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Post by David J on Dec 31, 2023 20:36:10 GMT
My top 5
1. My Neighbour Totoro (Barbican) 2. Marjorie Prime (Menier Chocolate Theatre) 3. Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Theatre Royal Hammersmith) 4. A View from the Bridge (Chichester) 5. The Phantom of the Opera with Earl Carpenter (His Majesty's Theatre)
Runners up Old Friends (Gielgud Theatre) Best of Enemies (NT Live) 4000 Miles (Chichester) Next to Normal (Donmar Warehouse) Mother Goose (Chichester) Guys and Dolls (Bridge Theatre) Meetings (Orange Tree Theatre) Frank and Percy (Other Palace Theatre) Operation Mincemeat (Fortune Theatre) Assassins (Chichester) The House of Bernarda Alba (National Theatre) The Lord of the Rings (Watermill Theatre) Dear England (Prince Edward Theatre) Groundhog Day (Old Vic) Ghosts (Sam Wanamaker) Cymbeline (RSC) Frozen (Theatre Royal Drury Lane) The Motive and the Cue (National Theatre) Newsies (Troubadour Theatre) Ulster American (Riverside Studios)
And the worst Aspects of Love (Lyric Theatre)
Also left at the interval The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (Watermill Theatre) Edward I (Winchester Great Hall) - an okay production that I wish I could hear from the back of the audience
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Post by supongo on Dec 31, 2023 23:47:25 GMT
Innocence (ROH) A Streetcar Named Desire (Almeida) Old Friends Dear England Crazy for You
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Post by n1david on Jan 1, 2024 11:07:40 GMT
Well what a theatre-going year that was! Thank you to the over 100 board members who posted. We got over 510 nominations for shows, across a range of 144 different plays. musicals, opera, dance, events and concerts - a significant increase over last year. And it’s clear that 2023 was very definitely the Year of the Musical. Normally in terms of overall votes, plays get about the same number of votes overall as musicals, but because a bigger range of plays are listed compared to musicals, the ‘average’ play gets fewer votes.
Not this year! Overall musicals got about 310 votes but plays just over 180 - the first time since we first did this in 2018 that we’ve seen that level of difference. That means that for a large part of December it wasn’t clear whether a play was going to make into the overall Top 5, and indeed it took Hogmanay’s votes for a play to squeeze in to fifth position overall.
So without further ado and to nobody’s surprise if they’ve been following this thread, the Theatreboard Favourite Show of the Year is…. Sunset Boulevard! With 45.16 votes this was a runaway victory - the only other show in previous years to have dominated so much was Anything Goes in the weird post-pandemic year of 2021 when lots of us seemed to be in the mood for something light and fluffy. Not sure what Sunset Blvd. this year says about how we are all feeling…
The next four musicals were as follows: Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends (Gielgud) 34 Next to Normal (Donmar) 31.33 Standing at the Sky’s Edge (NT) 24 And then a two-way tie between Operation Mincemeat (Fortune) and Guys and Dolls (Bridge) with 18.83.
Mincemeat’s achievement is significant given that it is its third consecutive appearance in this annual list, after it got 6.5 in (post pandemic) 2021 and 8.83 in 2022 whilst still in its Fringe incarnations.
On the Plays side, it was all much closer (and I’ve had to redraft this post several times during 31st December), but in the end the Theatreboard Favourite Play of the Year is Dear England (NT) with 20.83. I’m not sure many of would have guessed this time last year that a play about Gareth Southgate would have topped this list, even with James Graham’s reputation!
Below that, very closely came A Streetcar Named Desire (Almeida) just .5 behind at 20.33 The Motive and the Cue (NT) on 18.83 A Little Life (Pinter) at 12.5 Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Haymarket) with 11.33
Top Fringe show this year was La Cage aux Folles at the Open Air Theatre which got 9.83, and the top non-London show was Chichester’s Assassins with 5. It was another good year for the NT - in addition to the three listed in the Top 5s, Phaedra, Grenfell, Infinite Life, Marjorie Prime, Crucible, Dixon and Daughters, Ocean at the End of the Lane, Lehman Trilogy all getting votes…
Big names that we might have expected to appear that seem to have disappointed include The Pillowman (1), Andrew Scott’s Vanya (1) and “Chuckles” Branagh’s Lear which nobody listed. And given the hype and level of buzz, who’d have thought that Lyonesse would also end up with zero?
Remember it’s all just a bit of fun - it’s always interesting to see what different people really liked, and as I said before, it’s nice to see the smaller shows which are never going to top the lists get a callout at this time of year. See you in twelve months?
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Post by Rory on Jan 1, 2024 12:45:13 GMT
Thanks for all the work you put into this every year, n1david. I always love this thread!
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Post by zahidf on Jan 1, 2024 15:33:05 GMT
Good thread, thanks for putting in the work
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Post by TallPaul on Jan 1, 2024 16:22:22 GMT
Thank you, n1david. This has become quite the TheatreBoard tradition. Another great year for the world-famous Crucible Theatre, with not one, but two top five places!
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Post by Steve on Jan 1, 2024 20:54:03 GMT
You're a hero, David. Thank you. I look forward to your poll every year.
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Post by dlevi on Jan 1, 2024 21:07:36 GMT
Thanks David this is great.
