Bill's Best, 2015. Eligible shows...

Eligible Shows for Bill's Best of 2015

New Smyrna Beach FL, January, 2015.

For those who have been wondering, I'm a little behind this year on my "Bill's Best" list.  That's because I've been working on a special project for the Colorado Theater Guild in my "spare" time.  That project is now complete and I'm starting in on the next big task:  Bill's Best of 2015.

As usual, I'm starting by posting a list of the shows I saw and reviewed this year (90 of them; a record number of shows for me).  It's a long list, so I sorted it by company, hoping that it would be a little more user friendly.  I can also do it chronologically, alphabetically by title, or pretty much any other way Excel will let me sort it.  Just ask.  I'll provide additional lists if they're needed.

First, a note on the 90 shows I saw.  It works out to about 1 show every 4 days, all year long.  It was a marathon, and it got in the way of some of my other life priorities.  I probably won't do that again.  Please don't be offended if we decline some offers to see shows, but please keep inviting Roxie and me.  We will do as much as we can, but less than in 2015.

It has just gotten to be too much to see so many shows in so many places.  I had several 4 show weekends (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday), and a couple of 5 show weekends (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and 2 shows on Sunday).  It takes me most of the next week to catch up with all the writing, and then it's back on the road for more shows.  

We took a break from Colorado Theater in May to tour the UK, Belgium, and France.  The pace of a show every 4 days or so is challenging; there were literally days when I wondered what I was thinking.  That was especially true the day in May when I stood here, in Stratford Upon Avon, and realized that we will all have our own final resting place one day.  From Hamlet:  Thou know'st 'tis common; all that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity.  Ironically, Shakespeare, despite pointing out the inevitable banality of death, achieved a level of immortality few of us will ever see.  He's been gone 400 years this year, and he's still got his own company, his own theater, and a gift shop.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not complaining.  I saw some amazing theater this year, but I need to cut back some.  Our days here are finite, and how we spend them defines the quality of our lives.  Theater adds immense quality to my life, but so does time with family and friends.  Traveling to new places also adds quality to life, and seeing the home of the greatest English language writer of all time was hugely important to me.  I need to get to a better mix of theater, family, friends and travel in 2016.

I have the best hobby in the world.  I get to see an abundance of outstanding theater, and I get to tell anyone who will listen what I thought about it.  This year I was also added to the Colorado Springs Independent as their free lance theater critic.  Go figure.  They pay me to do what I had been doing for free for years.  Like I said, it's a perfect hobby.  I get to do what I love, and sometimes I even get paid for it.  (OK...it's a pittance, but it's > $0.00.)

It's been an exciting, interesting, challenging, and inspiring year to sit in a darkened room when some of the best theater professionals anywhere are doing their thing.  

He has his own gift shop.  How cool is that?

So here's your list of 90 shows (in alphabetical order by company and with convenient links to each review) that will be considered for this year's "Bill's Best."  

(NOTE:  this is NOT a list of winners...it is a list of shows that are eligible.)

1.  Harvey, Arvada Center (Drama)
2.  The Archbishop's Ceiling, Arvada Center (Drama)
3. A Man of No Importance, Arvada Center (Musical)
4.  Saturday Night Fever, Arvada Center  (Musical)
5.  Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Arvada Center  (Musical/Holiday)


6.  Fiddler on the Roof, BDT Stage (Musical)
7.  Buddy:  The Buddy Holly Story, BDT Stage (Musical)

8.  A Dog's Life, Black Box Theatre, Colorado Springs (Musical)
9.  The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged) (Revised) Black Box Theatre, Colorado Springs  (Comedy)
10.  Scrooge's Christmas, A Christmas Carol, Black Box Theatre, Colorado Springs  (Holiday)

11.  Stupid Fucking Bird, Boulder Ensemble (Drama)
12.  Hysteria, Boulder Ensemble (Drama)
13.  Outside Mullingar, Boulder Ensemble  (Drama)

14.  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Candlelight Dinner Theatre (Musical)

15.  A Public Reading of An Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney, The Catamounts (Drama)
16.  Spirits to Enforce: “Superheroes, A Submarine, and Shakespeare… and the Triumph of Art Over Evil, The Catamounts (Drama)

17.  Avenue Q, CenterStage Theatre Company (Musical)

18.  Driving Miss Daisy, Cherry Creek Theatre Company (Drama)

19.  9th Annual Front Range Playwright's Showcase, Coal Creek Theatre Company (Original)

