Sweaters

Coat

Accessories (Pants from the first pic as well!), Red Gloves,

OWL SWEATER!

In the first picture, we’ve got a glorious satin-washed trench that fits gloriously.
The next two pictures are sweaters with fabulous collars. I really love the mustard color of the first and the pattern of the second.
Burberry tees are the greatest things that have ever been made. I already own a green one and I need the other two.
I love totes and I crazy for the patterned raffia tote. What a great summer bag. The canvas is so classic and will look great with everything.

And him. I love you, Christopher Bailey. Can we run away and get married. I promise to inspire every collection for the rest of our lives.

The Women

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5. Tamara Todres as Woman in Through the Middle Ground at The Side Project
Yes, she is an incredibly close friend, but she’s also an incredibly talented actress. If you didn’t see the unsettling Through the Middle Ground you really missed out — especially on her performance. One of my favorite theatre moments of 2011 was her extended monologue about her run-in with a homeless woman on the train — it was devastating and she shined.

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4. Hollis Resnik as Carlotta in Follies at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
Her Carlotta had the unenviable task of being compared to Elaine Paige’s Broadway performance, and frankly, she was better. Her torch song, “I’m Still Here” was one of the brightest parts of a brilliant production.

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3. Ellen Barkin as Dr. Emma Brookner in The Normal Heart
Hands-down the most balls-to-the-wall ferocious performance of the year. Her firebrand doctor in the midst of the 80′s AIDS crisis was a white-knuckle, full-throttle trip down the barrel of a gun.

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2. Kristin Scott Thomas as Emma in Betrayal
Her devastating, quiet portrayal of an unfaithful housewife was so completely engrossing you couldn’t do anything but hold your breath anytime she was on stage. She shined like the sun.

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1. Jan Maxwell as Phyllis Stone in Follies
Nothing was as delicious and brutally wonderful as Jan Maxwell’s bitter politician’s wife. She turned one of my least favorite Sondheim songs, “The Story of Jessie and Lucy” into one of the highlights and she turned one of my favorite Sondheim songs, “Could I Leave You” into the definitive version.

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The Men

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5. John Benjamin Hickey as Felix Turner in The Normal Heart
JBH was the emotional center of the absolutely devastating Normal Heart. The incredible journey he takes you on as he succumbs to AIDS was nothing less than stellar.

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4. Harry Groener as George III in The Madness of George III
A towering performance filled with an incredible mix of quiet intensity and frantic energy. At the end you had no idea you just watched a three-hour play, you just knew you saw something incredible.

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3. Danny Burstein as Buddy Plummer in Follies
Buddy is one of those great musical roles with some delirious shots at great theatrical moments and Danny Burstein knocks it out of the theatre.

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2. Hrach Titizian as Uday Hussein in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
His ferocious and terrifying performance as the ghost of Saddam Hussein’s son who torments an on-the-edge translator was a masterclass in navigating of an out-of-control character. Astounding.

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1. Arian Moayed as Musa in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Hands-down the performance of the 2010-2011 Broadway season. He pulls so much life from a man reeling from the death of his sister, haunted by the ghost of a dictator’s son, and leading American soldiers through the ruins of his homeland. The show may be named after the Tiger, but it’s the translator who really shines.

11. The Ugly One by Sideshow Theatre in Chicago

Sideshow’s demented tale about the ugliest man alive and the lengths he goes to to fix his face was stark, dangerously funny and completely engrossing. German playwright at its craziest and most wonderful. Special shoutouts for the incredible lighting design by Mac Vaughey and super tight direction of Seth Bockley.

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10. Murder for Two by Chicago Shakespeare Theatre in Chicago

A deliciously sweet murder mystery musical with wonderful songs and a dynamite performance by the massively adorable Joe Kinosian who plays every suspect. I was initially reluctant — new musicals are often disasters — and I was completely swept off my feet. Wonderful.

