Seat Filler: Best NYC Theater of 2011

4. The Book of Mormon
As smartly crafted as it is crass, this show from South Park’s creators about mismatched Mormon missionaries in Uganda almost lives up to the buzz heralding it as a musical messiah. Making a gold plate — Mormon joke! — of a modest meal, out Broadway Impact cofounder Rory O’Malley is glorious as Elder McKinley, a closeted missionary who leads a pink-sequined chorus in “Turn It Off,” a showstopper about urge-squelching.
Eugene O’Neill Theatre, open-ended.

3. Rent

The trend of Broadway shows reopening off-Broadway continues with Jonathan Larson’s rock musical masterpiece, which resets La Bohème in the AIDS-addled East Village. Reinvigorating the show with new visuals and an age-appropriate cast — you betta work, MJ Rodriguez as Angel — returning director Michael Greif cements the action in 1991 and brings realism to what bordered on caricature. Rentheads should be over the moon.
New World Stages, open-ended.