Fefu and Her Friends at Theater for a New Audience merits a place in this article. The set design, the play itself, and the performances of Amelia Workman, Jennifer Lim, Juliana Canfield, and Helen Cespedes are all brilliant.
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I would add Socrates at the Public and Linda Vista at Second Stage as worthy additions to the list. I am particularly happy that the critics mention Marys Seacole and We're Only Alive on the list; these were special productions without a lot of visibility to the world at large.
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@Claudia - it's surprising but you're clearly right that the Claire Tow -LCT3 has low visibility. In many ways, they've made it more hospitable than the Beaumont or Newhouse, with that outside garden and really nice place to wait that makes it comfortable to experience something they feel is on its way but edgy and often unfinished, even a bit experimental. (Even at many really top non-profit theaters, these types of work have tended to be in an area that seems to remind you that what you'll see is often in development, in progress or maybe a bit edgy- the Irish Rep second space as an example takes you briefly through what feels like a rehearsal area downstairs before the play, even when it's fully designed and well-staged.)
So happy Heroes of the Fourth Turning made this list! It was a must see for me.
Thank you Ben Brantley and Jesse Green!
Strange Loop at Playwrights’ Horizons was the best show this year. The omission here, and the inclusion of Slave Play is predictable and unimaginative
And Betrayal? Who knew adultery could be so boring?
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@47 - it's possible we're all spending more time analyzing the lists than the critics spent actually writing them, since they've likely been having the lists in mind all year, and then write them and it's on to other plays and articles. But "Strange Loop" is mentioned as one of three musicals that "had at least some of the ingredients needed to lift the impossible art form into excellence" -and "Marys Seacole" making two lists (despite that even some of the LCT people saying it's not THERE yet, so the author wasn't ready to let it be published yet. Hoping these lists let her know it's closer than she reportedly thinks.
Good reviewing a journalistic art very different from playwriting, but the critics are probably on to lots of other reviews by now. These lists mean so much to us readers, and people will rad back to these in the future, as we now look back to the lists of 1960 etc. Maybe for the critics it's a necessary part of the job to do Best of 2019 or any calendar year. (seasons always seem to mean much more than calendar years for trends in theater, it seems).
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Eureka Day, The Black Clown and On Blueberry Hill should have made the cut. Eureka Day was a profound look at what political correctness has done to our humanity, hilarious and disturbing at the same time. The Black Clown left every other play that has dealt with the white gaze in the last few years in the dust, with the bonus of stunning music and choreography. On Blueberry Hill was a rare chance to see Fishamble in the US and to savor a Sebastian Barry script. Irish actors rarely disappoint and Fishamble's are always a joy to watch.
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Where is "Secret Life of Bees?" Great musical score by the brilliant Duncan Sheiik, fabulous voices, brilliant staging in an intimate off-Broadway Theatre in Chelsea. Best musical I saw all year.
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So glad Ryan knowles got a shout-out! He is brilliant!
Bravo for including the creative and affecting "Make Believe" and the gory but emotionally charged "Gary." Where is "Hadestown"?
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@jerseyjazz Seriously. Hadestown is spectacular.
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yes, finally just saw hadestown after being a fan of anais mitchell's for years. it was indeed fabulous,
I felt White Noise at the Public Theater should have been on someone’s list. It was one of my favorite dramas of the year and was superior to The Betrayal which was lackluster. The four actors in White Noise showed passion and totally engaged the audience; the actors in The Betrayal made the material boring. Personally I don’t know how Zawe Ashton gets roles. She has been awful in everything I have seen her in.
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@Susan Zak Regarding "the actors in The Betrayal made the material boring" - I never saw this story covered in the Times, but there were international headlines, like in the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/film/shortcuts/2019/sep/18/tom-hiddleston-broadway-play-woman-orgasm-betrayal
about the elegant lady at "Betrayal" who apparently thought the Bernie Jacobs Theater was a bachelorette party at the. Bada Bing Club. Suddenly, answering cell phones and bringing buckets of KFC seemed like good manners. I was thinking "Moulin Rouge" might actually use this as a marketing idea to sell a few seats at higher prices.
