2,761 posts
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Post by n1david on Dec 14, 2021 22:42:54 GMT
Well it's been another interesting year of theatre, but I hope most of us saw a bit more theatre than we did in 2020 - for me, I'm at 33 shows this year with a few more to come, compared to my 23 in all of 2020 (and 131 in 2019 - how on earth did I manage that and have a life?) So I'm happy to offer my services again to accumulate the scores from TheatreBoard members to assess what we liked most this year. Last year Uncle Vanya got the prize with Jesus Christ Superstar in second place and the top musical. Thread is here: theatreboard.co.uk/thread/8365/top-5-2020So please let me know what your Top 5 shows were for 2021. Like last year, I think we can include streamed and online events alongside in-person shows, so think of whatever you want as a "theatrical event". Plays, musicals, concerts, readings, whatever you think and I'll count it all up. Try and keep to 5 if you can, but if you can't I'll adjust. You have until the end of the year, so assuming you manage to see anything that isn't cancelled in the next two weeks, you can attend those and give me your votes later. I will tot up the scores on January 1 and declare what TheatreBoard members have most enjoyed this year. |
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7,183 posts
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Post by Jon on Dec 14, 2021 23:16:50 GMT
My top 5 is:
1. The Normal Heart
2. Anything Goes
3. Cabaret
4. Constellations
5. Best of Enemies
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Dec 15, 2021 0:06:20 GMT
I'm seeing Spring Awakening on New Year's eve so this is subject to change (though I'm unlikely to do so in time as it'll no doubt be a busy day) but I've not got anything else booked before then so without further ado:
1. Shoshana Bean's Sing Your Hallelujah Concert
2. Anything Goes
3. Indecent
4. Camp Siegfried
5. Ibsen House (ITALive)
Honestly not a whole lot lived up to my expectations this year, which is disappointing as I didn't see a whole lot. That number 5 slot could be filled with 3 or 4 different shows that all weren't as affecting as I thought they would be, making them all interchangeably solid productions but nothing more than that. I went with Ibsen House in the end just because of the utter magnificence that is that set - so impressive.
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Post by londonpostie on Dec 15, 2021 0:44:04 GMT
Yep, not a great 6 months or so for me, either. Also seeing Spring Awakening on New Year's Eve but lets do the leg work anyway:
1. Happy Days (Sam Beckett, Hammersmith Riverside)
2. Anything Goes - presumably the winner this year
3. What If If Only (Caryl Churchill, Royal Court)
4. Rigoletto (Verdi/Mears, ROH)
5. tba
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Post by fiyerorocher on Dec 15, 2021 1:14:15 GMT
I think it would be easier and perhaps more interesting to list the worst shows I've seen (although really can anything beat Hex for that title?), but this is my top 5:
1- Operation Mincemeat
2- Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of)
3- Cabaret
4- Frozen
5- The Shark is Broken
(Including only productions new at least to me)
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1,485 posts
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Post by mkb on Dec 15, 2021 1:21:19 GMT
1) The Girl Next Door (Stephen Joseph, Scarborough)
2) What's New Pussycat? (Birmingham Rep)
3) The Memory of Water (Hampstead)
4) Anything Goes (Barbican)
5=) Cinderella the Musical (Gillian Lynne)
5=) Operation Mincemeat (Southwark Playhouse)
Just 34 shows for me this year with three to go, which is about one-fifth of normal.
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731 posts
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Post by sophie92 on Dec 15, 2021 6:03:27 GMT
I only have one brand new production scheduled in before the end of the year so may as well do these now.
1. Spring Awakening (Almeida)
2. Rent (Hope Mill)
3. Anything Goes (Barbican)
4. The Normal Heart (National)
5. Frozen (TRDL)
Honourable mentions to Mischief Movie Night In and Bandstand at Arts Ed.
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Post by asfound on Dec 15, 2021 7:31:10 GMT
Perhaps I'm just comparing favourably to 2020 and the disappointment of having front row seats to see Isabelle Huppert in The Glass Menagerie/Ruth Wilson for 24 hours straight in The Other Woman etc. cancelled, but I thought 2021 was pretty good. If we're including all shows then Satyagraha and the Dante Project were by far the best of the year for me, but just sticking to theatre:
1) Tender Napalm (King's Head)
2) Little Scratch (Hampstead)
3) Macbeth (Almeida)
4) Bad Nights and Odd Days (Greenwich)
5) Oleanna (Arts Theatre)
Also liked Rare Earth Mettle, Is God Is, Leopoldstadt, One-Woman Show, What If If Only, Shining City, Walden, and Constellations.
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Post by Jan on Dec 15, 2021 7:49:17 GMT
I toyed with the idea of not awarding anything this year as nothing really reached the required standard. However if pushed, for purely personal reasons rather than that they were really all-time great productions .....
1) Anything Goes
2) Relatively Speaking (Jermyn Street)
3) Macbeth (Almeida)
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8,157 posts
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Post by alece10 on Dec 15, 2021 8:33:04 GMT
I managed to notch up 19 shows this year which is not bad considering and, fingers crossed, 2 more before the end of the year.
So my top 5 are.
