Best Theater Season

Alley TheatreMost regional theaters would be delirious with a season that included just one recent Pulitzer Prize-winning play. But the Alley Theatre's artistic director, Gregory Boyd, is not your typical AD. Last season he proved it by filling up his stages with some wonderfully controversial shows, including two Pulitzer-winners. David Auburn's renowned Proof and Suzan-Lori Parks's Topdog/Underdog ran back to back, sandwiched between several other productions that were every bit as wonderful. There was a soaring production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and a biting rendition of Adly Guigis's Our Lady of 121st Street.And for the first time ever, the Alley produced a musical: Steven Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, featuring its very own company of actors, who proved their musical stature when the show was extended several weeks.