Survivor: 50 Performances You Should See LIVE

As part of a competition here at B5Media, we’re trying to come up with lists – namely, lists of 50 that fit the theme of our blog. I think I’ve got the easiest one of all: my beat is the performing arts, so I can come up with lots of things. 50 Best Plays; 50 Best Dancers; 50 Best Theatres…the ideas are infinite.

But let’s make it useful. Let’s make it “the 50 Performances You Should See Live”, and then you can print them out and check them off as they happen (or as they’ve already happened). I’m also going to divide them, sort of, by genre.

Because while I’m a fan of the arts on the tube, there’s something about being there, hearing the performers actually breathe, that makes it special. And to feel the music, rather than just hear it…

Here we go:

10 Plays:

  1. Hamlet
  2. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
  3. A Raisin in the Sun
  4. The Homecoming
  5. Radio Golf
  6. Osage County
  7. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
  8. A Servant of Two Masters
  9. Faustus
  10. Cyrano de Bergerac

10 Musicals

  1. RENT
  2. The Lion King
  3. Urinetown
  4. Gypsy
  5. Cabaret
  6. Hello, Dolly
  7. Xanadu
  8. Chicago
  9. Wicked
  10. Phantom of the Opera

10 Musical Works to Hear Live

  1. Hallelujah Chorus
  2. 1812 Overture
  3. Schubert’s Mass in G
  4. Mozart’s Requiem
  5. Chopin’s Nocturne
  6. Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra
  7. Leonard Bernstein’s “Requiem”
  8. Philip Glass
  9. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9
  10. Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6

10 Dancers to See

  1. Bill T. Jones
  2. Heidi Latsky
  3. Savion Glover
  4. Ethan Steifel
  5. Maximiliano Guerra
  6. Nora Stephens
  7. Nancy Stark Smith
  8. Li Chiao-Ping
  9. Jin-Wen Yu
  10. Joe Goode

10 Performances That Defy Categorization

  1. Washington Square Park (NYC)
  2. Goat Island Project (Chicago)
  3. Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind (Chicago)
  4. Red Herrings (Madison, WI)
  5. Bread & Puppet Theatre
  6. Burning Man
  7. Dell Arte
  8. Anything by Cirque du Soleil
  9. Laurie Anderson
  10. Corpus Delicti

I wish I could say that this was a hard list to create, but really, it wasn’t. This was literally off the top of my head. With it really being this easy…is there any reason we aren’t out there supporting the arts all the time?

What did I miss? Let me know what you think should or shouldn’t be on the list!

9 Responses to “Survivor: 50 Performances You Should See LIVE”

  1.   Lady Fox
    February 26th, 2008 | 7:10 am

    Les Miserables. I personally think it’s a much better performance to see live than Phantom. Love Phantom, but Les Mis was better.

  2.   Gray
    February 26th, 2008 | 9:57 am

    hmmm. Thing is, my kids have seen both, and they liked Phantom better. I liked Les Mis, but I think that Phantom’s themes are more common.

  3.   polylizzy
    February 26th, 2008 | 10:03 am

    musicals…
    I saw Ms. Saigon and Phantom. Thought they were both better than Chicago. You forgot CATS as well.

    performances…
    Do you consider still art installations? Anything Dale Chihuli

  4.   lady_fox
    February 26th, 2008 | 10:09 am

    I suppose Phantom is also more ’spectacular’ than Les Mis. But when I saw them both I was in my late teens, and Les Mis was just SUCH a better show in general. Prior to seeing them, I liked Phantom better, but afterward, Les Mis took over the top spot.

    *shrug* to each his/her own, right?

  5.   Jinx
    February 26th, 2008 | 5:14 pm

    I am glad that Cirque made the list. I love their shows.

  6.   Dana
    February 27th, 2008 | 11:20 am

    Geez no Foxy Veronica’s…damn I think we at least defy catagorization :)

  7.   Camille
    February 27th, 2008 | 3:50 pm

    I love that Bread and Puppet Theater made it on your list. I have never seen them live but will one day. I love what they do –there just aren’t enough puppeteers in the world anymore.

  8. March 1st, 2008 | 3:22 am

    [...] Survivor 50 Performances You Should See Live [...]

  9. April 1st, 2008 | 7:24 pm

    [...] Survivor 50 Performances You Should See Live [...]


About Us | Advertise with us | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use
Get This Theme


All content is Copyright © 2005-2010 b5media. All rights reserved.