1. Lungs (The Theater at Arts Garage) — British playwright Duncan Macmillan specified no theatrical artifice — no set, no lighting effects, no distracting costumes — in this two-character dialogue and occasional rant about the advisability of bringing a baby into this world. That left Cliff Burgess and Betsy Graver alone onstage with only their acting skills and wits to keep us riveted, and we were. It will be interesting to see nine months later whether the local birth rate has changed significantly.
2. Billy Elliot (Kravis Center) — The 10-time Tony Award winner about the coal miner’s son who yearned to dance ballet, is based on the 2000 movie written by Lee Hall and directed by Stephen Daldry. They returned to the dance-heavy tale, aided by a score from Elton John and choreography by Peter Darling and the results captivated Broadway. The national tour arrived and showed what the fuss was about, a transcendent musical with a rotating quartet of young boys in the title role, including Boca’s Mitchell Tobin.
3. Side Show (Slow Burn Theatre Co.) — This short-lived Broadway musical about real-life conjoined twins is right up the alley of this increasingly confident company. It has become known for reviving such neglected shows and for discovering and showcasing new talent, like the doubly good Kaela Antolino and Courtney Poston as the twisted twins.
4. Dancing at Lughnasa (Palm Beach Dramaworks) — Brian Friel’s memory play of hardscrabble life in the fictional Irish village of Ballybeg is dark-toned even by Dramaworks’ standards, but that seemed to inspire director J. Barry Lewis. When things were at their worst for the five unmarried Mundy sisters they would kick up their heels and dance. Those sequences (choreographed by Lynnette Barkley) soared, the rest was merely outstanding and a bit heartbreaking.
5. The Book of Mormon (Broward Center) — Religion is the third rail of the theater, bound to rankle and divide audiences, but someone forgot to tell Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Their rookie attempt at writing a musical is still the hottest show on Broadway after two-and-a-half years, fueled by all the foul-mouthed irreverence that the two wags of South Park can muster. Their jaundiced look at two Latter Day Saints missionaries in Uganda was the ideal antidote to The Lion King.
6. The Longing and the Short of It (The Theatre at Arts Garage) — Quick, write down this name — Daniel Maté. With a little luck, he could be the next big thing in musical theater, as his smart and smart-mouthed, jazzy song cycle about yearnings for human connections attests. The revue boasted a first-rate ensemble cast, but it is the material itself that made this a must-see. (Can you call something a must-hear?)
7. The Sound of Music (The Wick Theatre and Costume Museum) — Having saved the old Caldwell Theatre from the clutches of CVS or Walgreens, or even the wrecker’s ball, there were still doubts about rental wardrobe mogul Marilynn Wick’s ability to pull off the big shows she announced for her inaugural season. The recorded music aside, this was a very impressive debut for the untested company, a polished, proficient rendering of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s final show, featuring a sublime Krista Severeid as governess Maria. Take that, Carrie Underwood!
8. An Iliad (Outré Theatre Co.) — Theatergoers largely stayed away from this contemporary adaptation of Homer’s epic account of the Trojan War, but that was their loss. They missed a towering performance by Avi Hoffman as a mythological sad sack, doomed to wander the earth trying to end the bloodshed between nations. That never happened — see Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. — but this one-man play was a stunner.
9. Doubt (Maltz Jupiter Theatre) — This up-county awards-magnet company specializes in big musicals, but it also produces dramas well, like this slim, but thought-provoking Pulitzer Prize winner by John Patrick Shanley about a test of wills between a suspicious nun (Maureen Anderman) and a genial priest (Jim Ballard).
10. Of Mice and Men (Palm Beach Dramaworks) — No, hard economic times were not invented in 2008, as John Steinbeck’s great Depression-era tale of two symbiotic drifters reminds us. Director J. Barry Lewis orchestrated with understated skill a large cast headed by wiry John Leonard Thompson and hulking Brendan Titley as George and Lennie, a pre-Neil Simon odd couple.