Top Ten Productions by Young Performers 2019

Naugatuck, CT - 2019 marks the seventh year that I have compiled end-of-the-year top ten lists of the productions that I have attended during the calendar year. Last year I published a total of 129 reviews. This year the total number was down a bit to 102 published reviews, with 32 of them falling into the category of productions featuring young performers.

Young performers include students in elementary school through high school and end with university students in training. If I was forced to choose my favorite type of performance to attend, I would have to say that I most enjoy watching the up and coming talent on the stages of every type of school. I always feel honored when I am invited to come see all of the hard work that the students have put into their final product.

Much like last year, 2019 included a very large number of outstanding performances in this category. This made it especially difficult to rank the best of the best, and many heavy-hitters were once again knocked out of the top ten.

While this is certainly a large number of shows from which to choose, my five lists remain one person's opinion of the best of the many area productions produced in 2019. There were many shows that I had to miss due to health issues, weather, personal obligations and most often because I was unable to book a performance when many shows were happening with identical run dates. This is especially true of school productions that run during a single weekend. So take the rankings for what they are worth.

Click on each play's title to read the entire review of the show to see more reasons why it made the list.

Top Ten Productions by Young Performers of 2019

10. MAMMA MIA at The Taft School

The Taft students were nicely directed by Helena Fifer, with TJ Thompson in charge of music direction...The lead performers in the cast did their best to embody their often older characters and did very well with the music that was clearly before the time of even the upper class students. It was clear that they had worked very hard in rehearsal with their choreographers Sarah Surber and Amber Cameron and with Mr. Thompson to make the big musical numbers sparkle.

9. RED SPEEDO at Quinnipiac University

This work is surprisingly funny, given the themes of the plot. The direction of Ms. Sage brought out the tension of the action, playing up the tic-like noises of the lawyer's pen, the coach's tapping and the girlfriend's necklace, as well as ensuring that the rhythm of the rapid-fire dialogue was not lost. Strong blocking also added to the palpable tension on the stage.

8. GREEN DAY’S AMERICAN IDIOT by Landmark Student Theatre

Production manager Andrea Bingham announced during her curtain speech that the show was entirely student run and the hard work that all of the young performers and crew had put in was evident.

7. TIE

ANYTHING GOES at Pomperaug High School

There are many elements that make this show a challenge, starting with the sophisticated music of Cole Porter. The 26 musicians in the pit under the direction of Mr. Tzetzo made it sound easy and they raised the level of this "very musical musical" with their musical skill.

SPRING AWAKENING by Get Up Stage Company

Get Up Stage Company works with talented teens every summer. This year director Lindsey DePietro chose an especially challenging musical for her young performers, SPRING AWAKENING and the teens most assuredly rose to the challenge.

6. THE LITTLE MERMAID by Broadway Method Academy

[T]he BMA production features Equity members in the adult leading roles; the five worked alongside two ensembles comprised of multi-talented students of the academy in Fairfield. So I went in expecting high-quality performances from everyone in the cast and I was definitely not disappointed.

5. FALSETTOS at Sacred Heart University

There was not a single scene that was not extremely complicated musically, to the point where I could not imagine having to learn the score for performance, and I have never been easily intimidated by a challenging musical work. I was exceedingly proud of the SHU students in the small cast that mastered the music and made it look easy to perform it, when, in fact, it was anything but.

4. A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC at Western CT State University

I expected to love the challenging Sondheim music and I always enjoy seeing how it fits into the story, but I was blown away by the mature performances of the college-aged performers in training at WCSU that brought this engrossing story to life.

3. MARY POPPINS by Blessed Sacrament Children’s Theatre

Ben Orlando has been choreographing the BSCT musicals since 2013, but this year he stepped up to both choreograph and direct the production. He pulled it off in every way and Mr. Tansley could not be more proud of him.

2. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN by Amity HS Creative Theatre

I loved everything about this show, from the splashy production numbers, to the catchy score, to the star vehicle lead character roles. In the more than capable hands of Mr. Kennedy and his co-director Andrea Kennedy and the rest of the full-page production team, the stage-full of talented teens made this musical soar to new heights.

1. MATILDA by NewArts (in the title photos)

Michael Unger has once again shown off his amazing ability to bring out the best in every young performer in his two casts and rise to the challenge of bringing Broadway to the stage of a local high school with just 39 days of rehearsal.. MATILDA marks the twelfth large-scale musical produced by NewArts in their seventh year of building confidence in the performing arts.

Runner ups: HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING by East Lyme Regional Theater, INTO THE WOODS by Nonnewaug High School, WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION by Naugatuck Teen Theatre, CHARLOTTE’S WEB by Landmark Community Theatre, PERSEPHONE at Naugatuck Valley Community College, WE WILL ROCK YOU at Watertown High School, THE RESISTIBLE RISE OF ARTURO UI and the productions of A CHORUS LINE and INTO THE WOODS by Sabrina’s Encore Productions.

Want more lists?

Click to read the Top Ten Equity Productions of 2019.

Top Ten Plays of 2019

Top Ten Theatrical Tours of 2019

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and on Twitter @nancysjanis417 Check out the NEW CCC Facebook page.