Countdown to 2025: 2024 TV

Posted on January 2, 2025 by Shoshana G.

Disclaimer: I only rank shows that I watch and I’m not a TV critic. Also, there may be some spoilers. Read at your own risk…

Sunny

Last year I watched 11 shows from 2023. This year I watched 10 shows that aired new episodes in 2024, plus a TV special–pretty much the same. Last year I also watched 6 seasons of TV from previous years. This year I watched 16, which is back up to where this category used to be. Honestly, I did not really have a favorite show this year. I enjoyed much of what I watched, but there was nothing that I loved, and this really stood out to me as a consequence of the writers strike. The shows I used to love were canceled or ended, and nothing new has taken their place. This might be why I watched more older TV than new. I really hope I can find a new show I love in 2025, especially since six out of these ten shows were either canceled or have ended.

Here are my top 10:

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Countdown to 2025: 2024 Books and Podcasts

Posted on January 1, 2025 by Shoshana G.

Last year, I read 15 books! This year I read 13. Still over my usual goal of 10 books per year. I also listened to a lot of podcasts, which I have included at the end of this list.


Stats:
4 fiction books (last year: 6)
Broken down into: 2 contemporary, 1 classic, and 1 historical fiction
1 of these was the second book in a trilogy; 1 was a re-read

8 non-fiction books (last year: 7)
Broken down into: 4 memoirs/autobiography, 4 academic/history (one being entertainment history)
1 was a re-read; 1 was by someone I know

1 book of poetry (last year: 2)

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Countdown to 2025: 2024 Movies

Posted on December 29, 2024 by Shoshana G.

Last year I saw 30 movies, and this year I saw 29. I saw 4 new movies (last year it was also 4), and 25 older movies streaming/on a plane. I saw 3 of the new movies in the theater, and 1 streaming.

Notable movie moments this year were seeing the Wicked movie, seeing a screening of a movie a friend produced, seeing my favorite movie Poltergeist in a theater again, and watching a bunch of Hitchcock films in preparation for two podcast episodes, as well as some just for fun. Our now annual Christmas movie marathon around a series or theme was the Terminator movies (we watched all the first two and Dark Fate, the third one wasn’t available to stream and the other two don’t exist). Our Halloween movie was Totally Killer, our Valentine’s Day movie was His Girl Friday.

My rating system for new movies uses stars and equates as follows: 1=bad, 2=ok 3=really good 4=great.

My favorite new movies (4 stars) this year were:
Thelma

Runners up (3.5 stars):
Advanced Chemistry
Wicked

My favorite old movie I saw for the first time:
Quiz Lady

My favorite old movies I loved seeing again:
Poltergeist
The Terminator
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator: Dark Fate

The (Not-So) Big List:

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Countdown to 2025: 2024 Theater

Posted on December 28, 2024 by Shoshana G.
Shoshana wearing a 1990s Tommy shirt holding the Tommy revival program.

Last year I saw 34 shows. This year I saw 41, slightly higher than last year. 35 of those were in person and 5 were streaming or on Zoom (5 fewer than last year).

I performed/read in the 2 Thornton Wilder Society readings, one was a concert with songs from my musical, and I performed in 4 low key shows (3 singing salons and my cabaret workshop, all at Ripley Grier). I watched 2 opera programs this year after watching none last year, and I saw two concerts with artists I’ve been a fan of.

I have highlighted my favorites. And after the favorites is the HUGE list of everything I saw. Then, I have listed some panels, exhibits, and events I also attended this year.

Top 10 Favorites (in no order, I swear):
The Connector (MCC)
Suzanne Ciani Reflections and Waves Concert (Church of the Heavenly Rest)
The Keep Going Songs (Lincoln Center Theater)
Lempicka
Hyeyoung Kim: Water and Fire (Joe’s Pub)
Cats “The Jellical Ball” (PAC NYC)
Maybe Happy Ending
Dan Fishback is Alive, Unwell, and Living in His Apartment (Joe’s Pub)
Oh, Mary
Cybill Shepherd concert (Vibrato)

Runners Up (Also in no order):
Once Upon a Mattress (City Center Encores!)
Nobody Cares (Audible Theater/Minetta Lane Theater)
How to Dance in Ohio
Jelly’s Last Jam (City Center Encores!)
Teeth (Playwrights Horizons/New World Stages)
Dead Outlaw (Audible Theater/Minetta Lane Theater)
Tommy
Three Houses (Signature Theatre)
Titanic (NY City Center Encores)
Our Town

The Big List:

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My Joe’s Pub debut!

