2009: The plays I didn't review

I rode the Red Line home a couple of weeks ago with my friend and colleague Ben Kenigsberg, one of TOC's film critics. We had both stayed late on a Friday night working on our 2009 best-of lists. Ben mentioned that he'd spent quite a bit of time over the previous week or two re-watching his potential picks. Man, I thought, What a luxury. There are so many plays I saw this year that I wanted to see a second time but couldn't—Chicago's a town of limited runs, and too many storefront shows in particular only perform Friday through Sunday and in the same "slots" in the season.

I made note tonight in a Twitter/Facebook message that my final count of plays seen in 2009 was 146 (I first said 145 but revised up when I realized I'd missed one); Dianna Driscoll inquired on Facebook about how many of those I saw for pleasure versus the number I reviewed. The question's a bit more complicated than that—I saw some shows for TOC purposes that I didn't review and also didn't enjoy—but figuring out how many shows I saw but not for review purposes still strikes me as somewhat interesting. The chronological list of 42 shows is after the jump. (For the record, I only managed to make return visits to five shows this year: About Face's Stupid Kids, Strawdog's Red Noses, the Annoyance's Sodomites!!!, Caffeine's Under Milk Wood and Million Dollar Quartet, which I first saw in 2008.)

The Emperor Jones, The Wooster Group
Desire Under the Elms, Goodman
Xanadu, national tour
Touch, New Leaf Theatre
Art, Steppenwolf
The Hairy Ape, Hypocrites at the Goodman
Don't Dress for Dinner, British Stage Company at the Royal George
In Arabia We'd All Be Kings, Steep Theatre
topdog/underdog (white cast), American Theater Company
Rouw Siert Electra, Toneelgroup Amsterdam at the Goodman
And They Put Handcuffs on the Flowers, Right Brain Project
Mary Poppins, national tour
The Solid Gold Cadillac, Open Eye Productions
FRAT, The New Colony
Literally Sexy 2, Victory Gardens
God's Ear, Dog & Pony Theatre Co.
Way Out West, the Sea Whispered Me, Cupola Bobber at Links Hall
The History Boys, TimeLine Theatre Company
Hedwig and the Angry Inch, American Theater Company
Rock ‘n’ Roll, Goodman
The Overwhelming, Next Theatre Company
Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, Northwestern University
The Arabian Nights, Lookingglass Theatre
Poseidon! An Upside-Down Musical, Hell in a Handbag Productions
The Hollow Lands, Steep Theatre
The Ruby Sunrise, The Gift Theatre
Tupperware: An American Musical Fable, The New Colony
Honest, Sex With Strangers & Ski Dubai, Steppenwolf's First Look series
Fake, Steppenwolf
Post Traumatic Play Festival, The Inconvenience
St. Crispin's Day, Strawdog
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, Victory Gardens & Teatro Vista
The Man Who Was Thursday, New Leaf Theatre
Calls to Blood, The New Colony
Young Frankenstein, national tour
An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening, Theater Oobleck
The Mystery of Irma Vep, Court Theatre
Cooperstown, Theatre Seven of Chicago
Whining in the Windy City: Holiday Edition, Jackie Hoffman at Royal George
Oklahomo for the Holidays, About Face Theatre

Comments

[Nate]

You also saw High Fidelity, did you not? ;)

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[zarf]

nice post, thank you..