1. “Astro Boy and the God of Comics,” Studio Theatre: Natsu Onoda Power’s witty collage of acting, film and 3-D cartoons, in which the actors drew part of the plot on huge sheets of paper. Studio’s “Astro Boy” was one of the most innovative productions of 2012.
2. “Xanadu,” Signature Theatre: Who could forget the sparkly pink vision of Erin Weaver’s Kira, roller skating around the stage in her leg warmers, long blonde locks flowing in the breeze? Weaver invoked her inner Olivia Newton-John to bring the cheeky Greek muse to life in the musical adaptation of the campy ’80s film, another production charmed us as two mythical sisters in what was a great big (mirror) ball of silly, spoofy, stellar fun.
3. “The Normal Heart,” Arena Stage: Larry Kramer’s incisive 1985 play about AIDS in a brilliant revival by George C. Wolfe. Like the original, this Arena production was a revelatory reminder of an era not too long ago, when New York’s gay men began to help one another in the awareness and treatment of AIDS.
4. “The Government Inspector,” Shakespeare Theatre Company: Director Michael Kahn made a fresh and witty new work of this satirical play by Nikolai Gogol about a mischievous civil servant who is mistaken for an incognito inspector, sending a small corrupt town into chaos.
5. “Hamlet,” Folger Theatre: Spinning rapidly through the story of the prince of Denmark and his effort to understand his father’s murder, this “Hamlet” came straight from England’s Globe Theatre to the Folger stage and was praised for its precision, credibility and humor.
6. “Black Watch,” Royal Theatre of Scotland: The Shakespeare Theatre’s presentation of the RTS’ moving play about members of the Black Watch regiment serving in Iraq. This was the show’s second visit to Washington, but it was as powerful as it was the first time.
7. “Jekyll & Hyde,” Synetic Theater: A new take on the classic, once again proving what a spectacular actor/dancer/gymnast Alex Mills is and what a valuable asset he has become to Synetic.
8. “My Fair Lady,” Arena Stage: Arena Stage’s clean, unfussy presentation of Lerner and Loewe’s unforgettable musical, presented a brilliant ensemble, a Henry Higgins who actually sang and plenty of exuberant dancing.
9. “Dreamgirls,” Signature Theatre: Matthew Gardiner’s fierce backstage musical gave us the supreme vision of Nova Y. Payton’s Effie White. With diamond-like precision, Payton cut through the clone recordings and audio tripe to deliver a fresh new version of “(And I Am Telling You) I’m Not Going,” free of the distracting histrionics from previous performers.It was this chill-inducing, hair-raising, rousing rendition that made us instantly forget about any other Effies of the past.
10. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Shakespeare Theatre Company: This Shakespeare Theatre Company production was full of whimsy and surprise, especially in the costumes (by Jennifer Moeller) and in the vision of director Ethan McSweeny, who used the metaphor of a theater to represent Shakespeare’s imagined world.
