GLENN SUMI'S TOP 10 THEATRE SHOWS

Daniel MacIvor showed us tragedy, Michelle Polak flexed all her muscles and Sylvain Emard and Louise Bedard made us remember. Meanwhile, the folks at Second City sent up our times and made us laugh for nine straight months.
BY GLEN SUMI

Size didn't matter in 2002. In fact, smaller indie theatre companies -- most without a permanent performing venue, some that mount a single show a year -- dominate this list. Ironically, many of those big, honking prize-winning American plays and musicals (Proof, Contact, Side Man) failed to shine in local or touring productions. Of the 250-odd shows I saw, here are the ones I'll remember for years.

9. A LITTLE RAIN NEVER HURT NO ONE (Good Hair Day, November 21 to 30)
Vocal phenom Fides Krucker journeyed through one woman's pain and heartbreak in this haunting late-night (it could only happen at 10:30 pm) cabaret show, fascinatingly staged by Mark Christmann with a fine, if underused, supporting cast of four women. Pianist Sageev Oore and percussionist Rick Sacks added some quirks and quarks, and unclassifiable performer Krucker made sure we'll never hear standards like Am I Blue? and Every Time I Say Goodbye the same way again.