Best Theater of 2025: Another Year End, Another List

Hello hello and it's time for another year-end round up of my favorites of all the theater I saw in 2025. I've been thinking this month about what a shame it is that the Fall season brings us so many strong pieces of theater, many of which don't survive past the new year for one reason or another (if it's a star-studded play, it's often a limited run anyway), and can therefore be forgotten come awards season, even if they're remembered fondly for these end of the year Best-Of lists. But then, I wonder if the weightedness of the Spring season representation at the Tonys et al is mirrored for the year-end lists. Do Spring shows that burned brightly but briefly make the cut? (Not to brag, but it looks like my list is almost evenly divided between first half of the year and second half. Go me!)

This is just me musing. I haven't run the numbers. But hey, speaking of numbers, this year I saw 128 pieces of theater with 9 repeats, leaving 119 unique pieces of theater. Of those 119, 70 were plays, 39 were musicals, and 10 were streaming.

In order of appearance, these ones stuck around in my brain, my heart, and/or my gut.

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.

Best Theater of 2023: Well, we survived, I guess

Usually I use this space to talk about how the year of theater has felt, maybe some of the highlights, compare the trends with previous seasons and my engagement with them, and thoughts about the future. I don't know that I have the energy to do that this year. This year has found too many ways to break my heart, and I don't have much left to give. I'm scared and sad and tired.

So this is what I can give: this year I saw 107 pieces of theater, with 6 of them being repeats within the year, so: 101 unique pieces of theater. Of those 101, 62 were plays, 28 were musicals, and 11 were streaming.

Here are the top eleven, in chronological order of when I saw them.

The Coast Starlight (LCT/Newhouse, Off-B; watched February)

The company of The Coast Starlight. Photo by T. Charles Erikson.

The Jungle (A Good Chance/National Theatre/Young Vic/St. Ann's Warehouse, Off-B; watched March)

Ben Turner and Jonathan Nyati as Salar and Mohammed in The Jungle.
Photo by Marc Brenner.

Life of Pi (National Theatre/Schoenfeld, B; watched March)

Hiran Abeysekera and puppeteers as Pi and Richard Parker in Life of Pi
(London run). Photo by Johan Persson.

Describe the Night (Steppenwolf, Regional; watched March)

Yasen Peyankov and James Vincent Meredith as Nikolai and Isaac in
Describe the Night. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

Villette (Lookingglass Theatre, Regional; watched March)

Debo Balogun and Mi Kang as Paul Emmanuel and Lucy Snowe in Villette.
Photo by Liz Lauren.

Rough Trade (The Tank, Off-Off-B; watched April)

Derek Christopher Murphy and Max Kantor as Finch and Hawk in Rough
Trade. Photo by Hunter Canning.

& Juliet (Sondheim, B; watched May)

Lorna Courtney, Betsy Wolfe, Justin David Sullivan, and Melanie La Barrie
as Juliet, April, May, and Angelique in & Juliet. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Jaja's African Hair Braiding (MTC/Friedman, B; watched September)

Nana Mensah, Lakisha May, Maechi Aharaanwa, and Kalyne Coleman as 
Aminata, client, Ndidi, and client (I'm so sorry, both Lakisha May and 
Kalyne Coleman played multiple roles brilliantly, but now I can't remember
which was which), in Jaja's African Hair Braiding. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Swing State (Audible/Minetta Lane, Off-B; watched September)

Mary Beth Fisher and Bubba Weiler as Peg and Ryan in Swing State.
Photo by Liz Lauren.

Nosferatu, a 3D Symphony of Horror (TIQ/Skirball, Streaming; watched October)

Cover art for Nosferatu, a 3D Symphony of Horror.

Purlie Victorious (Music Box, B; watched November)

Jay O. Sanders, Billy Eugene Jones, Kara Young, and Leslie Odom, Jr. as
Ol' Cap'n Cotchipee, Gitlow Judson, Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins, and 
Purlie Victorious in Purlie Victorious. Photo by Marc J. Franklin.

