2011 Favorites

Theatre:
Jerusalem (Broadway)
Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Broadway)
Frankenstein (National Theatre)
The Pain and the Itch (Third Rail, Portland)
The Adding Machine (Theatre Vertigo, Portland)
Ghostlight (Oregon Shakespeare Festival)
The African Company Presents Richard III (OSF)The Normal Heart—not a great script now or then, but an important play and an important Broadway production in 2011, produced for all the right reasons and with its heart in the right place. Also, it allowed me to see and hear from Larry Kramer in the flesh.

Theatre—Runners up:
The Book of Mormon (never saw it, but stood outside the theatre for so many hours I feel I absorbed it--also listened to the cast recording 8700 times)
Billy Elliott and Umbrellas of Cherbourg, mostly to do with the occasion
Likewise, Ablaze (Wilson High School) for sharing it with Julian
Man and Boy, Sons of the Prophet, The Motherfucker With the Hat—not great scripts, but with thrilling performances
One Man, Two Guvnors; Importance of Being Earnest; others—NT/Broadway broadcasts
Pirates of Penzance (perfectly delivered by OSF)

Movies viewed or re-viewed:
Moneyball
Hugo
Toy Story 3
Blade Runner
Holes
School of Rock
Despicable Me
It’s a Wonderful Life (with the boys!)

Books and plays read or re-read:
The Poisonwood Bible
Bossypants
Random Harvest
1984
One Day
Clybourne Park
Arcadia
A Wife’s Tale
Moneyball
Finishing the Hat
The Blind SideThe Changeling
Plenty of Sarah Kane, Paula Vogel, Caryl Churchill, Neil LaBute, and Will Eno
A ton of other plays for work
And lots of Ruth Rendell, Rex Stout and Jane Austen. My perennials.