Kristin Dausch in "Funny Girl." Photo by James Jamison.

From left, Pam Dougherty and Diana Sheehan in "Grey Gardens." Photo by Mark Oristano.

"The Black Monk" at Undermain Theatre. Photo by Brian Barnaud.

"Talk Radio" at Upstart Productions. Photo by Marc Rouse.

"Incorruptible" at Circle Theatre. Photo by Glen E. Ellman.

"Romeo and Juliet" at Trinity Shakespeare Festival. Photo by Amy Peterson.

"The History Boys" at Uptown Players. Photo by Mike Morgan.

"The Bluest Eye" at Jubilee Theatre. Photo by Buddy Myers.

  

For me, 2009 was a year of discovery.

It was my first full year to give myself review assignments. So, free from limitations by editors, geography or a rapidly shrinking budget (as was the case at my former job at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram), I was able to catch whole seasons of theaters whose work I only partially saw in previous years. I was also freed up to venture into Dallas' 'burbs—Plano, Garland, Richardson, DeSoto, etc.—and smaller-budget theater spaces, such as the Dallas Hub Theater, the Green Zone and Addison's Stone Cottage. And yes, I still saw all the shows at the Fort Worth theaters I used to regularly review in the newspaper.

It helped that despite the much-talked-about recession, new theater companies popped up in droves in 2009, among them Level Ground Arts, Balanced Almond, Broken Gears Theatre Project, Enter Stage Left, Tumor Boy Productions and PFamily Arts. Meanwhile, a few others that began in recent years—including Upstart Productions, African American Repertory Theater and Sundown Collaborative Theatre—proved their worth in 2009.

The more established companies kept on trucking, even if it meant scaling back. The only theater that suffered death-by-recession, that I can think of, was Richardson's Labyrinth Theatre. Dallas even managed to open a major new performing arts center, which thankfully had been conceived in stronger economic times.

I saw 165 shows in Dallas-Fort Worth this year (and that number doesn't reflect all the short/one-act plays viewed in various festivals), as well as a few operas and dance performances. (Apologies to Pegasus Theatre, which opens a show on the final day of the year—Death Express! will be considered for 2010 awards and lists.)

Of the theater productions I saw, a higher percentage than usual falls in the "highly memorable" category. In fact, this might have been the strongest year for local theater of the entire decade. My list could easily have been of 50 shows I'd gladly see again. But I'll keep the list more limited, to a Top...20.

Hey, I'm an online journalist now. I can do whatever I want on the site I co-founded. Look for Elaine Liner's take on 2009 and a decade wrap-up coming later this week. And go here for our podcast about theater in 2009.

Here, in ascending order, are my favorite shows of the year, followed by some honorable mentions and a summation of the year's most memorable performances and other miscellaneous nods.

THE YEAR'S BEST SHOWS

20. As Thousands Cheer, Lyric Stage (April): This musical comedy revue of Depression-era themes, by Irving Berlin and Moss Hart, held up surprisingly well in 2009, bolstered by a vocally strong cast. Directed by Len Pfluger.

19. Click Clack Moo, Dallas Children's Theater (January): Perfectly enjoyable for the kids, and devilishly clever for the grown-ups, this show about farm animals revolting against the farmer was one of the most politically engaging shows in a year in which the term "socialism" was bandied about a lot. Directed by Doug Miller.

18. The House of Blue Leaves, Theatre Arlington (May): John Guare's funniest play was right at home at Theatre Arlington and with a seriously funny cast, led by Ted Wold. Directed by B.J. Cleveland.

17. Rabbit Hole, Contemporary Theatre of Dallas (October): Solid cast, deeply moving story and a well-crafted script by David Lindsay-Abaire. Directed by Cynthia Hestand.

16. Port Twilight, or a History of Science, Undermain Theatre (November): Len Jenkin's metaphysical cabaret piece interwove three stories in a fictional town that's somewhere between Grover's Corners and Twin Peaks, and offered deep thoughts without ever taking itself too seriously. Great fun and wholly unforgettable. Directed by Katherine Owens.

15. The Seafarer, Stage West (January): Perhaps Conor McPherson's best play, it had a near-perfect production at Stage West, with Jerry Russell, as the devil, delivering one of his best performances in years. And for a man who's always first-rate, that's saying a lot. Directed by René Moreno.

14. "Master Harold"...and the Boys, African American Repertory Theater (October): Athol Fugard's tough play about a young white student and two black men who work at the restaurant his father owned in apartheid-era South Africa, received a quiet, detailed and beautifully acted production at what is quickly becoming one of North Texas' most reliable theaters. Directed by Sharon Benge.

13. The Skin of Our Teeth, Stage West (October): I've waited decades to see a professional production of Thornton Wilder's second best-known play, and Stage West's version was a splendid pay-off. Directed by Jim Covault.

