thankfulJANUARY
16: Billy Elliot at The Imperial Theatre (Such a cute and amazing show! LOVED it!!!!)
17: South Pacific at Vivian Beaumount Theatre (Beautiful and YAY for seeing Eric Anderson go on as Stewpot!) :)
17: The Marvelous Wonderettes at Westside Theatre Upstairs (my 12th overall viewing - and my 4th in NYC!)
18: Shrek at The Broadway Theatre (Cute. :) Chris Sieber was hysterical, John Tartaglia was adorable, Brian d'Arcy James was amazing!!) :)
18: Dust at Westside Theatre Downstairs (disturbing, but Hunter Foster was incredibly HOTT in it) :)
FEBRUARY
12: Pippin at the Mark Taper Forum (AMAZING, amazing! LOVED it!!!!)
13: The Full Monty in Redondo Beach (Michelle and Misty were SPECTACULAR!!) :)
14: The Producers at Musical Theatre West (Such a fabulous show!)
14: Pippin at the Mark Taper Forum (LOVED it!! And got to see Anthony go on as Charles the Great!!) :)
15: Pippin at the Mark Taper Forum (such a beautiful show - I'm really going to miss it)
15: A Year With Frog & Toad at South Coast Rep (SOOO cute! Nick did a fabulous job!!)
15: Noises Off at South Coast Rep (HYSTERICAL!!!)
MARCH
7: Pippin at the Mark Taper Forum (Just as amazing, if not more, than I remember it from Feb!!!!)
7: Pippin at the Mark Taper Forum (Evening show - Michael Arden was particularly stunning in this performance!!!!)
APRIL
15: Happiness at the Mitzi Newhouse Theatre @ Lincoln Center (I was in tears at the end - SO amazing!)
15: reasons to be pretty at the Lyceum Theatre (Such an amazing performance by Thomas Sadoski - he was IN-freaking-credible!)
16: 1776 at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ (Great production - Kevin was a great Jefferson!)
16: Shrek at the Broadway Theatre (My second time seeing the show - sadly Chris Sieber was not in that night!) :(
17: Guys & Dolls at the Nederlander (Pretty disappointing, I have to say...)
19: Hair at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (Transcendent!!!!)
19: 1776 at the Paper Mill Playhouse (Opening night - amazing performances!!!!)
20: The Marvelous Wonderettes at Westside Theatre (Got to see Misty as Missy Miller!! WOO HOO!)
MAY
16: Mamma Mia at the Blaisdell Center (YAY for seeing Katy in a production HERE!!) :)
22: The Little Foxes at the Pasadena Playhouse (Ehh....not really my kind of show.) :P
24: BIG: The Musical at El Centro Theatre (SOOO cute, Darrin was fabulous and Will Collyer... He's just too cute for words!!)
24: The Green Room at Hermosa Beach Playhouse (Cute new musical...catchy music - very funny!)
30: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at Diamond Head Theatre (Okay for a local production!!) :)
JUNE
13: Ring of Fire at La Mirada Theatre (Michelle Duffy is amazing as always!!!)
JULY
16: The Wedding Singer at Diamond Head Theatre (Fun show!!!)
25: Little Shop of Horrors at Musical Theatre West (Ahhhh! Danny Gurwin was SO cute and Damn! Michael A Shepperd's voice was INcredible! Good Lord.)
25: The Andrews Brothers at Fullerton Civic Light Opera (What a cute show!! Sooo nice to see Bets!)
AUGUST
1: The Wedding Singer at Diamond Head Theatre (Fun show!!!)
8: Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara at Geffen Playhouse (Enjoyed it more than I expected)
8: Life Could Be A Dream at Hudson Mainstage (Loved it! Possibly my favorite Roger Bean show yet!!)
29: Life Could Be A Dream at Hudson Mainstage (It was only then that I realized the voice on the radio was David Engel's! Yes, I'm slow! :))
29: Anita Bryant Died for Your Sins at El Centro Theatre (One of the MOST AMAZING theatrical experiences of 2009!)
30: First Wives' Club at Old Globe Theatre (I missed Victoria at the stage door, and I had a surreal moment with Karen Ziemba)
30: Wicked at San Diego Civic Center (LOVED, loved, loved seeing Kevin M! What a darling he was to show me around!)
SEPTEMBER
25: Jersey Boys at the August Wilson (7th time - wanted to see Jarrod, but was happy to see Cory Grant instead)
26: Memphis at the Shubert (Oh, Good Lord. The first of MANY times. Didn't stage door that show, because I was running off to see...)
26: Muffin Man at Playwrights Horizon (Very cute NY Fringe show that I went to see. LOVED that the writer stood by the exit & thanked everyone personally for coming to see her show. SO cute!)
26: God of Carnage at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre (James Gandlofini was excellent in this, but all in all, I didn't really see what all the hype was about...)
27: Memphis at the Shubert Theatre (In which I dared to stage door and actually found the courage to introduce myself to Chad!)
