How DO you measure a year? Yes, in laughter and strife, and also in nightlife. (New Year’s Eve in NYC Last Minute Guide to Greeting 2025) Theater lovers measure the year in shows, sure (see new Top 10 lists from critics below), but not shows alone.
Memorable Moments on Stage in 2024
When they hug in the rain in “The Notebook.” When they fight in the rain in “The Outsiders.” When the fourth sibling finally arrives in “The Hills of California.” When the fourth sibling finally arrives in “Cult of Love.” The fireflies in “Maybe Happy Ending.” The dead body in “Dead Outlaw.” These were among the memorable moments on stage for me this year, as well as ten more.
10 Big Theater Stories of 2024
The year began with Elton John getting an EGOT and ended with his giving Broadway a flop. It was that kind of year, offering theatergoers reasons to cheer and to jeer. Here are ten of the biggest stories about New York theater in 2024, some of them major recurring issues, some of them events, most of them serious, some absurd
Theater’s New Normal
On Death and Dimming
Politics as Theater, Theater about Politics
A New Generation of Artistic Directors
Star Power on Stage: Savvy survival strategy vs. cynical money grab
Shutting Down
Sharing
Reopening Up
Wicked and the screen/stage dissolve
Warriors, and the undefining of theater
Theater Books of 2024 to Read in 2025
The Week in Reviews
10 Movies in Cinemas Today, Reviewed.
The Week in New York Theater News
New lists of Top 10 theater of 2024, posted after my Top 10 Lists of Top 10 NYC Theater and my Broadway Poll: Best and Worst Broadway Show of 2024: from
Deadline’s Greg Evans,
Slant’s Dan Rubins.
USA Today’s Patrick Ryan.
Wicked the movie starts streaming on various platforms night, but not free for subscribers; you’ll have to pay
Reflections on New NEA Report, “Defying Gravity: Conversations with Leaders from Nonprofit Theater
Unsurprisingly, pressing financial concerns were a recurring theme. Among the challenges discussed, participants described:
- Difficulties in hiring and retaining talent, particularly for the specialized areas of fundraising and production staff;
- A generational leadership shift, with potential for the loss of institutional knowledge; and
- The conflict between a need to innovate and the lack of resources to experiment with new ideas.
Amidst these challenges, participants also noted opportunities, with one saying, “We are seeing folks who are coming to us from outside the industry, bringing some really fresh ideas and, in a good way, questioning everything we do.”
Playing for Air launches its new season of seven short new audio plays written by Patricia Cotter, Kirsten Greenidge, David Ives, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, John Patrick Shanley, Lloyd Suh, Ken Urban, featuring starry casts. David Ives’ “Kansas Anymore” is yet another take on Oz, starring Lois Smith and Catherine Curtin.
In Memoriam
Linda Lavin, 87, gained fame for Alice on TV, but she was a SEVENTEEN-time Broadway veteran, and a six-time Tony nominee, winning for Broadway Bound. A no-nonsense artist with superb comic timing.