Yesterday is Done: Best Theater of 2022

Hey, old friends, what do you say, old friends? Another exhausting pandemicky year of theater: vaccine and masking restrictions have mostly lifted, so of course my anxiety has doubled down. I saw fewer shows than usual this year, partly because of burn-out, partly because see above, and partly because I am trying to be more selective regarding what on Broadway deserves my time, attention, and money. So I saw less. And a lot of that less felt less than whelming, especially in the Fall season. But, as always, there's still worthwhile work happening. Looking at my shorter-than-usual list of top theater for the year, and at the overall list of everything I saw, there are some clear themes of stories being produced: examinations of anti-Black racism, historically and currently; examinations of antisemitism, historically and currently; and the damaging effects of the patriarchy, rape culture, and toxic masculinity on all genders.

My overall theater tally, before we get into the list itself: 23 streaming productions, 63 live plays, and 32 live musicals (+2 repeats), totaling to 118 (+2 repeats). And for those who might ask why certain shows didn't make the cut below, I'm not counting things like A Christmas Carol (either one), A Strange Loop, the Yiddish Fiddler, or the new Merrily We Roll Along, as none of them were new productions for me, just slightly new iterations.

My top theater, in viewing rather than ranking order:

Skeleton Crew (MTC/Friedman, B; watched January): Dominique Morisseau is a terrific writer and this play is a symphony of good notes (humor, aching pain, anger, shame, hope) with a terrific cast.

Joshua Boone and Chante Adams as Dez and Shanita in Skeleton Crew.
Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Original Theatre (Regional/Digital): Into the Night (watched February) & Tikkum Olam (watched August): Into the Night is a heartbreaking live-shot studio play about the Penlee Lifeboat Disaster in 1981 in Cornwall. Tense and heroic and so ably choreographed as the whole thing seems to be happening live in front of us. Tikkum Olam was presented as a staged reading in conversation with two other plays and is a compelling and thought-provoking examination of the complicated intersectional identity of a Black Jewish woman in the U.K.

Prayer for the French Republic (MTC/City Center, Off-B; watched March). Probably my favorite show I've seen this year. In terms of ambition and scope, I'd call it an Angels in America approach to the Jewish identity (except calling anything the new Angels in America is setting yourself up for mockery of one kind or another, either for hyperbole or cliche).

Molly Ranson, Jeff Seymour, and Yair Ben-Dor as Molly, Charles, and Daniel
in Prayer for the French Republic. Photo by Matt Murphy

Confederates (Signature, Off-B; watched March): Did I mention how amazing Dominique Morisseau's writing is? She's got two plays on my list this year, and well-deserved. This play is absolutely brilliant.

Kristolyn Lloyd, Elijah Jones, and Andrea Patterson as Sara, Abner, and
LuAnne in Confederates. Photo by Monique Carboni.

How I Learned to Drive (MTC/Friedman, B; watched April): Mary-Louise Parker helped me cross something off my time travel bucket list by returning to this role so I could finally see it how it was meant to be performed.

Mary-Louise Parker and David Morse as Li'l Bit
and Uncle Peck. Photo by Jeremy Daniel.

for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf (, B; watched April): This gorgeous production deserved a much longer life than it got, with an incredible communal ensemble building a space for vulnerability and strength.

Tendayi Kuumba, Kenita R. Miller, Okwui Okpokwasili, Amare Granderson,
Alexandria Wailes, Stacey Sargeant, and D. Woods as Lady in Brown, Lady
in Red, Lady in Green, Lady in Orange, Lady in Purple, Lady in Blue, and
Lady in Yellow in for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the
rainbow is enuf. Photo by Marc J. Franklin.

A Case for the Existence of God (Signature, Off-B; watched April): God, I loved this one so much. Odd and intimate, a study of two lonely men learning how to become friends even as they both struggle to keep their families from falling apart. I would love for this one to come back in some capacity. My second favorite, after French Republic.

Will Brill and Kyle Beltran as Ryan and Keith in A Case for the Existence
of God. Photo by Emilio Madrid.

Back to You (Turn to Flesh/FUERZAfest/Hispanic Federation, Off-Off-B; watched September): A lovely two-hander written by and starring my friend Chris Rivera, tracking two young gay Mexican American boys who fall in love but aren't sure they can sustain a relationship with their conflicting life plans and access.

Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski (Theater for a New Audience/Polonsky Shakespeare Center, Off-B; watched September). My third favorite of the year. Infuriating and inspiring, and incredibly performed by David Strathairn.

David Strathairn as Jan Karski in Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski.
Photo by Teresa Castracane.

