Year End: Ten Best Plays & Musicals of 2007

All this week I'll be listing my favorites in the different areas of pop culture that Idol Thoughts covers. Now up: plays and musical!

1. The Coast of Utopia
2. Spring Awakening
3. In The Heights
4. Frost/Nixon
5. Scarcity
6. Speech and Debate
7. Legally Blonde: The Musical
8. Gypsy
9. Journey's End
10. The Farnsworth Invention

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Theater Suggestions: Farnsworth Invention, Peter & Jerry, Rock 'N' Roll, Glorious Ones

Now that the Broadway strike has finally ended, it's time to get back to the theater! As a reminder, all Broadway shows are resuming performances tonight (Thursday 11/29).

Here's a few shows I've seen in the past month or so that I would recommend:

The Farnsworth Invention
By Aaron Sorkin, and starring Hank Azaria and the excellent Jimmy Simpson, this fast-paced depiction of the invention of the television is thought-provoking and well acted.

Peter & Jerry
Edward Albee's classic Zoo Story is paired with a new one-act, Homelife, at Off-Broadway's Second Stage theater. While I wasn't bowled over by Zoo, I found Homelife to be incredibly well acted (especially by Johanna Day) and very insightful.

Rock 'N' Roll
This heady Tom Stoppard play won't be for everyone, but I was fascinated by the tale of a professor and a revolutionary in Czechoslovakia in the second half of the 20th century (that is, what I could understand of the tale!) The acting is superb (especially from Rufus Sewell, who ages brilliantly throughout the production), but be prepared for lots of philosophical discussions that, if you're anything like me, will mostly go over your head.

The Glorious Ones
Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty achieved theatrical perfection in my book with Once on this Island and Ragtime, and while their newest show doesn't quite live up to the splendor of those, it's still a very enjoyable evening in the theater. Marc Kudisch (never a favorite of mine) is actually quite fantastic, and there are a handful of songs that will simultaneously make you laugh out loud and find a tear falling down your cheek. If you like your traditional musical theater with a slightly raunchy twist, this is the show for you.

Personally, I didn't find much to like in The Seafarer, but I'm hearing wonderful things about August Osage County, and the buzz on Lincoln Center Theater's Cymbeline is quite good (especially considering it's one of Shakespeare's least known plays). I'll be sure to report on these once I've gotten a chance to see them.

Viva la theater!

Where Are All The Straight Plays on Broadway?

My friend Cara David (view her always entertaining theater blog here) pointed out this morning that with the closing of A Year of Magical Thinking, there are currently no straight plays on Broadway. This will be the case until mid-September.

Now, granted, later this fall there will be a ton of straight plays on the boards, including Cyrano, Cymbeline, Pygmalion, The Farnsworth Invention, Rock 'N' Roll, November and more. But still, this is a notable moment for the Great White Way.

So, if you're looking for a straight play, there's never been a better time to hit up Off-Broadway. Last week I saw Opus at Primary Stages (problematic, but still really enjoyed it), and in the next couple of weeks I'll hit up Iphiginea 2.0 at Signature and 100 Saints You Should Know at Playwright's Horizon. Have you seen any good Off-Broadway show lately you'd recommend?