This story did get more coverage than Idina thought. This one https://metro.co.uk/2019/09/18/woman-caught-making-orgasm-twice-tom-hiddlestons-play-betrayal-10764722/
was especially cheeky, as we like yo saysay in US plays depicting the UK: saying the lady made a "swift exit," [I'm thinking maybe she ran out to her "getaway car."] The UK news story clearly meant a reference to Taylor Swift who wrote that huge hit song "Getaway Car" apologizing to Tom Hiddleston for how she treated him, but instead of saying she was sorry directly to him, she might as well get a smash hit song out of it. (Anyone who dates Taylor Swift has for years been on notice that if they break up, she WILL write and release a song about it. Like anyone who works for Scott Rudin is by now totally on notice that any day, you could get fired by being ordered out of a car, though apparently he will stop the car first and get it to the curb). But how could Tom Hiddleston have known she'd write one of the best songs she ever wrote about how sorry she was - and he'd have to hear her apology on the radio even while celebrating his new love with his also-celebrated co-star in "Betrayal."
I think an answer is for Zawe Ashton to write the book for the Taylor Swift jukebox/catalog musical, either on film or onstage.
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The absence of Hadestown from this list is more than a little embarrassing. The authors claim, "the ingredients needed to lift the impossible art form into excellence: thematic ambition, exacting skill, dramatic coherence and superior staging."
Hadestown won the Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Direction, Best Scenic Design, Best Lighting Design, Best Sound Design, Best Orchestrations and Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role. Not to mention nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Featured Role, Best Choreography, and Best Book.
By your own criteria, it meets the standard of excellence. One cannot help but wonder why you chose to leave it off.
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@SJM I know...the performances at the Tonys and Macys parade were spellbinding. People are still talking about them...I mean, Wow!
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Far too much of the lists appear to be the reflective of the critics' political/social views, rather than their dramatic or musical or comedic merits.
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@DSM14 - Isn't it what's chosen by theaters to be produced locally and places like Williamstown/the Berkshires tends to make efforts to appeal to what their audience base is interested in seeing, and critics can only comment on what's produced. A conservative play in NYC does happen but is rare, whatever the political leanings of the choosers, likely because when one is done has problems helping even NYC nonprofits engage their audience and donors.
I felt "Tootsie," which was mentioned though not in the Top 10, had potential like "La Cage" in the 1980s, capable of having even conservative-leaning tourists buy tickets since the title felt like a brand, enjoy, laugh, cheer, and stop a moment to think "I never saw it that way." No idea what went wrong there commercially - maybe they were too ambitious by the story not being the film story as much as I admired that (but I don't pay premium except at places like Ars Nova where "premium" is $65, so I'm not in Broadway target audience any more). Maybe the audience didn't leave happy because, unlike the film, there could be no promise of possible romance between the male and female leads? The music has been mentioned, that it's not as strong as Band's Visit, so maybe the album didn't get people there? But done wisely knowing it may need to appeal to liberals and conservatives. It just couldn't go premium with no Best Musical Tony, it seems.
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@Freddie We thought Tootsie was much funnier than the critics said--constantly funny and often in a clever way. Yes, the music was not memorable (other than the opening song after intermission) or as imaginative as A Band's Visit,but our audience roared at the punchlines.
I find the critics compete to be the most "woke" and too often pound older plays/musicals for not reflecting current values.
And yes, y\there are great plays produced Off Broadway (we love Signature Theatre) and regionally, although I suspect any conservative playwright would struggle to be heard because FOX, MSNBC and this president incite everyone to be very hostile to opposing view.
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@DSM14 now I'm wondering if it's to try to have the lyrics land as funny as the book, so for "Tootsie"he had to pull back on what he did with the music to give room for audience reaction. (I wonder if he was composing "Band's Visit" and "Tootsie" around the same time.) Adam Gwon and Joe Iconis and Zina Goldrich certainly seem to have pulled back on the unique music they clearly can do at times. Maybe Jason Robert Brown stuck to his artistic instincts rather than give in to "accessible" totally in "Honeymoon in Vegas" - we can rationalize that, or maybe audiences didn't want to see Tony Danza being convincing a bad guy do weren't recommending the show to friends. But that that show got zero Tony nominations could only be a commercial decision not to "waste" nominations on a closed show that year, not art.