Monstress (Hunger and Thirst/New Ohio Theatre, Off-Off-B; watched October): Although I had an intense reaction to what felt to me a contradictory message in the show, I can't deny what affecting theater it was. Hunger and Thirst keep getting better and better.

Philip Estrera as Catch with Allison Kelly, Adam Boggs McDonald, and
Rheanna Atendido as the Sirens in Monstress. Photo by Al Foote III.

Wilma Theater (Regional/Digital): Those With 2 Clocks (watched October) & School Pictures (watched November): I'm so grateful Wilma Theater is continuing to put content online, especially original works like these two. 2 Clocks deconstructs toxic masculinity and how it informs humor in a series of satirical sketches that suddenly break into an aching, moaning catharsis of agony released and comfort given. School Pictures is Milo Cramer's song cycle about tutoring children in New York, a collection that seems at first whimsical but ultimately breaks down how truly broken the school system is here.

Top: Jenn Kidwell, Mel Krodman, and Jess Conda in
Those With 2 Clocks. Bottom: Milo Cramer in School
Pictures. Both photos by Johanna Austin.

Parade (City Center Encores!, Off-B; watched November): Another bucket list show for me, finally getting to see Parade performed onstage. A flawless cast, intelligently staged, beautifully sung. I really hope it comes back (I hear it might).

Ben Platt, center, as Leo Frank, with the company of Parade. Photo by Joan
Marcus.

Ain't No Mo' (Belasco, B; watched November): As I said in my write-up at the time, holy shit. This is the kind of satire we need to be seeing, one that makes us laugh until it's extremely no longer funny. Jordan E. Cooper is a talent to watch (as is his costar Crystal Lucas-Perry). I'm devastated the production seems to have been cut off at the knees.

Fedna Jacquet, Shannon Matesky, Marchant Davis, Crystal Lucas-Perry,
and Ebony Marshall-Oliver as Passenger 1, Passenger 3, Passenger 2,
Passenger 5, and Passenger 4 in Ain't No Mo'. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Onstage and Streaming: My Top Theater for 2021

The first three quarters of 2021 was still the era of Streaming Theater Only, but as Autumn loomed, as more people got vaccinated, theaters began to reopen and we were finally able to return. Now, at the end of 2021, most of the theater I'm seeing is in person, though I'm grateful for the companies who continue to make their work accessible online (particularly the companies not local to me, like APT, Wilma Theater, Original Theatre, Wise Children, and East West Players). I'm hopeful that the future will continue to bring accessible theater to the world, not limiting the audience to only those immediately there or those who can afford the steep ticket prices asked by Broadway, West End, and the major touring houses.

Stephen Sondheim. Photo by Fred R. Conrad.

This year, like last, was hard. It was exhausting. It was, as of November 26th, once more devastatingly heartbreaking, when the giant Stephen Sondheim passed away. As more variants appear and we still haven't reached majority vaccination in our population, we still don't know what the future will hold for in-person gatherings. But y'all know by now I'm a silver lining person, so I can but hope. Amidst our grief and fear, we can hope, we can love, and we can appreciate the good, good art we were lucky enough to experience. This year I am pleased to have two Best Of lists--one for the streaming works that remain vivid for me now, and for the live theater I got attend this last quarter.

Oh and because I know I'm supposed to provide my annual tally, here you go: 103 streaming productions, 25 live plays (+2 repeat), 13 live musicals (+1 repeat), totaling 141 distinct productions (3 repeats).

Love, peace, and health to you all.

2020 Theater: The Year of Streaming (with a small handful of live theater at the top)

The closest I've come to Times Square since
March 12th. Photo by Zelda Knapp.

I don't need to tell anyone reading this what a terrible year this has been. The devastation has been global, has impacted everyone, and isn't over yet. We're all still hurting. The theater community's wound has been manifold: loss of employment for performers, designers, musicians, stage crew, house staff, box office staff. Loss of an all-too-fragile scaffolding support structure reliant on our ability to gather in large groups for one communal experience, night after night after night. Performance and rehearsal venues, long staples of the Off-Off community, have closed their doors for good. Shows have shuttered permanently while others wait in the wings (so to speak) for their cue to return. And we've lost prematurely far too many artists in the industry, artists whose loss in a vacuum is already devastating, but whose accumulation is too heavy to bear (I know, not all on this list were from COVID, before anyone chimes in with a correction). 