12. Vincent River, Theatre Britain (March/June): Philip Ridley's two-hander about a woman and the man who may have had a part in the murder of her gay son found a quietly intense production by Theatre Britain, featuring first-rate performances by James Chandler and Sue Roberts-Birch. It was performed in March at WaterTower Theatre's Out of the Loop Fringe Festival, and then at the K.D. Studio Theatre in June. Directed by Robin Armstrong.

11. The Bluest Eye, Jubilee Theatre (January): This adaptation of an early Toni Morrison novel was simplistic and highly theatrical, with an astounding trio of adult actresses playing little girls. Stormi Demerson was equally powerful as a mother who couldn't lose her job as a domestic in a white woman's house, even if it meant not paying much attention to her own children. It was the best production Ed Smith has directed since he arrived at Jubilee Theatre four years ago.

10. The History Boys, Uptown Players (April): Alan Bennett's Olivier- and Tony Award-winning has much to say about teaching methods, teenage boy hormones, and great educators who happen to have personal flaws. Uptown's area premiere was gorgeously designed (by Bruce R. Coleman, who also directed) and introduced a slew of young male actors, many of whom you should expect to see more of this year.

9. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Casa Mañana (November): Revivals of masterpiece musicals rarely live up to expectations like this staging did. It was stunningly sung and acted by everyone involved, and took me back to the days when Casa's dome space in the Cultural District regularly produced amazing productions of adult musicals. A star-making turn came from University of North Texas student Daniel R. Johnson, as Anthony. He's definitely one to watch in 2010. Directed by Gabriel Barre.

8. Crystal City 1969, Cara Mía Theatre (December): David Lozano and Raul Treviño spent a year researching and writing this play based on a true story of Mexican-American students who successfully protested their unfair treatment at a South Texas high school 40 years ago. The authors' hard work paid off. This arresting production, directed by Lozano, made for powerful protest theater that would have made Luis Valdez proud.

7. The Nibroc Trilogy, Echo Theatre (February/May): Three plays by Arlene Hutton, Last Train to Nibroc, See Rock City and Gulf View Drive, chronicled the meeting, relationship and family lives of a woman and a writer in mid-century America. Succinct scripts, fine acting and simple productions, directed by Ellen Locy and Pam Myers-Morgan, made for a marvelous theater-going experience, first at the Bath House Cultural Center and then at Theatre Too!

6. The Black Monk, Undermain Theatre (April/September): David Rabe's retelling of an Anton Chekhov short story received a poetically acted and designed production at Undermain. It was so good that the April production was brought back for another successful run in September. Directed by Katherine Owens.

5. Incorruptible, Circle Theatre (July). Good and well-done farce is hard to find, so kudos to Circle for unearthing this Michael Hollinger gem about monks in a 12th-century French monastery who devise a plan to get more viewers at the shrine of their Saint. Perfectly pitched comic performances were well-tempered with more grounded turns by Trey Walpole and David H.M. Lambert. One scene in particular, in which Andy Baldwin and Meg Bauman silently fought as Walpole prayed, will be remembered as the year's single funniest scene. Directed by Robin Armstrong.

4. Grey Gardens, WaterTower Theatre (October): Yes, this musical—with a book by Dallas native Doug Wright—could have merely been a musical adaptation of the Maysles Brothers' documentary about Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter living in seclusion in their raccoon-infested home in upstate New York. But it goes a step further and ingeniously imagines the events that might have lead to such a situation. It had a fantastic cast, and this production announced a major new talent in North Texas, Diana Sheehan (who made her area debut in Lyric's As Thousands Cheer). Directed by Terry Martin.

3. Trinity Shakespeare Festival (June): It has been too long since professional summer Shakespeare had a home in Fort Worth, and Texas Christian University brought it back in style, thanks to gorgeous productions of Romeo and Juliet (directed by Alexander Burns) and Twelfth Night (directed by T.J. Walsh). Both were wonderfully conceived and strong in acting and storytelling. TSF's second-season productions of Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing, coming in 2010, will have a lot to live up to. We have no doubt they can manage that feat.

2. Talk Radio, Upstart Productions and Project X: Theatre (October): This staging of Eric Bogosian's searing real-time drama, a night with a shock jock at a middle-America radio station, was polished but still gritty, with well-researched design and terrific caller performances by actors offstage. In the major role, Elias Taylorson devastatingly captured the meltdown of the character that Bogosian wrote for himself (and based on Alan Berg).  Directed by Regan Adair.

1. Funny Girl, Lyric Stage (September): This was Lyric's fourth full production to feature a complete orchestra, and after its first one, 2007's Carousel, it was the best. This musical about Fanny Brice helped make Barbra Streisand a star, and with Jule Styne's lush music, it's easy to see why. Every element of Lyric's revival, from chorus work to design, was expertly crafted. In the title role, New Yorker Kristin Dausch gave one of the performances of the year. If this show's on the radar of New York producers, they had better give her a look. Directed by Cheryl Denson.

