The Best of 2019: The Best Plays I Saw

Representing 14 of Chicago’s fine theater companies, plus touring or special engagement shows, as well as a piece of Kabuki Theater in Tokyo, I saw 33 plays in 2019.

This does not include musicals, revues or operas, although a good number of plays did feature live music, just not in a storytelling way that connotes musical theater.

Some works were world premieres and others rather recent, a few can be considered classics and one was by Shakespeare.

A few plays featured just a single performer, while others had rather large casts.

Many were dramas, though I also saw a good number of comedies. 

More than two-thirds of the plays I saw merit recognition on this Best of 2019 post and EVERYTHING I saw was valuable and worthwhile, even the handful of works I gave @@@ (out of 5) or less on my Seth Saith rating scale.

So as much as a ranking of “The Best” per my tastes and whims, please see this list as a celebration of live theater--I also love musicals and posted this list yesterday—and particularly the remarkable work being done virtually every day on a stage near you, especially if, like me, you reside in the Chicago area.

The Best Plays I Saw in 2019
All were in the Chicago area. New/recent works are denoted with an *.

1. Every Brilliant Thing - Windy City Playhouse
written by Duncan Macmillan; directed by Jessica Fisch
(my review)

2. Wiesenthal - Touring production at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts

written and performed by Tom Dugan

(my review)

3. Cambodian Rock Band* - Victory Gardens Theatre

written by Lauren Yee; directed by Marti Lyons

(my review)

4. Equus - Aston Rep Theatre 
written by Peter Shaffer; directed by Derek Bertelsen

(my review)

5. How I Learned to Drive - Raven Theatre

written by Paula Vogel; directed by Cody Estle
(my review)

6. Black Ballerina* - Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre and Piven Theatre
written by Stephen Fedo & Tim Rhoze; directed by Tim Rhoze

(my review)

7. The Undeniable Sound of Right Now* - Raven Theatre 

written by Laura Eason; directed by BJ Jones
(my review)

8. John Leguizamo - Latin History for Morons* - Touring production
written and performed by John Leguizamo
(my review)

9. Oslo* - TimeLine Theatre
written by J.T. Rogers; directed by Nick Bowling
(my review)

10. A Map of Myself* - Touring production at Stage 773
written and performed by Sara Abou Rashed; directed by Larry Smith
(my review)

11. Sweat* - Goodman Theatre 
written by Lynn Nottage; directed by Ron OJ Parson
(my review)

Honorable Mention
(in alphabetical order)

The Crowd You're In With - Aston Rep Theatre
written by Rebecca Gilman; directed by Derek Bertelsen
(my review)

Four Chords and a Gun* - Touring production

written by John Ross Bowie; directed by Richard Ouzounian
(my review)
 
Into the Breeches* - Northlight Theatre
written by George Brant; directed by Jessica Thebus
(my review)

Landladies* - Northlight Theatre

written by Sharyn Rothstein; directed by Jess McLeod
(my review)

Lottery Day* - Goodman Theatre
written by Ike Holter; directed by Lili-Anne Brown
(my review)

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - Writers Theatre
written by August Wilson; directed by Ron OJ Parson
(my review)

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein* - Lookingglass Theatre
written and directed by David Catlin
(my review)

Mother of the Maid* - Northlight Theatre
written by Jane Anderson; directed by BJ Jones
(my review)

The Niceties* - Writers Theatre
written by Eleanor Burgess; directed by Marti Lyons
(my review)

Tiny Beautiful Things* - Victory Gardens Theatre
adapted by Nia Vardalos; directed by Vanessa Stalling
(my review)

True West - Steppenwolf Theatre
written by Sam Shepard; directed by Randall Arney
(my review)

The Winter's Tale - Goodman Theatre
written by William Shakespeare; directed by Robert Falls
(my review)

-- If re-posting list or highlighting selections, please attribute to: Seth Arkin on SethSaith.com

The Best of 2019: The Best Musicals I Saw Onstage

Unlike my recent Best of the Decade list of favorite musicals, this one is not exclusive to newly-created shows.

Although I did see a few brand new works that had some nice moments, I didn't get to New York this year and have not seen Hadestown, the latest Tony winner.

And, as opposed to several years, Broadway in Chicago's slate of musicals didn't include any pre-Broadway tryouts.

