10. Carrie (Slow Burn Theatre)
Twenty-six years after its initial Broadway curtain, “Carrie” is still an imperfect musical. But Slow Burn’s fast-paced, engaging, special-effects laden production honored and most surely improved on the source material, anchored by vividly realized performances by Anne Chamberlain and Shelly Keelor.
9. Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Wick Theatre)
The Wick Theatre’s first production with a live band elevated this company to a new level of sophistication. A masterfully acted quartet of triple-threat talents navigated director Ron Hutchins’ abundance of choreographic inspiration and salacious wit, capturing the offbeat humor, sexual pulse and naughty camaraderie inherent in Fats Waller’s compositions.
8. The King and I (Maltz Jupiter Theatre)
The difference between a good production of a great show and a great production of a great show often comes down to three things: direction, direction, direction. Marcia Milgrom Dodge has directed and choreographed some of Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s finest work in years, and her take on “The King and I” was no different, finding new inspiration in this old warhorse.
7. Thrill Me (Outre Theatre Company)
This fearsome true-crime opera was proof that big budgets and large orchestras don’t always equate to the most powerful work. Accompanied by 16 solo piano compositions, a sinister, spectral Conor Walton and a tragically doomed Mike Westrich brought the story of thrill-killers Leopold and Loeb to unforgettable life.
6. A Chorus Line (Maltz Jupiter Theatre)
Michael Bennett’s brilliant expose of the behind-the-scenes hopes, dreams and struggles of musical-theater aspirants received an exciting, passionate and sensitive production from the Maltz and director Josh Walden. It was so deeply felt, on a gut-personal level, that the veneer of performing a familiar piece disappeared completely; it was like seeing this wonderful show anew.
5. The Trouble With Doug (Theatre at Arts Garage)
The pull of familial bonds and the inevitability of letting go defined this masterful science-fiction parable about loss and change, where the grotesque and the surreally comic found a touching and uneasy common ground. Daniel Mate and Will Aronson’s inventive prequel to Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” featured a brilliantly elastic performance by Clay Cartland and a career-best contribution from Shane Tanner.
4. Assassins (Zoetic Stage)
The bells and whistles in Zoetic Stage’s only musical to date were ravishing and atmospheric, from the inspired set design and period costumes to the evocative lighting and immersive sound. The performances and direction were just as trenchant, residing in that perfect Sondheimian nexus of beauty and tragedy, comedy and despair.
3. 42nd Street (Wick Theatre)
This was the musical that put the Wick on the map. The source material—a 1980 musical based on the 1933 Busby Berkeley film—was creakily familiar, but Norm Joerder managed to pay it retro fidelity while still infusing it with contemporary style, wit, color and sex appeal. This was a dazzlingly reimagined classic, with choreography that was second to none anywhere on a South Florida stage.
2. Parade (Slow Burn Theatre Company)
First produced on Broadway, in 1998, Jason Robert Brown’s “Parade” took an unlikely subject for inspiration: the trial and wrongful sentencing of Jewish factory owner Leo Frank in the anti-Semitic Atlanta of 1913, for the unspeakable crime of raping and murdering a child. Director Patrick Fitzwater’s production was brave, sobering, challenging and provocative—heavy in its thematic resonance but effortlessly fluid in its presentation. If you didn’t feel physically uncomfortable by the finale, you might not have been alive.
1. Murder Ballad (Actors’ Playhouse)
Words cannot say enough about this experiential masterpiece, the best work Actors’ Playhouse has delivered in years. It was the simple, universal story of a love triangle gone awry in a big city—marvelously conceived on the rebuilt second floor of the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables, where the audience became a part of the scenic design. A flawless cast of four lived the show’s lyrics, which ran the gamut from the nihilistic to the emotionally shattering. Meanwhile, the guitar- and drum-heavy musical direction simulated the pulse-raising energy of a rock concert. This was a production that accomplished nothing less than lifting the collective spirit of South Florida theater, opening new possibilities for anyone lucky enough to see it.
