Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – THE BEST OF 2024: Theater, Music, and Dance

• By drediman
• January 8, 2025
• No Comments

With 2024 recently behind us, what better time to take stock of the year that’s just transpired to highlight the performances that have particularly distinguished themselves from the pack. Read on for my annual “best of” lists across the performance genres of theater, music, and dance.

THEATER

Despite the necessary recalibration currently taking place in the industry, it was nevertheless yet another satisfying year of theater — further signaling the continued robust post-pandemic return of live entertainment. In no particular order, here are my top ten theater picks of 2024.

Sunset Blvd. (Broadway / St. James Theatre) — Jamie Lloyd’s radical minimalist production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical transfers successfully, starring a voracious Nicole Scherzinger in a scintillating Broadway debut.

Maybe Happy Ending (Broadway / Belasco Theatre) — One of the dark horse shows of the Broadway fall season turns out to be the most beguiling and heartwarming new musical of the year.

Oh, Mary! (Broadway / Lyceum Theatre) — An unlikely cultural phenomenon and one of the undisputed runaway hits of the season, Cole Escola’s raucously unhinged comedy broke into the mainstream with terrifying tidal force.

Suffs (Broadway Music Box Theatre) — The Broadway transfer of Shaina Taub’s well-meaning musical gets the award for most improved production of the year, landing on the Great White Way triumphantly.

Give Me Carmelita Tropicana! (Soho Rep) — The wild and bittersweet final show at Soho Rep’s longtime downtown home on Walker Street was a fitting and movingly self-referential farewell.

Dead Outlaw (Minetta Lane Theatre) — David Yazbek’s rollicking original new musical was one of the most blazingly ingenious works of the year; the musical is set to open on Broadway this spring.

The Ally (The Public Theater) —  Itamar Moses’s new play at The Public was one of the most urgent and timely theatrical works of the year, featuring a pitch perfect performance by Josh Radnor.

The Wind and the Rain (En Garde Arts / Vineyard Theatre) — My pick for the most effective immersive theatrical experience of the year; the production brought a little known Brooklyn neighborhood (Red Hook) to vivid, teeming life.

Cats: The Jellicle Ball (PAC NYC) — The rare revival that actually improves upon the original, and in this case, vastly so. Indeed, The Jellicle Ball ravishingly injected unexpected humanity and raw emotion into this otherwise theme park attraction of a musical.

Pre-Existing Condition (Connelly Theatre) — I’m still reeling from Marin Ireland’s intense and honest excavation of emotional and physical abuse, which featured a high profile rotating cast that highlighted the universality of its tough themes and subject matter.

HONORABLE MENTION — The year was awash in theatrical riches. Some other endeavors that need to be mentioned include New York City Center’s consistently stellar season of musical revivals (Once Upon a Mattress, Jelly’s Last Jam, Titanic, Ragtime), Bedlam’s affecting country-western jukebox musical Music City, and the brief New York engagement of S. Shakthidharan tremendous Sri Lankan-Australian epic Counting and Cracking.

OPERA AND CLASSICAL MUSIC

This past year was a balanced one for fans of opera and classical music, exhibiting a healthy dose of new and established works — mounted across the city on stages both small and large. In no particular order, here are my top ten opera and classical music picks for of 2024.

Ainadamar (The Metropolitan Opera) — Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov’s Grammy Award-winning opera — tinged with the fire and passion of Flamenco — was brought to vivid life in the Met’s new production.

El Niño (The Metropolitan Opera) — Another modern classic, John Adam’s gloriously reconsidered oratorio continued the Met’s increased focus on contemporary works; Lileana Blain-Cruz’s staging was a visual wonderland.

Die Frau One Schatten (The Metropolitan Opera) — A rare revival of Richard Strauss’s monumental opera received a top-notch revival by the Met this past fall, with a sparkling Elza van den Heever and a superb Michael Volle leading an uncommonly sumptuous cast.

Orfeh ed Euridice (The Metropolitan Opera) — Mark Morris’s eloquent, profound production was brought to vital life, courtesy of a cast led by beloved counter tenor Anthony Roth Costanzo.

Berlin Philharmonic (Carnegie Hall) — Kirill Petrenko led the incomparable Berlin forces in a forceful and overwhelming rendition of Bruckner’s mighty Fifth.

Trinity Church Messiah (Trinity Church) — Trinity Church’s urgent, deeply human rendition of the Handel holiday warhorse continues to be the city’s gold standard; this year, the performance was led by the great Baroque specialist Jane Glover.

Terce: A Practical Breviary (Irondale Center) — Heather Christian’s communal, socially dynamic work — a breathtaking re-imagining of a monastic mass — was an indisputable highlight of Prototype 2024.

Chornobyldorf (La MaMa) — Also seen as part of this year’s Prototype, festival Roman Grygoriv and Illia Razumeiko’s post-apocalyptic opera was a feast for the senses, leaving in its wake a bounty of unforgettable stage pictures and aural textures.

New York Philharmonic (David Geffen Hall) — Susanna Mälkki led the New York Philharmonic in an uncommonly relevant, powerfully purposeful rendition of works by Francesconi (Duende), Richard Strauss (Metamorphosen), and Ravel (La Valse).

