Best Play or Musical of 2014 Nominations
It’s time again to look back at the previous year of locally produced theater and choose the nominees for Best Play or Musical. In 2013, the Duluth Playhouse Children’s Theatre’s production of Cats took top honors. What was your favorite play of 2014?
Best Musical: Evil Dead The Musical by Rubber Chicken Theater
Best Play: Macbeth by Wise Fool Shakespeare
I was partial to both!
I’ll pitch some to get started:
Other Desert Cities – Duluth Playhouse
One Man, Two Guvnors – Duluth Playhouse
Venus in Fur – Underground
Hairspray – Underground
Ring of Fire – Underground
Good People – Underground
Bare – Underground
Macbeth – Wise Fool
Red – Renegade
Things to Ruin – Renegade
Grace – Renegade
Next to Normal – Renegade
Legally Blonde – UMD Theater
The Liar – CSS Theater
Of all of those, I’d have to go with Red, personally. Amazing tour de force performance by Jody Kujawa in a show that was gripping and personal.
Good People was fabulous, even slightly more so than Grace, which was also pretty fabulous.
Hairspray was great, but Les Miserables was greater.
Seconding Lawrence — Red, produced by Renegade, made my head spin in the best way. Excellent performances, staging, script, all of it. I’d see it again in a heartbeat.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch produced by the Playhouse at the Underground gets my vote for best musical.
Les Mis was an excellent production, but I liked Hairspray and Hedwig the best.
What an amazing year for theater in Duluth! I also loved and laughed and reminisced with Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. Hairspray has my vote though.
Hairspray at the Duluth Playhouse Children’s Theatre in the Underground.
So much fantastic theater this year!
I’ll put in a vote for The Liar, which made me laugh more than any play I’ve ever seen.
It’s already been nominated, but I will definitely be voting for Grace. It warmed my heart and tore it to pieces in the best way.
Hairspray through the Duluth Playhouse’s Children’s Theatre, performed at the Underground, and Tales of A Fourth Grade Nothing through Wise Fool Shakespeare, performed at Teatro Zuccone!
Hairspray – Underground.