The last Broadway show I saw was on March 7. My review for that was written and set for publication on its official opening night. Unfortunately for everyone involved, opening night was slated for March 12, the start of the Great Shutdown, which, we are told, has been extended at least until Labor Day.
And so my review is on hold, along with everything else. I will say no more about that particular show until it does make its formal entrance.
Eventually, along with everything else, theater will return. Many shows that were running will reopen, and new ones will come along.
While there will be no Tony Awards this go ‘round, organizations like the Off Broadway Alliance, the Off-Broadway League, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle, the Drama Desk, and the Outer Critics Circle have found ways to recognize outstanding writers, performers, directors and designers who put everything they had into entertaining and enlightening us during this truncated season.
As a proud member of the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), I am delighted with the process the group used to approach its awards this year, a process that involved the membership and the OCC Board in identifying not one winner, but a group of several honorees in each category.
The honorees were formally announced in a video featuring several big-name stars making the announcements from their individual homes, which gives everything a nice personal touch. So meet Kristin Chenoweth, Bryan Cranston, Patti LuPone, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Patrick Stewart as they make the announcements here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jifQPNv1vJY
___________________
___________________
Listed below are a few of the honorees – for outstanding new Broadways play and musicals, for outstanding new Off Broadway plays and musicals, and for outstanding play and musical revivals. I have included links to my reviews, as indicated.
OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY PLAY
Grand Horizons My review at - https://bit.ly/2X4r2tH
Height of the Storm My review at - https://bit.ly/2mV42Ph
The Inheritance
Linda Vista My review at - https://bit.ly/2oAI3yr
The Sound Inside My review at - https://bit.ly/31r1reB
OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY MUSICAL
Jagged Little Pill My review at - https://bit.ly/2YlyyR7
Moulin Rouge! My review at - https://bit.ly/3dZw6Xb
Tina My review at - https://bit.ly/36ToByi
OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY PLAY
Cambodian Rock Band
Greater Clements My review at - https://bit.ly/36iOkPu
Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Make Believe
Seared
OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL
Darling Grenadine
Octet
The Secret Life of Bees
Soft Power My review at- https://bit.ly/2VJj6Nm
A Strange Loop
OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A PLAY
Betrayal My review at - https://bit.ly/2lGTpPp
Fires in the Mirror
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf
Frankie and Johnny My review at - https://bit.ly/2EJPOaf
A Soldier’s Play My review at - https://bit.ly/37hCJRG
OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
Little Shop of Horrors
The Unsinkable Molly Brown
West Side Story My review at - https://bit.ly/2SZSpmJ
I am unsure of a great many things, but I am quite certain Broadway and Off Broadway plays and musicals will rise again! Until then, let's be grateful for what we've got: our memories and our record and CD and DVD collections and streaming opportunities that will keep us going.
___________________
Feel free to share this blog with your friends, and to offer up your own theater stories by posting a comment.
