Most of what can be said about Lin-Manuel Miranda’s audacious, loquacious hip-hop history musical has been said—nay, shouted from rooftops. The cascading lyrics are jaw-dropping, the cast is phenomenal and the storytelling is sublime. Miranda’s masterpiece is the sort of cultural watershed that only happens every decade or so. You can bet it’s #1—we are not giving away our shot.—DC
Most Decembers we wince at the prospect of ranking end-of-the-year lists. Often it’s genuinely hard to agree on #1. New York theater is incredibly diverse. Also, our job is to be versatile: uptown, downtown able to appreciate the best of Broadway and the avant-garde fare Off-Broadway shows and Off-Off Broadway. In truth, though, 2015 was the year downtown went uptown—in a big way—with terms like “game-changer” and “breakthrough” being thrown around regularly. The show, as you know, is Hamilton, and you can believe the hype. But it’s not alone. A future-history play in verse, ravishing revivals, and thrilling downtown experiments made for 12 months of unforgettable theatergoing. Note: We decided to exclude shows from previous years that had transferred (An Octoroon, Fun Home, The Flick and Hand to God) or events with very limited runs (Encores!: Little Shop of Horrors).
RECOMMENDED: Check out more of NYC's best of 2015