Streetcar Named Desire, A
Studio 54

 Uh, oh. We are at the mercy of strange and foreign directors who don't understand the delicate sensibilities and balance needed in a Tennessee Williams play. Edward Hall, from across the pond, helms the current A Streetcar named Desire, and he has misdirected the talented John C. Reilly so badly, the play's real currents are lost. Williams' love of depravity, sexual tension, deteriorated people, the holes in shattered lives, the survival of the primitive, expressed in poetic terms, is undercut as Reilly shows Stanley rather that being him.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
April 2005
Taming of the Shrew, The
New Theater

 The Taming of the Shrew gets a lively, commedia dell'arte-style staging in South Florida that delivers lots of laughs. It really isn't much of a stretch: The go-for-the-gags style was big in Italy, where the play takes place, at about the same time Shakespeare was working in England.

Julie Calsi
Date Reviewed:
August 2009
Dentist, The
Apex City Hotel

 Shatteringly powerful is the best way I can describe The Dentist, the one-woman show now playing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Starring Razia Israely, the monologue proved to be one of the best things I've ever seen in the theater, drama of a rare and memorable quality.

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
August 2009
Sweeney Todd
Eugene O'Neill Theater

 John Doyle has taken Sweeney Todd, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler, as adapted by Christopher Bond, and transformed it into a fully expressionistic, awe-inspiring production that may be the most exciting show now on Broadway. Doyle, who directed and designed the event, takes us, with marvelous stylization and amazing musical arrangements by Sarah Travis, into another dimension of theater.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
November 2005
Sweet Charity
Al Hirschfeld Theater

 Director Walter Bobbie has transformed Sweet Charity into a charming contemporary tale, and since old versions are not playing across the street, why compare? Christina Applegate is an adorable, absolutely delightful, gamine, with both a grace and gracelessness that are totally captivating. The production (dazzling set by Scott Pask, fine lighting by Brian MacDevitt) around her is a slick contrast to her ingenuousness, with eccentric, stylized choreography by Wayne Cilento, who in some parts creates his own exciting new vocabulary.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
May 2005
Sweet Smell of Success
Martin Beck Theater

Another dark new tuner that demonstrates just how tough it is to create musical magic, even when the talent is there, the story is interesting, and a couple of songs catch the ear. John Guare's book shows real ingenuity at times (a build-up of sycophantic Sidney's behind-the-scenes machinations reaches a wonderful payoff in act one) but never clears up some crucial motivations or answers certain basic questions, such as what is J.J. Hunsecker's weird fixation on his sister really about, and why does protegee Sidney have no other career options?

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
March 2002
Sweet Smell of Success
Martin Beck Theater

 Sweet Smell of Success offers a brilliant, inspired cityscape set (once again) by the incomparable Bob Crowley with superlative lighting by the great illuminator Natasha Katz (once again), good songs by Marvin Hamlisch and Craig Carnelia, a book by John Guare, Broadway dancing at its best by a top-level ensemble imaginatively choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, the powerful John Lithgow filling the stage with his energy and presence - all snappily directed by the ever-innovative Nicholas Hytner.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
March 2002
Taboo
Plymouth Theater

 The progression of a naive but talented waif who, through good people skills and sheer lucky breaks, becomes a star, is a time-honored one for Broadway musicals, but rarely has that scenario been more oddly put forth than in Taboo, a show by, about and starring Boy George (nee George O'Dowd) -- only he doesn't play Boy George. Instead he plays Divine-like downtown muse Leigh Bowery, who, with his outre garb and makeup, made himself a kind of living art, and thus inspired George's own star-making makeover.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
December 2003
Taboo
Plymouth Theater

 Taboo is closing. But it's a really good, completely entertaining show with marvelous performances and some of the best songs in town. The latter are by Boy George -- the ones that made him a star and others. But I guess Rock Freaks are not the cup of tea for visitors from Iowa. Taboo's an unapologetically, unabashedly gay show, and it seems the tourists are not ready for it.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
January 2004
Take Me Out
Walter Kerr Theater

I can't recall this much cheering and all-around continuous excitement about a Broadway play since Angels in America. I'm not talking about pre-show hype or media attention, I'm talking about in the theater itself, as a truly enthusiastic audience watches Richard Greenberg's utterly captivating comedy-drama keep trotting the bases.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Tale of the Allergist's Wife, The
Barrymore Theater

 The Tale of the Allergist's Wife is a play that refers to many serious ideas without ever once having one of its own. Is that a bad thing? Depends. Do you want to think while at the theater, or would you prefer to pretend you've been thinking? For those who prefer the latter, Tale is ideal. Charles Busch's dialogue is certainly very funny, and Valerie Harper, who hasn't made me laugh since she played Rhoda on the Mary Tyler Moore Show, is sensational. I sat in the very back row of the rear mezzanine, and she sold every punchline with wit and physicality.

