Top 10 Best & Worst of 2014 Theater

BEST SHOW OF 2014: ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ is also one of the best Broadway dramas in the last decade. Photo: Joan Marcus

As 2014 winds down, it is that time of year again when we at StageZine list our Top 10 Best and Worst of Broadway and Off-Broadway Theater. We each list the shows we loved and those we hated.

David Nounou’s TOP 10 BEST OF 2014

1.  The Curious Incident Of the Dog in the Night-Time: Far and away the best play of the year. A brilliant must-see theatrical event.

2.  Cabaret: With Emma Stone it became a five-star show again. Best Sally Bowles yet.

3.  A Raisin In The Sun: Exciting revival; always great to see it when done to perfection.

4.  Aladdin: Best Disney musical since The Lion King.

5.  Sweeney Todd: Emma Thompson made this revival at Lincoln Center unforgettable.

6.  Heathers: Even with a small budget, a wonderful musical was created due to great imagination.

7.  Hedwig and the Angry Inch: Neil Patrick Harris made it indelible and unforgettable.

8.  Of Mice and Men: Steinbeck at his best, compelling revival with wonderful performances.

9.  Pageant: Always fun to see this takeoff on all beauty pageants, because it is spot-on.

10.  The Elephant Man: Bradley Cooper.  Need I say more?

ONE OF BEST REVIVALS OF 2014: ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ is the best African-American drama ever & this revival was sublime. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

 THE WORST OF 2014 THEATER IN PICTURES…

MAKING BLUE MOVIES: (Left to right) Daniel Gerroll, Ella Dershowitz, Austin Cauldwell & Déa Julien in the silly porn comedy ‘Intimacy,’ one of 2014’s worst plays. Photo: Monique Carboni.

WORST OF 2014: Canned hip-hop music & every ghetto cliche in the ‘hood made ‘Holler If Ya Hear Me’ a dud. Photo: Joan Marcus

David Nounou’s TOP 10 WORST OF 2014

1.  Holler If Ya Hear Me: Definitely and by far the worst show of the year. Misguided conception for a Broadway musical, with inept direction by Kenny Leon.

2.  The Realistic Joneses: Usual Will Eno blatherfest.

3.  The Last Ship: With or without Sting, this turgid ship sank a long time ago.

4.  Bullets Over Broadway: Susan Stroman took a brilliant Woody Allen comedy and turned it into schlock at its worst.

5.  Rocky: A horrific and ill-conceived idea for a musical, courtesy of Sylvester Stallone.

6.  Bronx Bombers: Actually a stage bomb; the Bronx had nothing to do with it.

7.  The River: Thank God it was only half as long as Jez Butterworth’s previous outing Jerusalem, which made it bearable. Although one can watch Hugh Jackman read a phone book and make it interesting, he was miscast here.

8.  Under My Skin: Off-Broadway gender-switching concept (starring Kerry Butler) at its incompetent and unfunny worst.

9.  Intimacy: Inept and stupid Off-Broadway “porn in suburbia” button pusher from smut auteur Thomas Bradshaw.

10.  A Delicate Balance: Pam McKinnon took an Edward Albee snoozefest in which nothing really happens and sucked out any life out of it.

DISHONORABLE MENTION

The Velocity Of Autumn: Had no business being on Broadway and why did they even bother?

It’s Only A Play: Never has so much star power gone to waste and suffered from a basically one-note comedy.

THE BEST OF 2014 THEATER IN PICTURES…

PORTRAIT OF THE JAZZ ICON: Audra McDonald won a Tony for her outstanding portrayal of Billie Holiday in ‘Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill,’ one of the best shows of 2014. Photo: Evgenia Eliseeva

‘SO VERY’ BRILLIANT: The cast of Off-Broadway’s ‘Heathers The Musical,’ one of 2014’s best. Photo: Chad Batka

Scott Harrah’s TOP 10 BEST OF 2014

1.  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: This British import is a rare mix of a great script, outstanding acting and technical wizardry. One of the best shows of the past 10 years, with a Tony-worthy performance by Alex Sharp.