So it's been a rather lean year for me in terms of "new" musicals, but as a yearly category I've always used this one to celebrate the best musicals of any vintage or level I saw over the previous 12 months.

Any show making my list was quite good and especially in terms of older musicals, I'm really gauging the productions as much as the source material, though the two obviously blend together in terms of my enjoyment.

I believe my Top 6 musicals below were shows I awarded @@@@@ (out of 5) when I posted a review to Seth Saith.

So not a lot separates them, and in terms of rankings, I do give a bit of weight to recent shows, just to celebrate the freshness of something newly terrific.

Nearby is a graphic showing all 25 musicals I saw onstage in 2019, and quite honestly, I enjoyed them all.

Some were better than others, but there was really nothing I didn't like.

Not included for consideration here are several shows I more consider--and were generally marketed as--"plays with music," rather than outright musicals. It's not an easy delineation, especially as some of these were about Nina Simone, The Ramones, Ma Rainey and Cambodian rock music.

But I will soon be doing a post of My Favorite Plays of 2019, and will provide citation there for shows meriting it.

Also not eligible here, but perhaps of note to some, are concerts by Hugh Jackman and Barbra Streisand, which included considerable Broadway music. 

But for whatever it's worth, and however unscientifically determined, here are my picks of:


The Best Musicals I Saw On Stage in 2019:
(Note: All theaters in Chicago proper unless noted; in some cases the theatrical company is cited rather than venue. New shows are denoted with an *)

1. Dear Evan Hansen - Nederlander Theatre / Broadway in Chicago (my review)

2. Come From Away - Cadillac Palace / Broadway in Chicago (my review) 
 

3. Les Miserables - Cadillac Palace / Broadway in Chicago (my review)

4. The Producers - Paramount Theatre, Aurora (my review)

5. West Side Story - Lyric Opera of Chicago (my review)

6. Into the Woods - Writers Theatre, Glencoe (my review)

7. Bright Star - BoHo Theatre (my review) 

8. A Chorus Line - Porchlight Music Theatre (my review)

9. The Music Man - Goodman Theatre (my review)

10. Next to Normal - Writers Theatre, Glencoe (my review)

11. The Band's Visit - Cadillac Palace / Broadway in Chicago (my review)

Honorable Mention
In preference order

- Oliver - Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire (my review) 
- The Simon & Garfunkel Story - Broadway Playhouse / Broadway in Chicago (my review)
- The Light in the Piazza - Lyric Opera of Chicago (my review)
- Matilda - Drury Lane Theatre, Oakbrook Terrace (my review)

- A Bronx Tale - Nederlander Theatre / Broadway in Chicago (my review)
- Head Over Heels - Kokandy Productions / Theater Wit (my review)
- You Can't Fake the Funk - Black Ensemble Theater (my review)
- Falsettos- Nederlander Theatre / Broadway in Chicago (my review)

-- If re-posting lists or highlighting selections, please attribute to: Seth Arkin on SethSaith.com

The Best of 2019: The Best Rock Concerts I Attended

Foreseeably, I will continue going to rock concerts--in one form or another--for as long as I can figure out how to get to them, and comfortably enjoy them.

Although as you can see in my list below, I have continued to see huge, historic acts in football stadiums and hockey arenas, and not just in the Chicago area, my caveat of "in one form or another" is not meant lightly.

The majority of my favorite rock artists--the ones that haven't yet passed--are at least 70 years old, and some are soon retiring from the road.

So even if my health continues to allow me to attend big shows, I may be resigned to seeing tribute bands in bars and parks (this year I saw tributes to ABBA and the Beatles, as well as a student ensemble covering several artists). And especially if one includes cover bands as theatrical performances (such as Simon & Garfunkel and The Ramones this year), this might become an even bigger part of my live rock and roll fix.

But for now, I've been lucky to see enough non-tribute rock shows--26 in 2019--to put together a fairly solid lists of the best ones.

Somewhat beyond the rock realm, I also really enjoyed concerts by Hugh Jackman (my review) and Barbra Streisand (my review). And even what I'm considering as "rock" ranged from a solo acoustic Bruce Cockburn to Cher with numerous costume changes to George Clinton with some assemblage of P-Funk on a crowded stage.

