Ten Things Theatre Lovers Talked About In 2015, Aside From HAMILTON

Yes, yes, it's no secret that Lin-Manuel Miranda's HAMILTON was the biggest news story to come out of Broadway in 2015, having swiftly crossed the line from Broadway hit to nationally-recognized phenomenon.

But there was a lot going on in live theatre this year; some of it controversial, some of it celebratory, some of it on Broadway and some of it miles beyond Times Square. This was the year that John Kander, Fred Ebb and Terrence McNally's THE VISIT finally arrived in New York, with Chita Rivera announcing that her striking performance would be her farewell to Broadway. In 2015 people from around the world logged onto the Internet and saw a live performance of DADDY LONG LEGS for free. Patti LuPone snatched a phone from a texting audience member's hands and a HAND TO GOD attendee tried to charge his cell from a non-working socket on the play's set.

Here are ten more things we talked about in 2015:

Welcome back, Heidi. When Wendy Wasserstein's serious comedy of a woman navigating her way through the feminist movement premiered Off-Broadway in late 1988 - quickly transferring to Broadway the next year and nabbing the Pulitzer Prize - it was considered a landmark work that excited women of her generation by reflecting their own experiences in dealing with contemporary issues. But any work of art that is relevant to its time runs the risk of appearing dated, or even misguided, as the years pile on. This year's revival of THE HEIDI CHRONICLES had women young and old debating the play's importance in its time and its relevance today.

Welcome back, Ellen. It took minutes for the one-night only Encores! Off-Center concert performance of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS to sell out the huge City Center theatre, no doubt because the 64-year-old Ellen Greene was repeating her stage and screen triumph as the lovably ditzy Audrey. An added second performance sold out just as quickly, as did a third. If the beloved actress simply showed up and gave a reasonable facsimile of the performance she is most adored for, her fans would certainly have given her a big hand and gone home happy. Instead, in between those familiar facial expressions and line readings, she took the role to deeper degrees of warmth and dignity, while remaining true to the musical's dark and campy silliness.

They cast who? While Broadway appears to be in the midst of its most racially diverse season ever, there's been controversy erupting regionally in regards to opening up more opportunities for white people. At Kent State University, an African-American director cast a while actor as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Katori Hall's THE MOUNTAINTOP, in what he called an artistic experiment. Hall was not aware of the production until after its run and language has been added to the play's performance rights stating that the role must be cast with historic accuracy. Clarion University's production of Lloyd Suh's JESUS IN INDIA was cancelled when it became known that white student actors were playing Indian roles. Here in Manhattan, the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players' latest engagement of THE MIKADO was replaced with THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE after objections to a promotional brochure depicting white actors in yellowface makeup.

Annie Baker. Perhaps the most talked-about of emerging playwrights who has yet to be represented on Broadway, Annie Baker's THE FLICK was awarded the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama despite reports of numerous walk-outs during its premiere production because of its intentionally slow pacing and indirect dialogue. THE FLICK had returned to New York for a successful commercial run in 2015 when her newest, JOHN, opened Off-Broadway. JOHN featured a monologue performed by actress Lois Smith that began well into intermission, so many audience members in the lobby missed it. The fact that this was the playwright's intention certainly generated more buzz.

Phoning It In. On an otherwise quiet September morning, theatre fans were outraged to see a Twitter ad from AT&T depicting a customer watching a football game on his phone while at the theatre. Despite such behavior being rude, disruptive and, in New York City, illegal, AT&T wrote, "Don't let life get between you and football." It was quickly removed once tweets began encouraging a boycott of the company, with an explanation that "It wasn't to be taken literally and we meant no disrespect."

Defining pornography. As students were preparing to dive into the new school year, incoming Duke University freshman Brian Grasso posted on the school's Class of 2019 Facebook page that he would skip a reading assignment of Alison Bechdel's autobiographical graphic novel FUN HOME "because of the graphic visual depictions of sexuality." His claim that, "in the Bible, Jesus forbids his followers from exposing themselves to anything pornographic," was answered with numerous editorials and opinions defending the book's content.

The Saga Of Larry. It isn't often that someone's very first play, with the author cast in the lead role, opens directly on Broadway with no workshops or regional productions as a big, sold-out smash even before the reviews come out. Of course, it helps if the playwright/star first co-created a landmark sitcom and then wrote and starred in a wildly successful cable series. Larry David did not reveal himself to be much of an actor and his play was simply a throw-back to the well-oiled joke machines that last populated Broadway in the 1960s, but FISH IN THE DARK was closer in spirit to a rock star's live appearance than anything resembling the emergence of an important new voice in American theatre. Good for business? Definitely. Good for Broadway's artistic reputation? Hmm...

Jan Maxwell's swan song? One of the finest stage actors of this generation, Jan Maxwell casually mentioned during an interview promoting her July engagement in Howard Barker's SCENES FROM AN EXECUTION that it would be her last time appearing in a play, citing a lack of variety in the roles she's been offered. If that really was the last time theatre audiences would see her live, she certainly went out spectacularly.

Is ALLEGIANCE affecting politics? Based on the childhood experiences of its star George Takei, Broadway's ALLEGIANCE seems to be succeeding in its goal of raising awareness of the issues surrounding the United States Government's imprisoning of Japanese-Americans in internment camps during World War II. Its themes became especially relevant when Donald Trump, the Republican Party's leading candidate for its presidential nomination, suggested that Muslims in America should be required to register in a national database and perhaps carry special identification. When asked as a follow-up if he word have supported the internment camps of the 1940s, he expressed indecision. Would he have been asked that question if ALLEGIANCE wasn't refreshing America's memory about the issue? Hard to say, but nevertheless, Takei is still reserving a seat for Trump at every performance.

Musical theatre's most influential woman? With all due respect to Betty Comden and Dorothy Fields, 2015 may be considered the year that Jeanine Tesori solidified her position as the most successful and important woman ever to make a career out of writing Broadway musicals. Her collaboration with Lisa Kron, the innovative and perfectly-realized FUN HOME, was the first musical with an all-female writing team to be presented with Tony Awards for book and score. Her other four Broadway musicals include showtune-laden musical comedies like THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE and SHREK as well as character-driven dramas like CAROLINE, OR CHANGE and VIOLET. As artistic director of Encores! Off-Center, she helps develop appreciation for important Off-Broadway musicals of the past and as honorary chair of this year's New York Musical Theatre Festival she encouraged those writing the great musicals of tomorrow. She's a ceiling-breaking role model for young women who want to write musicals and, regardless of gender, she's become one of the Broadway musical's most driving forces.

But there's plenty more to talk about. What did you think were some of the theatre's most interesting subjects in 2015?