The Arts in Review:

Harvard Plays (not ranked):

A...My Name Is Alice (revival)

Eleemosynary

Equus

The Foreigner

Get a New Job, Joe Blunsten!

Les Liaisons Dangereux

The Lion in Winter

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Campus A Capella Groups:

Editor's Note: This list ranks the a capella jams of the first semester only. The intrepid a capella beat reporter, exhausted from the grueling pace and sheer musical intensity of the fall season, had to take a sabbatical second semester. Because the a capella beat reporter missed the Veritones jam, they do not appear on this list. The readers can put them anywhere they want.

1. Harvard Din and Tonics. Featuring snappy solos and cool attitude, the Dins covered their blushing audience with sweet a capella kisses at the Dins on the Blink Jam.

2. Harvard-Radcliffe Callbacks. The Callbacks put on the mother of all co-ed a capella performances with the Traffic Jam.

3. A Tie.

Harvard Krokodiloes. The Kroks exuded style and grace at the Why Not Jam, and their arrangements of pre-rock 'n' roll tunes were hearty fare for a crowd starving for a capella.

Harvard-Radcliffe Opportunes. The Head of the Charles Jam lasted a bit too long, but the Opportunes were entertaining as always .

5. Radcliffe Pitches. Although they followed an impressive set by the Kroks at the Why Not Jam, the Pitches displayed a strong line-up of soloists and even brought Archie Epps on stage to sing an elegant "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

In-Town Plays (not ranked):

Misalliance at the American Repertory Theatre.

Tartuffe at the Huntington.

You Never Can Tell at the Lyric Stage.

Books (not ranked):

An Atlas of the Difficult World by Adrienne Rich.

Backlash by Susan Faludi.

Father by Sharon Olds.

Jump and Other Stories by Nadine Gordimer.

Living by Annie Dillard.

Maus II by Art Spiegelman.

Playing in the Dark by Toni Morrison.

Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby by Stephen Carter.

Anne Sexton by Diane Middlebrook.

What Work Is by Philip Levine.

Cinema (not ranked):

Barton Fink

Boyz 'N the Hood

Dead Again

Europa, Europa

Howard's End

Mississippi Masala

My Own Private Idaho

Naked Lunch

The Player

35 up

Popular Music (not ranked):

Rock:

Arkansas Traveler by Michelle Shocked.

Blood Sugar SexMagik by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Cracker by Cracker.

Don't Try This at Home by Billy Bragg.

Let Me Come Over by Buffalo Tom.

Night on Earth Soundtrack by Tom Waits.

Steady Diet of Nothing by Fugazi.

Storyville by Robbie Robertson.

Trompe Le Monde by The Pixies.

Uh-oh by David Byrne.

Hip-Hop:

Ain't a Damm Thing Changed by Nice and Smooth.

Apocalypse '91: The Enemy Strikes Black by Public Enemy.

Cypress Hill by Cypress Hill.

Dead Serious by Das EFX.

Death Certificate by Ice Cube.

F.U.--Don't Take It Personal by Fuschnickens.

Juice Soundtrack by Various Artists.

The Low-End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest.

Naughty by Nature by Naughty by Nature.

Pure Poverty by Poor Righteous Teachers.

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing by Black Sheep.

Classical Music (not ranked):

Note: This list is an exception. If you want a list of the year's "hottest" releases in classical music, there are dozens of authorities who will gladly tell you what to listen to and what to buy. To help people re-view works that they might have overlooked or dismissed, here is a highly subjective list of favorite recordings. Not one of them was released this year, but the music itself is so old that it hardly matters.

J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations, recorded by Glenn Gould.

Beethoven's Fidelio, Herbert von Karajan et al.

Haydn's Die Schopfung, Academy of Ancient Music/Christopher Hogwood.

The Cole Porter Songbook, Ella Fitzgerald.

Jean-Phillippe Rameau's Acteon, Les Arts Florissants/William Christie.

Camille Saint-Saens' Symphony #3 (with organ), Montreal Symphony Orchestra/Charles Dutoit.

Richard Strauss' Four Last Songs, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf/George Szell.