2019 in Review: Mr. and Ms. Broadway 2019

As you know (we hope), each month we honor two people each month by naming them Mr. Broadway and Ms. Broadway. Now that we are at the end of another year, it is time to name two individuals "of the year." There were many really great possibilities, and it was so hard to pick! And this year, we are adding to our end of the year honors by naming our Broadway Influencer of the Year! And so, without further ado...

Mr. Broadway 2019

Alex Timbers

It has been quite a year for this guy, opening three shows on Broadway in a 12-month period is an amazing feat. He started the year bringing in Beetlejuice from out of town, and despite mixed reviews and a rough go at the box office, it has become a fan favorite and a bit of a financial success (its controversial closing notice not withstanding). His next musical, the extravaganza Moulin Rouge!, is a critical success and routinely brings in $2M+ and over well-over 100% of its gross potential each week. Finally, this fall he helped bring in David Byrne's American Utopia, another critical and financial success. We like to think of Alex Timbers as a boundary pusher, both large and small scale, never afraid to go big, but never forgetting storytelling.

Ms. Broadway 2019

The Women of Hadestown

Anaïs Mitchell, Rachel Hauck & Rachel Chavkin

Women in creative power positions are rare enough, but Hadestown hit the trifecta. Mitchell's years-in-the-making book, lyrics and music is easily one of the great musicals of the 21st Century. Her modern take on a classic myth is playing to SRO crowds and is financial and critical darling. Chavkin, who worked large scale miracles with Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, has simultaneously provided a muscular and intimate staging. Finally Hauck, has designed one of the great unit sets ever devised, complimenting the material and direction with a setting that is just as detailed, intimate, and muscular. There is clearly no reason left for not having women creating and running the show.

Broadway Influencer of the Year

Jeremy O. Harris

Controversy follows those seek change. And so it is with the playwright of the year's most in-the-news play, Slave Play. His play hits conservatives where it hurts (just witness "Talkback Tammy's display), and gives everyone something to think about. He also defies social norms with his lack of concern for start times and texting during his play (just witness the Rihanna kerfuffle). We hope he continues to be a voice for inclusion and change. But perhaps his greatest contribution toward establishment change is his insistence that seats be available at reasonable costs for people of color. Together with producers, he's been behind some inventive discounting, as well as a program where patrons can add to their ticket so less fortunate folks can get a ticket. He's also gotten some of his Broadway friends to follow his example when he purchased premium seats and gave them away to random audience members. Thinking outside of the financial box and adding to the national discourse through his art certainly qualifies him as a Broadway Influencer!

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2019 in Review: The 5 Best Shows

As the year comes to a close, we take one last look at the shows we saw in 2019. It was very difficult to narrow it down to just five. Each of these gave me such joy, and all for different reasons. Some pushed boundaries, while others reignited classics. All of them were wonderful reminders that the power of live theater is like no other. Listing them in alphabetical order seemed easier than the challenge of trying to rank them. Here's to even more great theater in 2020!

2019 in Review:

The 5 Best Shows of the Year

New York:

Hadestown (Grade: A++)

WHAT WE SAID: "Helmed by the über-talented Rachel Chavkin (she was also instrumental in the development of the work), Hadestown is so tightly constructed and the staging and choreography (by the equally brilliant David Neumann) so seamlessly blended it feels less like watching a musical and more like watching living, breathing art bloom right before your eyes. 'Come see how the world could be,' indeed. Timely and timeless, Hadestown is a masterpiece." 

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts I and II (Grade: A+)

WHAT WE SAID: "'Are all Broadway plays like this?' That was the question a co-worker of mine asked about a month go, when she saw Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two. It practically drove her crazy not getting an answer from me for weeks, and even more so, not being able to discuss it until after I finally saw it. So, I answered my co-worker, "No. Not all Broadway plays are like Cursed Child." There are so many things I want to write about this extraordinary production and vastly entertaining play. The themes, the portrayals, the surprises...but I won't ruin it for you. Just see it to believe it. And when you do, please #KeepTheSecrets."

Little Shop of Horrors (Grade: A+)

WHAT WE SAID: "What a wonderful thing it is to see a thrilling production of a show you love! Such is the case with the practically perfect off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors. The show is such fun, made even more so by the cast and production that are completely on the same page, and they are all clearly having a ball."

