These have been across a full spectrum of levels and venues, including high school, college, community theater, local non-Equity, local full Equity (actors union) and national tour productions in the Chicago area, plus shows on Broadway and in London's West End.
I found the vast majority of these shows to be quite enjoyable, with some at the supposed "lower levels" more so than ones at the most prestigious levels.
For instance, the high school version of Les Miserables I saw at New Trier and a community theater rendition of Rent at Skokie's Devonshire Playhouse were more tangibly enjoyable than some musicals I recently saw in London.
Of course, that's largely because the source material is superior--Les Miz and Rent are among my top 10 all-time favorite musicals--but in both cases cited above, the productions and performances were surprisingly robust.
Also, while I enjoyed the reworked touring version of Les Miserables I saw at the Cadillac Palace in February, it wasn't as good as on past tours, and thus won't make my top 10 for 2011 below.
So although source material and production quality obviously blend together in providing an enjoyable evening of entertainment--or not--in ranking the best musicals I saw in 2011, I am more heavily considering the productions, rather than just the works themselves.
Sometimes the distillation isn't so clear, but I guess basically I'm ranking how much I enjoyed each performance, with whatever factors go into that.
Thus, rather than being a list of:
The Best Musicals I Saw in 2011
this should more be considered
The Musical Theater Productions I Enjoyed Most in 2011
1. West Side Story - Cadillac Palace, Chicago (Broadway in Chicago) (my review)
2. The Book of Mormon - Eugene O'Neill Theatre, New York (my review in longer post)
3. Follies - Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (my review)
4. The Sound of Music - Drury Lane Oakbrook (my review)
5. Brigadoon - Light Opera Works, Evanston (my review)
6. Anything Goes - Steven Sondheim Theatre, New York (my review in longer post)
7. Sweeney Todd - Drury Lane Oakbrook (my review)
8. Next To Normal - Bank of America Theatre (Broadway in Chicago) (my review)
9. A Christmas Story: The Musical - Chicago Theatre (my review)
10. Working - Broadway Playhouse, Chicago (Broadway in Chicago) (my review)
Honorable Mention (in order of preference)
Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark - Foxwoods Theatre, New York (my review in longer post)
Mary Poppins - Cadillac Palace, Chicago (Broadway in Chicago) (my review)
The Sound of Music - Chamber Opera Chicago (my review)
Les Miserables - Cadillac Palace, Chicago (Broadway in Chicago) (my review)
Snapshots - Northlight Theatre, Skokie (my review)
Follies - Marquis Theatre, New York (my review in longer post)
Merrily We Roll Along - The Music Theatre Company, Highland Park (my review)
Rent - Devonshire Playhouse, Skokie (my review)
La Cage Aux Folles - Bank of America Theatre (Broadway in Chicago) (my review)
42nd Street - Marriott Theatre Lincolnshire (my review)
Spring Awakening - Oriental Theatre, Chicago (my review)
The Doyle & Debbie Show - Royal George Theatre, Chicago
Priscilla Queen of the Desert - Palace Theatre, London
Memphis - Cadillac Palace, Chicago (Broadway in Chicago) (my review)
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