Countdown to 2022: 2021 Theater
Last year I saw 87 shows. This year I saw 36. 4 of those were in person outdoors (one an outdoor screening of an opera). Last year I watched 65 streaming shows. I'm not sure why that slowed down this year. Maybe there were fewer of them. Maybe I got tired of watching so many. Maybe I had less time. Indoor theater did come back in the fall, but I didn't go to it. There was a lot I wanted to see, though.
I performed/read in 4 shows: 7th Annual McGuire & Simon Holiday Salon and the Thornton Wilder Society readings. 0 shows were connected to an article I wrote ! fewer than last year). I watched 7 operas (last year it was 10). I'm grateful for the in-person pieces that also streamed and the pieces done just for streaming.
I have highlighted my favorites, and after the favorites is the HUGE list of everything I saw. Then, I have listed some fun panels, exhibits, and events I also attended this year.
Top 10 Favorites (in no order, I swear):
The Night Watcher (Primary Stages)
My Joy is Heavy (Arena Stage)
The Matchmaker Reading (ACT)
Our Town Reading (NAATCO)
The Alcestiad (Magis Theatre Company--outdoors in person!)
The Magnificent Seven Concert (Don't Tell Mama/Instagram)
Ryan J. Haddad: Dark Disabled Stories (Lincoln Center Restart Stages--outdoors in person!)
Fire Shut Up in my Bones (Metropolitan Opera/Marcus Garvey Park--outdoors in person screening!)
The Bengsons Larson Legacy Concert (Adelphi)
John Cullum: An Accidental Star (Vineyard Theatre)
Runners Up (Also in no order):
Place (Greenspace NYC)
The Bengsons: The Broken Ear Setlist: Songs from Ohio (St. Ann's Warehouse)
Neat (MTC)
Kristina Wong: Sweatshop Overlord (NYTW)
The Long Christmas Dinner (Thornton Wilder Society)
The GMTW Pandemic Project: Twenty Twenty Part One (GMTWP)
A More Perfect Union (Arena Stage)
Get Happy (East Lynne Theater)
Sanctuary City (NYTW)
NYU/Tisch Advanced Opera Lab: Undiscovered Countries (NYU)
The Big List:
New York Theatre Barn New Works Series 1/13 (NYTB)
Peter Pan: A Musical Adventure (Chicago Shakespeare Theater)
Journey Around My Bedroom (New Ohio Theater)
Place (Greenspace NYC)
APAC Winter Wednesday Series 2/10 (APAC)
Get Happy (East Lynne Theater)
The Night Watcher (Primary Stages)
First Love (Theatre for a New Audience)
My Joy is Heavy (Arena Stage)
A More Perfect Union (Arena Stage)
The Bengsons: The Broken Ear Setlist: Songs from Ohio (St. Ann's Warehouse)
The Ages of Man: Infancy and Childhood (The Thornton Wilder Society)
John Cullum: An Accidental Star (Vineyard Theatre)
Neat (MTC)
The Matchmaker Reading (ACT)
Our Town Reading (NAATCO)
The Alcestiad (Magis Theatre Company--outdoors in person!)
Les Troyens (San Francisco Opera)
The Magnificent Seven Concert (Don't Tell Mama/Instagram)
Ryan J. Haddad: Dark Disabled Stories (Lincoln Center Restart Stages--outdoors in person!)
Frida (Portland Opera)
The Ages of Man: Youth and Rivers Under the Earth (The Thornton Wilder Society)
Ghost Quartet (YouTube)
Twilight: Gods (Lyric Opera of Chicago)
Fire Shut Up in my Bones (Metropolitan Opera/Marcus Garvey Park--outdoors in person screening!)
What's Next: A Celebration of New Musical Theater (The First Presbyterian Church in The City of New York--outdoors in person!)
How to Raise a Freeman (McCarter and Bard at the Gate)
Sanctuary City (NYTW)
NYU/Tisch Advanced Opera Lab: Undiscovered Countries (NYU)
The Bengsons Larson Legacy Concert (Adelphi)
Kristina Wong: Sweatshop Overlord (NYTW)
7th Annual McGuire & Simon Holiday Salon (YouTube/Facebook)
The Long Christmas Dinner (Thornton Wilder Society)
The GMTW Pandemic Project: Twenty Twenty Part One (GMTWP)
The Knock (Glimmerglass Opera)
The Hour of All Things (Son of Semele)
Miscellaneous Panels, Exhibits, and Events:
Unpacking the Book: Rachel Bloom and Tovah Feldshuh - A Conversation Between a (Television) Daughter and Mother (Jewish Book Council)
Maestra Benefit: Amplify
Little Island Opening
Barnard Reunion
Opera America Conference
Interview with Laurie Anderson (WITCiH Festival)
James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim talk (Town Hall)
Counting Crime: A Lecture on the Politics of Crime Data and Its Uses (Haymarket Books)
THE WALK! 21!
ASMAC: Jerry Goldsmith's "Poltergeist"
Laurie Anderson Norton Lectures