Oklahoma! (Grade: A)

WHAT WE SAID: "Daniel Fish's stunning, often disturbing take on the Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic Oklahoma! is just the kind of show I love. All by itself, this work has been groundbreaking - the original is oft credited as being the first modern musical. But this very modern, highly sexualized and violent version - without changing a word of the original - resonates in a very modern, current way, while making it clear why its first audiences in the early 40's were taken aback. It isn't quaint and charming. Far from it. It is a scathing indictment of both the American West and our country's gun obsessed culture."

To Kill a Mockingbird (Grade: A+)

WHAT WE SAID: "Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is a masterpiece of literature, a masterpiece of film-making, and now, under the power of playwright Aaron Sorkin and director Bartlett Sher, it is a masterpiece of theatricality. The beauty of this piece is that it reveals the material to be both timeless and timely. That it does so as a memory play and courtroom drama only serves as a stark reminder that history seems to be repeating itself over and over again. That it does so with a heady mix of vicious, inflammatory language and a surprising amount of humor and moral heart (sans didactic preaching) makes it remarkably entertaining and gripping."

Regional: 

Fun Home - Baltimore's Center Stage (Grade: A+)

WHAT WE SAID: "Fun Home at Baltimore's Center Stage is wonderful in every respect. It's just that simple. Under Hana S. Sharif's poignant direction, this trip to Pennsylvania is decidedly more robust and intense than any version I've seen before. Think hybrid of the Public Theater premiere and the Broadway version, plus an urgency heretofore un-mined. There were some nice new laughs and some new heartbreaking moments as well."

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Favorite Theater of the Year

Normally, we select a Broadway theater each year where we have had a particularly grand experience for our annual review. This year, we didn't select one whole theater, but rather the upstairs lobbies of two! If you've ever had mezzanine seats at either the Al Hirschfeld Theatre or the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, you probably understand what we mean.

Both exude a sense of history; one can envision the glamour of days gone by, patrons milling about, dressed to the nines, sipping champagne as they wait for the curtain or between acts. Both are spacious and elegantly appointed, and both are much more comfortable than the lobbies where you enter the building.

The Al Hirschfeld Theatre

The Byzantine-Moorish style of the building mandates the terracotta colors and iron-work aesthetic is punctuated with classic stained glass. In keeping with the theater's namesake, the walls up there are lined with Hirschfeld famous Broadway drawings. The spacious comfort is worth mentioning again.

The entrance.
Up the stairs to the spacious mezzanine lobby.

The wall, lined with the legendary drawings of Al Hirschfeld

There's even a fireplace! Can we just move in?

The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre

The theater itself is in the Beaux-Arts style, while the interior features 18th century-style appointments. The upstairs lobby is, by New York standards, enormous with room for a lot of people to stand comfortably, with a large bar and (usually) two merchandise booths. My favorite parts of the lobby are the gold leaf ceiling, the theater mural behind red velvet curtains and rope, flanked by metal palm trees. Somehow, it all works.

Up those unassuming stairs is the way to...

...metal palm trees, gold ceiling & chandeliers...

Note the hardwood floors, the mural to the right...

Do you have a favorite theater or part of a theater? Let us know! Maybe your pick will be our pick in 2020!

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2019 in Review: The Best Songs & Numbers

Over the past twelve months, we have heard and seen some magnificent singing and dancing on stages all around the East Coast. The gamut is pretty wide, too. Radical reinterpretations of classics, traditional revivals, thrilling modern scores and exciting takes on pop music. Who knew we would be as taken by a Rodgers and Hammerstein gem as we were by the likes of Katy Perry, Adele, Tina Turner and Cher. Although we both agree that we prefer new, original musicals over jukebox musicals (bio or otherwise) we'll admit that if well done, they can be just as good.

Here are our selections for the best songs and numbers from 2019:

Mike's Picks

The Best Songs & Numbers

2019

• "Days and Days" from Fun Home - The actress playing Helen (Michelle Dawson) practically set the place on fire! She may have given the best performance I've seen of this song, and that's saying something. 
• "Suddenly Seymour" from Little Shop of Horrors - This is my favorite song from the show, and both amazing lead actors (Jonathan Groff and Chelsea Turbin) exceeded even my high expectations. 
• “Firework” from Moulin Rouge! - Another powerhouse performance from a brilliant singer/actress. Karen Olivo’s performance transcends even Katy Perry’s original. 
• “Why We Build the Wall” from Hadestown - Some truly startling vocals from Patrick Page and muscular musical accompaniment make this uncannily relevant song stand out in a wondrous  score. 
• “Pore Jud is Daid” from Oklahoma! - Some appropriately creepy vocals from Damon Daunno and Patrick Vaill, performed in the dark, prove that this show is much more than singing cowboys and dancing farmers. 

Jeff's Picks

The Best Songs & Numbers

2019

• "Our Lady of the Underground" from Hadestown - What an Act Two opener! Amber Gray not only owned the song and the stage - she owned the entire city block! 
• "Crazy Rolling" from Moulin Rouge! - Has Aaron Tveit ever sounded better? This mash-up of "Crazy" and "Rolling in the Deep" not only blends together well and fits the moment perfectly, but he nails the emotion of both songs as one.
• "The Farmer and the Cowman" from Oklahoma! - I am still haunted by this song and the scene connected to it. Aggressive and unbearably tense, it matched Daniel Fish's radical and spot-on reinterpretation of the piece. Mary Testa was brilliantly blistering throughout. 
• "River Deep, Mountain High" from Tina: The Tina Turner Musical - One of my favorite songs of all time, powerfully rendered by Nkeke Obi-Melekwe (and I'm sure just as wonderfully by Adrienne Warren). And what a way to showcase it - a practically empty stage with "Tina" front and center.
• "The Beat Goes On" from The Cher Show - With a few lyric changes, the song actually advanced to story, and the amazing Micaela Diamond led the cast in a routine that was stylish, evocative and delicious fun.
• Honorable Mention: "The Wand Dance" from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Leave it to Steven Hoggett to put a great dance number in the middle of a play!

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2019 in Review: The Best of Broadway (and Off) in Performance

2019 is rapidly coming to a close (which may not be such a bad thing these days) and today we are going to celebrate some of our favorite performances over the past twelve months. We came up with 28 categories - from pre-show to post-show and everything in between. We hope you have as much fun with our choices as we did choosing them!

Over the past calendar year, we saw 23 shows: 16 shows on Broadway and 3 off-Broadway. and 4 regional productions. They were Be More Chill, Beetlejuice, Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, Hadestown, Hamilton, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, King Lear, Little Shop of Horrors (off-Broadway), Merrily We Roll Along (off-Broadway), Moulin Rouge!, Oklahoma!, Puffs (off-Broadway), The Cher Show, The Lightning Thief, The Phantom of the Opera, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, To Kill A Mockingbird, and Tootsie.

2019 in Review:

The Best of Broadway (and off):

Performances

🌟Best Pre-Show Show: The Sword Swallowers Moulin Rouge!

• As if walking into that breathtaking theater isn't enough, the erotic beat and sensuous cast members circulate until just before the show starts. Then you are riveted by two statuesque beauties...

🌟Star on the Rise - Play: Sean Carjaval King Lear

• I have seen many productions of King Lear, and never before has the role of the banished Edgar made more of an impression as it did here. I'm telling you, this guy is going places.

🌟Star of the Rise - Musical: Micaela Diamond The Cher Show

• Magnetic. Dazzling. Superb voice. She has it all. The best "I Got You Babe" and "The Beat Goes On" this side of Queen Cher herself.

🌟Best Entrance - Play: Moaning Myrtle Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

• She rose from the depths and made quite a splash. It's been quite a year for bathrooms on Broadway.

🌟Best Entrance - Musical: Satine Moulin Rouge!

• As befitting a glamorous star of the Moulin Rouge, Satine (the glamorous Karen Olivo) floats down from the heavens on a swing. She really is a sparkling diamond.  

🌟Best Kiss: Christian and Satine Moulin Rouge!

• When Aaron Tveit and Karen Olivo finally lock lips, it is so satisfying!

🌟Best Almost Kiss: Curly and Jud Oklahoma!

• Everyone in the room was sure they'd (Damon Daunno and Patrick Vaill) start making out. You could cut the sexual tension in the room with a knife. But they didn't... sigh...

🌟Best Chemistry - Play: Anthony Boyle and Sam Clemmett Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

• You could feel it out in the lobby, let alone in the seats. It made the adventure at hand all the more poignant and very human.

🌟Best Chemistry - Musical: TIE: 

Robyn Hurder and Ricky Rojas Moulin Rouge! 

• I needed to smoke a cigarette after their Act Two opener, "Bad Romance/Toxic." Damn!

Ali Stroker and James Davis Oklahoma!

• Yee Haw, that was some sweet kissin' on the prairie. I don't think they could've been any cuter.

🌟Best Friends - Play: Scout, Dill and Jem To Kill a Mockingbird

• A beautiful thing with sweet, perfect performances by Celia Keenan-Bolger, Gideon Glick and Will Pullen.

🌟Best Friends - Musical: Percy, Annabeth and Grover The Lightning Thief

• Nothing creates fast friends like fighting the gods and dealing with teen angst all at once.  Chris McCarrell, Kristin Stokes and Jorrel Javier handled it all like the pros they are.

🌟Best Mythic Performance - Actor: Andre De Shields as Hermes Hadestown

• When he took the stage, he took our breath and hearts away. A performance of the ages in a career full of them.

🌟Best Mythic Performance - Actress: Amber Gray as Persephone Hadestown

• Talk about riveting! She was brilliant ever single second she was on the stage. "Anybody want a drink?" is my new mantra.

🌟Best Performance as an Inanimate Object - Play: The Sorting Hat Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

• Brian Thomas Abraham is the man behind the bowler. A creative, theatrical way to make magic!

🌟Best Performance as an Inanimate Object - Musical: The bullet Hamilton

• Leave it to Tommy Kail to come up with such a cool way to stop time and still "shoot' a bullet.

🌟Best Actor in Multiple Roles - Play: Ruth Wilson as Cordelia and the Fool King Lear

• I've said it before. I'll say it again: this woman is a sensation.

🌟Best Actor in Multiple Roles - Musical: Ryan Knowles as Chiron and Others The Lightning Thief

• The man is a chameleon. And he's hilarious. More of him, please.

🌟Best Scenery Chewer: Alex Brightman Beetlejuice

• Normally, being a scenery chewer is a negative thing. But in this case, it's a masterclass in knowing when to push and when to hold back. Bravo bravo bravo.

🌟Best Icon Recreation: TIE: 

Stephanie J. Block as Cher The Cher Show

Nkeke Obi-Melekwe as Tina Turner Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

• How could we choose one over the other? They are as iconic as the women they portray.

🌟Best Dance Moves: Jason Tam Be More Chill

• I loved how he moved like a computer chip. Who knew computer chips had dance moves?

🌟Best Dance Moves by a Non-Dancer: Aaron Tveit Moulin Rouge!

• Sharing a stage with the best dancers on Broadway isn't easy. But he sure kept up.

🌟Unsung Hero: Reeve Carney Hadestown

• He was left out of all the awards, which is a shame. We thought he was wonderful and so charming.

🌟Best Unexpected Performance: Jonathan Groff Little Shop of Horrors

• A lot of people decided he was too "hot" to play Seymour. Happily, he proves everyone who said that wrong. Besides, being geeky is sexy all by itself.

🌟Best Theater on TV: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series

• One of the best things on Disney+, and one of the most fun shows on TV period. How can you not love Kate Reinders playing Kristin Chenoweth?

🌟Best Long-Running Portrayal: Michael Park and Jennifer Laura Thompson Dear Evan Hansen

• We are so glad we made it back to see them before they left the show. After over 1,000 performances over the years, they were as fresh as opening night.

🌟Best Replacement: Andrew Barth Feldman Dear Evan Hansen

• This young guy's beautifully touching performance made me love a show I previously hated. That says a lot.

🌟Best Understudy - Actor: Ryan Vasquez as George Washington Hamilton

• You'd never know he was an understudy. A brilliant performance. We would have loved a chance to see him in the title role.

🌟Best Understudy - Actress: Chelsea Turbin as Audrey Little Shop of Horrors

• Maybe the best Audrey we've ever seen. Her "Suddenly Seymour" soared, and her "Somewhere That's Green" was musical theater bliss.

🌟Best Post-Show Show: "The Concert" after Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

• You know it's a great way to end things when no one is running to beat the crowd out the door. And "Proud Mary" is a great way to keep you wanting more!

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