MICHAEL PHILLIPS’ TOP 10

In alphabetical order:

“The Adding Machine,” Sacred Fools Theater Company. Roaring ‘20s parable about a zero named Zero added up nicely in Lauren Hollingsworth’s staging.

“Aliens in America,” Tiffany Theater. Sandra Tsing Loh talks about her father, and other beloved conundrums, in lovely, funny solo polished to a sheen by director David Schweizer.

“Collected Stories,” Geffen Playhouse. Juicy two-hander from one of America’s best, Donald Margulies, staged (by Gil Cates) and acted (by Linda Lavin and Samantha Mathis) like they knew what they wanted.

“Harry Thaw Hates Everybody,” Indecent Exposure Theatre Company. Writer-director Laural Meade’s inspired explosion of history, the underside of “Ragtime.” If I really had to pick a ’99 favorite . . . well, this one and “Arturo Ui” (see below).

“Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” Henry Fonda Theatre. Big flop, fun show. Wrong venue? Too loud for the ‘burb crowd? Where were you?

“Light Up the Sky,” Pasadena Playhouse. If only all chestnuts came roasted so beautifully.

“The Philanderer,” South Coast Repertory. Rarely seen Shaw comedy played right into SCR’s sweet spots. Solidly acted, freshly felt, handsome design work up and down.

“Reefer Madness,” Hudson Backstage Theatre. Act 2 wobbles, but man, if they revise it, this musical tear through the 1936 agitprop yuk-fest could get this entire nation high. Legally, of course.

“The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui,” Berliner Ensemble at UCLA. Martin Wuttke delivered the performance of the year, inverting and refracting the dictator of the century.

“Straight as a Line,” Playwrights’ Arena. Luis Alfaro’s bittersweet gem unfolded like a troubling, edgy dream, as dreamt by a casino-worker mother and her AIDS-stricken son.

Nos. 11-20: “Art,” Doolittle Theatre; “Bells Are Ringing,” Reprise! at UCLA; “Broadway,” Actors Gang; “Cymbeline,” Old Globe Theatre; “Dennis Cleveland,” Eclectic Orange Fest; “Floyd Collins,” Old Globe Theatre; “Measure for Measure,” Ahmanson Theatre; “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum; “The Piano Lesson,” South Coast Repertory; “St. Nicholas,” Matrix Theatre Company.