The cast of “A Strange Loop.” (Photo: Matthew Murphy)
By Matthew Wexler
2019 marks my seventh year as editor of The Broadway Blog. Along with my team of theater-loving writers, I’ve had the privilege of seeing hundreds of shows on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and interviewing the actors and creative teams that bring these productions to life. Here’s a look back at some of my favorite shows, moments and conversations from the past year.
Rebecca Naomi Jones and Damon Daunno in ‘Oklahoma!’ (Photo: Little Fang Photo)
All er’ Nuthin: An Uncompromising Oklahoma! Galloped Onto Broadway
Like a high school reunion where you reacquaint yourself with old flings, and someone actually looks better than they did before, the nipped and tucked Oklahoma! reboot deserves a page among The Best Plastic (Theater) Surgeons in America. Gone were the dainty petticoats in Daniel Fish’s atmospheric revival. The onstage orchestra, featuring mandolin, pedal steel, banjo and acoustic guitar, reimagined Richard Rodgers’ score with a multi-faceted homage to the Grand Ole Opry tinged with rockabilly recklessness. And at play’s end, a reimagining of the musical’s final moments had Nokies (R&H traditionalists) shaking in their cowboy boots. Read More
Jessie Mueller (Photo: Jacqueline Harris)
In Conversation with Jessie Mueller
The Tony-Award winning actress played concert venues throughout the year and co-starred as Marian in a revival of The Music Man at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre. “There’s a lot of divisiveness, people are so wounded. People are on the attack, it seems like, a lot of the time,” said Mueller of her light-hearted gigs with Seth Rudetsky. “So the thing I like and value about doing this kind of work is that it brings people together for something positive. Let’s make something. Let’s just get together and make music.” The actress returns to Broadway in The Minutes by Tracy Letts on Broadway this spring. Read More
The cast of ‘Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie.’ (Photo: Ben Arons)
Everybody Focus Please: Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie
The Mad Ones, New York City’s hyper-realistic, devised-work theater ensemble, returned with their latest creation, Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie, which invited audiences inside a focus group for a 1970s children’s television show. But the real drama unfolded ever so subtly among a diverse collection of parents and its facilitator. The Mad Ones’ process — a minutely detailed creative approach to character development — delivers fascinating results. One can only wonder what kind of menagerie they’ll create next. Read More
(l to r) Elizabeth Stanley and Heather Lang in ‘Jagged Little Pill.’ (Photo: Matthew Murphy)
You Ask, You Learn, You Live: Jagged Little Pill
Featuring an original book by Diablo Cody (Academy Award winner for her Juno screenplay) and score by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard (based on Morissette’s chart-topping 1995 album of the same name), Jagged Little Pill crushes the concept of a jukebox musical, instead, using the album’s alt-rock melodies and emotionally charged lyrics to tackle a catch-all of subjects from addiction and rape to race and sexual identification. With new arrangements and orchestrations by Tom Kitt, Morissette’s album that defined a generation has become a musical for a new one. Read More
“Hadestown” on Broadway. (Photo: Matthew Murphy)
Go to Hell: An Electrifying Hadestown Descends on Broadway
Ten years in the making, Anaïs Mitchell’s (music, lyrics and book) re-telling of the Greek myths offers a moody, thematically atmospheric take on love, jealousy, and self-worth. The musical won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Performance by Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for André De Shields. Mitchell’s score, punctuated with Depression-era trombone riffs and gorgeously arranged and orchestrated by Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose, relentlessly pulsates. Transcending its Greek origins, Hadestown accessibly references timeless societal issues. Read More
Austin McCormick (Photo: Phillip Van Nostrand)
Baroque’s Bad Boy: Company XIV’s Austin McCormick
McCormick’s Company XIV returned with another neo-baroque reimagining under the direction of Austin McCormick. This time he and his team of wildly creative designers and a cast of versatile dancers, singers and cirque performers went down the rabbit hole in Queen of Hearts. “I’m very much inspired by the performers in the company and what their unique talents are, so it’s certainly a jumping-off point in terms of how to utilize these amazing performers of XIV,” said McCormick. “Even though the company’s such a mixture of genres — circus, burlesque, all these things — at its core, everybody really has a strong dance background. I think that’s really central to the aesthetic of the company, that it has a very high level, classically trained dance element.” Read More
The cast of ‘A Strange Loop.’ (Photo: Joan Marcus)
These Are My Memories: A Strange Loop
Directed by Stephen Brackett and choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly, A Strange Loop tackled many of the insecurities that we’ve all faced at one point or another. This doesn’t diminish its specificity of the black queer experience as so intimately written by Michael R. Jackson. Instead, it reinforced the idea that individuality and commonality aren’t mutually exclusive. A Strange Loop was a rare commodity, even for more experimental Off-Broadway theaters. One couldn’t walk away from Jackson’s fearless work without one’s own loop spiraling in a new direction. He reminds us to stay the course and experience the ugly. Strange can be glorious. Read More
Justin Cunningham in ‘Broadbend, Arkansas.’ (Photo: Carol Rosegg)
Contemplating the Cycle of Violence: Broadbend, Arkansas
Off-Broadway’s Transport Group proved big things can come in small packages. Featuring a score by Ellen Fitzhugh and Harrison David Rivers (libretto) and Ten Shen (music and additional lyrics), Broadbend, Arkansas offered a snapshot of two generations affected by the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Filled with both optimism and a brooding lack of reparation for our collective inability to address the disparities facing marginalized communities, its intimacy was its greatest strength. It’s also a reminder that theater’s power need not rely on extravagant flourishes but can be found within two exceptional performances. Read More
Becca Blackwell
In Conversation with Becca Blackwell
Becca Blackwell has been trudging the actor’s life for two decades, but in spite of New York theater’s insistence that diversity reigns supreme, the trans actor and writer has often had to make their own work. Until now. Blackwell had a banner year, first appearing in Hurricane Diane at New York Theater Workshop, followed by Vineyard Theatre’s Is This A Room?. “I don’t have an agent or manager, never have,” said Blackwell. “I made my business because of just doing it, because honestly, up until a few years ago there weren’t any roles for people like me, so I’ve always made my own work — I think by sheer personality and talent and sticking in the business long enough. This business takes a lot of chutzpah, even for a gorgeous white straight cis person, it isn’t easy.” Read More
Matthew Wexler is The Broadway Blog’s editor. His culture writing has appeared in Dramatics Magazine and on TDF Stages and ShowTickets.com. Matthew is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and a past fellowship recipient from The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Critics Institute. Read more of his work at wexlerwrites.com.
