THE TOP 10 BEST AND WORST OF 2011

BEFORE we get around to ringing in the new, let's ring out the old. Some great things and some despicable things that were part of the Broadway and Off Broadway scene in New York during 2011.

IT TAKES ALL KINDS Sutton Foster and company, above left, dancing their hearts out in "Anything Goes." Left, James Franco, no time for Tennessee Williams.


1. BEST BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE BY A MEMBER OF AARP
Marlo Thomas in the otherwise inexplicable "Relatively Speaking."


2. BEST MUSICAL NUMBER
Norbert Leo Butz's "Don't Break the Rules" in "Catch Me if You Can."

Too bad the rest of the show couldn't live up to its finest moment.

3. BEST PERFORMANCE AS A CONTROLLING MOM
Stockard Channing in "Other Desert Cities"

She was great in the Lincoln Center production, and remarkably even better when the play moved to Broadway.


4. BEST PERFORMANCE AS A CRAZY LADY
Edie Falco in "House of Blue Leaves"

As lovable as she was deranged. And she had some stiff competition (see Honorable Mention).

5. BEST PERFORMANCE AS A CRAZY MAN
Geoffrey Rush in "Diary of a Madman"

"It's a fine, fine line that divides the lunatic and the clown," Ben Brantley wrote in The New York Times about this BAM production.

6. BIGGEST CAD
James Franco

For backing out of the Broadway revival of "Sweet Bird of Youth." Opposite Nicole Kidman, no less.

7. MOST FABULOUS TAPPING
Sutton Foster in "Anything Goes"

Even people who don't like tap dancing loved the big numbers in this revival. And it was great to see Foster as a brassy, overconfident type.


8. MOST DISAPPOINTED ACTRESS
Lauren Ambrose

Great news, Lauren! You're being cast in the Barbra Streisand role in a Broadway revival of "Funny Girl." Bad news, Lauren! They've decided not to do the show.

9. MOST DISAPPOINTING REVIVAL
"Arcadia"

There were some nice things about it, but anyone who had seen the last big New York production left the theater bewildered. Where did the magic go?

10. MOST DISTRESSED DIRECTOR
Julie Taymor

She was the guiding force behind "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark." She took the bullets when word had it that the show was a disaster. Then the producers fired her.



HONORABLE MENTION
Best Impersonation of Bernie Madoff: Frank Langella in "Man and Boy"
Best Performance as a Pirate: Christian Borle in "Peter and the Starcatcher"
Exceptional Performances as Crazy Ladies: Laurie Metcalf in "The Other Place," Carey Mulligan in "Through a Glass Darkly" (tie)
Worst Tony Awards Night Outfit: Frances McDormand in a denim jacket


WANT MORE THEATER GOSSIP? Scroll to read about Harry Connick Jr., starring in "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever." Then search to read items and quizzes about scores of New York stage people and shows, including Tyne Daly, Brian Stokes Mitchell and "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying."

Harry Connick Jr.: The Quiz and the Bio

THE critics have spoken, and the future looks uncertain for the Broadway revival of "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever." But that's no reason to ignore its leading man, the unfailingly charming Harry Connick Jr. (Try the theater gossip quiz below.)

CURRENT GIG Playing a psychiatrist in love with his patient's past-life regression.

AGE 44.

BORN AND RAISED New Orleans.

ALMA MATER Hunter College and Manhattan School of Music.

AVAILABILITY Married.


QUIZ TIME!

1. Harry Connick Jr.'s Broadway debut (not counting concerts) was in "The Pajama Game" (2006). He played

(a) A sleepwear salesman
(b) A department store magnate
(c) A union buster
(d) A sex worker

2. On the sitcom "Will & Grace," Harry played

(a) Will's tough-cop boyfriend
(b) Grace's doctor husband
(c) Karen's mogul husband
(d) Jack's closeted boss


3. He made his movie debut in "Memphis Belle" (1990), co-starring with Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Billy Zane and others. The title refers to

(a) The Southern debutante two of the men love
(b) The code name of a World War II operation
(c) An airplane
(d) Cybill Shepherd

4. Based on the photo above (way above), would you say that the revival of "On a Clear Day" takes place in

(a) 1965
(b) 1968
(c) 1974
(d) 2012


5. Cute Harry described the experience of portraying Dr. Mark Bruckner to The New York Times with this statement:

(a) "I have to go to a profoundly dark place eight times a week."
(b) "This is by far the most complicated story arc that I've ever had to play."
(c) "I'm out of my comfort zone."
(d) "I always knew I could play gay."

BONUS QUESTION In this version of "On a Clear Day," the character played by Barbra Streisand in the 1970 movie has been changed to

(a) A fellow psychiatrist
(b) A young model with multiple personalities
(c) A young software designer with multiple personalities
(d) A gay man

Answers are below.

"On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," by Alan Jay Lerner, Burton Lane and Peter Parnell, directed by Michael Mayer, St. James Theater, 246 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. Opening night: Dec. 11, 2011.

WANT MORE THEATER GOSSIP? Scroll to read about the Pearl's production of "Richard II." Then search to check out a mix of feature items and quizzes on the likes of Frank Langella, Lily Rabe, Brian Bedford, Jennifer Lim, Marlo Thomas and Edward Albee.

