What were the 12 best Twin Cities area theater performances of 2024?

We tend to shy away from shows that return regularly on these lists, including Broadway juggernauts such as “The Lion King” and “Les Misérables.”

Instead, our slate of top shows leans toward the new and fresh, and takes note of trends in a field laboring to attract patrons while being fiscally responsible. This includes budget-conscious works with small casts or solo performers, such as Roger Guenveur Smith’s brilliant possession as artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in “Basquiat” and Ryan London Levin’s spellbinding performance as a Jewish comedian who infiltrates a neo-Nazi meeting in Six Points Theater’s “Just for Us.”

The year also showcased grandness. Here is a baker’s dozen of top shows of 2024.

Director Joseph Haj and dramaturge Carla Steen distilled the language of Shakespeare’s epic history cycle into a marathon game of crowns, with a trio of monarchs played luminously by Tyler Michaels King, Will Sturdivant and Daniel José Molina at the Guthrie Theater. Haj’s once-in-a-generation production was lyrical and sublime, and boasted magnificent performances from the whole company, including the likes of Tracey Maloney, Melissa Maxwell, Kurt Kwan and Erin Mackey.

Daddy-daughter directing duo Michael Brindisi and Cat Brindisi-Darrow teamed with razzle-dazzle choreographer Tamara Kangas Erickson to make Carole King’s bio-musical a valentine to resilience at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. Regulars Shinah Hey, Shad Hanley, Alan Bach and Tony Vierling showed their gifts alongside Katemarie Andrews, Daysha Ramsey and John Jamison II. But “Beautiful” is best remembered for title star Monet Sabel, who brought authentic light to King’s struggles while deftly channeling her twangy soul.

Pulitzer winner James Ijames’ sendup of a Founding Mother whose impending death means freedom for those enslaved on her plantation was the year’s most bitingly hilarious comedy. The Mixed Blood Theatre production introduced Minnesotans to poetic imagination of director Pirronne Yousefzadeh, a newcomer who coaxed deft performances from Karen Wiese-Thompson, Monica Scott, Darius Dotch, Domino D’Lorion and Mikell Sapp as a flippant George Washington waving peace out.

At Penumbra Theatre, Lou Bellamy brought his jeweler’s eye to Alice Childress’ play about art, humanity and social unrest. Bellamy elicited sterling work from James Craven, Vinecia Coleman, Darrick Mosley and newcomer La’Tevin Alexander. Nubia Monks, playing an artist’s muse who steps into her natural beauty, earned her ovations for a performance that included a monologue that stopped the show.

Nubia Monks stood out also in Itamar Moses’ one-act dive in America’s intertwined moral quandaries around Israelis and Palestinians. Under Mixed Blood director Mark Valdez, she played a lawyer and ex-girlfriend of Sasha Andreev’s Jewish professor managing the tricky navigation of his students’ passions. Andreev reached a career peak in a drama that had commendable turns by Sun Mee Chomet, Ndunzi Kunsunga, David Michaeli, Tic Treitler and Ahmad Maher as a ardent student activist.

Playwright Michi Barall offered the year’s most groundbreaking play, a 90-minute one-act about a neurodivergent adolescent who finds her voice in comics, at Children’s Theatre Company. Mars Niemi alternated the lead role with Olivia Lampert in the Jack Tamburri staging. The ensemble included Jim Lichtscheidl, Katie Bradley, Darrick Mosley and Matt Park, all of whom conspired to expertly bring a graphic novel to vivid life onstage.

Nubia Monks’ stellar year included the lead role in this Theater Latté Da production. She inhabited Celie’s hurt and fight in Daniel J. Bryant’s heartbreaking production that transferred to New York’s Geva Theatre. The superb cast included Angela Wildflower, Dennis Spears, Ronnie Allen and Nambi Mwassa.

Marcela Lorca’s farewell show as artistic director of Ten Thousand Things Theater was a statement of giddy virtuosity as George Keller essayed the classic with wit and relish. Juiced with soulful choral compositions by J.D. Steele, “Helen” had spot-on turns by Bill McCallum, Lynnea Doublette, Bradley Greenwald, Dominic Schiro and John Jamison II.

Kelli Foster Warder staged and choreographed Jonathan Larson’s work of artists finding voice and love on the scapegoated margins. Sure, it should be a classic of past events but the show at Artistry felt eerily current, resonating because of authentic in-the-moment performances by the likes of Michelle de Joya, Quinn Lorez, Sara Masterson, Mitchell Douglas and Matthew Hall, the last two delivering a touching duet.

Latté Da’s artistic director Justin Lucero showed his operatic ambition and poetic imagination with his fluid staging of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s treatment of this classic tale. Nambi Mwassa slayed as the title servant-turned-princess in a show that also had gorgeous performances by Theo Janke-Furman as the prince, Tod Petersen as the regent and Sally Wingert as a devilish stepmother in Prada-esque couture.

Patrick Page was mesmerizing and virtuosic in this solo show; he scripted and culled from Shakespeare’s greatest villains, lecturing then jumping into character to hold everyone on tenterhooks in an epic, bravura performance at the Guthrie.

Suzie Juul, Morgan Kempton, Kelsey Angel Baehrens and Audrey Mojica kept the audience entertained as the Kim Loo sisters, Broadway’s first Asian revue stars, in this elegant musical by Jacinth Greywoode and Jessica Huang. Stage veterans Ann Michels and J.C. Cutler provided solid anchoring in Lily Tung Crystal’s surehanded staging at the History Theatre co-produced with Theatre Mu while Audrey Parker brought elegance and Ethan Yaheen-Moy Chan a romantic reserve in their memorable performances.

Will Dusek and Audrey Parker headlined Ben Bakken’s boisterous Artistry production, which featured Renee Guittar’s snazzy dance numbers and a stylish turn by Bri Graham as Medda Larkin. It was an extra, extra affair, with performances by Tyson Insixiengma, Pierce Brown and Maddox Tabalba serving as announcements of their young talent.