1. Cabaret
2. Frozen (saw it twice)
3. Anything Goes
4. South Pacific
5. Joseph (twice both times with Linzi Hateley).
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594 posts
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Post by og on Dec 15, 2021 8:36:26 GMT
Not yet stepped back into a theatre. Online offerings have been slim pickings now theatres have opened their doors again, so nothing on the list.
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Post by cavocado on Dec 15, 2021 9:23:16 GMT
1. Little Scratch (Hampstead)
2. What If If Only (Royal Court)
3. Indecent (Menier)
4. Hamlet (Young Vic)
5. Big Big Sky (Hampstead)
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1,743 posts
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Post by fiyero on Dec 15, 2021 11:31:33 GMT
I managed to get to 80 shows (some repeated) so far and hopefully 4 to go! Only including my top 5 of new to me in 2021 below so it isn't skewed by old favourites!
1. Cabaret
2. South Pacific (CFT)
3. Anything Goes
4. Back to the Future
5. Prince of Egypt
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Post by mrnutz on Dec 15, 2021 12:39:17 GMT
Top five, in no particular order...
- Cabaret
- Tina
- Anything Goes
- Back To The Future
- Come From Away
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2,859 posts
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Post by couldileaveyou on Dec 15, 2021 13:04:01 GMT
- Romeo & Juliet (ROH)
- Giselle (ROH)
- Carousel (Regents Park)
- The Normal Heart (NT)
- Anything Goes (Barbican)
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2,263 posts
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Post by richey on Dec 15, 2021 13:51:44 GMT
1) Joseph (twice on Linzi's first day back) for the pure energy on that stage and the euphoria of finally being back in a theatre
2) Come from Away
3) Cinderella
4) Music of ALW Concert at Leicester Curve
5) Bedknobs and Broomsticks tour
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1,127 posts
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Dec 15, 2021 16:23:09 GMT
1. Best of Enemies
2. Old Bridge
3. Leopoldstadt
4. Pride and Prejudice (Sort of)
5. Come From Away
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77 posts
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Post by adolphus on Dec 15, 2021 16:54:39 GMT
1. Footfalls/Rockaby (Jermyn Street)
2. The Normal Heart
3. Camp Siegfried
4. Macbeth (Almeida)
5. The Tempest (Jermyn Street)
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382 posts
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Post by stevemar on Dec 15, 2021 18:31:41 GMT
Thanks n1david. Top 5 in order:
1/ Dear Evan Hansen (Noel Coward)
2/ Operation Mincemeat (Southwark Playhouse)
3/ Macbeth (Almeida)
4/ A Christmas Carol (Old Vic)
5/ Anything Goes (Barbican)
Just outside the top 5 (in no particular order):
- South Pacific (Chichester)
- Camp Siegfried (Old Vic)
- The Normal Heart (National)
- Indecent (Menier Chocolate Factory)
Worst shows of 2021 (in no particular order):
- Last Easter (Orange Tree)
- Rockets and Blue Lights (National)
- Rice (Orange Tree) - ok, actually the worst!
Despite trying to cut down, all these shows in 2021 were from July/August onwards. And unusually for me, the musicals dominate when normally I have primarily been a “serious” playgoer, but I guess I am being a bit more selective have gone for lighter fare.
- 26 shows in 2021;
- 12 shows in 2020; and
- 69 shows in 2019.
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Post by orchidman on Dec 16, 2021 16:41:08 GMT
Very weak year, I've seen 24 plays without seeing a 5/5 or even a 9/10. The best were The Invisible Hand, Relatively Speaking, Oleanna, Shining City and Grenfell:Value Engineering.
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Post by teatowel on Dec 16, 2021 16:46:32 GMT
Not as many this year, but a mixture of in person and online shows:
1. Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) - Criterion
2. Six - Theatre Royal Bath
3. Adventurous - Jermyn Street (online)
4. Touching the Void - Bristol Old Vic
5. Wuthering Heights - Bristol Old Vic
Others just outside the top 5:
Being Mr Wickham - Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds (online)
Bagdad Cafe - The Old Vic (online)
The Mother Load - Edinburgh Lyceum (online)
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Post by edi on Dec 16, 2021 20:53:36 GMT
1) Joseph
2) Oleanna
3) The shark is broken
4) Bagdad cafe
5) Pride and Prejudice (sort of)
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3,040 posts
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Post by crowblack on Dec 16, 2021 21:09:09 GMT
I haven't seen anything in person, but via streaming I loved the Almeida's Macbeth and Wardrobe Ensemble's two-woman The Great Gatsby.
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83 posts
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Post by G on Dec 17, 2021 17:50:32 GMT
1 - Pippin' - Charing Cross Theatre
2 - Anything goes - Barbican
3 - Carousel - Regent's Park Open Air
4 - Indecent - Menier Chocolate Factory
5 - Rumi - Coliseum
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Post by Jan on Dec 18, 2021 18:09:10 GMT
I toyed with the idea of not awarding anything this year as nothing really reached the required standard. However if pushed, for purely personal reasons rather than that they were really all-time great productions ..... 1) Anything Goes 2) Relatively Speaking (Jermyn Street) 3) Macbeth (Almeida) 4) While the Sun Shines (Orange Tree) |
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