Posted on April 24, 2024 by Shoshana G.

It’s my Joe’s Pub debut! Songs from my show Days of Rage with Hyeyoung Kim will be part of this concert: Hyeyoung Kim: Water & Fire. I’m so excited to hear them in this venue, one of the best in the city, and I’d love to see you there to celebrate on Thursday, May 23rd at 7pm. Get your tickets now.

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Happy New Year/2023 in Review!

Posted on January 3, 2024 by Shoshana G.

Happy New Year!

I thought I’d do a little year in review roundup. I’m not one for New Year’s as a holiday. In fact, I hate New Year’s and I wrote a song about it. But I do love taking stock of a specific period of time, and the secular new year cycle provides a nice timeline for that. 

On New Year’s I was busy finishing up my 2023 books, TV, movies, and theater up to the last moment. I am always jealous of folks who post their end-of-year lists in mid-December and then get to relax for the next week or two. I go up to the deadline. Here is each one:
2023 Theater
2023 Movies
2023 Books and Podcasts
2023 TV

Articles!
I had three articles published this year, two for American Theatre magazine and one for Theatermania. 

  • Itamar Moses: Every Day He Writes the Book. I did this interview in 2019 for a different publication that folded. I then got permission to publish it for American Theatre. I’m so proud of this interview about being a musical theater bookwriter, writing The Band’s Visit, and working on various musicals, including 2023’s An American Tail. And it was featured on the Broadway Briefing (a daily email sent out to everyone in the “industry”).
  • A Composer/Singer Collaboration That’s in the Show’s DNA. There were quite a few articles on the new musical Double Helix, and mine focused on the collaboration between writer Madeline Myers and star Samantha Massell for American Theatre magazine. I loved interviewing these awesome women.
  • Interview: Meet Nitra McAuliffe, Coauthor of Broadway’s Rarely Seen Musical The Lieutenant. My Theatermania debut! This was a dream interview of mine. I’d wanted to interview Nitra since I came across her name and this show years ago. A Tony-nominated woman composer with barely any online footprint? That’s right in my wheelhouse. When the York Theater did the show this past year, I had my chance. 
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Countdown to 2024: 2023 TV

Posted on January 2, 2024 by Shoshana G.

Disclaimer: I only rank shows that I watch and I’m not a TV critic. Also, there are some spoilers. Read at your own risk…

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Countdown to 2024: 2023 Books and Podcasts

Posted on January 1, 2024 by Shoshana G.

Last year, I read 11 books! This year I read 15. Well over my usual goal of 10 books per year thanks to four audio books. I also listened to a lot of podcasts, which I have included at the end of this list. This was the first year I listened to audiobooks! I’m not the best listener, but I realized that if the book is non-fiction and similar in style to the podcasts I listen to, then I can do it, and it’s a good way to experience more books. I’m still primarily a reader, and I usually use my listening time for podcasts, so any audiobooks I choose should have a real reason to do the audio version, such as a specific reader or style.

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Countdown to 2024: 2023 Movies

Posted on January 1, 2024 by Shoshana G.

Last year I saw 30 movies, all at home or on a plane, and this year I also saw 30. I saw 4 new movies (last year it was 2), and 26 older movies streaming/on a plane. I saw 2 of the new movies either in the theater, and 2 streaming.

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Countdown to 2024: 2023 Theater

Posted on December 31, 2023 by Shoshana G.

Last year I saw 36 shows. This year I saw 34, so a little drop from last year, but not too bad. 24 of those were in person, 10 were streaming, on Zoom, or in a movie theater. I saw two more in-person show than last year, and slightly fewer streaming shows.

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