2009 As They Saw It

Although a couple of these articles have been mentioned in Mondays Are Dark, I thought I'd bundle everyone's BEST OF 2009 all in one place.

The Miami Herald's Christine Dolen gives her Top Five theatre stories:

1. Tarel Alvin McRaney: world renowned playwright can't get produced in his hometown.
   
2. Antonio Amadeo: renaissance man.
   
3. Women go Solo; two South Florida actresses in one-women shows wow the crowds.
   
4. Vices: A Love Story: Clive Cholerton hits it out of the park first time at bat.
   
5. Touring Titans; Jersey Boys and The Colour Purple sell out
   

Bill Hirschman for the Sun-Sentinel chose some great plays you might have missed: Ground Up and Rising's On An Average Day, Stage Door's A Little Night Music, and the final production of Sol Theater: Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll.  A show you didn't see and didn't miss: an awful production of Sounds of Simon by the terrible twosome of Gary Waldman and Jamison Troutman.

Mary Damiano summarizes the Arts scene for MiamiArtzine.com, but touches on a lot of theatre stories in her month-to-month recap.   Too much for me to summarize, but I think she got it all.

Hap Erstein presents the 2009 Hapsters on Palm Beach ArtsPaper.  Categories are tailored to the winners: Best Play about Current Events Written 104 Years Ago, Best Onstage Self-Multilation, and of course, he has his best and worst list.  Caldwell is in the unique position of leading both categories: Vices, A Love Story is Haps' choice for best play, and Something's Afoot is his choice for worst.  The latter is the first play of the new boss, and the former the final project of the old.

What were some of the best and worst moments on South Florida stages, as you see it?