The soul of blues/jazz singer Billie Holiday is back in the form of Synthia L. Hardy. Her one woman show, “Billie! Backstage with Lady Day” is one of the best one woman biographical shows since the story Big Mama Thornton. Both women had their troubles with themselves, and their families.

Improv is difficult to do well.   That was in evidence on Sunday, when four members of  Impro Theatre  attempted to tell a story, in the style of Shakespeare, with just the words, “wishing well” to start them off.

There’s a reason why the Shakespearian tragedy Titus Andronicus isn’t taught at the high school or hell even the college level.  It’s the ultimate tragedy with no humor, or forgiveness or redemption. However, it’s a great look into character study. It makes you look at these characters stripped to the raw and not afraid to show it off.  Titus (Dan Mailley) is the cruelest son-of-a-bitch in the history of Shakespearian villainy. Macbeth, Richard the III and Iago would both be scared and in awe of this man. The play opens up with the emperor of Rome death and his throne is left up to his sons Saturninus and Bassianus. Their childish bickering leaves only one other person: the Emperor’s brother Titus.

In 1985, a different type of movie came to audiences who weren’t sure what to make of it. The title, The Color Purple, seemed harmless enough. It had a number of huge stars such as Danny Glover, and an upcoming New York actress and future Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg and multi Emmy-award winning talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who only been on the air for about a year. Winfrey gathered her sources together to bring The Color Purple to stage.

The one piece of advice I can give anyone in watching this outstanding production is this: bring a bottle of extra strength Excedrin tablets.  The collage of soft tinkering sounds to full blown loud banging will make your headache mimic those sounds after you leave. And if you don’t bring the aspirin, the harmonic noise will be worth the risk.  A collage of dirty barrels, long and small pieces of rubber tubing, beyond dented rash cans, dirty brooms and mops and grimy traffic signs, tin lids, hang neatly above the performers. The unclean floor and the noise, all at once, can and will be tolerated. 

The juggernaut avant-garde troupe from Quebec has spread its mirth to practically every corner of the earth. In the midst of the tsunami of tourist attractions in Orlando, La Nouba steadily and understandably draws sell-out crowds. During the coldest week in years, we enjoyed this production at an early evening performance.

Another great evening from the unscripted series delivered by the hilarious boys and girls of the Impro Theatre and Combined Artform. Their style is uniquely funny the kind that make your sides ache from so much hard laughter. Nothing is scripted, hence the unscripted part and everyone, cast and audience, have a raucous good time. Previously, both companies brought forth Jane Austen Unscripted, Sondheim Unscripted and Tennessee Williams Unscripted, bringing the Bard to life was just anther rip roaring trip into hystericsville.

In the last 15 years or so, Riverdance has become a part of the lexicon of pop culture. Who were these quick-feet tap dancers, who stubbornly refused to use their arms in their dance and seem to bounce and bounce and bounce a lot? This new dance from Ireland was both intriguing and odd but no one could deny the illuminating presence of then dancer and choreographer Michael Flatley.

You can check my Production of the Year and Performance Awards posted earlier, but here are the rest of my top picks (and don’t miss my annual Orton-esque quote at the end) for the generally disappointing and continuously challenging past dozen months known as 2009, for whatever it all may be worth in a year that otherwise sucked the big one. Some redemptive value? As Stella Adler once said: “Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.”

It seems too soon for Ricky Jay to be doing a victory lap. Not that he won’t deserve one at some point, it just feels too soon. While already establishing himself as one of the pre-eminent sleight of hand artists, he has further spread his influence as an actor, author and consultant. The latter role has him advising filmmakers when there is a scam involved. The directors of The Illusionist and The Prestige, among others called in Jay and his Deceptive Practices company for advice.  Jay rendered ‘arcane knowledge on a need to know basis.’