Your 2018

This year has probably been the biggest year for me theatre-wise since getting into theatre. I realised how to make it affordable for myself so have been able to go more often.

Wicked x3 (you can definitely tell it’s my fave)
War Horse
Six (second visit coming up soon)
Twelfth Night (Edinburgh Lyceum/Bristol Old Vic)
The Unreturning (outstanding)
Dracula (brief but brilliant)
Miss Saigon (amazing)
Nativity (such a fun show)
Kinky Boots (tomorrow night, and most likely several other times while it’s in my hometown)

Out of all of these, I’d say my least favourite was Twelfth Night. I just didn’t find it funny, and the production just felt a bit tired. I liked their concept, it just wasn’t well executed enough.

The best overall production was either Miss Saigon or War Horse. Both ran so smoothly and should be commended, both for the excellent productions and the emotional connection the actors make to their roles.

Wicked still remains my favourite, but after seeing other shows, I realise how flawed it is as a show in terms of book. We’ll see how I enjoy it on my next visit in January.

This year I also realised that 2 of my locals offer £10 standby tickets for under 26s. I will definitely be taking them up on this offer in the new year for shows such as Ghost, Dirty Dancing, Avenue Q and Amelie.

Quick count, total of 219 attended or still to attend before the end of the year, may add a couple more over Christmas week including a possible trip to Stratford Upon Avon to catch Timon my last Shakespeare play before I achieve ‘Billend’ status.

Another busy year, on initial reflection fewer stand outs than last year, the staging of Becket’s How It Is (Part 1) Print Room at the Coronet having the greatest impact and the venue itself a good addition to my regular haunts.

(Sorry this is long!) 12 theatre trips, 3 solo concerts. It's been a great theatre year.

I'll start with the biggest disappointment which was The Last Ship. For me the story wasn't very strong and not much of the music was hugely memorable, and the message was a bit too in-your-face. But to be fair there were some brilliant performances and it's great to see something else besides Hairspray or Joseph actually touring!

Surprise of the year theatre-wise was probably how obsessed I became with Sunset Boulevard. I originally booked because it was at the Millennium Centre on my birthday so I thought why not celebrate with something new, I never expected to love it so much though! After one listen to the cast recording I was hooked. I wasn't going to let the March snowstorms stop me from seeing it, and ended up catching it in Wimbledon, so glad I did. I really hope we get to see another production sometime soon, it's just glorious. And of course listening to the recording is what properly introduced me to the divine Ms LuPone which brings me on to the theatre highlight of the year, of course Company!

Company was spectacular, incredible performances across the board, brilliant sets, Marianne Elliot is just a visionary! I'll definitely be back once again before it closes.

Another surprise was Amy Ross as Elphaba, and the whole company of the Wicked tour. One of my favourite Wicked experiences was getting to see it from Row H at the Bristol Hippodrome on a last-minute discount ticket and I enjoyed it in Cardiff too, ableit from further back. Amy really is a class-act, and her portrayl of Elphaba affected me more than any other before. I'm now ready for another break from Wicked for a while, unless they announce some stellar casting for London next year (I think there's more chance of seeing Patti and the Lord out for cocktails than that happening though).

Heathers was also a bit of a saga, I missed out on the cheap tickets for The Other Palace so decided not to bother but also seriously regretted it so I was very happy when they announced the West End run. I had so much fun seeing it at the Haymarket, I think seeing Heathers at age seventeen is always going to be special. Again I really hope we see more of Heathers next year.

Other London shows include The Book of Mormon, finally getting to see Marisha Wallace in Dreamgirls (she did not disappoint!) and my first trip to the Open Air Theatre for Little Shop of Horrors. Not only was it a great production, but it was also an overall lovely summer's day spent in Regent's Park, what a gem of a place.

Saw Evita and was satisfied that Lucy O'Byrne sung A New Argentina as it actually should be, touring Matilda for £5 from the circle (!), plus a goodbye for now to Miss Saigon in Bristol.