HONORABLE MENTION (a dozen more shows worth mentioning, not ranked, but in alphabetical order):

• Altar Boyz, Uptown Players (directed by Cheryl Denson)
• Empty Room, Balanced Almond (written and directed by Kevin Grammer)
• Evil Dead: The Musical, Level Ground Arts (directed by Billy Fountain)
• The King and I, Lyric Stage (directed by Cheryl Denson)
• Hello Human Female by Matt Lyle, Audacity Theatre Lab (directed by Brad McEntire)
  
• Lost in the Stars, Theatre Three (directed by Jac Alder)
• Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Circle Theatre and Texas Christian University (directed by Harry Parker)
• Plan Nine From Outer Space, Level Ground Arts (directed by Billy Fountain)
• Psychos Never Dream, Kitchen Dog Theater and Project X: Theatre (directed by David Kennedy)
  
• Three Days of Rain, Amphibian Stage Productions (directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt)
• This Is Our Youth, Upstart Productions and Project X: Theatre (directed by René Moreno)
• The Ugly Brothers Present a Perfectly Lovely Play Featuring the Quiver Sisters and Their Pretty Little Ways, Hip Pocket Theatre (written and directed by Johnny Simons)

GREAT PERFORMANCES (in alphabetical order):

• Andi Allen, Plan Nine From Outer Space, Level Ground Arts
• Andy Baldwin, Deborah Brown, David H.M Lambert and Trey Walpole, Incorruptible, Circle Theatre
• Jonathan Brooks, The Black Monk, Undermain Theatre
• David Coffee, Twelfth Night, Trinity Shakespeare Festival
• Bradley Campbell and Alex Ross, The History Boys, Uptown Players
• Kristin Dausch and Jeremy Dumont, Funny Girl, Lyric Stage
• Stormi Demerson, Shundra Grubb, Sydney Sherow and Lisa B. Whitfield, The Bluest Eye, Jubilee Theatre
• Amber Devlin, A Kind of Alaska, ICT Mainstage
• Pam Dougherty and Diana Sheehan, Grey Gardens, WaterTower Theatre
• Ensemble: Andrew Bourgeois, Christopher Dontrell Piper and William "Bill" Earl Ray, "Master Harold"...and the Boys, African American Repertory Theater
• Ensemble: Morgan Justiss, Kristin McCollum, Nancy Munger, Susan McMath Platt and Ian Sinclair, The Nibroc Trilogy, Echo Theatre
• Chamblee Ferguson, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Dallas Theater Center
• Marianne Galloway, Rabbit Hole, Contemporary Theatre of Dallas and Sanders Family Christmas, One Thirty Productions
• Emily Gray, Romeo and Juliet, Trinity Shakespeare Festival
• Lana K. Hoover and Ted Wold, The House of Blue Leaves, Theatre Arlington
• Daniel R. Johnson, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Casa Mañana
• Cindee Mayfield, The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife, Uptown Players
• Tina Parker, Psychos Never Dream, Kitchen Dog Theater
• Christopher Dontrell Piper, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Shane-Arts
• Ryan Roach and Chris Robinson, Greater Tuna, Flower Mound Performing Arts Theatre
• Jerry Russell and Matthew Stephen Tompkins, The Seafarer, Stage West
• Jeff Swearingen, Hello Human Female and The Milky Way Cabaret, Audacity Theatre Lab
• Elias Taylorson and Joey Folsom, Talk Radio, Upstart Productions
• Alexandra Valle, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Theatre Three
• Drew Wall, A Skull in Connemara, Second Thought Theatre and This Is Our Youth, Upstart Productions

MISCELLANEOUS

• Best locally written new play: Crystal City 1969, by David Lozano and Raul Treviño, produced by Cara Mía Theatre Company at the Latino Cultural Center.
• Best environmentally friendly designer: Jeffrey Schmidt, who used recycled/reusable materials for his production designs in the Drama Club's The Old Woman in the Wood and set design for Theatre Three's Talley's Folly.
• Best one-actor show: The Play About the Coach, by Rocketship Productions at WaterTower Theatre's Out of the Loop Fringe Festival.
• Best short play: Jeffrey Swan Jones' The Bob Manus School of Acting, in AmeriStage Players' "Six Pack of One-Acts."
• Best compilation of short plays in one sitting: Tapas by FireStarter Productions, performed at Circle Theatre.
• Best tour: South Pacific at the AT&T Performing Arts Center.
• Best performance by a child actor: Max Ary, Sarah, Plain and Tall, Dallas Theater Center.
• Best performance by a child actress: Alexandra Doke, Ruthless! The Musical, Flower Mound Performing Arts Theatre.
• Best transformation of a cult film or classic TV show for the stage (there were more than you think): Plan Nine From Outer Space, Level Ground Arts.
• Best renovation: Circle Theatre's attractive new lobby and restrooms, which includes a shelf above the urinal on which to place your program/drink while taking care of business!
• Acclaimed show I'm most sorry to have missed: Seven Guitars at African American Repertory Theater.
• Acclaimed show that was apparently funny to everyone, except me: The Road to Qatar at Lyric Stage.
• Show I tried hardest to love, but couldn't: A Midsummer Night's Dream at Dallas Theater Center.