WHAT'S YOUR SCORE?

1. (c) A union buster who falls in love with the beautiful union representative at a pajama factory.

2. (b) He married Grace, but then he was out of the country a lot.

3. (c) A WWII bomber.

4. (c) 1974. But yeah, it looks more like the '60s to us too.

5. Trick question: He said (a), (b) and (c) to the reporter Patrick Healy in an Arts & Leisure article.

Bonus question: (d) He's an assistant at a flower shop who suffers from commitment anxiety and wants to quit smoking. In a past life, he was a girl singer in the Big Band era.
______________________________________________________

If you had more than three correct answers, you are a genius. If you had three or fewer, you should be hypnotized by a handsome, widowed psychiatrist with a gorgeous singing voice.

Top 10 Good Things About the Pearl's "Richard II"

ALL ABOUT EVE Grant Goodman, left, as Henry Bolingbroke, and Sean McNall as King Richard in the Pearl Theater's "Richard II" at City Center.

THE Drama Desk Award-winning Pearl Theater's current production is "Richard II," the Shakespearean tragedy (not to be confused with "Richard III") of a man who came to the throne of England at the age of 10, loved power too well and was at least a little bit nuts -- somewhere between narcissist and schizophrenic.

Theatergossip.com doesn't review per se, but here are a few thoughts on why "Richard II," which is around for another two and a half weeks, might be worth your while.

1. Sean McNall's performance in the title role. Imagine Michael J. Fox as a cocky 14th-century Plantagenet king of England who loses his job.

2. John of Gault's speech that begins "This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle" and ends "This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England."

3. J. R. Sullivan's direction, which seems to have achieved that rarity: being sure every cast member understands every single Elizabethan word he or she speaks.

{READ MORE: The full text of the play.}

4. Richard's line "For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings."

5. The play's past record of getting no film respect. Not a single American feature film version in the history of cinema! (According to IMDB, at least.) There have been eight TV versions.

6. Richard's line "I wasted time, and now doth time waste me."

{READ MORE: About the Pearl Theater Company}

7. The play's past record of getting no New York stage respect. There have been six Broadway productions since 1878, but none have lasted longer than four months (and that was in 1937).

8. Harry Feiner's rusticity-with-stained-glass set.

9. Being prepared for the 2012 BBC version with Ben Whishaw as Richard, Patrick Stewart as John of Gaunt and Rory Kinnear as Bolingbroke.

{READ MORE: About the BBC "Richard II"}

10. Stephen Petrilli's lighting and Martha Hally's costumes. O.K., that's 11.


"Richard II," by William Shakespeare, directed by J. R. Sullivan, City Center Stage II, 131 East 55th Street, (212) 581-1212, nycitycenter.org. Closing night: Dec. 24, 2011.

WANT MORE THEATERGOSSIP? Scroll to meet our Gossip Girl of the Month, Jennifer Lim of "Chinglish." Then search to read quizzes about stars from Frank Langella to Nina Arianda and items about shows like "The Book of Mormon" and "War Horse."

Gossip Girl of the Month: Jennifer Lim

IT'S not clear how long the witty culture comedy "Chinglish" is going to last on Broadway, but it will have served one important purpose: introducing New York theatergoers to Jennifer Lim. (Who seems much nicer than the tough-broad photo above would suggest.)

WHAT THE CRITICS THOUGHT "Just plain superb . . . a Tony-worthy performance" (New York Magazine) "Only the strident and sensual Ms. Lim, who has the most fully written part, hints at a real complexity." (The New York Times)

AGE 32.

BORN AND RAISED Hong Kong.

ALMA MATER University of Bristol (U.K.), Yale School of Drama.

AVAILABILITY Single.

BROADWAY DEBUT "Chinglish" is it. She plays a buttoned-up, intense Chinese vice minister who really lets go in her private moments with an American businessman. Language problems be damned!

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH Another Jennifer Lim (also Asian and about the same age), but born in London. She appeared in "When Evil Calls" and "Spirit Warriors."

HER DISAPPROVING-OF-THEATER-CAREER FATHER'S REACTION TO "CHINGLISH" "After he saw it, he said, 'I wasn't bored.' And I was like, I will totally take that."


READ MORE ABOUT JENNIFER

"Can't Talk Very Good Your Language," by Ben Brantley, The New York Times, Oct. 28, 2011
"An Actress and a Role Balance Two Worlds," by Larry Rohter, The New York Times, Nov. 23, 2011
"Chinglish Is More Than Just Mangled Language," by Scott Brown, New York Magazine, Oct. 28, 2011
jenniferlimonline.com

"Chinglish," by David Henry Hwang, directed by Leigh Silverman, Longacre Theater, 220 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. Opening night: Oct. 27, 2011.

WANT MORE THEATERGOSSIP? Scroll to take our latest quiz, on the new Broadway revival of "Private Lives" and its stars, Kim Cattrall and Paul Gross. Then search to read more quizzes (on Samuel L. Jackson, Marlo Thomas and Nina Arianda, the star of "Venus in Fur") and past items on stage stars from Katie Finneran to James Earl Jones.