Dyer in Anything Goes

Oyin Oladejo in Is God Is

Declan Spaine in Get Up Stand Up!: The Bob Marley Musical

Ben Jackson Walker in & Juliet

Kaitlyn Yott in Kamloopa

Great Performances (in alphabetical order):

The cast of Doubt: A Parable: Deborah Drakeford, Brian Bisson, Emma Nelles, Kim Nelson

The cast of The Last Return: Anna Healy, Bosco Hogan, Fionn Ó Loingsigh, Rebecca O'Mara, Naima Swaleh

The cast of The Weir: Jolly Abraham, Peter Coonan, Brendan Coyle, Sean Fox, Marty Rea

Karl Ang in Cockroach

Jonathan Bailey in Cock

Matt Baram in Indecent

Carly Bawden in Carousel

Declan Bennett in Carousel

Paul Bettany in The Collaboration

Yolanda Bonnell in Kamloopa

Katie Brayben in Tammy Faye

Ronnie Burkett in Little Dickens

Ellen Denny in Red Velvet

Ayesha Dharker in Chasing Hares

Jake Epstein in Boy Falls From the Sky

Patsy Ferran in A Streetcar Named Desire

Alexis Gordon in Room

Jonathan Gould in Indecent

Kit Harrington in Henry V

Cush Jumbo in Hamlet

Allan Louis in Red Velvet

Paul Mescal in A Streetcar Named Desire

Hadyn Oakley in Anything Goes

Jeremy Pope in The Collaboration

Andrea Rannells in Tammy Faye

Amelia Sargisson in Red Velvet 

Vanessa Sears in Alice in Wonderland and Is God Is

Charlie Stemp in Mary Poppins

Anjana Vasan in A Streetcar Named Desire

Betsy Wolfe in & Juliet

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Here is every Stage Show I saw in 2020 in alphabetical order. All reviews are based on a 5 stars system (Workshop, Labs, Readings, Concerts and Cabarets are not graded):

& Juliet (Musical) x2 - Princess of Wales Theatre - Toronto, ON - ****1/2

Alice in Wonderland (Musical) - Bad Hats Theatre at Soulpepper Theatre Company in the Michael Young Theatre at the Young Centre - Toronto, ON - ****1/2

Angels' Atlas & Soul & Serenade (Ballet) - National Ballet of Canada at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto, ON - ****

Anything Goes (Musical Revival) x2 - Palace Theatre - Manchester, UK - ***1/2

A Streetcar Named Desire (Play Revival) - Almeida Theatre - London, UK - ****

Back to the Future The Musical (Musical) - Adelphi Theatre - West End - London, UK - ***1/2

Bad Parent (Play) - Soulpepper Theatre Company in the Michael Young Theatre at the Young Centre - Toronto, ON - ***

Best of Enemies (Play) - Young Vic Theatre - London, UK - ****

Billionaire Boy (Musical) - Liverpool Empire - Liverpool, UK - **1/2

Blindness (Play) - Princess of Wales Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***1/2

Boy Falls From the Sky (Musical) - Royal Alexandra Theatre - Toronto, ON - ****

Carousel (Musical Revival) - Regent's Park Open Air Theatre - London, UK - ****

Carson and Taylor Promise To Do A Bunch of Flips (Play) - Toronto Fringe Festival at Ada Slaight Hall in Daniels Spectrum - Toronto, ON - ***1/2

Charlie Puth: One Night Only (Concert) - Massey Hall - Toronto, ON

Chasing Hares (Play) - Young Vic Theatre - London, UK - ***1/2

Chicago (Musical Revival) - Stratford Theatre Festival in the Festival Theatre - Stratford, ON - ***1/2

Choir Boy (Play) - Canadian Stage Company in the Bluma Appel Theatre at Meridian Hall - Toronto, ON - ****

The Choir of Man (Musical) - Avalon Theatre at Fallsview Casino Resort - Niagara Falls, ON - ***

Cock (Play Revival) - Ambassadors Theatre - London, UK - ***1/2

Cockroach (Play) - Tarragon Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***

The Collaboration (Play) - Young Vic Theatre - London, UK - **

Come From Away (Musical) x2 - Royal Alexandra Theatre - Toronto, ON - *****

'da Kink in my Hair (Play Revival) - Bluma Appel Theatre at Meridian Hall - Toronto, ON - ****