Saw Eva Noblezada's cabaret at Live at Zedel and Sheridan Smith who was delightful, funny, warm and in fine voice. The best concert has to be Lea Michele and Darren Criss on Friday though, Lea has one of the best voices I've ever heard and the Gleek in me was very very happy on Friday night.

Looking forward next year to my new obsession Waitress, Come From Away with Queen Tucker, Lea Salonga in Concert, Kinky Boots on tour and much much more!

I've clocked up 75 theatre visits this year, which is probably a record for me.

My highlights have been:
Summer & Smoke, Almeida
Caroline, or Change, Hampstead
The Wolves, Theatre Royal Stratford East
John, Dorfman
A View from the Bridge, Tobacco Factory

Lowlights would be:
Hamlet, Globe
Girls & Boys, Royal Court
Nightfall, Bridge

All round, it's been a good, but not great, year at the theatre for me.

A bit early for this thread, isn't it? Still have my annual New Year's trip to London coming, where I'll be seeing another five shows.

But anyway: This year continued the trend of seeing less and less theatre. By the end of the year, I will have been to the theatre 28 times (2017: 39, 2016: 70 and a maximum of 107 in 2014). Somehow, producers and I seem to differ more and more in what a good musical actually is, and I didn't have a go-to show for quite some time now. Even my usual re-visit shows drove me away with some of their casting decisions. And 2019 doesn't look too bright, either, as I'm not looking forward to any of the shows opening in London. So far, I've only booked five shows for 2019, four of which are in the US. Well, maybe I should be travelling to New York more often.

Highlights were Mean Girls and Pretty Woman on Broadway, and lowlights were the recent Rock of Ages tour (I even canceled this weekend's trip to Berlin because I can't stand this production and it ruins the fond memories I have of this show) and Heathers.

42 shows,

from best to worst -

Fanny and Alexander
Ken
The Great Wave
ear for eye
Witness for the Prosecution
A Night to Remember
Dracula
Pressure
The Merry Widow
Oh What a Lovely War
The Yellow on the Broom
Brexit
The Height of the Storm
Don Quixote
Shakespeare in Love
This House
Sherlock Holmes - The Final Curtain
Hamilton
Young Frankenstein
Still Alice
Sunshine on Leith
The Homecoming
Aye, Elvis
Pinter at the Pinter - 3
Vulcan VII
The Last Ship
Titanic
Bold Girls
Art
Bright Colours Only
The Lover
Creditors
Rebus - Long Shadows
The Case of the Frightened Lady
Arctic Oil
Gut
Nye and Jennie
Strangers on a Train
Girl from the North Country
Kiss Me Kate
The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other
Love from a Stranger

rockinrobin both Swan Lake and Company are two of the best things I've ever seen so your year is about to be turned upside down. 😂

I still have six or seven shows to see before the end of the year, so I'm holding off until 2018 is done and dusted.

6% of the year is plenty of time to be newly surprised, amused and thrilled.

This was a quite year for me for shows so I'm determined to see more shows next year1
In total i saw 7 shows, all of which were in London. I do see one touring show (Six) before Christmas which will take my total to 8.
Best show out of what I saw was Bat Out of Hell for sure. I gone down to London specifically to see it and re-booked to see it two nights later because I had loved it so much! The King and I was also a special show to see and Heathers was also great.
No disappointments this year!

Highlights probably Julius Caesar & Company - but 2018 definitely lacklustre compared to last year. Haven't seen anything as good this year as 2017's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Goat or Who is Sylvia, Angels in America, Hello Dolly!, Follies, Hamilton or Network.

Nonetheless, onwards to 2019, which seems like a bumper Spring that's right up my street with the return of Follies plus Pinter 7, Betrayal, When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other, All My Sons, All About Eve & Death of a Salesman.

Love this thread! Can't wait to sit down and tot up what I've seen, what I've loved and what I've loathed!

I was just thinking I wonder how many shows you have seen this year? I’m going to guess that Six is going to be the most seen show this year. For some reason I don’t think you have seen wicked as much this year as in previous years but I could be wrong.