Comments (0) Best Theater Season - 2001

Stages Repertory Theatre

Stages set the pace for the entire theatrical season with its boisterous production of Jane Martin's Anton in Show Business. After that, artistic director Rob Bundy never looked back. Some of the best productions included the strange and disturbing comedy about a group of suits from corporate America in Laura Hembree's Car Pool. The holiday season brought the requisite musical; this year Bundy produced the understated and beautifully ironic Company, by Stephen Sondheim. Old Wicked Songs, by Jon Maran, focused on anti-Semitism and the power of music to heal; it was perhaps the most moving production of the year. Ex-Oiler Bo Eason pulled in full houses for his smart if sentimental script, Runt of the Litter, about the gory guts of professional football. And of course Stages couldn't complete a season without one totally off-the-wall script, which bounced across the stage in the shape of Betty's Summer Vacation, an absolutely bizarre tale of serial killers, mommy-hatred and raincoat-clad flashers. We can only hope that next season will be as provocative.