Double Murder (Dance) - Hofesh Shechter Company at Home - Manchester, UK - ****

Clowns - ****

The Fix - ****

Doubt: A Parable (Play Revival) - Breaking and Entering Theatre in The Church of the Holy Trinity - Toronto, ON - ****1/2

Fisherman's Friend the Musical (Musical) - Royal Alexandra Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***

Gay for Pay with Blake & Clay (Play) - Crow's Theatre in the Studio Theatre at Streetcar Crowsnest - Toronto, ON - ****

Get Up Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical (Musical) - Lyric Theatre - West End - London, UK - ***1/2

Hamlet (Play Revival) - Young Vic Theatre - London, UK - **

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Play) - CAA Mirvish Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***1/2

Henry V (Play Revival) - Donmar Warehouse - London, UK - ***1/2

Imagine Dragons: Mercury Tour (Concert) - Rogers Centre - Toronto, ON

Indecent (Play) - Studio 180 at CAA Theatre - Toronto, ON - ****

Is God Is (Play) - Canadian Stage Company in the Berkeley Street Theatre - Toronto, ON - ****

Jesus Christ Superstar (Musical Revival) - Princess of Wales Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Musical Revival) x2 - Princess of Wales Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***

Josh Groban: Harmony Tour (Concert) - Budweiser Stage - Toronto, ON

Kamloopa (Play) - Soulpepper Theatre Company and Native Earth Performing Arts in the Michael Young Theatre at the Young Centre - Toronto, ON - ****

The Last Return (Play) - Druid at Gate Theatre - Dublin, IE - *****

Little Dickens - Canadian Stage Company in the Berkeley Street Theatre - Toronto, ON - ****

Mandy Moore: In Real Life Tour (Concert) - Danforth Music Hall - Toronto, ON

Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All! (Concert) - Scotiabank Arena - Toronto, ON 

Mary Poppins (Musical) - Prince Edward Theatre - West End - London, UK - ***1/2

Mean Girls (Musical) - Princess of Wales Theatre - Toronto, ON - **

The Miser (Play Revival) - Stratford Theatre Festival in the Festival Theatre - Stratford, ON - ***

National Ballet's Sharing the Stage (Ballet) - Harbourfront Centre Concert Stage - Toronto, ON

OneRepublic: Never Ending Summer Tour (Concert) - Budweiser Stage - Toronto, ON

Orphan Song (Play) - Tarragon Theatre Mainspace - Toronto, ON - ***

Post-Democracy (Play) - Tarragon Theatre Mainspace - Toronto, ON - ***

Public Enemy (Play) - Canadian Stage Company in the Berkeley Street Theatre - Toronto, ON - ****

Red Velvet (Play) - Crow's Theatre in the Guloien Theatre at Streetcar Crowsnest - Toronto, ON - ****

Rent (Musical Revival) - The Burloak Theatre Group at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts - Oakville, ON

Room (Play) - Princess of Wales Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***1/2

Ross Petty's Peter's Final Flight! The Pan-Tastical Family Musical (Panto) - Elgin Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***

Sarah McLachlan (Concert) - Budweiser Stage - Toronto, ON

The Shark is Broken (Play) x2 - Royal Alexandra Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***

Singin' in the Rain (Musical Revival) x 2 - Princess of Wales Theatre - Toronto, ON - ****

Sister Act (Musical) - Palace Theatre - Manchester, UK - **1/2

Six Chick Flicks Or A Legally Blonde Pretty Woman Dirty Danced On the Beaches While Writing A Notebook On The Titanic (Play) - Toronto Fringe Festival at the Tarragon Theatre Mainspace - Toronto, ON - ****

Snow White (Play) - Young People's Theatre on the Ada Slaight Stage - Toronto, ON - ****

Statistics (Musical) - Toronto Fringe Festival at Ada Slaight Hall in Daniels Spectrum - Toronto, ON - **1/2

Tammy Faye (Musical) - Almeida Theatre - London, UK - ****

The Weir (Play Revival) - Abbey Theatre - Dublin, IE - ****

Welcome Back to the Future (Comedy) - The Second City - Toronto, ON - ***1/2

Where the Blood Mixes (Play) - Soulpepper Theatre Company and Native Earth Performing Arts in the Michael Young Theatre at the Young Centre - Toronto, ON - ****