Raise a glass for Terrence McNally, Mark Blum, Adam Schlesinger, William Wolf, Brian Dennehy, Shirley Knight, Peter Hunt, Bernard Gersten, Larry Kramer, Nick Cordero, Brent Carver, Howell Binkley, Herbert Kretzmer, Israel Horowitz, Ann Reinking, Rebecca Luker. For UCB, for Shetler Studios, for the Secret Theatre, for Simple Studios, for the Creek and the Cave. For Frozen and for Then She Fell.

Raise a glass for the fact that we still don't know when theater can safely return in the States, and what will be left of us when it does. (Also randomly, they never got around to having the Tony Awards, even though they released the nominations in October. The Obies, Drama Desks, Lortel, and Antonyo awards were either aired online or released as a list.)

So this is my year-end post, where I list the top shows I saw this year. What do I even write about? I saw 24 shows before the shutdown on March 12th. And then since then I've seen 173 streaming theater pieces (a mixture of archive recordings, formerly recorded broadcasts, quarantine bubble productions with no audience, zoom readings, and hybrid forms of theater and film) (also I have 3-4 items left on my to-watch list for this year). Some of it has been decidedly not good. Some of it has been wonderful, poignant and uplifting. None of it is the real thing, and I still ache at the memory of kinetic energy passing between an enthusiastic audience and a vibrant production. But it's been something. I keep thinking of AJ's speech in The American President:

People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand.

Replace leadership with live theater and that's where I've landed. I've drunk some sand this year. But. It hasn't all been sand. And too much of my nature is geared toward finding a glimmer of gratitude within my grief. So I've made a list of what was special this year: a smaller one for the live theater, and the rest for what I watched online. You can expect my usual cheats to get in more than just a paltry "Top Ten." It's 2020, the worst year in many of our lives, and I want to remember as much joy as I can.

Godspeed, my loves. We'll be together again.

Weekly Margin 2020, W12: What I Didn't See, and a Memory of Such Stuff

This week I was supposed to see The Minutes at Second Stage, Caroline or Change at Roundabout, and Love Life at City Center. While I'm still quietly holding out hope that I'll see Caroline eventually, I have no expectations for the others, and I'm glad everything's shut down to try to keep as many people safe as possible. For now, that has to be enough.

I keep thinking I should make my usual list of the Spring season, look into ticket lotteries, rush policies, their presence on tdf. Making this list has been on my To Do calendar for a few weeks. Now it seems like a task designed to invite more heartbreak, wondering which shows are never to be.

I thought instead of looking forward into an unknowable future, and with no current theater to discuss, perhaps I should look back further.

My Picks: Best Theater of 2019

Andrew Scott and Sophie Thompson as Garry Essendine and
Monica Reed in The Old Vic's Present Laughter.
Photo by Elliott Franks.

I had an easier time making my list this year than I normally do, but the tragic cause of that is my viewing numbers were down again, with a projected 109 unique shows, and 122 shows overall  for 2019 (one show to go on Dec 28th; also, I am fully aware of just how awful I sound, complaining about seeing only 122 shows this year. Please believe that I do not take my life here for granted, or my ability to see as much theater as I do). I definitely suffered from some activity fatigue this year, partly due to the exhaustion of moving into a new apartment and all its attendant stress; this resulted in some neglect of my Off- and Off-Off- options. In any case, the list wasn't as hard to whittle down, a small mercy for a weary Zelda. But I will say this: the shows that made my top ten list? Astoundingly good theater, every one of them. And while I'm attempting to rank them this year, it's tight as anything for the top five (except Octet, which I knew would top the list when I saw it; basically the top four after Octet are all second, but in an apples and oranges and bananas and mangoes situation).

This year gave us extraordinary new takes on older works, like Erica Schmidt's schoolgirl Mac Beth, the Yiddish Fiddler on the Roof, and the Old Vic's hilarious new spin on Coward's Present Laughter. It also gave us astonishing new work that defiantly challenged expectations of what can be done in the theater, like Dave Malloy's a cappella brain explosion Octet, Michael R. Jackson's breathtaking not-autobiographical A Strange Loop, and Jeremy O. Harris's uncomfortable and gutting Slave Play.  We had actual magic onstage, from Harry Potter to Derren Brown to Slava and his Snowshow (I know some of the shows I just mentioned weren't new in 2019, but Slava excepting, they were new to me in 2019, and as the old refrain goes, this is my blog, dammit).

