Grapes Of Ralph, The
St. Mark's Theater

 Dubbed "sketch comedy that doesn't suck," the comedy troupe known as Ralph don't suck by any means but could benefit a bit by watching some of their influences, which they cite as including "Mr. Show" and "South Park." Basically "The Grapes Of Ralph" is a sketch show, not unlike "Saturday Night Live" except grosser and usually funnier, and the comedy has a refreshingly un-PC bend to it.

Jason Clark
Date Reviewed:
March 2000
Greenland Y2K
HERE - Dorothy B. Williams Theater

 To ring in the new millennium at the North Pole is the ambitious goal of an intrepid explorer (Susanna Speier as the Explornographer), but her determination is outflanked by a pesky Y2K Bug (Ian McCulloch). The Bug must be placated at all costs or the electronic tools in Speier's survival kit will go kaput one by one. A tricky negotiation ensues, with each vying for the upper hand. Their complex and ultimately perverse relationship exacts a physical toll on the weary, white-clad Speier.

David Lipfert
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Grey Gardens
Playwrights Horizons

 Based on the brilliant documentary film about two decayed Bouvier cousins of Jackie Kennedy, Grey Gardens (book by Doug Wright) gives us a vocal glimpse into a South-Shore Long Island past in 1941 and the life of a wealthy mother (Christine Ebersole) and her daughter (Sara Gettlefinger) who is courted by Joe Kennedy. The voices are excellent, and the lyrics by Michael Korie and music by Scott Frankel give us the real flavor of the forties while being clever and pleasurable. But although I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the songs so well performed, I wasn't really engaged.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
April 2006
Tammy Grimes
Metropolitan Room

 Tammy Grimes at the Metropolitan Room: it's a pleasure to visit with and spend time with one of our all-time great performers. Okay, she can't really sustain a note any more, but that doesn't matter; it's the real Tammy Grimes up there, and her long-acknowledged comic timing is still active. She still radiates, still entertains every corner of the room.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
April 2007
Gutenberg!
Actors' Playhouse

 Gutenberg! The Musical! by Scott Brown and Anthony King gives us two wonderful comedians, Jeremy Shamos and David Turner, in a hilarious, absurdist interpretation of the adventures of the inventor of the printing press in 1450. Turner is a comedy star who can sing, dance and has the clean movements of a mime. Shamos is a perfect foil for him.
The songs and patter are clever, and it's directed and choreographed with flair and great comic timing by Alex Timbers. Innovative costumes by Emily Rebholz expand the concept of the two men playing multiple characters.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
March 2007
Guys, The
Flea Theater

 The Guys employs a simple but very effective premise: a woman penning eulogies for firemen killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks asks their captain for details about his lost men. Also, to break up the solemn q&a, the interviewer breaks into the occasional poignant, personal solilquy. Even a year after the bombings, Anne Nelson's chamber drama has the feeling of theater-as-therapy, an act not of political questioning or outrage (as was Reno's recent solo), but of communal mourning.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
September 2002
Gypsy
City Center

 Thank God Patti LuPone decided not to spend the summer at her South Carolina beach house. She's right here in New York City at City Center, and wow!, does she entertain.

Ellis Nassour
Date Reviewed:
Juy 2007
Ghosts
Stratford Festival - Tom Patterson Theater

 Beautifully directed by Diana Leblanc with a compelling sense of foreboding atmosphere and absolute realism, and translated by J. Basil Cowlishaw to give the most specific and unmistakable references to Ibsen's theme of venereal disease (without ever mentioning its name), this is perhaps the most effective and affecting production of Ghosts I've seen. Too often the play seems both stuffy and dated, but here it is clearly neither.

Herbert Simpson
Date Reviewed:
September 2006
Giorni felici
Galleria Toledo

 Naples was the latest stop for experimental theater Krypton's production of Samuel Beckett's 1961 Happy Days. The offering was part of the successful joint subscription Mercadante 2, uniting the most interesting productions here at Galleria Toledo with others at Teatro Nuovo and the Mercadante in an effort to expand the audience for serious theater in Naples. As is customary, Carlo Frutteto's classic Italian translation, made directly from Beckett's original French, was used.

David Lipfert
Date Reviewed:
December 1996
Giulio Cesare

 See review(s) in Criticopia - Regional (U.S. tour)

Glass Menagerie, The
Stratford Festival - Avon Theatre

 If you have never seen a good production of Tennessee Williams' signature play, this workmanlike version is an excellent introduction: nicely mounted, sensibly directed, and expertly played. Except, however, for some few inspired moments in Steven Sutcliffe's sensitive and subtly suggestive portrayal of Tom, Williams' semi-autobiographical narrator, this Glass Menagerie is not a particularly memorable or extraordinary version of this perhaps overly familiar American masterwork.

