Without further ado here are the favourite shows of Theatreboard members (who expressed a preference). A grand total of 387 votes this year, which is the highest number we’ve ever had since we started dong this in 2018. It’s great to see culture back so strongly, with a total of 166 shows listed across London, the UK and Internationally.
A blonde be-wigged head and shoulders above everyone else was
TAMMY FAYE at the Almeida with 21.3 votes.
Runners-up in the musicals category were
The Band’s Visit (Donmar) 16.0
Cabaret (Kit Kat Club) 11.8
Into the Woods (Bath) 9.2
Operation Mincemeat (Southwark/Riverside) 8.8 - highest placed Fringe show
On the play side the Top 5 were
Jerusalem (Apollo) 15.4
Blues for an Alabama Sky (NT) 8.5
Southbury Child (Bridge/Chichester) 7.54
Prima Facie (Pinter) 7.5
Cruise (Apollo) 6.0
Wasn’t sure whether to call it a Musical or a Concert so I thought I’d just let it be its own thing but
ABBA Voyage was very popular, scoring 11.2.
Interestingly there were a lot of high-scoring returnees - notably Cabaret which came second in the Musicals category to Anything Goes last year, getting 10 votes last year. Also Operation Mincemeat got 6.5 last year. Most impressively the top-voted show in 2019, Come From Away, got 6 votes again this year after getting 6 last year, which shows that is still popular as it nears its closure in the West End.
Into the Woods in Bath is the top non-London show, and it looked for a while like it might end up higher in the table. Last year the top non-London show was South Pacific in Chichester.
Some surprises in there that we might not have anticipated a year ago, with David Tennant’s Good only getting 1 vote, Cock getting less than 1, and Amy Adams’s Glass Menagerie and Ruth Wilson’s Human Voice not getting any - despite all being highly anticipated this time last year. The NT has had a rather better year than last year, with Blues for an Alabama Sky doing well and votes also for Jack Absolute, All of Us, The Crucible, Father and the Assassin, Our Generation, and The Corn is Green. Nothing for Hex this year again alas…
Last year we had some discussion about the bias between musicals and plays. In total we had 176 votes for plays and 164 for musicals, the difference is that fewer musicals were listed (62 musicals to 80 plays) so the average score for them tends to be higher. We had 27 votes for Concerts, with the Sondheim Gala top with 6 votes; 9 for Opera and 10 for Dance (where the Ashton triple bill came top and in joint 32nd place overall
Dawnstar )
Thanks everyone for participating, remember it’s all a bit of fun, see you same time next year?