(also, I hear people are making their Best of the Decade lists as well. That's cool, though as my friend Tyler pointed out, we technically have one more year in the decade, but also I think it would hurt my heart too much to boil a decade down to ten shows. Think of all the gems that wouldn't make the cut!)

Anyway, we had so many good shows in 2019. Here were some of the best:

Best Of ... 18 for 2018

2018's spring continued the trend of 2017's autumn, with rather a dearth of content, and a lot of disappointment along the way. I'm sad to say that it wasn't nearly as difficult to whittle down my list to a "best of" this year as it has been in years past (I mean, there was still whittling ... but it was less torturous). I also saw fewer shows this year than my record of last year: 118 unique shows, with six repeats at 124 shows total. 

The cast of Head Over Heels. Photo by Joan Marcus.

This year I also did something new to help me track my theater-going, as anyone who reads this blog knows: with my Weekly Margin digest, I made a concerted effort to document at least my first impressions of every show as I saw it, with the idea that it would make drafting this final post a bit more, well, digestible. This year's post is going to be more economic in fill as a result, with the idea that I have already said a deal of what I thought the first time around. 

So now that I've managed all our expectations, I will say that, as always, there were still extraordinary things to be seen, productions that reminded me why I love live theater so much, stories that thrilled me, performers who blew me away. So let's get to it.

My Favorite Theater of 2017

Paul Hilton and Anna Francolini as Peter
Pan and Captain Hook in Peter Pan.
Photo by Steve Tanner.

It's been an odd year (in many, many, many ways). On the theater scene, one of those many oddnesses was the top-heaviness of it - the 2016-2017 season was so jam packed, I can't quite hold it all in my head. And then here at the tail end of the first half of the 2017-2018 season, we've had instead a rather spare (and unfortunately largely uninspiring) autumn. I still managed to find plenty to love, however: my initial attempt at building a Top list started at 35 which I then whittled to 26, then 21 (the task becoming more challenging with each culling), before landing at the current list. Some shows culled from the list made a strong impression on first viewing, but perhaps haven't etched themselves in my memory enough to warrant place here.

Part of why, even with a sparse autumn, the whittling was so difficult, lies in the fact that I hit a personal record this past year: 151 shows total (ho-ly merde), with 16 repeats, leaving 135 unique shows, besting last year by 24 unique shows and besting my highest year (2013) by 13.

So we should probably get started. I've had such a difficult time cutting the list down, and at this point, I don't even know how to rank them, so instead for a change of pace, I'm presenting them in chronological order of when I saw them.

My 16: 2016's Top Theatrical Experiences

James Ortiz and Eliza Martin Simpson in The Woodsman.
Photo by Matthew Murphy.

This year's post has been very hard to write. In a year that looks increasingly like the prologue to a dystopian franchise, it's difficult to look back with my usual optimism and joy. It feels frivolous, like I'm one of Panem's Capitol residents, merrily engaging in trivialities. I don't always know how to reconcile the feeling of uselessness against my passion for, and celebration of, live theater. As Richard II and I try to hammer it out, with Chrismakkuh looming this weekend, we'll review what didn't suck about this past year, and appreciate the small good things hiding in the garbage.

My overall play-going count is a bit lower than it's been since I started these posts - 122 plays total, with 11 repeats, which leaves us with 111 unique shows for the year. I'm not enough of a statistician and too lazy a researcher to look at the volume of how many shows were produced this year to comment further, but I'll try to comfort all of us by saying that the list I've made of shows to see for the spring season of 2017 is terrifyingly dense. As usual, for the purposes of this list, I am not including any shows I saw in earlier years (so while yes, I did see both Hamilton and Bedlam's Sense and Sensibility in 2016 and adored them to pieces, they topped my 2015 and 2014 lists respectively, and don't get to be included again).

One further note before I begin: I'm writing this list without having yet seen the final two shows on my 2016 docket - the pre-Broadway run of Amélie in Los Angeles and NYGASP's The Mikado. If it turns out I've made a huge mistake in omitting either, I'm making a note now to include them next year.

Let's go!

