2013 was, if nothing else, a year of lists. I’ve already put together a list of the most noteworthy (and weirdest) theater stories of 2013. Here is a list of the ten most-read articles from this blog this year.
50 Best Plays of the Past 100 Years, According To Entertainment Weekly
How fitting that the number one read article on the list of top 10 was itself a list. The top 5 plays on this list:
1. Death of A Salesman (1949) by Arthur Miller
2. A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) by Tennessee Williams
3. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962) by Edward Albee
4. Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1956) by Eugene O’Neill
5. Fences (1985) by August Wilson
The top 5 (of 10) musicals:
1. Guys and Dolls
2. Gypsy
3. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
4. Oklahoma!
5. West Side Story
Broadway 2013-2014 Season Guide
I keep this guide updated. It currently has not just the shows that opened (and closed) on Broadway in the Fall 2013, but the (so far) 20 shows with specific opening dates in Spring 2014.
Slings And Arrows Returns! Smash, Move Aside
I uncovered startling news for the many fans of “Slings and Arrows,” the cult Canadian TV series about a fictional theater suspiciously similar to the Stratford Festival: Co-creator Bob Martin told me (on Twitter) that they were thinking of reviving the series, creating a fourth season. “Slings may live again.” It’s been 18 months, and they still haven’t changed their mind — or done anything about it. And, although I’ve done several updates since, readers are still finding this original post and getting excited about it.
Social Media On Stage: Theater Meets Twitter,Facebook,Youtube, Tumbler, Soundcloud…
I posted on my blog in the very beginning of 2013 this article that I wrote for American Theatre Magazine about the many theater artists who have been using social media in one way or another for their art. Some employ it in the process of creation. Others have used social media as a kind of adjunct to their art, or as a marketing tool. A relatively small but growing number of companies, however, have been incorporating Twitter or Facebook or YouTube—or a combination of all of these and more—directly into their live theatrical pieces.
Neil Patrick Harris as Hedwig, new poster
Something tells me the revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch is going to be a very popular musical in 2014. It is scheduled to open on April 22 at the Belasco Theater.
The Worst Show of 2013
I took a poll with 13 choices, and the opportunity to write in a candidate. Many voted; the votes are still coming in. There were plenty of write-in votes. But at this point, the winner (loser?) is clear.
Breakfast At Tiffany’s Broadway Review: Capote Without Audrey Hepburn Or Moon River
Although Breakfast at Tiffany’s got the third-largest number of votes on the Worst Broadway Show of 2013 poll, it also was the most-read of all my reviews in 2013 — and (sigh) the only in the top 10.
If you’re curious, my top 10 most-read theater reviews in 2013 were:
2. Cinderella* 3. The Other Place 4. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 5. Lucky Guy 6. Picnic 7. Hit The Wall 8. A Midsummer Night’s Dream* 9. Matilda* 10. The Revisionist.
*still playing
Top 10 Lists of Top 10 Theater 2013
Another list makes the list — this a list of the top 10 lists from (actually) 13 New York theater critics, including me. If you aggregate these lists, you get the top 10 shows above in order of popularity among critics. But it’s more fun to read each critic’s choices, and their reasoning.
Smash Season 2, Critics Reviews
The TV series Smash didn’t get enough viewers to keep from being canceled a few months later, but this list of (mostly negative) reviews of its second season made it to my top 10 list of most-read posts in 2013.
Producer Scott Rudin Attacks Patrick Healy of the New York Times IN The Times
This odd story, the tenth most-read in NewYorkTheater.me in 2013, shows there’s still room for spontaneity in the theater, or something.
