These Entrances and Exits Made a Difference

The usual caveat: No one sees even one-fifth of all the professional productions presented in Southern California each year, so my apologies to all the unseen wonders out there. In alphabetical order, the top 10:

All My Sons

A powerhouse production of Arthur Miller’s first great play kicked off a string of superb local revivals of mid-century American classics. (South Coast Repertory.)

Culture Clash Anthology

The trio of wits put together a greatest-hits package that demonstrated that the sum truly can be greater than the parts. (Los Angeles Theatre Center.)

Death of a Salesman

I’ve seldom seen an Ahmanson audience this enthralled--and never for a nonmusical. (Ahmanson Theatre.)

Dreamgirls

Yes, although little seen outside the South Bay, it really was as good as its Ovation Awards indicated. (Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center.)

Going to St. Ives

Lee Blessing’s gripping duologue has a stronger narrative and more timeless themes than his earlier “A Walk in the Woods.” (La Jolla Playhouse.)

Golden Child

This East West Players production of David Henry Hwang’s fascinating play about East meeting West was the best show yet in the theater named after the playwright. (David Henry Hwang Theatre.)

Metamorphoses

The Taper was transformed as magically as the gods and mortals in Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation of Ovid. (Mark Taper Forum.)

Oliver!

Even more amazing than the company’s “Streetcar” was this deaf company’s first musical, filling its new space with captivating sounds as well as sights. (Deaf West Theatre.)

The Skin of Our Teeth

Returning home with Thornton Wilder’s crazy and funny classic, the company opened up the back wall and discovered something new about its old space. (A Noise Within.)

Sweeney Todd

Director Michael Michetti and Gold Coast Plays brought the great musical to a previously problematic space and made it sing. (Scherr Forum, Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.)

*

Nos. 11-20 (in alphabetical order): Amy’s View, South Coast Repertory; An Antigone Story (A Hijack), Cornerstone Theater at Subway Terminal Building; Dinner With Friends, Geffen Playhouse; Entertaining Mr. Sloane, South Coast Repertory; Far Side of the Moon, Irvine Barclay Theatre; Fully Committed, Coronet Theatre; The Glass Menagerie, Pasadena Playhouse; Merrily We Roll Along, West Coast Ensemble; A Question of Mercy, Pacific Resident Theatre; Red, White and Tuna, La Mirada Theatre.