I'm betting there's quality conservative writing finding an audience in Branson, a live entertainment scene which seems to be thriving financially as opposed to a lunch line some had thought it was years ago.
Sir Ian McKellen doesn't count because he was one night only? I caught his piece in London and will never forget the evening.
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I love best of lists. And I always like Mr Brantley’s reviews
But I feel I must say this: If you are a professional critic, like, that’s your job. You listen to music, you watch plays or movies for a living! Are you going to tell me you can’t possibly decide what play you liked best. Second best. Oh please! The preciousness. To paraphrase JJ Hunsecker: I know it’s so hard to be a critic in this world.
But wake up. You are a critic. Just decide. Some of us can’t make 10, or 30 plays a year.
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@Greg If the critics paid for tickets, I am sure they would rank their recommendations in order.
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@DSM14, I know you're possibly joking, but that brings to mind a question of whether critics should ever be considering ticket cost, and wouldn't that result in free Shakespeare being judged by a different standard than not-free Shakespeare, or the need for reviews to be looked at again if a show becomes a hot ticket charging $500 after the reviews as a hit when it was a bargain $199 before the reviews. And Tv is free, though you have to sit through the ads, and any pop album reviewed can likely be heard for free if you know where to look.
Hadestown swept the Tony Awards this year. Your consistent discrediting of the show--the first ever from an all-female creative team--is disqualifying for your theater desk, helmed by two white men. You do not need to love it, but ask someone who does to cover it, and give it the nod it has earned. Your blind spots are showing.
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@BKovan
The assertion that two white men cannot make neutral, objective judgements because of their skin color and gender is racist, offensive and hurtful.
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@Trajan
One of the authors of this article wrote a review of Head Over Heels that was so transphobic the NYT was forced to rewrite part of it and apologize after publishing. And their Tony predictions thoroughly missed the mark of Hadestown in favor of Prom and Tootsie. Do your research; the assertion that two white men are capable of consistently offering a neutral critique of stories that don’t reflect themselves is willfully ignorant.
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@BKovan Two words about that all-female creative team: "FUN HOME." Ring a bell? Ben raved RAVED about it.
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The Inheritance may be the most powerful play on Broadway. I think it is.
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@Ken
Is is really 7 hours long in two plays? Sounds intriguing but no thanks.
@Trajan
Then do it on two nights.
But I saw both parts on a Saturday and the fear of seven hours quickly faded as the magnificent piece unfolded. It really should not be missed. (I think it just missed the cut-off for this piece, which is unfortunate. It's stunning.
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Feeling battered by life in America with trump and his enabling GOP-Congress, I avoided message shows and luxuriated in 'Moulin Rouge' and 'Ain't Too Proud.' I made that decision after feeling enlightened but battered by the reality of how little protection the Constitution, on which we base our rule of law, affords women, in 'What the Constitution Means to Me' last summer.
I'm returning in a few weeks to see Harry Connick, Jr., 'Little Shop of Horrors' and another two plus hours of 'Moulin Rouge.' I'm a little sorry I missed the dancing fetuses but, on the whole, there are only a limited number of historical insanities and existential threats I can tolerate at a time.
Theater exists to comfort as well as to challenge and enlighten. Thank God.
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The Lehman Trilogy is problematic in its message(s) and fails to tell a compelling story. It coasts on a great set and great actors.
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Strongly disagree. This was compelling brilliant theater. The great set and fantastic acting only added to the play’s insightful exploration of the seedy roots of American corporate culture.
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I am waiting for the return of COMPANY
and the revival of The Music Man next September.
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@RABNDE Music Man = $$$$$$. I can afford it but feel like a chump for paying that much.
@RABNDE And, what about West Side Story?
Company does not disappoint
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