Herbert Simpson
Date Reviewed:
June 2006
Golden Boy
Greenwich Theatre

 In Clifford Odets' original 1937 play, Golden Boy, the protagonist was an Italian American torn between playing the violin and boxing. When turning the work into a musical (1964), Odets threw out the violin plot and changed the title character into a black Harlemite, Joe Wellington, just out to make a fast buck. When Odets died during the writing, his friend William Gibson took up the pen and finished the adaptation. London has not seen the musical since 1968, so a new production is welcome.

Caldwell Titcomb
Date Reviewed:
July 2003
Guys and Dolls

 If there is a musical comedy masterpiece, it is Frank Loesser, Abe Burrows, and Jo Swerling's Guys and Dolls. Swerling and Burrows' book adapts Damon Runyon's stories of funny, flavorful lowlifes with wit and zest.

Herbert Simpson
Date Reviewed:
August 2004
La Boheme
Broadway Theater

The only thing "radical" (and, to my mind, objectionable) about Baz Luhrmann's production of La Boheme, which is re-set in mid-1950s Paris, is that he gets a little cute with the subtitles, both in modernizing the slang and in using kooky fonts for emphasis. Otherwise, it's a tasteful and emotionally faithful mounting of Puccini's opera, boasting a ravishingly beautiful mise-en-scene for the cafe scene and a group of appealing performers.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
December 2002
La Boheme
Broadway Theater

 Those expecting more of the brilliantly colored, feverishly paced phantasmagoria that Australian director Baz Luhrmann and his designer wife Catherine Martin created for their movie musical, "Moulin Rouge," are in for a big let down. This bare-bones, shadowy production, far from glitzy, is downright gloomy. A huge neon sign, L'Amour, embellishing a Parisian rooftop is the only element Moulin Rouge-ish. The rest of the set, as designed by Ms. Martin and barely lit by Nigel Levings, is subdued and depressingly colorless.

Jeannie Lieberman
Date Reviewed:
December 2002
La Boheme
Broadway Theater

 Baz Luhrmann's brilliant production of La Boheme by Puccini, set in 1967, is a truly spectacular spectacle. The inspired design by Catherine Martin and lighting by Nigel Levings take the physical production of opera into a new, flashy, eye-filling dimension. The beautiful young people in the show, with their magnificent voices, make this powerfully-directed opera, with exciting, imaginative physical action in the staging, a great theatrical experience.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
December 2002
La Boheme
Broadway Theater

 Well, it's better than Rent. That's about the best thing this reviewer can say about the current Broadway version of Puccini's La Boheme, which in this production is set in 1950s Paris. Director Baz Luhrmann is largely successful in achieving his mission, which is to make a great opera more accessible to the masses. He is especially canny in selecting very handsome and beautiful young actors for the leads. He also gives them some freedom in substituting American slang for parts of the libretto (although all the singing is in Italian, with subtitles).

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
La Cage aux Folles
Marquis Theater

 Critics gave this glitzy revival a lukewarm reception when it opened in early December, saying that Gary Beach's Albin/ZaZa was bland and that the Harvey Fierstein/Jerry Herman 1983 musical had devolved into a crossdressing tribute to family values. Hardly two weeks later, Beach was breathing fire into his Act 1 closer, "I Am What I Am," transforming the entire evening into a fervid affirmation of individualism. Quite frankly, I was trembling at intermission after what I'd just seen.

Perry Tannenbaum
Date Reviewed:
January 2005
La Cage aux Folles
Marquis Theater

 I caught the current edition of La Cage aux Folles, and it's easy to see why the revival won awards for the sparkling costumes (William Ivey Long) and choreography (Jerry Mitchell) - - it's spectacular: marvelous gymnastic flipping, flying, twirling, legs flying, bodies twirling, with a magnificent set by Scott Pask and brilliant direction by Jerry Zaks.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
May 2005
Laugh Whore
Cort Theater

Mario Cantone's Laugh Whore gives us the hyperkinetic whirlwind spouting observational humor at full blast - he sings, he dances, he jests. His absurd impressions of Shelley Winters, Cher, Tina Turner, Kate Smith (who remembers her?), LL Cool J, Carol Channing, Katharine Hepburn, Elvis, Ann Margaret, Liza, and others keep the audience laughing. And that's only Act One. Act Two is his takeoff on his family, and he is vivid as he portrays relatives and their foibles and mannerisms. Plus Judy Garland!

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
December 2004
Legally Blonde
Palace Theater

There is more youthful exuberance and bounce in Legally Blonde (book by Heather Hach, music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin) than in a Beverly Hills High School pool party. As directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, it's nothing but fun.

