The 10 best stage shows of 2019

The best stage shows of 2019

There was a bright golden haze on the meadow that was 2019's theater landscape — a season that made us consider beloved classics anew (complete with their own shorthand: "Sexy Oklahoma!," "Yiddish Fiddler") and brought forth new offerings from the Underworld and Netherworld alike.

Here, we name our 10 favorite productions that took the stage this year. Keep clicking through to see the full list.

10. Much Ado About Nothing (Off Broadway)

The Public Theater's fresh take on the Bard's battle of the sexes really delivered on the "merry war" front, giving this summer's Shakespeare in the Park a joyous production with an all-black cast, contemporary touches (complete with a "Stacy Abrams 2020" banner flying above the stately Georgia home where the story unfolds), and a fierce, funny performance from Danielle Brooks (Orange Is the New Black) as Beatrice. We're still applauding her captivating, rage-fueled "that I were a man" speech, months after the show closed. —Jessica Derschowitz (Read EW's review)

9. Beetlejuice

Thank goodness the movie-inspired musical still has the capacity to surprise and delight like Beetlejuice. Adapted from the 1988 film of the same name, Alex Brightman offers up a wacky, fun, mischief-infused take on the title character that leaves comparisons to Michael Keaton in the dust. Its transformative pop-up-book of a set provides the perfect backdrop for zany production numbers, ghoulish lighting, and an examination of grief, loss, and family. From Leslie Kritzer's comedic master class as Delia to the athletic, euphoric work of the ensemble, Beetlejuice is a feast for the eyes and the soul that balances its outrageous sense of humor with a surprising amount of heart. —Maureen Lee Lenker (Read EW's review)

8. Betrayal

You might have already heard about how this play had, um, an effect on audience members. But responses aside, this British import directed by Jamie Lloyd elevated Harold Pinter's oft-revived work by stripping it down to its essential parts: minimal props, a nearly bare set, and a trio of excellent performances from Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Cox, and Zawe Ashton. This Betrayal's cleverest move is never letting any of them leave the stage. Even if one of them isn't a part of a scene, they're lingering in the background — always in the mind of the betrayer, or the betrayed. —JD (Read EW's review)

7. Fiddler on the Roof (Off Broadway)

Whether you grew up hearing Yiddish from your bubbe or can barely say bupkis, this all-Yiddish take on Fiddler felt like a balm for the soul — one with a side of subtitles (which they had in English and Russian). When just the opening notes of a song can make you teary, does it matter what language the cast is singing it in? Except, maybe it does: This Fiddler, superbly directed by Joel Grey, lends a new authenticity to the classic musical, making it all the more welcome (and necessary) in a world where anti-Semitism is still in the news and immigrants must travel far from the homes they love for a better life. —JD

6. Fleabag (Off Broadway)

When Phoebe Waller-Bridge set up residence at the intimate Soho Theatre for a limited run of her one-woman show this past spring, it was gut-achingly funny, but that was to be assumed — since season 1 of its eponymous TV adaptation had already aired, many were already familiar with Waller-Bridge and her fourth-wall-breaking, self-destructive character. But this return to the work felt notable, especially now in hindsight, for giving such close access to the woman and her work before season 2 took off like a rocket and shot her into a Hot Priest-and-jumpsuit-filled (not to mention Emmy-strewn) stratosphere. —JD (Read EW's review)

5. Little Shop of Horrors (Off Broadway)

This was a year blessed by dual Little Shops — bloodthirsty plants wreaking havoc on both coasts! — but the New York production was one of 2019's most delectable treats, thanks in no small part to the small theater it called home and Jonathan Groff's endearing performance as the sweet, nerdy Seymour. (Bonus points to Christian Borle for chewing every bit of scenery in sight on that devious dentist track, not to mention the puppetry that brought the carnivorous Audrey II to life.) Call it proof that not every production needs to go big to win big. —JD

4. What the Constitution Means to Me

A young Heidi Schreck put herself through college with prize money she earned giving speeches about the Constitution at American Legion halls. Now, the writer-actress transformed that experience into a (mostly) one-woman show that expertly melded the political and personal, examining her youthful admiration of that document against the ways its words and laws affected women in her family. Funny in parts, devastating in others, but it all makes you even more ready to vote in 2020. —JD (Read EW's review)

3. Hadestown

Hadestown took an old song and sang it again, making the myths of Orpheus and Eurydice and Persephone and Hades something entirely new and utterly alluring. Anaïs Mitchell's folk and jazz-infused score sounded like nothing we'd heard on Broadway before, and if that doesn't sell it, we submit the deep, seductive pipes of Patrick Page's Hades and the chill-inducing "Wait for Me" to seal the deal. Hadestown is strikingly relevant, using myth to interrogate wealth disparity, climate change, anti-immigration rhetoric, and more. But it's also timeless, keeping us hoping in the possibilities of love and a better world. It does the impossible by making us believe it might end differently, while remaining a heart-stopping ode to the power of great storytellers. We raise our cups to that. —ML (Read EW's review)

2. Slave Play

No Broadway debut in 2019 was as thrilling as that of Jeremy O. Harris, the young playwright behind the season's most talked-about, thought-provoking new work. Harris began writing Slave Play — an electric piece about the intersections of race, sexuality, and power examined through three interracial couples — while still in grad school, and in just two years it's blazed from Yale to New York Theatre Workshop and now to Broadway, a lightning-fast trajectory fitting a play that demands to be seen and then thought about long after you leave the theater. —JD (Read EW's review)

1. Oklahoma!

Known affectionately as "the Oklahoma that f---s," this Rodgers and Hammerstein revival stripped the lush, classic musical down to brass tacks (and leather chaps). Daniel Fish's production took this tale of a love triangle in the American West and dug into the darker side of its mythos — the limited options available to women, the potent hatred of the "other," and an ever-present obsession with gun culture. Here, beloved archetypes of musical theater are transformed into something more real and vital, infused with life by a guitar-picking, mesmerizing cast. They bestow a show once wrapped in the gauze of Americana with a palpable sense of danger and carnality. And then top it all off with some chili and cornbread, served at intermission. This Oklahoma may start things off with a beautiful morning, but it edges that bright golden haze on the meadow with something darker, more pervasive, and altogether intoxicating. —ML (Read EW's review)