Best Theater of 2023
Many of the plays and musicals that resonated this year deftly married elements of drama and comedy.
Jessica Chastain and Arian Moayed as Nora and Torvald Helmer in Jamie Lloyd's surgically precise Broadway production of "A Doll's House." Sara Krulwich/The New York Times
If 2023 was a tragedy in the world, on New York stages it was a dramedy year, highlighted not only by serious plays with great jokes, but also by flatout comedies with dark underpinnings. And though not all 10 shows (and various bonuses) on my mostly chronological list below fit that mongrel category, even the gravest of them seem to have gotten the memo that theater should not be a bore or a drag. It should thrill you into thought or, as the case may be, solace.
"Independently Owned" is the "Shucked" showstopper that helped Alex Newell snag a Tony Award, but my favorite number in the show is the wronged-man solo, "Somebody Will," which revealed the adorably doofy Andrew Durand as a full-throated, tears-in-your-beer balladeer. The musical's composers, Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, are already reliable country music hit makers; Nashville should give this one a spin, too. SCOTT HELLER