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Post by theatreian on Jan 1, 2024 23:04:50 GMT
Not surprising the first 2 musicals. I didn't send a top 5 as for the first time in while not seen 5 new shows in a year. I had seen Sunset which I would have put number 1. Thanks for all the work in publishing this.
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Post by David J on Jan 2, 2024 14:11:00 GMT
Updated my list. Doesn't mess up the tallies anyway My top 5 1. My Neighbour Totoro (Barbican) 2. Marjorie Prime (Menier Chocolate Theatre) 3. Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Theatre Royal Hammersmith) 4. A View from the Bridge (Chichester) 5. The Phantom of the Opera with Earl Carpenter (His Majesty's Theatre) Runners up I, Malvolio (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse) Old Friends (Gielgud Theatre) Best of Enemies (NT Live) 4000 Miles (Chichester) Next to Normal (Donmar Warehouse) Mother Goose (Chichester) Guys and Dolls (Bridge Theatre) Meetings (Orange Tree Theatre) Frank and Percy (Other Palace Theatre) Operation Mincemeat (Fortune Theatre) Assassins (Chichester) The House of Bernarda Alba (National Theatre) The Lord of the Rings (Watermill Theatre) Dear England (Prince Edward Theatre) Groundhog Day (Old Vic) Ghosts (Sam Wanamaker) Cymbeline (RSC) Frozen (Theatre Royal Drury Lane) The Motive and the Cue (National Theatre) Newsies (Troubadour Theatre) Ulster American (Riverside Studios) And the worst Aspects of Love (Lyric Theatre) Also left at the interval The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (Watermill Theatre) Edward I (Winchester Great Hall) - an okay production that I wish I could hear from the back of the audience
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Post by david on Jan 2, 2024 16:26:00 GMT
A really interesting insight as usual n1david. Thanks for compiling the information.
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Post by Dr Tom on Jan 2, 2024 22:48:15 GMT
Too late to the party, but I've just been through my records for the year - and apparently I saw 105 different shows in 2023 (best not to say how many total shows I saw - as there were repeats).
But if I rank these solely based on the number of times I've seen them (in 2023), my top five were: #1 Newsies #2 Jersey Boys #3 Heathers #4 Oklahoma! #5 42nd Street
(I did have to break up some ties)
That's a pretty good assessment of my likes, although I probably should have seen La Cage Aux Folles more than five times (hopefully it will return), and I also have to flag up the excellent and intimate Mountview production of Once which I would have seen more if it had run for longer.
My scores wouldn't change anything. Thanks n1david for all the calculations. I can see why the winners got the scores they did.
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Post by robwilton on Jan 3, 2024 14:57:18 GMT
Just for interest, here's my 2023 list. I saw nearly 50 shows:
Top Five THE MOTIVE AND THE CUE/Lyttelton THE FATHER AND THE ASSASSIN/Olivier ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF A TERRORIST/Haymarket THE WITCHES/Olivier SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER/Orange Tree
Runners-Up CRAZY FOR YOU/Gillian Lynne WATCH ON THE RHINE/Donmar PHAEDRA/Lyttelton DUET FOR ONE/Orange Tree THAT FACE/Orange Tree BEAUTIFUL THING/Stratford East
"Event" Theatre CABARET/Playhouse (elaborate package containing very little) A LITTLE LIFE/Savoy (imaginative staging, murky storytelling) GUYS AND DOLLS/Bridge (musical somewhat lost in a showy staging)
Musicals BETTY BLUE EYES/Union (small-scale revival of an entertaining show) STANDING AT THE SKY'S EDGE/Olivier (juke-box musical, dressed up as a play) LA CAGE AUX FOLLES/Regent's Park (coarse, but enjoyable) OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR/Southwark (inventive production, clever multi-tasking cast)
Train-Wrecks A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE/Phoenix (miscast, misconceived) THE THIRD MAN/Menier (should never have left the drawing-board) THE EFFECT /Lyttelton (all style, no substance) PYGMALION/Old Vic (whoever paired this director with this play?)
Left at Interval A SLIGHT ACHE+THE DUMB WAITER/Greenwich (Pinter needs a stronger hand) WHEN WINSTON WENT TO WAR WITH THE WIRELESS/Donmar (v.dull play) THE CHANGELING/Southwark (style prioritised over story-telling) THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA/Lyttelton (miscast, unfocussed)
Just my opinions ...
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jan 3, 2024 16:38:46 GMT
As folk are mentioning their Neggie Nellies, here is mine
Turkey Aspects of love
Disapointing & dont get the hype Orlando - too short Cabaret
Snoozefest Ghandi and the Assassin
Walked at the interval Threepenny Opera - Cockpit theatre - perhaps it was the production or maybe just just my dislike for Brecht.
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Post by happysooz2 on Jan 3, 2024 20:22:06 GMT
Thanks for doing this @n1david. Always an interesting read.
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Post by alessia on Jan 4, 2024 16:59:23 GMT
Late to this, but wanted to leave a comment. I am surprised nobody mentioned The Second Woman, to me the best thing I've seen in 2023. Other stuff I enjoyed a lot : The Motive and the Cue, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Stranger Things, Blackout Songs, Clydes, Feeling Afraid [...] Dear England.
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Post by jaye on Jan 5, 2024 10:48:06 GMT
Benjamin Button Next to Normal Operation Mincemeat Sunset Boulevard
These were the stand outs to me. Lots more excellent shows, it was a great year for theatre. Shout out to Ride an Melina's Tale as well.
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