2.  Hedwig and the Angry Inch: Neil Patrick Harris helped make this revival a must-see. I liked the original back in the 1990s, but I totally flipped for this Broadway revival of Hedwig.

3.  Aladdin: Despite the lukewarm reaction from critics and the Tony Awards, this is a fun and colorful family musical from Disney.

4.  Heathers: A “so very” brilliant Off-Broadway adaptation of the 1980s cult film.

5. The Cripple of Inishmaan: This clever Irish play was misunderstood by most critics. Martin McDonagh’s wry Irish humor and Daniel Radcliffe made the show lots of fun.

6.  The Elephant Man: A brilliant revival of a play about acceptance, starring Bradley Cooper.

7.   Pageant: Great revival of the musical spoof on beauty pageants.

8.  A Raisin in the Sun: Outstanding revival of the best African-American drama of all time.

9.  Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill: Audra McDonald channeling Billie Holiday in one her best stage performances to date.

10. Ruthless: The Musical: Hilarious, shamelessly campy revival of the Off-Broadway musical satire that sends up everything from The Bad Seed to All About Eve.

AND THE WORST…

‘BULLETS’ ONLY SHOT BLANKS: The mind-numbingly lame & lifeless musical adaptation of Woody Allen’s ‘Bullets Over Broadway,’ haphazardly directly by Susan Stroman. Photo: Paul Kolnik

BIG TALENTS, CONFUSING SHOW: Toni Collette & Michael C. Hall in ‘The Realistic Joneses,’ one of the worst plays of 2014. Photo: Joan Marcus

Scott Harrah’s TOP 10 WORST OF 2014

1.  Holler If Ya Hear Me: A contrived musical with canned, pre-recorded hip-hop music, every half-baked ghetto cliche known in the ‘hood, and zero drama. An insult to Tupac Shakur’s memory. (And the play only featured his music. It wasn’t even about him!)

2.  The Realistic Joneses: Despite a great all-star cast, the show was merely more confusing twaddle from the consistently pretentious Will Eno.

3.  It’s Only a Play: Full of stars, but Terrence McNally’s smash hit is totally devoid of anything funny. It’s just not much of a play.

4.  A Delicate Balance: Edward Albee won the Pulitzer for this? Theater fans paid how much to see this confusing bore-a-thon?

5.  Rocky: This adaptation of the Sylvester Stallone classic film didn’t “fly” as a musical, and was a total snoozer until the final scene. Too little, too late. Sorry, Sly.

‘UNDER MY SKIN’: Like a parasite, that is. This unfunny Off-Broadway body-switching ‘comedy’ with Kerry Butler (left) & Matt Walton was like ‘Freaky Friday’ with bad sex jokes & terrible NY accents. One of the 2014’s worst plays. Photo: Broadway.com

6.  Under My Skin: Stupid, unfunny body-switching Off-Broadway “comedy” starring Kerry Butler. Like Freaky Friday with bad sex jokes and atrocious attempts at New York accents.

7.  Bronx Bombers: One foul baseball play that should have stayed Off Broadway. The Yankees deserved a much better stage bio-drama than this.

8.  Mothers and Sons: Another atrocity from Terrence McNally, despite Tyne Daly’s fine performance as a homophobic mother still grieving over her son’s death from AIDS. Dated and preachy drivel.

9.  Intimacy: For some reason, one-track-minded provocateur Thomas Bradshaw keeps getting his “porn with a message” Off-Broadway plays produced. Entertaining? Yes. But good theater? No.

10. Bullets Over Broadway: A puerile, pathetic adaptation of the hit Woody Allen film, with random vintage songs thrown in as a “score.” No bullets here–just blanks.

DISHONORABLE MENTION

If/Then: Poor Idina Menzel, a talented diva, playing a recently divorced woman in this hokey dud, depicting a sanitized New York and every bad New York stereotype (past and present) imaginable.

The Velocity of Autumn: Estelle Parsons deserved a much better “comeback” than this lame, pointless drama about an elderly Brooklyn woman and her troubled relationship with her son.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published December 22, 2014