Wherein I attempt to rank every show I’ve seen this year, a running list as the year unfolds, regardless of genre (theater, music, dance, art). Note, the company I keep is not a factor, though it often redeems the lesser of such evenings. If I’ve written about them, links are provided.
Previous Years: 2010
Being Harold Pinter/Belarus Free Theatre/January 27
Clybourne Park/Steppenwolf/September 17
Yellow Face/Silk Road Theatre Project/June 18
The Original Grease/American Theater Company/May 2
Under the Big Black Sun: California Art 1974-1981//The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles/November 10
Stage Kiss/Goodman Theatre/May 9
Follies/Chicago Shakespeare Theater/October 12
Fall Series/Hubbard Street Dance Chicago/October 13
Chinglish/Goodman Theatre/June 27
West Side Story/Broadway In Chicago/July 27
Chicago Dancing Festival/Pritzker Pavilion/August 27
Verdi Requiem/Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus/August 20
David Boykin at Dorchester Projects/April 22
Independence Celebration/Grant Park Orchestra/July 3
God of Carnage/Goodman Theatre/March 13
The Hot L Baltimore/Steppenwolf/April 2
Black Watch/Chicago Shakespeare Theater/March 30
Next to Normal/Broadway In Chicago/April 27
It’s A Wonderful Life: Live at the Biograph!/American Blues Theater/November 26
The Tales of Hoffman/Lyric Opera/October 1
Working/Broadway Playhouse/March 2
Terminus/Abbey Theatre/March 3
Mary/Goodman Theatre/February 13
Ragtime The Musical/Northwestern University Dolphin Show/January 29
Lakeboat/Steep Theatre Company/January 20
Valentine’s Weekend Engagement/River North Dance Chicago/February 13
Chicago/Broadway In Chicago/June 7
Red/Goodman Theatre/September 28
Theaster Gates: An Epitaph for Civil Rights/The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles/November 10
The Doyle & Debbie Show/Royal George Cabaret/October 20
Schoenberg: “Friede auf Erden” & Mendelssohn: “Lobgesang”/Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus/June 18
La Cage Aux Folles/Broadway In Chicago/December 21
Middletown/Steppenwolf/June 26
Ann/Broadway In Chicago/November 16
Memphis/Broadway In Chicago/November 22
Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking/Broadway In Chicago/October 5
Jeff Garlin’s No Sugar Tonight/Steppenwolf/July 13
Blithe Spirit/American Players Theatre, Spring Green, WI/July 16
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter/Steppenwolf for Young Adults/October 16
Hickorydickory/Chicago Dramatists/May 20
The Chicago Landmark Project/Theatre Seven/June 4
El Nogalar/Goodman Theatre and Teatro Vista/April 3
The Merry Widow/Joffrey Ballet/February 19
Luc Tuymans/Museum of Contemporary Art/January 7
Off the Beaten Path: Violence, Women and Art/Chicago Cultural Center/January 22
The Trinity River Plays/Goodman Theatre/January 23
PowerFul/eighth blackbird/January 22
Sex With Strangers/Steppenwolf/January 30
All in Love is Fair/Black Ensemble Theater/March 27
Rantoul and Die/American Blues Theater/April 29
Love, Loss, and What I Wore/Broadway In Chicago/October 14
South Side of Heaven/Second City Mainstage/April 10
Swan Lake/The State Ballet Theatre of Russia/February 4
As You Like It/Chicago Shakespeare Theater/January 12
Penelope/Steppenwolf/December 10