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Masthead
A CurtainUp Feature
A Look back at 2011. . .
By Elyse Sommer
I'm not fond of best of the year lists that seem to crop up everywhere like pedicabs in the theater district. Still, the lull between the last show openings of 2011 and the celebrations welcoming in 2012, does stir up reflections on shows I saw, liked a lot and not so much, and how they fared at the box office. And so . . .
Much loved but neverless departing hits
Billy Elliott. If you haven't seen this terrific musical, you've got just one week to catch it. It's had a healthy run but the fact that American musical theater audiences don't all identify with the Thatcher years and the cost of constantly training new Billies contributed to the show's economic demise.
Hugh Jackman Back on Broadway.. Though a concert and not a musical, the Australian heartthrob proved to be a box office triumph. Though the limited run is coming to a close. . .Jackman could, if so inclined, stay on the Great White Way forever.
Most successful off-Broadway to Broadway Play Transfers
Other Desert Cities. Critics and audiences welcomed this old-fashioned well-made drama for its well-written script and fine performances. Given the dicey life of straight plays, don't expect it to stay around for years-.
Venus in Fur Ritter Leopold Sacher-Masoch 1870 novella would have come and gone if it hadn't been one of those rare a-star-is-born debuts for Nina Arianda. With just two characters and a single set, it's an economical vehicle and with new leading man, Hugh Dancy, to add sexual sizzle the show has transferred successfully enough to make it's scheduled ending temporary. If you missed it at the Samuel Friedman Theater, you can catch it when it reopens at the Lyceum for another from February 7th to June 16th.
Best New Play of the Season
Sons of the Prophet . This had something to say and said it will. It's sure to have many regional productions, if not a Broadway transfer.
Plays That Relied Most Heavily on their Leading Actors
Jerusalem. The play resonated with many, including yours truly, but not enough. But it did do well for a limited run thanks to the always spectacular Mark Rylance.
Man and Boy. Without Frank Langella to play the Man of the title, this never would have made it back to Broadway.
The Company putting on the most enjoyable and unique page to stage productions
Their unusual theatrical "readings" of modern literary icons has made Elevator Repair Service one of the most buzzed about companies. The line by line, marathon reading of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, renamed Gatz was enough of a hit for the Public Theatre to schedule another run for 2012. I liked The Select, their less gargantuan take on Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises even better.
Most likely to keep Singing and Dancing on Broadway
An undisputable case of a very successful something new The Book of Mormon and something old made new again Anything Goes
Off-to-On-Broadway transfer most likely to succeed
Once. Based on a little-engine-that-could Indie movie, this has music not limited to a limited age group, an outstanding and uniquely theatrical adaptation that might just make it a hit when it moves to Broadway in February. While there were some fine small new musicals off-Broadway like The Blue Flower and Queen of the Mist, they were somewhat too "artsy" for a transfer, while Lysistrata Jones which did transfer just isn't artful enough for its recent Broadway transfer to last long.
A Show proving that Sure-Fire Popularity is Not Forever-
Private Lives. This is considered Noel Coward's masterpiece, but I'm not alone in thinking that Coward's bon mots just don't warrant the constant revivals (unless you give it a totally new look as the film-to-stage Brief Encounter of a few seasons back. Too bad that this was New York's first chance to see Paul Gross of the TV series Slings and Arrows.
The Most Artistic Production Anywhere
War Horse. Like its predecessor at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont, this has been a sell-out for all ages and tastes. Announcements of new cast members indicate that this beautiful production will stay in town for a while. While the real horses in the just released Spielbergmovie will probably be seen by even more people, my vote goes to the puppet horses of the stage play.
Most Unnecessary new play
Manhattan Theatre Club has introduced theater goers to some wonderful new plays and with David Hyde Pierce starring and a book publishing setting that I always find interesting, I hoped that Cloe Up Space would prove to be a great way to end a year of theater going. Alas, this was an all-around misfire. Give me a rerun of Frazier any day.
Best Master Playwright Revivals
Both of these were at Classic Stage-- Moliere's School for Lies and Chekhov's Cherry Orchard
I could go on-- but I'm resting up for 2012. ..
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Anything Goes Cast RecordingOur review of the show
Book of Mormon -CDOur review of the show
Slings & Arrows-the complete set
You don't have to be a Shakespeare aficionado to love all 21 episodes of this hilarious and moving Canadian TV series about a fictional Shakespeare Company