15 for '15 - My Top Theatrical Experiences This Year

Daniel N. Durant as Moritz in Deaf West's Spring Awakening.
Photo by Kevin Parry.

We don't need no stinkin' rules! Especially not rules that limit me to choosing only 10 shows for 2015. That's just cruel and unusual punishment. And, as I'm not an accredited journalist, and this is my house, we're doing 15 for 15 this year.

I'm quite proud to report that my attendance bumped up from last year - I saw 130 shows in 2015, and when we remove the repeats, it comes out to 121 unique shows - only one fewer than I saw in 2013, and 24 up from last year. It's been an odd mix this year - some truly extraordinary theater, including the groundbreaking work by Broadway's biggest nerd, Lin-Manuel Miranda - but the Fall season on Broadway, at least in terms of straight plays, was oddly disappointing. However, Off-Broadway picked up the slack, there's still plenty of good work to remember from this past Spring, and loads to anticipate for 2016.

So let's get started. (and before anyone calls the dogs out on any shows I omitted, the list started at 32 for the year, which I then had to painstakingly cull down to its present length)

Honorable Mention: I can't officially include Hedwig and the Angry Inch on this list, since the production made my '14 list last year, but if I didn't include John Cameron Mitchell's incredible performance in the role he created, I'd be doing a disservice to all of us. I saw him only after his injury early in his run, but even hobbled as he was by multiple knee braces, his Hedwig was a terrifying and heartbreaking force of nature. The role (and the show) transformed under his care, running a good twenty minutes longer from all the riffing and adlibbing. This was Hedwig as I knew her from before - bitingly cruel one moment, sweet and loving the next. A deeply-bedded river of bitterness ran through her, even as she valiantly soldiered on, crutch tucked under her arm. And oh god, the moment JCM opened his mouth in the first song, sounding just like he did twenty years earlier, I started to cry. (I feel it would be remiss if I did not also mention the fact that my friend Marissa received the infamous car wash treatment when we attended together - without a doubt, an unforgettable evening).

14 for '14! My Top Theater Picks

As I did last year, I've made a list of all the theater I saw in the past year. My numbers, while arguably impressive, are down a lot from last year: last year I saw 122 distinct shows (not counting repeats); this year, not counting repeats, was the tragically small number of 97. NINETY-SEVEN. Why was it so much lower? The easiest scapegoat could be the fact that in 2013 I visited London with my family and caught a bunch of theater, a trip I did not take this year. But it could just be there was less to see, or at least less to get excited about this year. I don't know. I know I spent close to the same amount of money on tickets, so as far as my budget's concerned, I'm on an even keel.

Firdous Bamji, Romola Garai, and Brenda Meaney in Indian Ink.
Photo by Joan Marcus.

When I was making my list for this year, some contenders were easy includes, but at the first culling, a lot made the initial list of 30 or so, merely by not being that bad. I think it was a weaker year, all told, at least in quantity. In quality, mind you, there were some truly stellar theatrical pieces (for those who see the list and decry my not including The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, I did include the West End production last year, and didn't feel right listing it two years running. That being said, the Broadway transfer was equally stellar and would have made this list otherwise, in the top five).

So without further ado, here are my Top 14 for '14!

The Best Theater of 2013 (in my own humble whatever)

Well, the year is winding down, which means retrospections are in order. As a self-proclaimed theater junkie, I try to see as much theater as I can manage, time- and funds-wise. And this year I've been extraordinarily lucky. I went through my calendar and programs, and - not counting any repeats, like the fact that I saw Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 three times, by the end of 2013 I will have seen 122 different plays/musicals/theatrical whatnots. 122. That means that, on average, every three days I saw a new show. You guys.

So I'm pretty pleased with myself, I'm not gonna lie to you. And I saw a lot of good theater. A LOT. Some thrilling, some heartbreaking, some hilarious, some huge spectacles, and some small intimate affairs. Boiling down the list to my favorites was very, very hard. First I took out any production that had premiered prior to 2013. That helped ... eliminate 10 shows. All right, then I really got to work. I couldn't include every amazing show, or good-enough shows that had amazing moments in them. But these listed below were the top shows that really blew me away, in one way or another.

And, in honor of its being 2013 (and my inability to narrow my list down to 10), here are my top 13 theatrical adventures of 2013: