Alice By Heart
A bit of a chaotic mess, but a really fertile one, featuring several wonderful songs, an appealing premise, great choreography and some of the very best performances I’ve seen this year.
All My Sons
Strong, thoughtful play, decent performances. Nothing groundbreaking or especially interesting.
Burn / This
Nope, don’t like that.
The Cher Show
A completely bonkers, thoroughly enjoyable ride.
Choir Boy
Strong, moving work.
Gary: A Sequel To Titus Andronicus
Wildly, ingeniously original, featuring BRILLIANT performances from Nathan Lane, Kristine Nielsen and Julie White. Genuinely wrenching and hilarious. Tonys all around.
The Ferryman
Stunning.
Fleabag
Phoebe is a genius.
Fiddler on the Roof
Completely enjoyable. A fresh, inventive take on a true classic that, perhaps surprisingly, has aged well.
Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune
I wasn’t sure about this at first, and is it progressed, I still found something strange and in some sense off-putting about it. Despite that, however, it is a wonderful piece of work. There is a sweetness and a sadness and a humor and poignancy to it that make up for whatever shortcomings it may have. Plus, it is basically Burn / This, but MUCH better. Glad I saw it.
Hadestown
Vivid, stylish, and soulful, featuring a number of incredible songs and hands down some of the best vocal performances of the season. The narrative/characterization were a bit weak/confusing for me, but still, a really fresh, fun and innovative show.
Hillary And Clinton
Slightly traumatic and underwhelming (compared to A Doll’s House Part 2, anyway), but good, and Metcalf is fantastic.
King Lear
Good acting I guess, but a real snoozefest (except for Jane Houdyshell).
Kiss Me, Kate
Not as painfully dated as Carousel or My Fair Lady, but nonetheless, surprisingly, annoyingly lackluster in more ways than one.
Merrily We Roll Along
Not good.
Norma Jean Baker Of Troy
Bought tickets to see this twice, missed it twice. Wasn’t meant to be!
Oklahoma
Not all of the new bits worked for me, but damn, what a knock-out reimagining, featuring an impeccably-cast ensemble, and the most gorgeous musical arrangements/performances. Unmissable.
The Prom
To my extreme surprise, I could not have loved this more. Wickedly clever, genuinely heart-warming and completely hysterical. An absolute delight.
Sea Wall / A Life
Strong acting, but BLEAK.
Tootsie
A pale imitation of the film, but fun, and generally well-done.
What The Constitution Means To Me
Parts of this didn’t entirely work for me, but still, rousing, introspective and inspiring.
Bonus:
Come From Away
Not a 2019 show, but I saw it for the first time recently. A sweet, big-hearted show with some innovative staging and a lot of mass appeal, but way too earnest for my taste.
Dear Evan Hansen
Another non-2019 show I saw for the first time this summer. And wow, did I hate it. Hard, hard no.
Phantom of the Opera
ANOTHER classic show I saw for the first time this year. It’s exactly what you think it is, but gorgeously staged. Glad to have finally seen it.
xx
JB