But as best I can recall, these were:

My Favorite Rock Concerts of 2019
Artists seen multiple times ranked just once; venues in Chicago area unless noted.

1. Paul McCartney - June 8, Lambeau Field, Green Bay (my review) 

2. The Who (w/ The Arkells, Reignwolf) - May 9, Key Center, Buffalo; May 21, Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Tinley Park (my review)

3. The Killers (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) - July 5, American Family Insurance Amphitheatre, Summerfest, Milwaukee (my review) 

4. Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band (w/ Anthony Rosano & the Conqueroos) - October 19, United Center (my review)  

5. The Rolling Stones (w/ Whiskey Myers) - June 25, Soldier Field (my review)

6. Bob Mould (w/ Beach Bunny) - February 23, Metro (my review)

7. Elvis Costello & the Imposters - November 22, Chicago Theatre (my review)

8. Kiss - March 2, United Center (my review)

9. Diana Ross (w/ Rhonda Ross) - July 10, Chicago Theatre (my review)

10. Liz Phair  (w/ Juliana Hatfield) - June 22, Out of SPACE at Temperance Beer Co., Evanston (my review) 

11. Willie Nile (w/ Brad Ray) - October 19, SPACE, Evanston (my review)

Honorable Mention
(in preference order)

- Wilco (w/ Robyn Hitchcock) - December 15 - Chicago Theatre (my review)

- Bruce Cockburn - May 8, Asbury Hall at Babeville, Buffalo, NY (my review)

- The Waterboys - September 29 (early show), Old Town School of Folk Music (my review)
- Peter Frampton (w/ Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience) - July 28, Huntington Bank Pavilion (my review)

- Lucinda Williams - June 14, Old Town School of Folk Music (my review)

- REO Speedwagon (w/ Charlie Farren) - August 3, Rosemont Theatre (my review)

- Mumford & Sons (w/ Cat Power) - March 29, United Center (my review)

---

If re-posting lists or highlighting selections, please attribute to: Seth Arkin on SethSaith.com

The Best of 2019: My Favorite Songs of the Year

After Best of the Decade posts covering 14 categories, I'm moving onto The Best of 2019. (Although I hope to do one more Decade post.)

I will start with the most unique Best of the Year category, as it is not ranked and is interactive.

The Spotify playlist below allows you to not only see 25 of the songs I most enjoyed this year, but actually hear them. You'll need a basic Spotify account, but it's free.

As noted, these are not presented in preference order, simply as what I found to be an enjoyable listening experience.

Though I did try to stretch a bit beyond my penchant for hard rock, I certainly don't pretend my tastes represent everything that was good or inspired this year.

But from what I heard, this is what I liked.

You can play the songs through the interface below, but can also find/bookmark the playlist online through the URL:

SethSongs2019.best

And should you happen to care, past yearly playlists of favorite songs can be found by clicking each year: 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014

Enjoy.

My Favorite Songs of 2019 

People Get Ready: It's the Best Of List Time of the Year. And Decade.

Well, here we go again.

If you look at the Blog Archive on the right hand side of this blog, in a non-mobile format, you'll see that the origins of SethSaith.com date back to 2004.

And, although somewhat sporadically and without images, I did post a good number of articles over the next few years.

But I generally regard December 2009 as when I really began maintaining this blog in earnest.

Then, I posted about 30 lists covering The Best--or My Favorite--This or That (Plays, Musicals, Albums, Restaurants, etc., etc.) of the 2000-2009 decade.

And now another decade has past.

So over the next month, I'll be sharing my picks in several categories--probably not as many as in 2009--and perhaps looping in some pals to help with certain idioms.

But, as beginning in 2010, I've posted "Best of the Year" lists in about 10 key categories each year, I'm also going to do likewise for 2019.

So you, and certainly I, might get a bit list weary--and I will keep posting reviews as I see shows--but beware that these selection posts will be populating this blog for most of the month.

Feel free to add your own lists, or just some picks, in the blog comments--and/or on Facebook or Twitter if seeing the posts when I share them there.

And if anyone asks you to cite your "Favorite Blog of the Decade," perhaps consider mention this one.

Thanks for reading over the years.

If stats are to be believed, I've had nearly 1.4 million pageviews across the decade.

Which, of course, many websites garner on a daily basis. Yet it still sounds flattering to me.

All the Best,
Seth