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Top Theater Events of 2006 (strangely heavy on musicals!):
1. Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell’s musical [title of show] (excellent score, direction by Michael Berresse, and ensemble performance with extra love for Hunter Bell)
2. Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s musical adaptation of Frank Wedekind’s
Spring Awakening (terrific score, direction by Michael Mayer, set and lighting design, and ensemble cast headed by Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele)
3. David Hare’s play Stuff Happens (direction by Daniel Sullivan, notable performances by Robert Sella, Peter Francis James, Gloria Reuben, Jeff DeMunn and Zach
Grenier)
4. David Hare’s adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children (La Jolla Playhouse production superbly staged by Lisa Peterson)
5. Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company (fantastic direction by John Doyle, beautiful performance by Raul Esparza, right)
6. Martin McDonagh’s play The Lieutenant of Inishmore
7. Tom Stoppard’s play The Coast of Utopia Part One: Voyage (lovely direction by Jack O’Brien and design by Bob Crowley)
8. Michael Korie & Scott Frankel’s musical Grey Gardens (admirable direction by Michael Greif, book by Doug Wright, and stellar performances by Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson)
9. Adam Bock’s play The Thugs (terrific cast and direction by Anne Kaufman)
10. It Goes Without Saying (solo performance by Bill Bowers)
11. No Child… (solo performance by Nilaja Sun)
12. Alan Bennett’s play The History Boys (superb direction by Nick Hytner, design by Bob Crowley, and ensemble cast including the especially terrific Samuel Barnett and Frances de la Tour)
13. Osvaldo Golijov’s oratorio La Pasion segun San Marcos (St. Mark’s Passion)
14. In the Continuum (written and performed by Nikkole Salter and Danai
Gurira)
15. Anne Washburn’s play The Internationalist (excellent direction by Ken Rus Schmoll and especially good performances by Nina Hellman, Gibson Frazier, and Annie Parisse)
Raul Esparza
Christine Ebersole
Kate Valk in The Emperor Jones
Other Notable Performances:
Kate Valk in The Emperor Jones
Julie White in The Little Dog Laughed
Susan Blommaert in Measure for Pleasure
Robert Cuccioli in Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
Oliver Platt in Shining City
Someone named Meryl Streep (ever heard of her?) in Mother Courage and Her Children at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park
Special Mentions:
The visual designs for Grendel at New York City Opera by George Tsypin and Julie Taymor
Neil Irish’s sets and David Howe’s lighting for Daniel Kramer’s production of
Woyzeck, which made brilliant use of St. Ann’s Warehouse
Jane Siberry in concert at Zankel Hall
Top Movies (with lots of catching up thanks to Netflix):
1. Children of Heaven
2. The Queen
3. Shortbus
4. An Inconvenient Truth
5. Dreamgirls
6. Wordplay
7. Bound
8. Tokyo Story
9. Open City
10. The 40-Year-Old Virgin
10. Head-On
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