Best Theater of 2024: Here We Are Again

 Last year I didn't write a lot because I was too heartbroken. This year I won't write a lot because I spent seven of the past twelve months trying to sort out my antidepressant cocktail and I feel like the summer months didn't actually happen. I'm honestly having a hard time in general remembering this past year.

Luckily (I guess?) I keep a running list of what I see, including marking those that stand out to me at the time. This year I saw 101 pieces of theater, with only three of them being repeats within the year, so 99 unique pieces of theater. Of those 99, 46 were plays, 45 were musicals, and 7 were streaming. 

Here are the ones that stuck to my ribs, in chronological order of when I saw them.

Our Class (Mart Foundation/Arlekin Players/BAM Fisher, Off-B; watched January)

The cast of Our Class. Photo by Pavel Antonov.

Public Obscenities (Soho Rep/NAATCO National Partnership Project/TFANA, Off-B; watched February)

Abra Haque, Debashis Roy Chowdhury, and Jakeem Dante Powell as Choton,
Pishe, and Raheem in Public Obscenities. Photo by Hollis King.

My Mama and the Full-Scale Invasion (Wilma/Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Regional/Philadelphia; watched online March)

Holly  Twyford, Suli Holum, and Lindsay Smiling as Mama, Daughter, and
Man in My Mama and the Full-Scale Invasion. Photo by Johanna Austin.

Staff Meal (Playwrights Horizons, Off-B; watched May)

Jess Barbagallo, Carmen M. Herlihy, Erin Markey, and Hampton Fluker as
Server, Server, Christina, and Waiter in Staff Meal. Photo by Chelcie Parry.

Three Houses (Signature Theatre, Off-B; watched May)

Mia Pak and Margo Siebert in Three Houses. Photo by Marc J. Franklin.

Mary Jane (MTC/Friedman, B; watched June)

Susan Pourfar and  Rachel McAdams as Brianne and Mary Jane in Mary Jane.
Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Two Sondheim Concerts: Follies and A Little Night Music (Transport Group/Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center/David Geffen Hall; watched June)

Michael Berresse performs "The Right Girl" in Follies. Photo by Carol Rosegg.

Leah Horowitz, Jonathan Christopher, Andrea Jones-Sojola, Ross Lekites,
and Ellie Fishman as the Liebeslieder Singers in A Little Night Music.
Photo by Joan Marcus.

Cats: The Jellicle Ball (PAC NYC, Off-B; watched July)

The cast of Cats: The Jellicle Ball. Photo by Matthew Murphy and
Evan Zimmerman.

JOB (Second Stage/Hayes, B; watched July)

Peter Friedman and Sydney Lemmon as Loyd and Jane in JOB. Photo by 
Emilio Madrid.

The Counter (Roundabout/Steinberg Center, Off-B; watched September)

Susannah Flood and Anthony Edwards as Katie and Paul in The Counter. 
Photo by Joan Marcus.

Street Theater (TOSOS/The Flea Theatre, Off-Off-B; watched October)

Antony Terrell as Boom Boom in Street Theater. Photo by Richard Rivera.

Maybe Happy Ending (Belasco, B; watched October)

Helen J. Shin and Darren Criss as Claire and Oliver in Maybe Happy Ending.
Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Ruddigore (NYGASP/Gerald W Lynch Theater, Off-B; watched November)

The company of an earlier production of Ruddigore by NYGASP. Photo by
William Reynolds.

Cult of Love (Second Stage/Hayes, B; watched November)

Shailene Woodley, Christopher Sears, Rebecca Henderson, and Zachary
Quinto as Dian Dahl Bennett, Johnny Dahl, Evie Dahl, and Mark Dahl.
Photo by Joan Marcus.