Wildfire (Play) - Factory Theatre - Toronto, ON - ***

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Previous Best-of Lists:

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


Photo of The Last Return by Ste Murray
Photo of Alice in Wonderland and Doubt: A Parable by Dahlia Katz

Photo of Red Velvet by John Lauener
Photo of Kamloopa by Tim Matheson

Photo of Best of Enemies by Wasi Daniju
Photo of Carousel by Johan Persson
Photo of The Weir by Ros Kavanagh
Photo of & Juliet from press materials.

Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com

More After the Jump...

Spiced Up My Life

Tosca - Canadian Opera Company - Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto, ON
Spice Girls - Air Canada Centre - Toronto, ON

So yes, I really DID go see an Opera AND The Spice Girls on the same day. On Super Bowl Sunday no less.

And um, I really tried with the classy stuff but yet again, I admired Tosca more than I loved it. So of six Operas I forced myself have seen, I've loved 1. Pucini's La Boheme. Everything else, I've nodded off in.

So yeah, I was really more into this (which finally hit Toronto, which apparently when they return later this month, is now the last stop of the tour):

(The pictures are from my sister's camera. I was 3 rows behind her and few seats over. OMG we had such good seats! (My sister was about 3 rows behind where they had Ginger Spice's baby)).

With brilliant poetry like this:

Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want,
So tell me what you want, what you really really want,
I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want,
So tell me what you want, what you really really want,
I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really
Really really wanna zigazig ha.

or this:

Be a little wiser baby, put it on, put it on
'Cause tonight is the night when two become one

or this:

Colors of the world
Spice up your life
Every boy and every girl
Spice up your life
People of the world
Spice up your life
ahh

or this:

Viva forever, I'll be waiting
Everlasting, like the sun
Live Forever, for the moment
Ever searching for the one

The whole thing was great! And they strangely somehow acknowledged when Geri left the group. And the biggest shocker? They actually really DID sing live (you could tell because if Mel C. wasn't singing, it wasn't perfect). Bigger shocker. Posh actually "sang". I thought she just stood there (she basically did but she sang about three lines all night. 3 more than I thought she would).

As for the show, apparently Mel. C, Mel B, Geri, Emma and Ms. Beckham have never seen something shimmery and sparkly they didn't like. Which was perfect since the audience was made up of 8-40 year old girls and their gay male best friends. All who like shiny things... oooh... so shiny and twinkly...

About the only surprising thing they DIDN'T have was a mirrorball but they didn't need it at that point. The Spice Girls WERE the mirrorball.

I'll throw up more photos when I get back from my trip but I must sleep now since I have an early flight.

So who won the Super Bowl?

(I actually DO know who won the Super Bowl. I DID have to make sure House was recording.)

More After the Jump...

The Fray at the Koolhaus - Concert Review

Saw Denver, CO band The Fray in concert Saturday night at the Koolhaus in Toronto. Pretty good concert for generally a very strong album which has kinda exploded ever since Grey's Anatomy took the song "How to Save a Life" as their big promo push this summer (even though Scrubs used it first). The lead singer Isaac Slade does not have a smooth voice and yet somehow makes it work REALLY well with the songs, and which makes The Fray sound like it does. "Over My Head (Cable Car)" is one of my favorite songs of this year, and again, the entire album How to Save a Life has been on repeat for me since the spring, so it was nice to hear that the band actually sound like the recorded version live on stage. Their was a little diversion when they presented one of their (young) roadies (? PA's?) Steven with a cake and booze for his 21st birthday (which was sort of negated by the fact that he was in Ontario already where he could have started drinking 2 years ago) but it was amusing nonetheless.

The opening act The Feeling didn't suck, considering I usually expect opening acts to, though I've never heard of them and still can't find their website but basically a UK band that sounds 80's rock britpopish.

Here's some pics from the night:

Get Your Own! View Slideshow

More After the Jump...

