Stage Light
Lantern Theatre Company led the way for this season's best plays and musicals.
Dito paper: Van Reigersberg got rave reviews as Hedwig.
It's getting so you can set your watch by the Philadelphia area theater season. In September each new campaign gets off to a promising start. And then there's the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe. This disappointingly brief intrepid period is typically followed by months of uplifting but formulaic comedies and musicals during the long holiday period, followed by darker and more ambitious adult fare in February and March. The season routinely concludes on a high note with a modicum of accomplished spring productions.
The 2007-'08 season generally followed this cycle with little deviation.
The Arden Theatre Company, Philadelphia Theatre Company and Luna Theater Company all enjoyed strong seasons. But the Lantern Theater Company staged four productions that were not only artistically accomplished but impressively diverse in genre and style.
Top 10 productions
Amadeus (Wilma Theater)
Bug (Theatre Exile)
Grace (Luna Theater)
In Conflict (Temple Theaters)
The Happiness Lecture (Philadelphia Theatre Company)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Azuka Theatre)
Isabella (Pig Iron Theatre Company)
The Lonesome West (Lantern Theater Company)
The Misanthrope (Mauckingbird Theatre Company)
Skylight (Lantern Theater Company)
Honorable mention: Breathing Corpses (Luna Theater Company), The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (1812 Productions), M. Butterfly (Philadelphia Theatre Company), Frozen (InterAct Theatre Company), Prom (New Paradise Laboratories).
Best production, play: Grace (Luna Theater).
Best production, musical: Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Best director, play: Dan Kern (Skylight).
Honorable mention: Peter Reynolds (The Misanthrope), Gregory Campbell (Grace), Douglas Wager (In-Conflict).
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1. Mip said... on Jun 18, 2008 at 05:09PM
“No mention of Philly Shakes? Makes sense. They blow.”
2. Sil said... on Jun 19, 2008 at 10:31AM
“That In-Conflict was a horrible, disrespectful mess of a thing.”
3. Mip said... on Jun 19, 2008 at 11:01AM
“LOVE the Lantern Theater. Great choice.”
4. Eric said... on Jun 19, 2008 at 12:01PM
“LOVE the Lantern Theater. Great choice. ”
5. D said... on Jun 20, 2008 at 11:19AM
“I don't know if anyone checked the names and such before this went to print, but Malcolm Black didn't direct Les Mis at the Nut... Mark Clements did.”
6. Whatever said... on Jun 27, 2008 at 07:41AM
“There is an obvious bias against the Walnut. Les Mis SHOULD have at least gotten an honorable mention for best production. Of course, these awards are just one person's opinion. One person who obviously doesn't know jack about theatre. That's why you're just working for PW.”
7. Whomever said... on Jul 13, 2008 at 01:30PM
“What silly choices from a fake critic. Most of the best shows of the season were left out of his list. Looks like a bias of the Walnut, who in my opinion, had their best season ever. The Arden was also overlooked. Broadway shows do not try out in Philly anymore because people like this have the power of print. So reading this critic adds to the cultural demise of the city.”
8. lina said... on Jul 15, 2009 at 04:20AM
“our website:www.despro.hk”