You know the plot: Bev. Hills supposed Ding Dong goes to Harvard Law School in pursuit of a Dumb Dumb. Beautiful Laura Bell Bundy is the girl, and the charm oozes, drips and splashes -- and she taps, too. This girl is hot!

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
May 2007
Lennon
Broadhurst Theater

 Lennon, book, misconception and misdirection by Don Scardino (at least he's boldly willing to take all the blame) tries hard but misses badly. Sure, there are some great voices on the stage (Will Chase, Chuck Cooper, Julie Danao-Salkin, Marcy Harriell - the whole cast can really sing), but basically what is missing is John Lennon - his gentleness, his essence, his soul, except for one moment at the end when the real item appears on a screen. "Imagine" gets me. This show doesn't.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
August 2005
Les Miserables
Imperial Theater

 Among my other weaknesses as a reviewer, I have a blind spot for musicals. I usually enjoy musicals that other critics trash, while I underestimate shows that they, and audiences, thoroughly embrace.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
1997
Les Miserables
Imperial Theater

 Of Broadway's musical mega-blockbusters, two of the longest running -- Les Miserables and Miss Saigon -- share several things in common: poignant, heart-wrenching stories, gorgeous melodies, multi-million dollar budgets, awe-inspiring spectacle, numerous awards, Tony nominations and awards galore, and an executive producer who believes every performance should be a repeat of opening night.

Ellis Nassour
Date Reviewed:
1997
Les Miserables
Broadhurst Theater

 Les Miserables by Alain Boubil and Claude-Michel Schoenberg, is arguably the greatest musical ever created, and the powerful, moving, new production brings much needed theatrical life back to Broadway. Strongly but sensitively directed (John Caird and Trevor Nunn), brilliantly designed (John Napier) and lighted (David Hersey -- I've never seen better lighting in a theater in my life) by the originals, it has breathtaking moments of theatrical grandeur mixed with the gripping plot of the story of the pursued Jean Valjean. Playing him is Alexander Gemignani in a Brian Dennehy mold.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
November 2006
Lestat
Palace Theater

 I found the new vampire musical, Lestat, book by Linda Woolverton, music by Elton John, lyrics by Bernie Taupin, to be visually interesting (set by Derek McKean, lighting by Kenneth Posner, costumes by Susan Hilferty) but not engaging. They didn't know whether to be campy or serious, so they went serious, and the few laughs show that it might have worked if it took a different tack.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
May 2006
Life (x) 3
Circle in the Square

 Only one thing is missing from Yasmina Reza's otherwise dazzling acerbic comedy - but it's a biggie. Reza constructs a dinner party from hell, wherein a semi-happy couple (Helen Hunt and John Turturro) are surprised by the arrival of Hubert and Ines -- guests they didn't expect until the next evening. Henri bows and scrapes before Hubert (Brent Spiner), hoping the latter's connections will advance his scientific career, even as smarmy Hubert undermines his friend's emotional stability.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
April 2003
Life (X) 3
Circle in the Square

 As with Yasmina Reza's Art - in which there are three "takes" by three male friends on the extravagant purchase of an abstract artwork - her new piece re-plays the same awkward scene three times. Important guests arrive an evening too soon: not exactly a new idea in drama. And it requires an immense Suspension of Disbelief to equate the suppressed hysteria of John Turturro with the behavior of an insecure and very minor French Astrophysicist.

Glenn Loney
Date Reviewed:
April 2003
Life (X) 3
Circle in the Square

 Life (X) 3 starts as a light domestic comedy, long on a crying child for the first 30 minutes and short on brilliance as a couple comes to the home of another for dinner a day early. This leads to much domestic bickering and an occasional funny line. Then the same night is played again, with a different slant, and it becomes more interesting, and then, once again, a third time, with other mood, character and plot implications. This includes some French inter-couple flirtatious moofky-foofky, with pretentious scientific horseshit thrown in.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
April 2003
Light in the Piazza, The
Lincoln Center - Vivian Beaumont Theater

 I did not find The Light in the Piazza, based on a novella by Elizabeth Spencer, with book by Craig Lucas, music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, to be very engaging, except for the visuals and the voices of the performers. Director Bartlett Sher is very good at staging: keeping the principals and extras moving around the stage in interesting patterns. The set by Michael Yeargan gives us views of Italy that are a fascinating travelogue and a profound comment on the action in his wonderful visuals of space and light on Italian ruins, piazzas and buildings.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
April 2005
Lion King, The
New Amsterdam Theater (moved to Minskoff Theater)

