2018 Wrap-Up: Broadway.com Picks the Best Shows of the Year
Armed with orchestra seats and open minds, Broadway.com staffers are thrilled to take in all the Great White Way has to offer each year. Choosing five favorites is no easy task. This year offered up a lot of choices that divided us, and after much deliberation, discussion and calming breaths, here are the Broadway.com picks for the best shows of 2018.
5. King Kong
A feat of engineering and imagination—not to mention ambition—King Kong stomped onto Broadway in blustering blockbuster fashion. We came for the big-budget, super-sized puppet, but we stayed for belting star Christiani Pitts and the metaphor-rich story of love, freedom and captivity. This is a spectacle on a magnificent scale.
4. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
The magic, the myth, the cape-ography! Both Potterheads and newbies alike are dazzled by the two-part epic Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Handily winning the Best Play Tony Award and featuring original principals from the West End smash, this theatrical event is visually dazzling, smartly performed and thoroughly satisfying.
3. Angels in America
Speaking of two-part epics, Angels in America returned to Broadway in a scorching production in the capable hands of director Marianne Elliott. With Tony-winning turns from Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane, Tony Kushner's masterwork gained poignancy since it first hit Broadway 25 years ago. It's still a majestic work of genius, and this revival revealed its grit, underbelly and bleeding heart more than ever before.
2. The Ferryman
Drenched in love and violence, Jez Butterworth's sprawling play is a rollicking tale that makes its almost-four-hour running time fly by. Rich with flawless ensemble work, meticulous construction and a real sense of intimacy, The Ferryman is part family drama, part political commentary, and a riveting night of theater.
1. The Prom
A valentine to theater lovers, The Prom is a joyous celebration of everything we love: belters, hoofers, hams and showtunes. With musical-comedy king Casey Nicholaw at the helm and a gaggle of Broadway faves in the spotlight, this show is fresh, hilarious, heartfelt and utterly lovable. Broadway.com staffers do not always agree, but we are all in on The Prom.