Seat Filler: Best NYC Theater of 2010

2. The Revival
Directed by Michole Biancosino, this staggering drama by Samuel Brett Williams crackled with cinematic tension at the Lion Theatre. Trent Dawson of As the World Turns starred as Eli, the son of a Southern Baptist preacher who must try to rebuild his late father’s congregation in Arkansas. Pressured to compete with nearby megachurches, the married pastor became an evangelical superstar when he publicly “cleansed” a troubled young drifter named Daniel — an outstanding David Darrow — of his homosexuality, but Eli and the rough-trade hothead were actually having sex on the sly. “It’s hot and cold, but good — hard to explain,” said Daniel, describing the look Eli gave him at a church potluck. “Kinda like makin’ meth.”

1. Yank!
Directed by Igor Goldin and penned by gay brothers David and Joe Zellnik, York Theater Company’s moving World War II musical had tap dances, torch songs, a drag number, a dream ballet, and shirtless soldiers. What more could you want from an old-timey tuner? In this sentimental salute to barracks bottom-bunkers before “don’t ask, don’t tell,” Ragtime’s Bobby Steggert was adorably affecting as a shy draftee who falls for a conflicted fellow private played by Ivan Hernandez. Nancy Anderson played a lesbian servicewoman, and choreographer Jeffry Denham provided sassy comic relief as a gay journalist at Yank, a real-life WWII ’zine. Atten-hut: Out director David Cromer has been tapped to helm a Broadway run in fall 2011.