The highs and lows of the year in theater are again recognized with the awarding of “dubious achievement” Hapsters. Congratulations, and try not to be sore winners, to all recipients.

EXIT, PURSUED BY A BANK

After months of struggling with creditors and dwindling audiences, the 37-year-old Caldwell Theatre Company closed its doors in April, leaving another major void in the county’s theater scene. Two months earlier, artistic director Clive Cholerton was issuing such hollow denials as “We are not folding,” “We are not going anywhere” and “There really is no story.”

KRAVIS CENTER’S NEW LOW

We knew the creators of “Divorce Party The Musical” were not aiming very high when they talked about trying to create another “Menopause The Musical.” Still, who would have expected dialogue and songs about sex toys and shaved pubic hair? Then again, the performing arts center apparently did not underestimate its audience, which gobbled up the tickets for the show’s premiere six-week run, prompting a lucrative return booking in the dead of summer.

THE RISE OF THE REVUSICAL

Remember the good old days when there were so many shows on Broadway that only the successful ones would then tour? Nowadays, anything with a marketing hook goes out on the road. That explains why “Come Fly Away,” the Twyla Tharp dance concert to Frank Sinatra recordings, landed on the Kravis on Broadway series in 2012. Tacitly admitting that the version that ran in New York was not up to snuff, Tharp substantially revised the show for its tours. Not better, just different. And mercifully shorter.

BROADWAY STARS IN OUR MIDST

Two Broadway fixtures who have settled in our area made acclaimed local debuts this year, with hopefully more sightings to come. Tony winner Gary Beach (“The Producers”), now of Palm Beach Gardens, appeared in the Maltz Jupiter’s sublime “Hello, Dolly!” And two-time Tony nominee Maureen Anderman (“Seascape,” “The Lady from Dubuque”) a West Palm Beach snow bird, is currently stunning Palm Beach Dramaworks’ audiences in “A Delicate Balance” (through Jan. 6)

WOW, HAVE WE GOT THEATERS

Despite the shaky economy, and despite the recent loss of the Caldwell and Florida Stage, this has been a banner year for theatrical start-ups in Palm Beach County. So if you have not already, make a New Year’s resolution to get to know some of these new companies in our midst: Outre Theatre Company, Parade Productions, Plaza Theatre, The Theatre at Arts Garage, Women’s Theatre Project (moved up to Boca Raton from Fort Lauderdale)

BEST DESPERATE SALES PITCH

Writer-director Jeremy Lawrence probably suspected he had a hard sell trying to attract audiences to the Holocaust musical, “Cabaret Verboten,’ at the Theatre at Arts Garage this summer. So you have to admire his marketing pluck when he told us, “I would describe the show as one part Lady Gaga, one part ‘Saturday Night Live’ and one part ‘True Blood.’ ”

COME BACK CALDWELL, WE MISS YOU

Sure the long-running, now defunct Boca company made some mistakes under Clive Cholerton, but nothing like the misfire production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” perpetrated by Entr’Acte Theatrix and Palm Beach Principal Players — the first (and so far only) show to perform at the Count de Hoernle Theatre since the Caldwell vacated the building.

MOST LIKELY TO BE CANCELLED PRODUCTION

Remember that “Sesame Street” game, “Which of these things is not like the others”? That’s the way we felt when Manalapan’s Plaza Theatre announced plans to produce the Pulitzer Prize-winning rock musical “Next to Normal” for the spring. The show about a bi-polar wife and mother just didn’t fit in with the low-concept revues and light comedies on the Plaza’s schedule. Sure enough, producer Alan Jacobson revised the season and dumped “Next to Normal,” saying, “I don’t believe my audience is ready for it.”

BHETTY BECOMES A THEATER

The late Bhetty Waldron, who founded Quest Theatre here in the early ‘90s to produce plays of the African-American experience, will never be forgotten by those who met her or saw the work her company did. And now, everyone else will be reminded of her, because Bob Carter’s Actors’ Workshop & Rep Company named its North Dixie Highway playhouse after her. So go see something at the Bhetty in 2013.

THE YEAR’S BEST IN THEATER

1. “Hello, Dolly!” (Maltz Jupiter Thr.) — The Jerry Herman musical of new beginnings was shaken up by director/choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge, with added, unexpected spin by Vicki Lewis and Gary Beach.

2. “A Delicate Balance” (Palm Beach Dramaworks) — Edward Albee’s first Pulitzer winner, more cerebral, but no less searing than “Virginia Woolf,” in an on-target, sober production with standout performances by Dennis Creaghan and Maureen Anderman.

3. “Driving Miss Daisy” (Plaza Thr.) — This biographical tale of odd couple friendship, another Pulitzer winner, was directed simply and touchingly by Michael Leeds with a dream cast of John Archie, Harriet Oser and Ken Clement.

4. “The Music Man” (Maltz Jupiter Thr.) — The familiar musical classic from Meredith Willson about a Midwest con artist, was revitalized with a new emphasis on dance by choreographer Shea Sullivan and agile lead Matt Loehr.

5. “Billy Elliot” (Broward Center) — A rare screen-to-stage transfer that involved the film’s creators (director Stephen Daldry, writer Lee Hall), retelling the saga of a young British classical dancer wannabe, with an emotion-laden score by Elton John.

6. “Hair” (Kravis Center) — A timely revisit to the “tribal-love rock musical” with its anti-war message and counter-culture spirit, staged with a sense of community by Broadway newcomer Diane Paulus.

7. “Into the Woods” (Slow Burn Theatre Co.) — A rare family show for this risk-taking troupe, exploring intertwined fairy tales for their real world morals, with a jaunty score by the great Stephen Sondheim and a dark-toned scenic design by Ian Almeida.

8. “Ruined” (GableStage) — Lynn Nottage’s hard-edged tale of civil war in the Congo and the collateral damage in a bar/brothel on the conflict’s outskirts was brought to life by a large, on-target cast headed by magnetic, maternal Lela Elam.

9. “Sylvia” (Boca Raton Theatre Guild) — A change-of-pace, change-of-life comedy by A.R. Gurney about an urban couple whose relationship is tested by the arrival of a saucy stray dog, eager to offer unconditional love.

10. “I Am My Own Wife” (Zoetic Stage) — Tom Wahl gave a compelling performance as an eternal survivor of wars and political oppression, plus 30 other characters, in Doug Wright’s offbeat memory box play.