1. August: Osage County (NY/ Broadway) ****
2. 110 In The Shade (NY/ Broadway) ****
3. Quality of Life (LA/ Geffen Playhouse) ****
4. Sleeping Beauty Wakes (LA/ Kirk Douglas) ****
5. Passing Strange (NY/ Public Theater) ***1/2
6. Argonautika (SF/ Berkeley Rep) ***1/2
7. Durango (LA/ East-West Players) ***1/2
8. The Seafarer (NY/ Broadway) ***1/2
9. Coast of Utopia: Shipwreck (NY/ Lincoln Center)***1/2
10. Clay (LA/ Kirk Douglas) ***1/2
Honorable Mentions
Black Watch (LA/ UCLA Live); Dying City (NY/ Lincoln Center); Eurydice (NY/ Second Stage); Fat Pig (LA/ Geffen Playhouse); Frost/ Nixon (NY/ Broadway); And Neither Have I Wings To Fly (LA); The Piano Teacher (LA/ South Coast Rep)
Remarkable Returns to Shows First Viewed In Prior Years
Spring Awakening (NY/ Broadway)
Dear Friends and Theater Blog Readers:
2007 is unquestionably the year that the dramatic play returned to preeminence both on Broadway and off. While 3 of this year's top 10 shows were musicals, and they were quite good, it is this year's plays that provided the most exciting moments among the 85 productions I attended in 2007.
At the apex is the most exciting and well written American drama since "Angels in America" in the form of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater production of "August: Osage County." The writing, acting, staging and direction are pure perfection. When you watch this 3.5 hour show, the time flies by as you are sucked into the drama wondering where it will next turn. If you are in New York within the next few months and have time to do only one thing, do yourself a favor and see this funny, touching show. My hats off to the producers who decided to take a chance on this wonderful production.
But "August" is not the only new play this year that has me excited about the current state of theatrical dramas. Jane Anderson's thought provoking and touching "Quality of Life" received a dream cast production at the Geffen Playhouse. Mary Zimmerman's beautiful modern take on Greek mythology again scored in "Argonautika," which began in Chicago, and stopped in Berkeley on its way to DC in '08.
Los Angeles was fortunate to have East West's moving and sensitive production of emerging superstar playwright Julia Cho's "Durango," as well as the Kirk Douglas' Chicago import (Chicago again - sense a trend?) "Clay" which defies classification (is it a play, a one-person show, a musical - or all of the above?). Not easily forgotten is "Coast of Utopia: Shipwreck," the second part of Tom Stoppard's Russian historical trilogy, whose brilliance greatly outshined the final part of the trilogy ("Salvage") as well as Stoppard's disappointing new Broadway play ("Rock 'n Roll"). The year's dramatic highlights also included Conor McPherson's very funny and perfectly cast new play "The Seafarer."
As for musicals, nothing new and worthy of note appeared on Broadway in 2007. However, Roundabout's revival of "110 In The Shade" anchored by Audra McDonald's incredible performance was nothing short of revelatory. Away from Broadway, the Public's "Passing Strange" (which is headed to Broadway in early 2008) breathed new life into the musical form, in much the same way as "Spring Awakening" did last year. The Deaf West/ Kirk Douglas premiere of the original signed/sung (a la "Big River") "Sleeping Beauty Wakes" contained some of the most touching theatrical moments for me this year. All three shows were "small" musicals which worked in ways that the year's big, lavishly staged new musicals did not even approach. They each had tons of heart, which is so much more effective than expensive sets and costumes.
Before closing, I wanted to alert you to some new changes on this Blog. In addition to the recent redesign, I have added a "Recommended Shows Now Playing" section on the right that I promise to continuously update so that you can access "up to the moment" recommendations for theater in LA & NY. Furthermore in response to requests, I have added movie and book recommendations to the blog which can also be found on the right margin. These too will be continuously updated.
Feel free to e-mail or leave me any comments you wish on this blog. Special thanks to my partner Eric and step-son Bryan who accompanied me to many shows throughout the year without complaint, and without snoring even when they happened to be sleeping through a scene or two. Best wishes for a great holiday and new year.
-Randy
2007's Top 10 Acting Performances
1. Audra McDonald (110 In The Shade)
2. James Norton (The Seafarer)
3. Amy Morton (August: Osage County)
4. Deanna Dunagan (August: Osage County)
5. JoBeth Williams (Quality of Life )
6. Daniel Breaker (Passing Strange)
7. Matt Sax (Clay )
8. Laurie Metcalf (The Quality of Life)
9. Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)
10. Linda Gehringer (The Piano Teacher)
2007's Biggest Disappointments
"Coram Boy" - the only thing more puzzling than this play itself was the wrong-headed thinking of the producers' who imported this multimillion dollar disaster from London's National Theater. What were they thinking and/or smoking?
"Damn Yankees" at Reprise!, which featured Jason Alexander's revisionist and enormously silly tinkering. The most notable aspect of this mess was the change the baseball team featured from the Washington Senators to the Los Angeles Dodgers - not exactly a bold and daring move. Note to Jason- in the future, please don't.
"History Boys," made last year's Best 10 List for the NY production imported from London's National Theater, but the Ahmanson's poorly cast and acted home-grown production proved that home-grown is not a guarantee of quality, but can be quite rancid.
"King Lear" by the Royal Shakespeare Company had Ian McKellen entirely disrobe at one point, illustrating that this emperor, and this production to which some people paid over $2000 aticket, had no clothes.
"A Little Night Music" South Coast Reps' messy, poorly sung production of this Sondheim classic proves yet again that the play's not the thing - it's the production.
"LoveMusik" was a Kurt Weill jukebox musical that didn't sound good in concept; it did not sound good in the theater either.
"No Strings" was another Reprise! fiasco which should have been called "No Talent" because that is what was everyone involved with this show had.
"Third" at the Geffen Playhouse was a complete mess. This time the problem was with both the play and the production. A painful sit.