David Steinhardt
Date Reviewed:
December 2001
Tartuffe
American Airlines Theater

 From director Joe Dowling comes a misfired Moliere that points up Tartuffe's structural weakness: all of the first half centers on papa Orgon refusing to listen to anyone. If he would just shut up for thirty seconds, there'd be no play. This leads to some labored, even annoying patches, especially with an uneven cast trying to put this Roundabout mounting over. Brian Bedford's always a pro but he feels a bit by-the-numbers here; Henry Goodman makes an interestingly earthy, almost Shylockish title character - I'd like to see his Tartuffe in a better production.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
January 2003
Tartuffe
American Airlines Theater

 Moliere's Tartuffe, now at the American Airlines Theater, is a great contemporary production of a 340-year-old play in a marvelous rhymed translation by Richard Wilbur. It's played against a somewhat ponderous period set by John Lee Beatty, with super costumes by Jane Greenwood which amplify with wit the characters' foibles. The first-rate cast includes Henry Goodman as the loathsome, slimy Tartuffe -- Goodman gives good loath and marvelous slime -- his eyes sparkle with glee in his villainy. Brian Bedford, perfect as his gullible victim, is the epitome of a self-righteous gull.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
January 2003
Tarzan
Richard Rodgers Theater

 The spectacular opening of Disney's Tarzan takes us to another dimension: at sea, under sea, changing our perspective. Director/designer Bob Crowley, one of my very favorite designers in the world, outdoes himself with these visuals. After an uninspired song, we again get great physical action as the young Tarzan (a wonderful Alex Rutherford) is revealed.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
July 2006
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Marquis Theater

 In an effort to be thoroughly modern as well as thoroughly old-fashioned, Thoroughly Modern Millie turns out to be thoroughly rancid. After a slate of dreadful musicals this season (By Jeeves and Sweet Smell of Success among them), here comes yet another, and the worst part is it didn't have to be. Based upon a 1967 film by George Roy Hill that hardly needed reviving in any capacity, Millie could have taken that picture's best assets and thrown away what doesn't quite work (something The Full Monty did so wonderfully).

Jason Clark
Date Reviewed:
April 2002
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Marquis Theater

With her stick-figure legs splaying every which way yet still suggesting a dancer's grace, with her belty voice and her game goofiness, Sutton Foster is the focal point of this new-but-feels-like-a-revival tuner, which initially plods like a watchable flop and then, after a couple of strong sequences and silly-funny surprises, turns into an audience-pleasing hit.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
April 2002
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Marquis Theater

 I am happy to report there is practically nothing new in this deliciously old-fashioned musical. Therefore, its goal is to be entertaining -- how unusual in today's "modern" standards (and we all know how depressing the "modern" musicals have been!).

Jeanne Lieberman
Date Reviewed:
April 2002
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Marquis Theater

 Do you love an old-fashioned, high spirited, tap-dancing romantic musical with some really great performers and an airy, imaginative Deco set (by David Gallo)? Take a trip to New York in 1922 and to Thoroughly Modern Millie; you'll have a good time.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
April 2002
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Marquis Theater

 The Tony-Award exploits of Sutton Foster are still on view in the title role of Thoroughly Modern Millie, more than sufficient reason to take advantage of "Season of Savings" discounts available at 1-800-ILOVENY and ilovenytheater.com. This budding superstar belts, taps and charms with the best of them. And the award-winning villainess, Harriet Harris, is still stopping the show with her dragon-lady shtick as Mrs. Meers.

Perry Tannenbaum
Date Reviewed:
January 2003
Thou Shalt Not
Lincoln Center - Vivian Beaumont Theater

Sometimes there's no specific reason why a show doesn't grab an audience, and Thou Shalt Not is a puzzling case in point. Apart from a couple of easily-corrected directorical miscues (like expecting the audience to applaud after a scene of choreographed coitus), there's nothing wrong, per se, with this new musical by David Thompson, Harry Connick, Jr. and director/choreographer Susan Stroman. In fact, it's usually pretty darn good: bouncy tunes, a viable, sexy-creepy story line; a lissome leading lady (understudy Dylis Croman) and a break-out supporting performer (Norbert Leo Butz).

