Friday again, but this week I didn’t review any new plays in my Wall Street Journal drama column. Instead I took a look back at American theater in 2005:
What’s wrong with Broadway? Nothing–and everything. Yes, I saw several Broadway shows I liked in the year just past, and a few that I loved. But only one of them, Joe Mantello’s revival of “Glengarry Glen Ross,” originated there. With that lone exception, all of the plays, productions and performances that impressed me most in 2005 came from Off Broadway, England or out of town.
Such is the new reality of American theater. Given the fearsome costs of mounting a Broadway production, nobody in his right mind is likely to gamble on a property that doesn’t already have a solid track record. So in looking back on the year’s highlights, I’ve decided to give Broadway a miss. Readers of this column already know how well I thought of “Doubt,” “The Light in the Piazza,” “Sweeney Todd” and “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” What were the other must-see shows and performances, in New York and elsewhere?
No link, so for the answer, go out and buy a copy of today’s Journal, or go here to subscribe to the Online Journal, which will provide you with instant access to the complete text of my drama column (along with lots of other art-related stories). Start the year right!
UPDATE: The Journal has just posted a free link to this column. To read it, go here.