My 10+ Most Memorable Shows of 2014

Just as I’m sure you’ve been doing, I’ve spent the holidays reading all of the year-end “Best” lists and after the usual “What were they thinking?” “Oh yeah, I forgot about that one” or “I wish I’d seen that” thoughts, the only real conclusion I’ve been able to draw is that there is no one definition of Best.

Hell, I don’t even know how to define it for myself. But as I think back over the shows I saw last year, I realize that although I really prize good acting (Machinal, The City of Conversation) and have an admitted bias towards shows that use inventive stagcraft (Love and Information, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) the ones that have stuck with me the most made me think or feel in a different way than I did before I saw them. Which I think is what great theater is supposed to do.  

So while my choices may not match up with everyone else's Bests (click here for a rundown of what some others thought) here, in alphabetical order, are 11 shows (yeah, I know it's supposed to be 10 but it didn't work out that way) that made me sit up and pay attention when I saw them, followed me home and still linger in my memory. I've also included links to my full reviews of each in case you want to read more:

1. Appropriate: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ masterfully reformulated the race card with his drama about a white family dealing with the legacy of slavery;  my review.

2. The Bridges of Madison County:  Jason Robert Brown and Marsha Norman turned a sappy novel about thwarted romance into a beautiful musical meditation on the rights and responsibilities of love; my review.

3. Casa Valentina: Harvey Fierstein crafted a deeply moving piece about pre-Stonewall-era men who found comfort—and distress—in dressing as women; my review.

4. Father Comes Home From the Wars, Parts 1, 2 & 3: Suzan-Lori Parks’ saga of a slave conscripted into the Confederate Army was a wholly original rumination on the meaning of freedom; my review.

5. Grand Concourse: Heidi Schreck’s drama about a soup kitchen was an affective exegesis of faith, hope, charity and the forgiveness of sins; my review.

6. I Remember Mama: This Transport Group revival cast all its parts with AARP-aged actresses, giving new life—and new insights—to John Van Druten’s 1944 play about a Norwegian-American family at the turn of the last century;  my review.

7. Indian Ink: Tom Stoppard’s homage to his boyhood in India and to the mysteries of the creative imagination was both intellectually stimulating and emotionally satisfying; my review.

8. The Invisible Hand: Ayad Akhtar's  thriller about a kidnapped American banker and his Muslim fundamentalist captors continued Akhtar's singular exploration of the tense fault lines between the Islamic and western worlds; my review.

9. Love Letters: Mia Farrow was heartbreaking as a woman who yearns to be accepted for who she is rather than how much money she has in Terrence McNally’s epistolary play about the 50-year romance between two mid-century blue bloods; my review. 

10. Our Lady Of Kibeho: Katori Hall transformed the real-life story of three Rwandan school girls who claim to have seen visions of the Virgin Mary into a haunting tale about the power of faith; my review.

11. Sex with Strangers: Laura Eason gave the sex farce a serious makeover with her sexy two-hander that explored love, work and the power of the Internet; my review.

Finally, Between Riverside and Crazy didn’t quite make even this extended list but I am glad that someone heeded the request at the end of my review (click here to read it) and is giving it an encore production that begins at Second Stage on Jan. 16, which would be a good way to start off a new year of great theatergoing.

"Casa Valentina" Houses a Superb Production

The last time I tried to rally support for an underappreciated show, I failed miserably. Despite my appeal for The Bridges of Madison County (click here to read what I wrote) the show failed to grab a spot on the list of Best Musicals when the Tony nominations were announced last week. Two days later, its producers announced that it will close May 18.

Undaunted, I’m going to wave the flag for another show: Casa Valentina, the new play by Harvey Fierstein that is playing at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. For it is one of the most thought-provoking and beautifully rendered productions of this past season.

 

Casa Valentina tells the stories of a group of men who like to dress as women. Now Broadway has had more than its share of shows with men in drag and Fierstein has been involved with a good number of them (breaking through with Torch Song Trilogy back in 1982, appearing as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, writing the books for La Cage Aux Folles and Kinky Boots). But his Casa Valentina is different from those others.

Fierstein was inspired by the real-life story of a community of men in the uptight "Mad Men" era who identified as straight and yet found comfort in getting together at a Catskills retreat where they could dress openly in pointy bras, high heels and shirtwaist dresses (click here to read more about the place). 

 

There are laughs (Fierstein is a congenital quipster) but this is a very serious show. Fierstein sets up a number of challenges to the men’s haven: the resort's owners George and Rita, a cross-dressing husband (his female alter ego is the titular Valentina) and his accepting wife, are almost bankrupt; a postal inspector has called George in for questioning about a package filled with illicit photos; and a crusading activist is urging the couple’s guests to come out of the closet.

Before the evening is over, George and Rita’s marriage will be threatened, the guests will be pushed to draw a line between being girly and being gay and the outer, less understanding, world will force its way in. 

 

That's a lot of stuff and, unfortunately, Fierstein isn’t able to juggle all of it as well as one would wish he could and he occasionally resorts to speechifying. A couple more drafts through the word processor might have made for a stronger play. But it’s hard to imagine a better production. 

I don’t know how it is possible that none of the awards groups have recognized Joe Mantello for his brilliant direction. From the sensitively choreographed opening sequence in which the men silently put on their makeup and don their wigs and dresses to his steadfast refusal throughout to play anything for just a campy laugh, his work is deft and incisive.

 

He’s also cast the show impeccably. Reed Birney has deservedly picked up a Tony nomination for playing against the mild-mannered roles in which he usually specializes to portray the ruthless activist who believes that rooting out gays will make it easier for the wider society to accept heterosexual cross dressers. 

But I don’t know how the committee overlooked Patrick Page’s portrayal of a man quietly torn between being George and being Valentina (click here to read how the actor shaped his performance). Or Tom McGowan’s wry turn as a rotund, wisecracking military hero with a fondness for housedresses. Or Larry Pine’s poignant rendering of a gun-totting judge with secrets. Or Gabriel Ebert’s as the group’s high-strung newbie (click here to see how they all assumed their dual personae). 

 

And I don’t know how I almost left out Mare Winningham who beautifully portrays a plain woman grateful to be loved by a handsome man and frightened of losing him to a world that she struggles to understand. Thankfully, both the Tony and Outer Critics Circle nominating committees have recognized her work.

Another Tony nomination has gone, also most deservedly, to costume designer Rita Ryack, whose outfits show off each man as the kind of woman he yearns to be without making fun of any of them. 

 

Still, like The Bridges of Madison County, Casa Valentina has been doing only so-so at the box office. Unlike Bridges, it has been nominated for a top-prize Tony and that has goosed ticket sales a bit. 
  
And yet when my theater-savvy college roommate wrote to say she was coming in from California to see some plays, Casa Valentina wasn’t on her list. I wrote back and told her she should see it. I’ve written this post to say you should too.