Death of Classical (Various locations) — The ingenious little company put intimacy to the fore with remarkably recalibrated performances of Caroline Shaw’s Partita for Eight Voices, Gelsey Bell’s mɔɹnɪŋ [morning//mourning], David Lang’s The Little Match Girl Passion.

HONORABLE MENTION — The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic shined in a pair of Mahler symphonies at Carnegie Hall (Mahler’s Third and Ninth, respectively), and Jeanine Tesori’s under-appreciated operatic adaptation of Grounded provoked me in the best ways possible.

DANCE

2024 was another satisfying year in dance, which was especially exemplified by new works by choreographers both well established and on the rise. In no particular order, here are my top dance picks of 2024.

R.O.S.E. (Park Avenue Armory) — Slinking modern dance met night clubbing in Sharon Eyal’s extravagantly immersive experiment at the Park Avenue Armory.

Day for Night (Little Island) — In her latest, Pam Tanowitz slyly and wittily merged choreography with the contours of Little Island’s environs.

Shift. (The Joyce Theater) — Tap guru Michelle Dorrance and her increasingly multi-disciplinary company collaborated to create this generous and organic meditation on the creative process.

Navy Blue (The Joyce Theater) — The possibilities of dance theater expanded with Oona Doherty’s gorgeously poetic new piece at The Joyce.

We the People (Martha Graham Dance Company) — Jamar Roberts premiere piece for MGDC was a winner — defiant and attention-grabbing in all the right ways.

The Ballet Master / Brel (The Joyce Theater) — Legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp proved she still has it with this pair of character-filled new works.

Solitude (New York City Ballet) — City Ballet’s Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky created one of his most memorable pieces for the company, an aching and mournful ode to the casualties of war-torn Ukraine.

Concerto for Two Pianos (New York City Ballet) — Tiler Peck’s debut work for City Ballet was an occasion for celebration — a musical, compositionally accomplished keeper.

Dear Lord, Make Me Beautiful (Park Avenue Armory) — Kyle Abraham’s soulful evening-length piece, commissioned by the Park Avenue Armory, was a seamless palette cleanser and a hopeful vision of the future.

Max Roach 100 (The Joyce Theater) — Various choreographers contributed their talents to this inspired homage to the influential percussionist’s centennial (with Ayodole Casel’s improvised solo being a striking standout).

HONORABLE MENTION — Other 2024 highlights include The Joyce’s Unite Ballet Festival (smartly curated by Calvin Royal III), the thrilling return of classics such as Molissa Foley’s State of Darkness (Fall for Dance, featuring a stunning Cassandra Trenary), Mark Morris’s The Hard Nut (BAM), Bill T. Jones’s Still/Here (also at BAM), and Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room (American Ballet Theatre).

CABARET AND OTHER MUSIC

This year, a number of music and cabaret performances caught my attention via creative storytelling and the force of personality. In no particular order, here are my top picks for cabaret and other music of 2024.

Taylor Mac and Matt Ray: Bark of Millions (BAM) — Taylor Mac and Matt Ray went for broke in their gargantuan concert — which lavishly celebrated all things queer — at the BAM Harvey Theater.

Christina Bianco: Her Name Is Barbra / My Passion for Streisand (The Green Room 42) — For one-night-only before returning to London, the hilarious Christina Bianco shared her singular talents, via Barbra Streisand, with her starved New York fanbase.

Martha Graham Cracker: The Martha Graham Cracker Cabaret (Joe’s Pub) — After a scary bout with leukemia, the unpinnable Martha Graham Cracker (aka Dito van Reigersberg of Pig Iron Theatre Company) brought exhilarating life force to Joe’s Pub.

Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares (Minetta Lane Theatre) — In her solo show with music, the gorgeous Tony-winner brought her personal life to the fore with candor and intimacy, as well as her winningly self-deprecating humor.

Amy Jo Jackson: Turn Me Inside Out / Amy Jo Jackson sings Annie Lennox (Joe’s Pub) — The talented cabaret performer ripped into the Annie Lennox songbook with both personality and spunk, in the process showcasing both herself and Ms. Lennox in the best possible light.

Todd Almond: I’m Almost There (Minetta Lane Theatre) — Todd Almond’s surreal, sensitive, and stirring musical take on an autobiographical episode regarding an almost missed connection captivated my imagination and soul.

Ben Abraham Christmas Special (Joe’s Pub) — This holiday season at Joe’s Pub, this Australian crooner caught me off guard with his gentleness and sincerity, two qualities that are far too rare these days in show business.

Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Lady of the Lake / The Farewell Tour (Joe’s Pub) — Like the aforementioned Christina Bianco, few can compete with Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer in terms of comic musical theater exuberance, and she didn’t disappoint in her latest outing.

Francesca D’Uva: This Is My Favorite Song (Playwrights Horizons) — Francesca D’Uva‘s was one of the year’s most inventive efforts of autobiographical storytelling, drawing audiences into a complicated psyche of contradictions and pointed observations.

Chris Thiles: The Manhattan Variations (Little Island) — Yet another elaborate feat of compelling storytelling through the art of song; already a darling amongst music fans, Thiles further proved his worth as a theatrically compelling voice.

HONORABLE MENTION — This year also saw the artistry of established cabaret performers — each masters of the form in their own right — such as Karen Akers, Joe Iconis (his storied Christmas show continues to be an epic and immersive extravaganza), and the legendary and prolific Justin Vivian Bond.