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
November 2001
Thousand Clowns, A
Longacre Theater

 If nothing else, this revival of Herb Gardner's modern classic erases the bad taste left by the sour Judd Hirsch revival a few years back. Iconoclastic Murray has become sympathetic again, and for once we really understand why his well-paid job writing for a children's TV show has become an unendurable nightmare. Helping are fine supporting performances from Robert LuPone, Mark Blum and especially Bradford Cover, who imbues the thankless role of social worker Albert with pathos and confusion.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
July 2001
Three Days of Rain
Bernard B. Jacobs

 Richard Greenberg's Three Days of Rain, now on Broadway, is two plays. Act 1 in 1995 shows us the consequences of events in the early lives of three people, and Act 2 is 1960 and gives us the parents of the characters in Act 1. That's where we understand the references and what the title means.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
May 2006
Threepenny Opera, The
Studio 54

 In the current Roundabout Theater Company production of The Threepenny Opera, directed by Scott Elliott, the main character, the one who is the most fun, who keeps us enchanted, is not Macheath, played grimly, without spark, humor or charm by Alan Cumming. It's Mr. Peachum, played with dash, flash, splash and panache by a dancing, singing, wriggling, wraggling Jim Dale. And Ana Gasteyer's strong performance is close behind.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
April 2006
Times They Are A-Changin', The
Brooks Atkinson Theater

 The Bob Dylan (songs) and Twyla Tharp (choreography and direction) musical The Times They Are A-Changin', set in a circus, gives us an ensemble of acrobatic dancers whose bodies are like Slinkies, and three terrific singers: Michael Arden, Thom Sesma and Lisa Brescia who perform the Dylan repertoire. The timing of the songs may be altered from Dylan's originals, but the songs are there, and I like them.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
October 2006
Tom Sawyer

 See review under "Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The"

Topdog/Underdog
Ambassador Theater

 Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks starts with incomprehensible babble and segues into comprehensible babble. More of a vaudeville turn with two terrific actors than a play, it gives us brothers named Lincoln and Booth, with Booth (Mos Def) the verbal one, the rapper, as a petty thief, and Lincoln (Jeffrey Wright), a black man playing Lincoln in whiteface in a carnival, the physical comedian. Wright's miming is super, especially as he drunkenly shows Lincoln being shot several ways. As an entertainment, it can be fun for an audience that understands the jive lingo.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
April 2002
Touch of the Poet, A
Studio 54

 Eugene O'Neill was America's greatest playwright even before he wrote his four last masterpieces, beginning with The Iceman Cometh. A Touch of the Poet, now on Broadway starring Gabriel Byrne, is one of those profound, brilliant explorations of the human soul, and what a pleasure it is to hear his words.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
December 2005
Translations
Biltmore Theater

 Translations, Brian Friel, is a play about communication that starts with a lovely mute woman just learning to speak (Morgan Hallett). It is a particularly interesting piece to me since I spend part of each year in Ireland (mostly in Derry and Donegal where the play is set) and have seen the rising use of Gaelic (now called "Irish") in common speech, particularly in the south and east. Here, it's 1833, and the Irish speak Irish. Friel is concerned with English corruption of the Irish language and culture as they convert the names of towns, rivers, etc., into English.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
January 2007
Twelve Angry Men
American Airlines Theater

 Twelve Angry Men is such a good play - especially when it's done by a professional cast like the one now on Broadway -- that it's needless to be picky picky picky. Reginald Rose's play, set in a jury room in a time when women and minorities were not on juries, wherein the twelve men vote eleven to one to convict, and gradually shift to the opposite, remains captivating. So director Scott Ellis doesn't have to create conflict through volume -- the content does it. And each man at a jury table doesn't have to stand for his comments.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
February 2005
Two And Only, The

 See review(s) under "Jay Johnson: The Two and Only"

Hellz Kitchen Ablaze
Pan Andreas Theater

 The thin red line between cop and crook is traced indelibly by playwright Tommy Carter in Hellz Kitchen Ablaze, a gutsy, blisteringly powerful drama about eight members of a gold-shield, NYPD narcotics squad trying to steal a huge pot of money from some Colombian drug dealers. The detectives, mostly Italian-Americans, consider themselves a family, having functioned as a unit for many years, doing the tough, dangerous kind of undercover work that leads to convictions and commendations.

