The Best of 2010 in New York
A strong year in New York theater, I would say. Here’s my pick of the dozen top productions:
‘Sexypants’ Benjamin Walker as Andrew Jackson
Photo by Joan Marcus
1. “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” – Les Freres Corbusier’s smart/stupid rock musical, my first exposure to excellent writer/director Alex Timbers and his fearless crew, including a rock star-caliber lead performance by Benjamin Walker. As the subway ads put it, “History just got all sexypants!”
2. “The Myopia” – David Greenspan in a spectacular solo performance of his own crazy play.
3. “The Merchant of Venice” – Daniel Sullivan’s deep, upsetting staging of Shakespeare’s play in which Al Pacino’s Shylock and Lily Rabe’s Portia were two of 20 strong performances.
4. “A View From the Bridge” – Direction by Gregory Mosher, with terrific performances by Liev Schreiber, Jessica Hecht, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Cristofer, and Corey Stoll.
5. “Angels in America” – Michael Greif’s revival of Tony Kushner’s play with extra-fine performances by Christian Borle, Zachary Quinto, Bill Heck, Robin Bartlett, and Robin Weigert.
6. “In the Wake” – Lisa Kron’s play (lynchpin of the Public Theater’s admirable political-theater season) with extra-fine performances by Michael Chernus and Deidre O’Connell.
7. “A Lie of the Mind” – Ethan Hawke’s surprisingly beautiful re-imagining of Sam Shepard’s play, with a revelatory central performance by Alessandro Nivola.
8. “A Disappearing Number” – Fine new work from Complicite, directed by Simon McBurney with a dazzling production design.
9. “The Kid” – The smart and tuneful musical adaptation of Dan Savage’s memoir with a good cast well-directed by Scott Elliott, most notably Christopher Sieber, Susan Blackwell, and Jeannine Frumess
10. “A Free Man of Color” – John Guare’s ambitious stylized epic staged in high style by George C. Wolfe with a huge cast in which standouts included Jeffrey Wright, mos, and Veanne Cox.
11. “Another American: Asking and Telling” – Perfect timing for Marc Wolf to bring back his Anna Deveare Smith-like solo performance surveying the topic of gays in the military.
12. “A Behanding in Spokane” – Martin McDonagh’s hilarious new play with knockout performances by Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell and a superbly seedy set by Scott Pask.
I’m not quite sure where to put three shows I’d seen before but were still high-water marks for 2010: “Fela!” (last year’s No. 1, which I saw twice again this year), “Gatz” (which made my top 10 in 2007), and the Wooster Group’s “North Atlantic” (the third revival, with a great new cast including Ari Fliakos, Kate Valk, Steve Cuiffo and Zachary Oberzan).
Miscellaneous highlights:
- William Kentridge’s dense and dazzling production of Shostakovich’s “The Nose” at the Metropolitan Opera and his equally theatrical retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art.
- Norm Lewis singing “Being Alive” in “Sondheim on Sondheim” at the Roundabout
- Christine Jones’ set and Michael Mayer’s direction for “American Idiot”
- Mark Rylance’s justly acclaimed performance in “La Bête”
- “The Pee-Wee Herman Show” on Broadway – sheer fun!
- Most Valuable Player (male): Scott Shepherd for “North Atlantic” and “Gatz”
- Most Valuable Player (female): Bonnie Thunders, Gotham Girls Roller Derby
Don Shewey
www.donshewey.com
don@donshewey.com
