Ben Brantley and Charles Isherwood have just put out their Best Theatre of 2010 list, so I thought I’d give it a go myself. It’s a little odd to look back at a year and not a theatrical season to put together the list, but it is nice to see how much theatre i’ve seen within the past year…
My humble best of 2010 list :)
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (currently playing on Broadway after a hugely successful run at the Public Theatre and closing in January, it’s easily the best new musical I’ve seen this year…)
Brief Encounter (the most inventive piece of theatre i’ve seen this year…playing on Broadway at Roundabout’s Studio 54 until January…it was glorious…GLORIOUS)
Red (winner of the Tony Award for Best Play, the direction and acting impressed me the most…it featured the always reliable Alfred Molina and Eddie Remayne who went on to win the Tony for Best Featured Actor)
A Little Night Music (missed the original cast of this revival, but was oh so pleased to catch two stage legends Elaine Stritch and Bernadette Peters in what was basically a master class in acting)
The Boys in the Band (off-broadway’s The Transport Group took on the revival of this important piece…set in the apartment of a party that goes horribly wrong, this production was made more immediate by actually being set in an apartment where the audience took their seats in the living room in the middle of the action)
Neighbors (written by friend Branden Jacob-Jenkins, his debut as playwright was deemed shocking and controversial when it opened off-broadway at the Public Theatre)
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety (this Pulitzer Prize nominee played off-broadway at Second Stage, and beautifully melded its quirky brand of comedy with the more serious topic of racial identity in America today)
Next to Normal (saw this Best Musical winner and Pulitzer Prize winner for the second time this year…still amazing…catch it on Broadway before it closes in January)
Secrets of the Trade (a quiet and simply told play that opened off-broadway at Primary Stages, it was John Glover’s performance that made the show)
Enron (this West End hit and Broadway flop has to have been one of the more interesting and inventive things i’ve seen on the Broadway stage)
