TICKETHOLDER AWARDS 2024

Although the creators of all things theatrical are still desperately trying to lure audiences back since the pandemic, the quality of what’s being presented on Los Angeles stages could not be more impressive—especially this year. I am amazed and encouraged by the resiliency of all theatre artists, especially in contrast to the downward spiral being foisted upon us by members of our species who seem bent on self-destruction as they reveal to the rest of us who they really are.

This is why, instead of as usual awarding one theatre company the annual TicketHolder Best Season Award, this year I’m recognizing our entire community, some of the scrappiest, most determined, totally unstoppable, and certainly most talented people with whom I have ever had the privilege to work and know.

Thanks to surgery for a detached retina, I was unable to check out some highly acclaimed productions at the end of this season, including several well-received productions, particularly Pacific Overtures at East West Players, which not only features my very favorite Sondheim score but was touted by nearly all of my colleagues as the best of the year on LA stages. Surely, this and other offerings might have tilted my results here, although what is being honored ain’t chopped liver.

Thank Geebus I am finally able to (sorta) see again, to get back out into the world and stop having to stare down at my feet and Orson Wellesian stomach 24/7. I am more than ready for the 2025 season to knock me out as completely as 2024 did. Now if only the rest of the world would wake up, life would be just about perfect.

BEST SEASON OF 2024

The Entire Los Angeles Theatre Community

BEST PLAYS OF 2024

Fat Ham, Geffen Playhouse

Clarkston, Echo Theater Company

Fatherland, Fountain Theatre

Kate, Pasadena Playhouse

Mercury, Road Theatre Company

Crevasse, Victory Theatre Center

Three, Playwrights’ Arena / LA LGBT Center

The Civil Twilight, Broadwater Studio Theatre

A Froggy Becomes, Open Fist Theatre Company

Mix-Mix: The Filipino Adventures of a German Jewish Boy, Playwrights’ Arena / Latino Theater Company

Dido of Idaho, Echo Theater Company

SINGULARITIES or the Computers of Venus, Road Theatre Company

Sugar Daddy, Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

Kill Move Paradise, Odyssey Theatre Ensemble

RUNNERS-UP: Clue, Center Theatre Group, Ahmanson Theatre; Faithless, Victory Theatre Center; Human Error, Rogue Machine; Medea Comes to Our Town, Lightning Rod Theater

BEST REVIVAL PRODUCTIONS

Reefer Madness: The Musical, The Whitley