Simply the Best: The Shows that Ruled 2019

By: Dec. 20, 2019
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As we count down the last days of 2019, New York City's top theatre critics have been taking stock of the theatre season- deciding on their personal choices for their favorite productions of the year. With so many stellar plays, musicals, revivals and new works, both on Broadway and off, a slew of shows have gained recognition from the critics this year.

Below, check out our roundup of 'Best of' lists for theatre this year. Be sure to check back later for new additions as they're released!


Ben Brantley, New York Times (click here for his full list)

American Utopia
Betrayal
Fleabag
Heroes of the Fourth Turning
Is This A Room
The Lehman Trilogy
Marys Seacole
Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Octet
Slave Play

Simply the Best: The Shows that Ruled 2019
Scene from Slave Play

Jesse Green, New York Times (click here for his full list)

Boesman and Lena
Marys Seacole
BLKS
Octet
Much Ado About Nothing
Before the Meeting
Make Believe
Slave Play
Heroes of the Fourth Turning
Is This a Room


Alexis Soloski, New York Times (click here for her full list)

Derren Brown's Secret
Get on Your Knees
We're Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time
Megan Hill in Eddie and Dave
Alyse Alan Louis in Soft Power
Ryan Knowles in The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical


Laura Collins-Hughes, New York Times (click here for her full list)

The Courtroom
The Appointment
Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus

Simply the Best: The Shows that Ruled 2019
Scene from American Utopia

Eben Shapiro, Time (click here for his full list)

The Lehman Trilogy
The Inheritance
Slave Play
Hadestown
What the Constitution Means to Me
Antigone
The Mother
True West
The Sound Inside
American Utopia


David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter (click here for his full list)

Best of the decade:

Clybourne Park
The Flick
Fun Home
Hamilton
Here Lies Love
The Humans
Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812
The Piano Lesson
The Scottsboro Boys
The Wolves


Peter Marks, Washington Post (click here for his full list)

Fairview
The Lehman Trilogy
The Who's Tommy
Amadeus
Greater Clements
A Chorus Line
Freestyle Love Supreme
The Willard Suitcases
School Girls; or the African Mean Girls Play
What the Constitution Means to Me

Simply the Best: The Shows that Ruled 2019
Scene from Hadestown

Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune (click here for his full list)

Hadestown
Betrayal
The Sound Inside
All My Sons
What the Constitution Means to Me
Ink
Hillary and Clinton
Slave Play
Tootsie
Kiss Me Kate


Adam Feldman, TimeOut New York (click here for his full list)

A Strange Loop
Heroes of the Fourth Turning
Greater Clements
Octet
Little Shop of Horrors
The Appointment
Is This A Room
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf
Ain't No Mo'
Soft Power

Simply the Best: The Shows that Ruled 2019


Helen Shaw, Vulture (click here for her full list)

A Strange Loop
Is This a Room
50/50 old school animation
Fefu and Her Friends
Heroes of the Fourth Turning
History of Violence
The Appointment
Little Shop of Horrors
Ain't No Mo'
Suicide Forest



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