Editor's note: Here, international/national/regional entertainment critic Jim Ruocco announces his picks: "The Best Musicals of 2021 (Equity)"
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the unpredictability of the Omicron Variant, 2021 was still a surprisingly great year for Equity-based musical theatre - LIVE or streamed - with specially selected productions of every size, shape and color coming at you day by day, week by week, month by month with very few postponements or COVID-related outbreaks disrupting ongoing performances or opening nights.
After about a couple of hours of quiet deliberation and scanning through an endless variety of content, from reviews and playbills to columns and specially marked reminder notes, things fell neatly into place, one by one, line by line.
Read the article in its entirety HERE.
Jim is an international/national/ regional entertainment critic and features writer who has written for several major newspapers and magazines and has interviewed hundreds of celebrities including Hugh Grant, Leonardo Di Caprio, Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Bette Davis, Faith Hill, Kate Winslet, Kevin Bacon, Laura Linney, Bryan Cranston, Candice Bergen, Jason Bateman, Kristen Scott Thomas, Burt Lancaster, Mel Gibson, Linda Gray, Westlife, Elaine Paige, Bernadette Peters, Diane Lane, Betty Buckley, Tom Cruise, Kurt Russell, Nathan Lane, Natalie Portman, Julie Andrews, Mia Farrow, Glenda Jackson, Dylan McDermott, Linda Eder, Sam Waterston, Joan Collins, Shirley MacLaine, Linda Evans, Robert Wagner, Susan Lucci, Olivia Newton John, Angela Lansbury, among others. He has been interviewed by "The London Times," "Entertainment Tonight," "WTNH/Channel 8," "The Guardian" and "The New York Times." In September, 2018, he became a member of the prestigious Connecticut Critic's Circle. He also participates, as voter and nominator, in the annual Connecticut Critic's Circle Awards, a noteworthy awards event, which honors and celebrates the best in professional theater in the state.