20.  Wittenburg, Colorado Shakespeare Festival (Drama)

21.  Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (Musical/Holiday)
22.  Reefer Madness, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (Musical)
23.  4000 Miles, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (Drama)
24.  Guys and Dolls, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (Musical)
25.  Rough Writers New Play Festival, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (Original)
26.  Putting It Together, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (Musical)
27.  Wait Until Dark, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center  (Drama)

28.  Benediction, Denver Center Theater Company (Drama)
29.  Lookingglass Alice, Denver Center Theater Company (Drama)
30.  Tribes, Denver Center Theater Compay (Drama)
31.  A Christmas Carol, Denver Center Theater Company (Holiday)

32.  Paging Dr. Chutzpah, Denver's Dangerous Theatre (Drama)

33.  What Color Is That Dress?, Dragon Theater Company (Original)

34.  Debbie Does Dallas:  The Musical, Equinox Theatre Company (Musical)
35.  Urinetown the Musical, Equinox Theatre Company (Musical)

36.  The Lion in Winter, Firehouse Theatre Company (Drama)
37.  Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Firehouse Theatre Company (Comedy)

38.  24/7, Funky Little Theater Company  (Original)
39.  Afflicted:  Daughters of Salem, Funky Little Theater Company  (Drama)
40.  Couple Dating, Funky Little Theater Company  (Comedy)
41.  Veronica's Room, Funky Little Theater Company  (Drama)
42.  The Little Prince, Funky Little Theater Company (Drama/Children)
43.  Lysistrata, Funky Little Theater Company (Drama/Classic)
44.  Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, Funky Little Theater Company (Drama)
45.  Hellcab, Funky Little Theater Company (Drama)

46.  Dreamgirls, Ignite Theatre Company (Musical)
47.  Big Fish, Ignite Theatre Company (Musical)
48.  La Cage Aux Folles, Ignite Theatre Company (Musical)

49.  West Side Story, Inspire Creative (Musical)

50.  Stick Guns,  Millibo Art Theatre  (Original)
51.  A Tuna Christmas, Millibo Art Theatre (Comedy)

52.  The Cripple of Innishmaan, Miner's Alley Playhouse (Drama)
53.  Pump Boys & Dinettes, Miner's Alley Playhouse (Musical)
54.  My Name is Asher Lev, Miner's Alley Playhouse (Drama)

55.  Gruesome Playground Injuries, Passage Theatre Company (Drama)

56.  Cabaret, PHAMALY (Musical)

57.  Beets, Read and Rant (Original)

58.  Shirley Valentine, Rocky Mountain Deaf Theatre (Drama)
59.  Silent Salzburg, Rocky Mountain Deaf Theatre (Drama

60.  Enchanted April, Spotlight Theatre Company (Drama)
61.  The Foreigner, Spotlight Theatre Company (Comedy)

62.  Dead Man's Cell Phone, Springs Ensemble Theatre (Drama)
63.  A Late Snow, Springs Ensemble Theatre (Drama)
64.  Circle Mirror Transformation, Springs Ensemble Theatre (Drama)
65.  Lonesome Hollow, Springs Ensemble Theatre (Drama)
66.  Stocking Stuffers, Springs Ensemble Theatre (Original)

67.  Ham McBeth, Square Product Theatre Company (Original)
68.  Ranch Dressing and Other Coping Mechanisms, Square Product Theatre Company (Comedy)

69.  I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, Stage Door Theater Conifer (Musical)

70.  Killer Joe, Star Bar, Colorado Springs  (Drama)
71.  Barefoot in the Park, Star Bar, Colorado Springs (Comedy)

72.  The Motherfucker With a Hat, The Edge Theater (Drama)
73.  Cock, The Edge (Drama)
74.  Jerusalem, The Edge (Drama)
75.  Lucky Guy, The Edge (Drama)
76.  Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Edge (Drama)
77.  American Girls, The Edge (Drama)

78.  Victor/Victoria, Theatre Company of Lafayette  (Musical)
79.  The Twilight Zone, Theatre Company of Lafayette (Drama)

80.  Psycho Beach Party, Theatre Out (Comedy)

81.  Detroit, Theatreworks (Drama)
82.  Happy Days, Theatreworks (Drama)
83.  The Liar, Theatreworks (Comedy)
84.  A Midsummer Night's Dream, Theatreworks (Comedy/Classic)
85.  Private Lives, Theatreworks (Drama)
86.  Ghosts, Theatreworks (Drama)
87.  Born Yesterday, Theatreworks (Drama)

88.  The 39 Steps, Thin Air Theatre Company (Comedy)

89.  'Night Mother, Vintage Theatre Company (Drama)
90.  Unmarried in America, Vintage Theatre Company (Drama)