Bob Martin   (Photo: Joan Marcus)

5. Immigration Restrictions Proved to Be a Bad Idea
Having held out even as TV and the movies succumbed, Broadway has fallen at last to funny Canadians—specifically, to a man in a chair. In The Drowsy Chaperone, Bob Martin’s laconic take on the show’s musical-theater obsessive provided the most unexpectedly hilarious performance of the year. Meanwhile, Brían F. O’Byrne reaffirmed that the Irish maintain a hold on all matters theatrical. As an anguished therapist in Conor McPherson’s Shining City, he gave the most closely realized, wonderfully nuanced performance in a career full of them. His snub at the Tony Awards—not even a nomination—should have meant war.