Everything you've heard about the first five minutes of The Lion King is true. When a golden sun rises on Richard Hudson's orange set, when birds on poles flitter about the audience's heads, when lion-masked actors prowl and wooden antelopes lope across the stage, when giant papier-mache'-style elephants galumph down the aisle—all this to the unforgettable voice of Tsidii Le Loka, her face painted up as an African mask—the only rational response is to cry a little and wonder at the glories of life and art.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
November 1997
Lion King, The
New Amsterdam Theater (moved to Minskoff Theater)

 If there was a "Prize of the Century for Innovation, Imagination, and Costume Design," Julie Taymor, the director and designer of Disney's Broadway production, The Lion King, would win hands down. The extent of Taymor's contribution to The Lion King is so overwhelming, it eclipses almost all other aspects of this lively production. Where else can you find elephants, rhinos, a pride of lions, crocodiles, wildebeests, racing gazelle, antelopes sauntering down the aisles, giraffes onstage, and all types of colorfully-plumed birds flying about a theater?

Ellis Nassour
Date Reviewed:
1997
Lion King, The
New Amsterdam Theater (moved to Minskoff Theater)

 Although the play, in this case, is most definitely not the thing, The Lion King is a must-see event -- actually two must-see events. The first event, the one that immediately knocks your socks off, is the absolutely glorious restoration of the historic (1903) New Amsterdam Theater ("the jewel of 42nd Street"). This is the theater that Broadway producer Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. made famous with his Follies extravaganzas from 1913 to 1927.

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
February 1998
Little Dog Laughed, The
Cort Theater

 The Little Dog Laughed has moved to Broadway, and now that it is $96 a seat, I have to re-evaluate my earlier review when it was Off-Broadway. Then, I started with: Douglas Carter Bean is a smart writer with a sharp sense of humor; he's able to throw in jokes, quips and references that ring so true or familiar we can't help laughing. Some of this shows in The Little Dog Laughed. It's about a killer female Hollywood agent, a confused guy who is a movie star, his new boyfriend who is a prostitute, and the prostitute's sort-of girlfriend.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
November 2006
Little Dog Laughed, The
Cort Theater

 No doubt about it, Julie White gives an exquisitely sharp portrait of Diane, a manipulative Hollywood agent who connives to keep her hottest client, Mitch, safely in the closet -- despite her own lesbian leanings. Otherwise, I found The Little Dog Laughed, a slick Tinseltown satire, to be overpraised.

Perry Tannenbaum
Date Reviewed:
January 2007
Little Shop of Horrors
Virginia Theater

Feed me, Seymour. Three little words that will bring a grin to anyone with a soft spot for Roger Corman's cheapie film classic about a nebbishy plant store employee and the behemoth he grows using nourishment of a special type -- specifically, Type O. Even those of us who missed the well-loved off-Broadway run of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's musicalization of Little Shop of Horrors have felt the work's indelible stamp, thanks mainly to Frank Oz's exceptional 1986 film. And hence lies the problem with the show's 2003 appearance on Broadway.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
October 2003
Little Shop of Horrors
Virginia Theater

 If you don't want to have a lot of fun, if you don't want to laugh and smile for two hours and walk out humming, don't go to Little Shop of Horrors. The clever old lyrics by Howard Ashman and lively tunes by Alan Menken tickle more that ever, and the sterling performances by the beautiful Kerry Butler, the always vulnerable Hunter Foster, Rob Bartlett (as close as you can get to Zero) and the amazing, dazzling Douglas Sills, all make this the best Little Shop ever.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
January 2004
Little Women
Virginia Theater

 You'd have to be really jaded not to enjoy the new musical, Little Women (book by Allan Knee, music by Jason Howland, lyrics by Mindi Dickstein). The tall but elfin Sutton Foster as the leader of the sisters is lively, endearing, and a spunky 19th-Century example of a woman with a will, a way, and universal good looks and charm. She has great comic timing, intonation and physicality. All of the cast are really good singers (as is apropos on Broadway), and then there is Maureen McGovern as the mother.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
January 2005
Long Day's Journey Into Night
Plymouth Theater

 If we were to gauge the opinion of the collective American theater as to our best play, the answer would almost certainly be Long Day's Journey into Night, Eugene O'Neill's overpowering portrait of his family -- parents, brother, and self -- on the day they were told he had tuberculosis. One of the few modern plays that can be classed with classical tragedy, it expresses oceanic pain with impossible honesty. O'Neill nearly dispensed with plot, and dramatized ananke (fate) in every moment of the play.

Steve Capra
Date Reviewed:
July 2003
Long Day's Journey Into Night
Plymouth Theater

 Too many recent stagings of Eugene O'Neill's greatest play - arguably the greatest of all American plays - have tried to rush the actors, cut the script, or take other desperate measures to shave the show's outsized running time. Granted, the current Broadway revival's 255-minute journey does make us wonder if a few of the repetitious arguments could be tightened here and there.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
May 2003

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