John Mayer at The Mod Club, Toronto - Concert Review

John Mayer hasn't been on my heavy rotation iPod list for a while now, probably because I played Room for Squares to death during that first year it was out. The last time I saw him in concert, it was at a large outdoor amphitheatre with 18,000 other fans, and I never felt that John Mayer's lone man singer/songwriter/guitar-playing stuff was really meant for a huge venue of that sort, despite his meteoric rise to fame. His songs are personal (if not a little college and post-college angsty, but hey, I'm the same age so I relate) and contemplative, and while he plays a mean guitar (to the point of self-indulgency as I have complained before), his songs were meant to be heard in a small club like venue.

I was probably also spoiled since I first saw John Mayer for $16 at The Opera House in Toronto, which despite the name, is a small club venue that he is perfectly suited for. We stood metres away from him and we could hear his voice crisply and clearly and not from some million dollar sound system projecting out to the 400's and lawn sections.

So now that John Mayer is all huge and Grammy winning, and about to tour with Sheryl Crow as co-headliners, it is great to see him return to where he truly belongs and that is on a small stage in a small club singing directly to his fans (who were not as screaming teenage girlsy as I thought it would be, actually a very mixed crowd, particularly one unshy and vocal guy). John played The Mod Club (another small venue that probably holds about 400 people or so, if not less, let's just say smaller than your high school gymnasium for sure) in Toronto last night, a kickoff to his tour, and the only club gig he is apparently doing on the tour.

John sounded terrific, reminding me of why he has had such a meteoric rise, and he kept his guitar playing solos to a bareable minumum (I'm not much one for the self-indulgent guitar riffing. I know it's supposedly impressive but I want lyrics and hooks baby... thats what I love about music and why I'm the most fond of Room for Squares, his most pop album (and most successful)). He sang a nice mix from every album, basically sticking to his hits ("No Such Thing", "Daughters", "Why Georgia"), or most beloved songs ("My Stupid Mouth", "Something's Missing", " Clarity" etc) and a few selections from his upcoming album Continuum including the new hit "Waiting on the World to Change". His vocals were crips and clear, just as he was 4 years ago, and though he seems to be keeping his chatter to a minimum these days, he still has some nice banter with the crowd (particularly that unshy vocal guy).

It's too bad that his fame these days will keep him playing stadiums or large amphitheatres since seeing John Mayer on such a small stage is such a pleasure, but alas, lucky me for getting to see his only club gig (yes. That was rubbing it in to all those who care).
Here are some pics I took of the show:

More After the Jump...

What I missed SYTYCD for - Gnarls Barkley

Kay, other than the fact that I missed So You Think You Can Dance and being mightily pissed that we messed up the recording of it, at least I can say I missed it for a great concert last night.

Last night at Koolhaus in Toronto, we watched Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse, better known as Gnarls Barkley, put on a SHOW! Tonight, the theme was to SERVE US, with the two leads in Chefs outfits and the rest of the 11 band members in 50's diners uniforms. It all looked terrific and you could tell the String players were having a GREAT time (who knew playing a cello could be so rocking!?).

They of course did their radio hit Crazy, then encored with one of my faves, Transformer.
The opening act was great too, but silly little me didn't know who they were but my friend did and loved them and the guest rapper (hmm... I have no idea the names right now but she seemed impressed he was there, oh, Rahzel, who apparently was on the last Bjork album.)

Meanwhile, now that I've seen Wade Robson's choreographed group dance on SYTYCD, I must say I'm LOVING Justin Timberlake's song SexyBack and finally getting it. Cause it annoyed the hell out of me before. Of course, I can still only like it while thinking to Heidi, Donyelle, Benji and Travis doing their runway thing.

More After the Jump...

The American Idol - Teddy Geiger in Concert at The Opera House

Who knew when I got the tickets for Teddy Geiger on the final performance night that I was actually not going to care anymore about American Idol despite it being the best roundup of contestants of any year?

Soul Patrol vs. Katharine (or the really, as EW said, anybody but Taylor camp)? You all know I despise the Michael Bolton sound-a-like but I think he's going to win.
Meanwhile, Teddy Geiger just had to show up to illicit the screams from the throngs of teenage girls. The fact that he could play keyboards, the guitar and sing in tune live was just icing. If only they could get rid of the wretched opening act Dirty Blonde, the show would have been perfect.

More After the Jump...