It was a precarious year in theater in South Florida, with the sudden devastating demise of West Palm Beach’s Florida Stage, not quite offset by the expanded potential for Palm Beach Dramaworks in its new, larger space.
Zoetic Stage debuted in Miami with its impressive repertory company of area actors, while announced, but not yet open, are Parade Productions in Boca Raton and The Theater at Arts Garage in Delray Beach, presumably poised to shore up the battered theater landscape. Also still to come is Caldwell 2, a second stage offshoot of the Boca company, though two announced attempts to open in the new Mizner Park Cultural Center both were scrubbed for lack of time and resources.
Still, despite the challenges of the economy, there was plenty of impressive theater locally in 2011. Here are my highly subjective picks for 10 standouts.
1. All My Sons (Palm Beach Dramaworks) — An early Arthur Miller family tragedy, expertly performed and visually striking on the company’s new stage, thanks to scenic wizard Michael Amico and director J. Barry Lewis.
2. Crazy for You (Maltz Jupiter Theatre) — A tap-happy musical extravaganza built from recycled Gershwin songs, with giddy choreography by Shea Sullivan and a standout lead performance by Matt Loehr.
3. August: Osage County (Actors’ Playhouse) — Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning dysfunctional family dark comedy, with a large ensemble cast of many of the area’s best actors. The company depends on musicals, but saves its creativity for plays.
4. Kiss of the Spider Woman (Slow Burn Theatre Company) — An unlikely musical adaptation of Manuel Puig’s odd couple political drama, another ambitious achievement for this fledgling troupe, with a star-making turn by Renata Eastlick in the title role.
5. Ghost-Writer (Florida Stage) — An ode to inspiration by Michael Hollinger as seen from the perspective of an uber-efficient secretary who continues to receive dictation from her author-boss after he passes away. A succinct example of why we will miss this company.
6. Clybourne Park (Caldwell Theatre Company) — Artistic director Clive Cholerton challenged his audience with this politically incorrect sequel to A Raisin in the Sun, a look at racial matters in America over a 50-year span. Soon after this well-cast comedy opened here, playwright Bruce Norris copped a Pulitzer for it.
7. The Brothers Size (GableStage) — Miami-raised Tarell Alvin McCraney finally got his area professional debut, directing his own stylized theater piece, a ritual tale of two brothers, one a hard-working garage owner, the other a felon recently released from prison. A potent blend of dance, song and words.
8. The Sound of Music (Maltz Jupiter Theatre) — The tale of spunky young nun Maria Rainer, the final collaboration of Rodgers and Hammerstein has been encrusted with sugar over time, but you would never know that from Marc Robin’s production or the lead performance by radiant Catherine Walker.
9. West Side Story (Kravis Center) — The landmark Leonard Bernstein-Stephen Sondheim musical that transplanted Romeo and Juliet to the mean streets of New York remains a vibrant modern classic and, here, a textbook example of what a national tour should be.
10. Beauty Queen of Leenane (Palm Beach Dramaworks) — Martin McDonagh’s mother-daughter battle of wills in a dreary Irish village proved mordantly comic in the very capable hands of Barbara Bradshaw and Kati Brazda.