Below are the 13 most popular new posts in each of the 13 years since I launched NewYorkTheater.me, on May 23, 2012, which amounts to a kind of time capsule of theatergoers’ evolving enthusiasms.
2012: Slings and Arrows Returns! Smash, Move Aside
Posted June 4, 2012
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: Bob Martin, co-writer and co-star of the show, told me on Twitter there would be a fourth season. It never happened, while “Smash,” a TV series was popular that year (hence the headline) but was canceled in 2013, is getting new life this year as a Broadway musical.
2013: The 50 Best Plays of The Past 100 Years
Posted June 27, 2013
This list according to the editors of Entertainment Weekly, with each script linked to its Amazon page, remains among the five most popular posts each and every year since. Have tastes evolved so that the top five would no longer be: Death of A Salesman, A Streetcar Named Desire, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Angels in America, and Fences?
2014: Broadway Responds to Russia’s ‘Gay Propaganda’ Ban
Posted January 23, 2024
Broadway responded with a satirical video to official LGBT discrimination in Russia, and to a specific Russian law, enacted in June, 2013, punishing citizens “who disseminate information …that gay and heterosexual relations are socially equivalent.” Andrew Rannells (above in Russian Tea Room) was one of dozens of Broadway stars appearing in the video, entitled “Russian Broadway Shut Down – Government Deems All Theatre Homosexual Propaganda”
2015: Quiz: Which character in Hamilton are you?
Originally posted July 15, 2015 (updated 2017)
Anything about the musical “Hamilton” got great traffic for years after its debut in 2015. (not as much lately) This quiz was hugely popular beyond 2015.
2016: Watch Hamilton’s America Online
The link to the full documentary no longer works, but there are still several clips available online.
2017 Poll: Worst Broadway Show in 2017
Posted December 13, 2027
2018 Hamilton Broadway Cast: New Photographs
Posted March 8, 2028
2019: Poll: Worst Broadway Show of the Decade
Posted December 22, 2019
2020: Top 10 Coronavirus Song Parody Videos
Posted April 15, 2020
2021: In The Heights Movie: 10 Changes from the Broadway Musical
Posted June 12, 2021
2022: Broadway Producer Emanuel Azenberg: “We’ve chased away an audience.”
Posted May 20, 2022
This interview at TEDx Broadway with a long-time Broadway producer complaining about Broadway ticket prices has generated a huge amount of traffic consistently since it was first posted, with occasional surges when somebody equally outraged stumbles upon it anew. Although only three years old, it’s become the second most popular post on the site ever.
2023: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ ABCs of American Values: “The Constitution over the cult …Freedom over fascism… Maturity over Mar-a-Lago…”
Posted January 7, 2023
Is this political theater?
2024: Wicked Movie vs Stage Musical
Posted November 25, 2024
This post is already climbing into the Top 10 of all time.
2025 (so far): “We need leaders not in love with money but in love with justice. Not in love with publicity, but in love with humanity” – MLK Jr
Posted January 20, 2025 (which was both Martin Luther King Jr. Day and inauguration day of Donald Trump)
Four more posts, which weren’t number 1 in the year they debuted, but have been consistently the most popular over the years.
Broadway’s Best Dance Numbers
(July 2, 2013.) These were the best answers to the question I posed to the readers. There are apt to be additional choices now.
Broadway’s Most Entertaining Shows About Serious Social Issues
(August 22, 2017) These too were answers to a question I asked the readers.
Blackface on Stage: The Complicated History of Minstrel Shows
(February 7, 2019) This post has become a staple on college reading lists.
Life and Trust. Review and Guide to an Immersive Paradise (and Hell)
This is the most popular post on NewYorkTheater.me since it was posted on September 8, 2024 — proof positive (even though the show closed in April) that immersive theater lives on
