‘Come Far Away,’ ‘Groundhog Day,’ And ‘Hello, Dolly’ Lead Entertainment Weekly Top 10 Theater of 2017
Entertainment Weekly gave its regards to New York City's Great White Way as the entertainment news magazine named its top 10 theater shows of 2017.
The Entertainment Weekly staff picked out some of the best musicals and plays that captivated Broadway audiences throughout the year.
Bette Midler's 'Hello, Dolly' Wins Top Spot
Entertainment Weekly crowned Hello, Dolly, starring the legendary Bette Midler, as their number 1 musical of 2017. The Hocus Pocus actress took Broadway by storm this year as matchmaker Dolly Levi in the show's latest revival. The Tony-winning Midler earned rave reviews for her interpretation of the classic character and continued to entertain audiences despite reliving Geraldo Rivera's sexual assault.
Old Friends Return To Broadway
In addition to Hello, Dolly, several revivals of signature shows found themselves on the Entertainment Weekly countdown. The off-Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd was placed in the eighth spot on the list. Jake Gyllenhaal's memorable performance in Sunday in the Park with George helped the show earn its spot on the list (number 6). Before Laurie Metcalf earned nominations for her work in Lady Bird, she earned a Tony for her impressive performance in A Doll's House, Part 2, which came in third place.
Building Bonds On Broadway
The remaining shows on Entertainment Weekly's list all have something in common. At the heart of their respective shows, the productions showed how people came together to support one another. The off-Broadway play The Wolves, which placed at number 10 on the countdown dealt with the relationships between players of an indoor soccer team.
Oslo, which placed at number 9 on the list, took audiences back to Oslo, Norway, to the 1990s, where the leaders of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization tried to come together to find common ground. Entertainment Weekly's seventh entry was the uplifting (and soon to be a motion picture) Come Far Away, which earned critical acclaim for telling the story of how a small town united to welcome travelers who were stranded there due to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
The Band's Visit, which found itself in the magazine's top 5, focused on a group of Egyptian musicians who were forced to spend the night in a small Israeli town. Throughout the show, several of the townspeople bonded with the musicians as they experienced emotional pitfalls.
Other theatrical productions that made the Entertainment Weekly list included Indecent (number 4) and Groundhog's Day (number 2).
