At last! I've been working on this for a long time, it feels good to finally send this out to the world and to YOU, my beloved readers.
You probably know that I do a Top Five list every year, or my top five favorite movies of the previous year. In 2009 I decided to do a decade in review, a list of the top ten movies and cultural events of the decade, 2000-2009.
Of course I had my eye on that project of the decade we just finished, 2010-2019. And since it seems I'm seeing more cultural events than I did before, and definitley writing about them more often (exponentially more), I thought why limit myself to ten total events? I broke it down to ten plays, ten musicals, ten operas, etc. In quite a few cases I hadn't written a review at the time and had to write a review now, which is why making this list took me so long.
One quick note about the previous decade's list. I wrote up the list and sent it out in December of 2009, before the end of the year. Foolish, because I hadn't yet seen *A Streetcar Named Desire* at BAM, starring Cate Blanchett, directed by Liv Ullmann. That show would have made my top ten for the decade, it was awe-inspiring.
I've written up the lists below. You can read all of the details on my site:
Go to the homepage, divamensch dot com.
Click on "Travel Etc" along the top menu bar.
Click on "Top Five."
Click on "Top Ten Lists for the Decade."
Click on "Top Ten Lists, 2010-2019."
TOP TEN MOVIES
The Beguiled
The Cabin in the Woods
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
The King's Speech
Melancholia
Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood
Only Lovers Left Alive
Parasite
Phantom Thread
Phoenix
TOP TEN MEALS I ATE (in no particular order)
Gordon Ramsay dinner
Karen and Bruce's 50th birthday
Shawarma at MSKCC
Bacon cheeseburger after The Program
Fish boil, Door County
La Veranda, Rome
Cowgirl anniversary party
Wedding brunch
Cafe Quincampoix
Chez Panisse
TOP TEN PLAYS
All About Eve
The Beauty Queen of Leenane
The Damned
A Doll's House Part 2
GATZ
I'll Eat You Last
The Iceman Cometh
The Little Foxes
Our Town
Three Tall Women
Honorable mention: The Boys in the Band, The Fatal Weakness, King Lear, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Spaceman, Venus In Fur
TOP TEN MUSICALS
Aladdin
The Band's Visit
Follies
Fun Home
Hamilton
Hello, Dolly!
The Scottsboro Boys
Shuffle Along
Sweeney Todd
What's It All About?
Honorable mention: Far From Heaven, A Gentleman's Guide To Love and Murder
TOP TEN OPERAS
Adriana Lecouvreur
Anna Nicole
Atys
Einstein on the Beach
Lohengrin
Lulu
The Makropoulos Case
Monodramas
A Quiet Place
Tosca
TOP TEN CLASSICAL MUSIC CONCERTS
Anna Caterina Antonacci recital
Chiara Quartet Bartok cycle
Chiara Quartet farewell concert
Jerusalem Quartet Shostakovich cycle
Meredith Monk concert
New York Philharmonic: *Breakfast at Tiffany's*
New York Philharmonic: *Psycho*
New York Philharmonic: *Star Wars*
Steve Reich and Philip Glass
San Francisco Symphony
Honorable mention: New York Philharmonic Mahler 5th, Tallis Scholars 2018, Tallis Scholars 2019
TOP TEN CONCERTS, NOT CLASSICAL
Tony Bennett
Justin Vivian Bond Carpenters tribute
Kirk Franklin
Diamanda Galas
Harvard/Yale Cantata
Taylor Mac
Andrea Marcovicci arrivederci
New York Pops
Diana Ross
Tom Ze
Honorable mention: Liza's Back (Is Broken), Marilyn Maye
TOP TEN DANCE PERFORMANCES
Batsheva Dance Company, Sadeh 21
Batsheva Young Ensemble
Merce Cunningham centenary
The Hard Nut
Manon
Pepperland
A Quiet Evening of Dance
STREB
Swan Lake
Dita Von Teese
TOP TEN OTHER
Justin Vivian Bond and Carol Channing
The Clock
Everything That Happened and Would Happen
Green Porno
Infinite Variety
Fran Lebowitz
Lypsinka trilogy
Manifesto
River of Fundament
Vulvacular
Honorable mention: Exposed: Songs for Unseen Warhol Films, The Manganiyar Seduction