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
September 2009
In a Dark Dark House
American Heritage Center for the Arts

 In Neil LaBute's In a Dark Dark House, a disbarred lawyer doing time in a comfortable, substance-abuse rehab center has summoned his underemployed brother for a favor. A therapist suspects that Drew's adult troubles are rooted in events from childhood involving an ostensibly friendly handyman his older brother had cautioned him about. Drew, the ex-lawyer, wants the scuffling Terry to confirm the story to the shrink and hasten his release.

Julie Calsi
Date Reviewed:
June 2009
Urban Cowboy
Broadhurst Theater

To judge by audience reaction, you'd never know Urban Cowboy: The Musical, was a critic-drubbed flop that nearly closed two nights after opening. Does the crowd mind that the central conflict of the musical version of the popular John Travolta-Debra Winger flick was weak to the point of operetta? Or that the lead's momentous decision to ride the fabled mechanical bull is about as ridiculous as the lovable aunt and uncle (Sally Mayes - always a pro - and a tepid Leo Burmester) are obligatory?

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
April 2003
Urban Cowboy
Broadhurst Theater

 Country & Western is not very high on the Cultural Event Lists of most New Yorkers. Nor are trips to Branson, MO, to eat dinner at Dolly Parton's Horse-Show. But, for those who grew up - as I did - on the Grand Ol' Opry and Alka-Seltzer's National Barn Dance on Saturday nights, there's a real appeal in this music and its often plaintively lonesome lyrics. Adapting the John Travolta movie for the musical-stage may not have seemed a bright idea, but the results are not disappointing. In fact, this is a high-energy show with a very attractive cast.

Glenn Loney
Date Reviewed:
April 2003
Urban Cowboy
Broadhurst Theater

Urban Cowboy is a really good Country-Western musical with the sexiest, most gorgeous chorus on Broadway -- all great, energetic dancers and singers, costumed, men and women, as eye-candy by Ellis Tillman, choreographed with great originality and joy by Melinda Roy in the most sensuous, colorful leaps and wriggles in town. With a pastiche of old hits, the music jumps and flows.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
April 2003
Urinetown
Henry Miller Theater

A one-joke musical it may be, but Urinetown has so much fun with the joke, not to mention so many other well-aimed satirical and sociological barbs, the overall effect is of something as fresh and urgent as it is laugh-getting. The Brecht-Weill-style tunes click, the lyrics tickle, and the supporting cast (especially Spencer Kayden as a little twerp and Ken Jennings as a Fosse-posed psycho) is a hoot and then some. A dash of second-act cynicism hampers some of the fun, but that's only because the authors really do have the courage of their convictions.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
October 2001
Urinetown
Henry Miller Theater

A title to repel any audience. Well...my first instinct to skip this show was at least partly right. Urinetown is a mildly amusing one-joke show with good professional performances in a silly, sometimes campy, sitcom with one slightly off-color bathroom joke: you have to pay to pee. The audience laughs on cue. It's great to see John Cullum do the Bunny song, and the romantic leads -- Jennifer Laura Thompson and Hunter Foster -- are fine singers and actors, as are the rest of the cast.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
March 2002
Urinetown
Henry Miller Theater

 Despite its off-putting title and unrelenting silliness, there are things an audience can find appealing in Urinetown. Certainly, this does not include the plot, which is about a fictional town afflicted by such a severe drought, people are forced to pay to pee. This fact is reiterated again and again (ad nauseum, actually), to the point where the words "urine" or "pee" are uttered at least 100 times in the first act alone. (If you don't believe this reviewer, just check out the women's restroom line at intermission.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
February 2002
Urinetown
Henry Miller Theater

 What's not to like about an entertaining, irreverent musical, performed by a superb singing and dancing ensemble with wonderful comedic gifts, that pokes fun at some of political theater's most enduring and boring pretensions?

David Steinhardt
Date Reviewed:
September 2001
Vertical Hour, The
Music Box Theater

 David Hare is a smart cookie, a true intellectual. His Broadway play, The Vertical Hour, starring Julianne Moore and Bill Nighy, is basically his anti-war comment on Iraq. There is a lot of political instruction on terror and victims by an idealistic Moore, and a very mannered, twitchy Nighy gives us Britain contrasted to the U.S. politically. The question is: does one intervene where things are terrible? She justifies the start of the Iraq war; Nighy is anti.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
November 2006

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