Either 2007 was a terrific year for theater or I’m getting soft in the head: a full 17 of the plays I saw in 2007 got my highest rating, and the number swells to 39 if I include the next highest score. Musicals were huge, comedies scarce and new mountings of old classics well represented this year. Here are my favorites:

Musicals: In the “welcome home” division of the musicals category, several old friends returned: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Jersey Boys and The Full Monty, as did Jack O’Brien’s Hairspray (which we claim even though it didn’t originate here).

The hugely entertaining John Waters-inspired Cry-Baby is La Jolla Playhouse's next Broadway export, set to open in New York in spring 2008. Other excellent musicals seen locally were I Do! I Do! at Moonlight Stage Productions; The Break Up Notebook: The Lesbian Musical (Diversionary); Ragtime (Starlight); Avenue Q (Old Globe Theatre); The Secret Garden (Lamb's Players) and San Diego Rep's The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged).

Comedy: Among my favorites were Diversionary’s Bunbury (with the amazing David McBean), Cygnet’s Arcadia, ion’s All in the Timing, and TheTheatreInc’s rollicking The Frogs, translated by Marianne McDonald.

Seen way out of town (in Washington, D.C.) was Souvenir, the incredible true story of Florence Foster Jenkins, the society rich bitch with an abiding devotion to opera, whose ambition (despite no sense of pitch) was to sing the Queen of the Night’s devilishly difficult aria from Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Foster Jenkins was rich enough to rent Carnegie Hall to do just that, lack of talent notwithstanding. It’s a fabulously entertaining show, and I justify its inclusion here because a local artistic director assures me the play will be produced locally. Soon, I hope.

Drama: Many of the best were new productions of old favorites. At the top of my list is the breathtaking Twelve Angry Men at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. We also got two excellent productions of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, one starring Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin at the Ahmanson, the other with Monique Fowler and James Sutorius at the Carter. Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song Trilogy starring Matthew Weeden was splendid at Diversionary. Cygnet’s production of Dael Orlandersmith’s two-person Yellowman, not to be confused with Henry David Hwang’s Yellow Face at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles was also memorable, as was Alan Bennett’s The History Boys at the Ahmanson.

Direction: Kerry Meads, for the terrific An Ideal Husband at Lamb’s Players; Esther Emery, for the wild and woolly Bunbury at Diversionary; Scott Ellis, for the stunning Twelve Angry Men at the Ahmanson.

Ensemble cast: Several shows were notable for great ensemble work. Among them: Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband at Lamb’s Players; Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia at Cygnet; John Patrick Shanley’s Sailor’s Song, Beth Henley’s Crimes of the Heart and Chekhov’s Three Sisters, all at New Village Arts; David Ives’ All in the Timing at ion and Matthew Barber’s Enchanted April at Lamb’s Players.

New play: Local playwright Kevin Armento’s Bets and Blue Notes, seen at the Fritz Blitz, and Itamar Moses’ intriguing The Four of Us, at the Cassius Carter Centre Stage.

One-person show: Ron Choularton did a terrific job at Cygnet with Conor McPherson’s St. Nicholas, a meditation about critics and vampires. Adriana Sevan was wonderful in her own moving piece about friendship Taking Flight. Up the coast, Ron Campbell was spectacular in Carol Wolf’s much-praised The Thousandth Night, at Burbank’s Colony Theatre.

Actor: Some of my favorites were Francis Gercke and Joshua Everett Johnson in the searing True West at New Village Arts, Matthew Weeden in the Harvey Fierstein role in Torch Song Trilogy at Diversionary, Claudio Raygoza’s rare comic turn in Cygnet’s Arcadia, Jonathan McMurtry in North Coast Rep’s A Moon for the Misbegotten, Mark Broadnax in the stunning Yellowman and Jim Chovick in Cygnet’s Desire Under the Elms, both at Cygnet.

Actress: Rosina Reynolds in North Coast Rep’s Wit and Cygnet’s Arcadia, Monique Gaffney in Cygnet’s Yellowman, Kathleen Turner in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Ahmanson, Amanda Sitton in Sailor’s Song at New Village Arts and S. Epatha Merkerson in the Kirk Douglas Theatre’s Come Back, Little Sheba.

Riskiest production: Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive at both Lynx and OnStage Playhouse, Maria Irene Fornes’ Mud and Claudio Raygoza’s Punks at ion theatre.

Most perfect production: Lamb’s Players’ An Ideal Husband. Everything in the production worked just as it should. New Village Arts’ Three Sisters and Crimes of the Heart (played in repertory) were also excellent all around.

Upstart theater: TheTheatreInc and its inaugural production of Marianne McDonald’s translation of Aristophanes’ The Frogs.

Set design: Mike Buckley’s clever sets for An Ideal Husband and for The Secret Garden at Lamb’s Players; Francis Gercke for the gorgeous English garden in Humble Boy at New Village Arts; Marty Burnett for both Moonlight Stage Productions’ Hay Fever and North Coast Rep’s A Moon for the Misbegotten.

Costume design: Shon Leblanc for Lamb’s Players’ Enchanted April; Roslyn Lehman for Moonlight Stage Productions’ Hay Fever; Jeannie Reith for The Secret Garden at Lamb’s Players.

Lighting design: Paul Canaletti, for Moonlight’s Hay Fever; Nathan Peirson, for Lamb’s Players’ The Secret Garden.

Translation: Marianne McDonald, for Aristophanes’ The Frogs at TheTheatreInc and Euripides’ Medea at 6th@Penn Theatre.

Student production: The zany Zombie Prom at SDSU, Lanford Wilson’s difficult Balm in Gilead and Thornton Wilder’s classic The Skin of Our Teeth at UCSD.