27: Next to Normal at the Booth Theatre (J Robert Spencer left at intermission and Michael Berry went on in the 2nd act. Alice Ripley was the best part of the show...)
29: Memphis at the Shubert Theatre (When Chad told the man next to me that a star was just a gasous cloud.)
30: Billy Elliot at the Imperial Theatre (2nd time seeing the show and got to see Trent Kowalik as Billy!! He was INCREDIBLE!! Such an amazing performance!!)
30: The Marvelous Wonderettes at Westside Theatre, Upstairs (Loved seeing and catching up with Misty!!!)
OCTOBER
1: Under Fire at Theatre at St. Clements (It raised really interesting moral and ethic issues about journalism & photojournalism, which I loved. Really, a little bit of a hard subject matter to sell as a musical, though.)
1: Marrying Meg at Theatre at St. Clements (SO funny and the cast was amazing!!)
1: A Steady Rain at Shoenfeld Theatre (Saw this with Robin. :) Great performances, but crazy stage door!! Yikes!)
2: Fantasy Football; the Musical? at TBG (Funny and quirky show)
2: Fat Camp, the Musical at Acorn Theatre (Constantine M sat next to me & caught M&M's during the finale & offered them to me - VERY surreal...)
2: Bye, Bye Birdie at Henry Miller's Theatre (Allie Trimm was cute and probably the best part of the show)
2: R.E.D.D.D: A Secret Musical at 45th Street Theatre (Funny as hell! Surprise guest appearance by Tovah Feldshuh was a highlight)
3: Superior Donuts at the Music Box Theatre (Truly one of the best straight plays I saw all year - and Jon Michael Hill gave one of the best performances!)
3: Brighton Beach Memoirs at the Nederlander Theatre (LOVE Neil Simon so I adored this! Santino Fontana was exquisite!)
4: West Side Story at the Palace Theatre (I could totally see why Karen Olivo won the Tony!)
4: Memphis at the Shubert Theatre (My last time seeing the show. Saw Anne there! Best part? The goodbye hug from Chad!)
24: Children of a Lesser God at Deaf West Theatre (SO nice to see Brian - he was great as Orin! And Shoshannah Stern was excellent as Sarah!)
NOVEMBER
7: Parade at the Mark Taper Forum (I got to see Will Collyer go on as Frankie Epps!!! I was SOOO excited!)
8: The Andrews Brothers at the Welk Resort (Bets is always wonderful to see! John Bisom just added a certain something to the trio and David & Larry are always hysterical!)
9: Phantom at the Venetian (LOVED seeing Kristi! She is truly the best thing in the show! Adored visiting with her after the show - it's been far too long since I've seen her!)
10: Jersey Boys at the Palazzo (Saw Travis Cloer as Frankie & had nose-bleed seats for this performance)
10: Jersey Boys at the Palazzo (Saw Rick Faugno as Frankie and had MUCH better seats, thank goodness!)
11: Moonlight & Magnolias at La Mirada Theatre (Wow, didn't realize that David O Selznick was such a nut.)
12: Meet Me In St. Louis at Musical Theatre West (Such a cute, feel good show. :) Nicest surprise was running into the Winter Wonderettes; Bets, Misty, Julie, and Susannah who sat a row in front of me very coincidentally!)
13: Bonnie & Clyde at the La Jolla Playhouse (I can't believe I never wrote about this! Mark & I had such differing opinions about this show... I found it too gritty, while Mark found it not gritty enough. So much more to say and SO much that was good about it, but this post is neither the time nor the place...)
14: Parade at the Mark Taper Forum (We were sitting in the front row... The show was so much more amazing the second time we saw it! Got to meet T.R. Knight after the show and found out he was sweet and somewhat shy in person)
14: Bare: A Pop Opera at Hudson Backstage (Topher Rhys was absolutely AMAZING! He had me in tears during his "See Me." And it was SO nice to see Alissa-Nicole again after all these years!!)
15: Better Angels at the Colony Theatre (I wasn't too fond of this, though the acting was great - the story was not one that really held my interest...)
DECEMBER
6: Winter Wonderettes at Manoa Valley Theatre (Kenji Higashihama is a master at musical direction. Nuff said!)
22: White Christmas at Diamond Head Theatre
TOTALS... and if I had to choose favorites... :)
Total shows seen in 2009: 72
Total Musicals: 61
Total Straight Plays: 11
My Favorite Musical of 2009:
"Pippin" @ Mark Taper Forum
My Favorite Straight Play of 2009:
"Anita Bryant Died for Your Sins" @ West Coast Ensemble
My Favorite Performances in 2009:
Wyatt Fenner - "Anita Bryant Died for Your Sins"
Thomas Sadoski - "reasons to be pretty"
Jon Michael Hill - "Superior Donuts"
Ty Giordano / Michael Arden - "Pippin"
Santino Fontana - "Brighton Beach Memoirs"
Whew! That took me almost 3 hours to compile... :P I really need to keep up throughout the year so it isn't such a hassle in December! But, yeah,... I say that EVERY year!! :P