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9. Follies by Chicago Shakespeare Theatre in Chicago

It’s not often your favorite musical has two big productions in a single year — even rarer are two dynamite productions of your favorite musical. Luckily for me Follies had just that sort of year. Chicago Shakespeare’s production offered a completely different take on the musical and it soared with incredible beauty. The production also offered up two mighty performances from Hollis Resnik and Marilynn Bogetich.

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8. Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo at the Richard Rogers Theatre in New York

The ghost of a tiger shot dead in Saddam Hussein’s zoo by the Americans who liberated Iraq narrates this story of faith, delusion, maddness, war and glory. The exquisite play towered over most of the 2010-2011 Broadway season with a completely solid production, and the performances by Arian Moayed as the tormented translator and Hrach Titizian as Uday Hussein were exceptional and my favorite male performances of the year. Rajiv Joseph soars to the top of my new favorite playwrights.

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7. War Horse at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in New York

It’s funny to see a show in which the main character and the emotional heart doesn’t have any lines — but the puppetry in this show is so incredible and the horse(s) are so shockingly real, I couldn’t help but be completely enthralled and moved to tears. I don’t know if I ever cried so hard in a theatre before.

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6. The Normal Heart at the Golden Theatre in New York

I thought nothing could move me to tears like War Horse did — and then I saw this. A story about a group of gay men joining forces to fight AIDS in the 80′s was easiest the most devastating piece of theatre I’ve ever seen. Anchored by the towering performances of Ellen Barkin and John Benjamin Hickey, this play shocked me, destroyed me and ultimately filled me with pride for the people who fought for the freedom I have as a gay man today. As a bonus I got to meet my ultimate actor crush — Lee Pace — after.

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5. Black Watch by the National Theatre of Scotland in collaboration with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre in Chicago

I think the last play I saw in (what was essentially) a (giant) gym was my sister’s 8th grade version of Beauty and the Beast. There was nothing juvenile about this masterstroke of theatrical poetry. The story about the Black Watch — a very old and soon-to-be disbanded Scottish military unit — in Iraq was beautiful and engrossing as they wove dance, history and music within a true story of loss and brotherhood. If you ever have a chance to see it, do so.

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4. Betrayal at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London

I was a thrill to see a play by my favorite playwright – Pinter – in my favorite city – London – and this production completely astounded me. The seething tension and devastating pauses filled this production with edge-of-your-seat theatre. I kept having to remind myself to breath. And Kristin Scott Thomas’ performance was among the best I’ve ever seen.

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3. The Three Faces of Dr. Crippen by the Strange Tree Group in Chicago

Strange Tree’s quirky show about a man on the edge was performed with grace and agility. A complete production that was so obviously loved and cared for. I love shows that feature a pre-show and theirs was so funny, weird and delightful. This was the best show I saw in Chicago in the year 2011. In fact, I saw it twice.

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2. Quidam by Cirque du Soleil in Milwaukee

I saw three Cirques this year — and this one could have been a top contender in any year. Quidam is a show about loneliness and being lost within the crowd. Performed with a certain sadness and exquisite almost black-and-white lighting, it was so beautiful. The Banquine was moving poetry and the two athletes – Remi Chal-Debeauvais & Natalia Prestova – who performed Statue gave the audience the most beyond belief moment I’ve ever experienced in the theatre.

So, where can we go from these 10 shows? Well, the #1 show of 2011 was so perfect nothing actually came close…

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1. Follies at the Marquis Theatre in New York

This musical is notoriously problematic, but somehow this production melts away everything that doesn’t work. It is so tight and so glorious. I would love to see this sweep the Tonys come June. Everything about this production is pitch-perfect, but special praise needs to showered on Danny Burstein’s incredible performance as wronged/wronging Buddy Plummer, Derek McLaine gorgeous set and Natasha Katz almost violent lighting.

But it’s Jan Maxwell’s bitter Phyllis Stone who steals the show. She is radiant. She also happens to have the performance of the year.

Go see this. NOW. It closes Jan 22.