When the "Best" Isn't Your "Favorite": A Strange Loop vs Girl From The North Country (and Six)

When the "Best Musical" Isn't Your "Favorite":
A Strange Loop vs Girl From the North Country (and Six)

It's been a while since we posted an article in this series, so we thought we'd revive it with what may be a somewhat controversial take on a critically acclaimed and beloved show. 

In the 2021-2022 season there were six Best Musical nominees: Girl From the North Country, MJ, Mr. Saturday Night, Paradise Square, Six and A Strange Loop. We saw four of them. Most of them got solidly positive reviews, but one - A Strange Loop - was a critical darling, and was awarded the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Audiences were polarized, with theater buffs and trend setters falling all over themselves to appreciate and applaud the piece. 

It is a decidedly modern musical in its themes and point of view, to be sure. Whole communities and minorities (not just racial) were being seen for the first time in this piece, and that, if nothing else, deserves not only its accolades, but its rightful place in history. It would go on to win the Tony Award for Best Musical.  But, as the title of this series suggests, it may have been the "best" musical, but it wasn't my favorite. Not even my second or third of that season. 

At the time, I didn't formally review the show, but I can summarize my thoughts this way: I greatly admire its ambition and its author, Michael R. Jackson, and I am thrilled that his voice and what that represents is being heard and taken seriously. But as a musical, I find it to be sloppy as it tries to be ground breaking but is, by and large an old-fashioned show with songs that don't stay with you, and worse yet, lyrics that range from sophomoric to amateurish. In short, the ideas are profound while the execution was, I'll be polite, less than adequate.

On the other hand, the 2021-2022 season did offer not one but two really great shows. One, Girl From the North Country, really satisfied my "musical as an art form" side, while the other, Six, hit my "musicals can be just plain fun" side. What I love about Six is its energy and creativity. Smart and very funny, it is masterful in its choreography, sharp homages in the score to a variety of female pop icons, and a slick, but important message about empowerment. Still, it is a slight entertainment that knows what it is and fulfills its promise. It is still running...

If I had to choose just one musical as my favorite of that season, though, it would be Girl, a show we almost missed had we not gotten tickets for one of its final week of performances. One of the few jukebox musicals to succeed as an original drama, I found myself so focused and immersed in what was going on that I was completely unaware of anything around me. Not a Bob Dylan fan, I was unfamiliar with any of the songs, and so in a way, for me it was an original musical (not unlike this season's Swept Away). The story was enthralling, the acting was sublime (kudos to Mare Winningham!), and the staging was art in motion (kudos to Conor McPherson!). It was a show that made me better for having seen it.

Do you have a favorite show that wasn't that season's "best?" Let us know!