Frontmezzjunkies Reports: The Best Theatrical Experiences of 2024 in NYC; Ontario, Canada; & London, England
By Ross
It’s been another wild year, running back and forth from Toronto to NYC, with stops in London, England and London, Ontario, Canada. Mostly to make sure I could see as much good theatre as possible, and of course, to see my Canadian friends and family. It was quite the madcap adventure, with far too many miles flown up in the air and in airport lounges (I’m a bit of an addict there, like I am with theatre), but there were just so many great theatrical moments that made it all so very worth it. And I wouldn’t change a thing. Here’s an unordered list of the theatrical events, organized into a few different categories by location, that I loved with all my heart and soul, in all of the cities and summer festivals that I attended in the year 2024.
Best Play: New York City
It’s always interesting to do a year’s best list, when the Broadway world is not geared up for it in the same way as the movies. Many on the list were already celebrated at the 2024 Tony Awards in early summer, but a few snuck in this summer and fall and shook up the scene. Oh, Mary! is probably the surprise Broadway hit of the year and season. It was a flat-out hilarious hit off-Broadway, but it really hit its stride when it jumped up North to take over a Broadway house with extension after extension. The success and adoration for The Hills of California is no surprise, but the surprise for me was the changes made to the last few scenes after a strong West End run. Those adjustments made the play even stronger, and I couldn’t have loved it more for the openness to the rewrite.
Broadway’s Oh, Mary!
West End/Broadway’s The Hills of California
Broadway’s Stereophonic
2ST/Broadway’s Appropriate
Broadway’s An Enemy of the People
MTC/Broadway’s Prayer for the French Republic
Best Play: London, England
I saw a lot of great theatre during my two trips to London, but these two were by far the greatest in terms of plays, and both were remodelings of tried-and-try stories. Jamie Lloyd took a classic and reshaped and reformed it into something completely hypnotizing, not to mention the stellar performances of Tom Holland and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers in the classic roles. It took my breath away, just like Robert Icke did with his remodeling of Oedipus. Both deserve their time on Broadway, and although the current production of Romeo + Juliet probably halted Lloyd from transferring his version to Broadway, his was the version that stood out in my R+J crowded mind the most. Without a doubt. But I guess Lloyd will be ok, with his Sunset Blvd literally taking over the streets of Broadway and his star-fueled The Tempest reintroducing Shakespeare to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane (followed soon after by his Much Ado About Nothing starring Tom Hiddleston, his version of Waiting for Godot starring Keanu Reeves, and his redo of Evita in London this summer). I think he will be just fine.
West End’s Romeo and Juliet
West End’s Oedipus
Best Play: Canada
So much good stuff to report about up North of Broadway, both in Toronto central and in the countryside of Ontario at its two world-renown theatre festivals: the Stratford Festival and the Shaw Festival. The daring inventiveness of Canadian theatre is something I’m feeling so grateful for, especially how warm a welcome they have given this theatrejunkie. It’s such a joy to be witness to the powerful creative juices flowing out from all these fantastic theatre companies that make up the Toronto theatre scene. It’s forever inspiring and worthy of the standing ovations given. Here’s just a few of the many productions that I loved.
Stratford Festival’s Salesman in China
Native Earth Performing Arts‘ Women of the Fur Trade
That Theatre Company/Buddies in Bad Times Theatre’s Angels in America
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre’s Roberto Zucco
Goblins:Macbeth – A Spontaneous Theatre Creation at Tarragon Theatre Toronto
Shaw Festival’s The House That Will Not Stand
Shaw Festival’s Snow in Midsummer
Icarus Theatre’s Constellations
Canadian Stage’s production of The Inheritance
Photo credit: Cylla von Tiedemann.
Coal Mine Theatre’s A Case for the Existence of God
Best Musical: New York City
What a joyous field to be witness to this year on Broadway and beyond. The following musicals all completely delighted me, in ways unexpected and miraculous. Maybe Happy Ending may be my favorite, mainly because of its surprising sweetness and generosity, but the others listed all exceeded expectations and delivered expertise in abundance. The only question is, will Cats – The Jellicle Ball find its place on Broadway once again. Maybe the Circle in the Square would fit it just right. And what a great Christmas treat, to hear that Dead Outlaw is riding uptown to Broadway. It’s no surprise, but that dead corpse will get a warm welcome, I’m sure of that.
Broadway’s Maybe Happy Ending
PAC NYC’s Cats – The Jellicle Ball
Audible’s Dead Outlaws
Broadway’s Sunset Blvd
Broadway’s Death Becomes Her
Broadway’s The Outsiders
NYCC Encores’ Ragtime
Best Musical: London, England
A killer musical scene in the West End and beyond this year in London, England. And I was thankful to be able to see as many shows as I did. Some on a whim, and others, were solid definites from the moment I booked my plane tickets. All should, and some have already announced, Broadway transfers, and for that, I am grateful, because I will not mind seeing any of them again when they arrive on Broadway.
West End’s Standing at the Sky’s Edge
West End’s Operation Mincemeat
West End’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – the Musical
Menier Chocolate Factory‘s The Producers
Best Musical: Canada
These are the standouts for me musically in Canada, with Stratford finding gold in their production of Something Rotten! Mark Uhre astounds, but it’s really the company as a whole who knows how to come together and create stellar magic. As they, and the Shaw Festival, repeatedly do with their varied programming. And I’ve included Canada’s production of Titanique, even though I haven’t seen the production now playing in Toronto (Montreal is next, in the land of Celine), but I’m betting my bottom dollar that the show is as funny and wonderful as the off-Broadway continues to be.
Stratford Festival’s Something Rotten
Soulpepper Theatre’s De Profundis: Oscar Wilde in Jail
Shaw Festival’s My Fair Lady
Titanique in Toronto
Best Performance in a Play
Here’s my list of a few standouts. Many of the productions listed earlier in this (very long) listing should all be here as well, but I tried to focus my attention on a few that really caught my attention, surprising me or just plain wowing me, embedding their excellence in my brain forever.
Kit Connor in Broadway’s Romeo + Juliet
Cole Escola in Broadway/Off-Broadway’s Oh, Mary!
Mark Strong and Lesley Manville in the West End’s Oedipus
Sarah Pigeon and Juliana Canfield in Broadway/Playwrights Horizons’ Stereophonic
Rachel McAdams in MTC/Broadway’s Mary Jane
Sarah Paulson in 2ST/Broadway’s Appropriate
Photo credit: Cylla von Tiedemann.
Mazin Elsadig and Noah Reid in The Coal Mine’s A Case for the Existence of God
Leanne Best, Ophelia Lovibond, Helena Wilson, and Laura Donnelly in Broadway’s The Hills of California.
Best Performance in a Musical
Adrian Blake Enscoe in Broadway’s Swept Away
Jennifer Simard and Megan Hilty in Broadway’s Death Becomes Her
Nicole Scherzinger and Tom Francis in Broadway’s Sunset Blvd
Joshua Henry and Brandon Uranowitz in NYCC Encores’ Ragtime
Kecia Lewis in Broadway’s Hell’s Kitchen
Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster in Broadway’s Sweeney Todd
Helen J Shen and Darren Criss in Broadway’s Maybe Happy Ending
Grey Hensen in Broadway’s Elf the Musical
And then there is Audra McDonald in Broadway’s Gypsy, a show that my press dates aren’t until early January, just like they did for Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster’s Music Man, which also opened late December, just before the holidays. But I’m betting she would have been on the list had I had the chance to see her in that iconic musical before the end of 2024.
