The top critics won't agree with me on four of my top five, but no matter. I'm more interesting in what you think. My “Best of Broadway 2008” only includes shows I personally saw this year, and I limited it to musicals, otherwise The 39 Steps would have made it. Still, here it goes – let me know how you rate my top five and which shows are in yours.
1. South Pacific
Image courtesy Price Grabber
Tony-nominee Kelly O'Hara deserved all the praise she received for her turn as Nellie Forbush, the naïve Arkansan feeling her way through foreign terrain of the heart in Lincoln Center's revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic.
Then there was Paulo Szot and Danny Burstein. This show had great performances, great staging by director Bartlett Sher, and, of course, that music. No wonder South Pacific won the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical.
2. A Catered Affair
Image courtesy Price Grabber
This show only ran four months in 2008 and received mixed to negative reviews. Pity. Critics routinely complained that it was too much of a downer, but could they have seen the show I saw?
This chamber musical with music and lyrics by John Bucchino and book by Harvey Fierstein told a small story of little people in the permanent underclass of post-war New York. But the distance Tom Wopat traveled as Tom Hurley, a guy just trying to make it and keep his family together despite hardship and tragedy, was as uplifting as anything I've seen. It was just uplifting in a minor key.
If it tours, see it.
3. Pal Joey
Photo by Joan Marcus
Another Richard Rodgers revival, this time by Roundabout Theatre Company and this time with lyricist Lorenzo Hart. As a good friend of mine says, “If you don't like this, then you don't like chocolate cake.”
This musical gave us songs such as “I Could Write a Book” and “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered.” It also gave us the news that Martha Plimpton has no-kidding Broadway star potential.
Again, critics were divided, but I can safely say if you like American book musicals, you'll love Pal Joey. I do, and I did.
4. A Tale of Two Cities
photo by Carol Rosegg
OK. Now I know I'm going to get it. Reviews were harsh and uniformly negative for this musicalization of the Dickens' novel, but everyone I talked to loved the show. I took the time during two viewings to talk to other patrons in the lobby. I never heard a negative word, and I understand why.
James Barbour was simply outstanding as Sydney Carton, and Brandi Burkhardt was luminous in her Broadway debut. This was a good show in a critical era that has turned on Les Miz-type musicals.
5. Irving Berlin's White Christmas
Now, I'm really going to get it. Critics were harsh and so were friends whose opinion I respect. Still, what's not to like? Irving Berlin's music and lyrics are enough to justify making this list, but director Walter Bobbie gave us some great production numbers (OK, I love tap dancing), and Stephen Bogardus delivered the goods in the lead role.
I'm somewhat vindicated in a contrary opinion by the box office. White Christmas sold almost $1.5 million in tickets each week for the two weeks leading up to Christmas. That beat out Wicked for the top spot! And bear in mind, this is a limited-run, holiday show that wasn't targeted at children.