I would like to offer my list of the TOP TEN BEST PLAYS and the 5 LEAST FAVORITE PLAYS for 2024. This year I was able to take in 43 plays – and I assure you that my list is totally unlike ANY of the various people that review NYC theatre. It is ironic for me to note that my very favorite play of 2024 – Our Class – was produced by the very same company that produced the second to worst play that I saw all year – The Merchant of Venice. I have NO idea what happened to this company in the month in between productions – but it wasn’t good! Please click on the title of the following plays to read the full review:
Drag: The Musical Book, Music, & Lyrics by Justin Andrew Honard, Tomas Costanza, & Ashley Gordon Directed & Choreographed by Spencer Lee New World Stage December 30, 2024 Production website 💉💉 out of 5.
Produced and introduced by none other than Liza Minelli herself, Drag, the Musical centers on the rivalry of two drag clubs each facing its own set of troubles. At the Cat House—where Savannah St. James (Jan Sport), The Tigress (Jujubee) and Puss Puss DuBois (Nick Laughlin) hold court—girl boss Kitty Galloway (Alaska Thunderf*ck) is dealing with imminent eviction. Across the street at the Fish Tank, house mother Alexis Gillmore (Nick Adams, of Broadway’s Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) is in big trouble with the IRS; fellow queens Tuna Turner (Lagoona Bloo), Popcorn (Luxx Noir London) and Dixie Coxworth (Liisi LaFontaine) push her into seeking help into seeking help from her estranged accountant brother, Tom (played by Rent’s Adam Pascal).
Merchant of Venice Written by William Shakespeare Directed & Adapted by Igor Golyak Classic Stage Company December 22, 2024 Production website 💉 out of 5.
This was just a horrible night in the theatre and it was made even more horrible in that just a few months prior to this production it was this very same director (Igor Golyak) and same company of players (Arlekin Players) that turned in for me what was the finest piece of theatre of the entire year, Our Class. I thought that since both pieces deal the plight of the Jews and anti-Semitism, I was going to be in for a real treat seeing this fresh take on The Merchant of Venice which has long been regarded as one of Shakespeare’s so-called “problem” plays. Classically, it is called a “problem” play in that it’s both a comedy and tragedy; and the villain, the Jew, Shylock, is portrayed with the worst anti-semitic tropes. But the “problem” in this HORRIBLE adaptation is far more basic than anything cited by scholars. The messaging is muddied, and almost every line of the Bard’s text is just an excuse to do stupid stuff!
A Guide for the Homesick Written by Ken Urban Directed by Shira Milikowsky DR2 Theatre December 21, 2024 Production website 💉💉💉 out of 5.
The play is set in a simple hotel room near the airport in Amsterdam. Jeremy, a gay man white man meets Teddy a gay black man in a bar. In that Jeremy has a few hours to kill before he catches his flight back to America, Teddy asks him back to his room. Easy hookup – right? Pretty predictable right? But that’s where the story just begins to take on a new twist and becomes about much more than just a tryst. Harvard grad Jeremy has been in Uganda working for the past year as a medical assistant, and now he’s headed home to Boston. Teddy, misinterprets the situation and makes a pass. Naturally, closeted Jeremy freaks out —
The Beacon Written by Nancy Harris Directed by Marc Atkinson Borrull Irish Repertory Theater October 20, 2024 Production website 💉💉 out of 5.
The Beacon tells (in a most uninteresting, jumbled way) the story of Bev (Kate Mulgrew) a famed painter of abstract art welcoming her son Colm back to the family cottage with his new American bride just has Bev has embarked on a full-scale renovation replacing most of her walls with glass in an odd desire to seek more privacy. Enter an old family friend and home renovator, Donal who shares a secret (but not that scandalous) past with her son to be followed by a late inclusion of a local true crime podcaster interested in the death of Bev’s ex-husband and what do you get? – We don’t get much.
