Little Night Music, A
Walter Kerr Theater

Director Trevor Nunn's very special A Little Night Music is a magical show, a dream on stage, with the smartest, cleverest lyrics in town and some of the most memorable melodies (like "Send In the Clowns"), all by Stephen Sondheim. The elegant book by Hugh Wheeler is based on Ingmar Bergman's 1955 film, "Smiles of a Summer Night."

With a super cast topped by Catherine Zeta-Jones as an actress/courtesan and Angela Lansbury as her mother, and the very beautiful, magnetic, Romona Mallory, who has a clear, lovely, lyrical voice, as a prime flibbertygibbet ingénue.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
December 2009
Cold Snaps 2009: Winter One-Act Festival
Jewel Box Theater

Cold Snaps, the One-Act presentation of WorkShop Theater Company, was my introduction to this high-level company. The nine plays, all written and directed by company members, and the performances by the very professional cast were up there with the work of the best New York has to offer. Produced with style and taste, filled with humor and dramatic depth, the plays engaged, entertained, moved the audience. It's a pleasure for a reviewer to attend work of this caliber. Long may they wave!

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
December 2009
Wishful Drinking
Studio 54

Everyone in the mostly older audience knows Carrie's Fisher's history. Cleverly and humorously, the performer begins her two-hour one-woman show, Wishful Drinking by describing her most recent scandal; her gay friend found dead in her bedroom. The tone of the evening is set.

Elyse Trevers
Date Reviewed:
December 2009
Race
Ethel Barrymore Theater

At first glance, Race, a new play written and directed by David Mamet, has the key ingredients for a successful run on Broadway. It has famous stars and is a wonderfully literate play written by one of the foremost playwrights of our time. However, Race, like other Mamet works, may make its audience uncomfortable.

Elyse Trevers
Date Reviewed:
December 2009
Farragut North
GableStage at the Biltmore Hotel

 The opening scene of Farragut North almost perfectly sets the stage for the 2008 behind-the-scenes-of-a-presidential-campaign play now getting its southeastern debut at GableStage in South Florida.

Julie Calsi
Date Reviewed:
December 2009
Boston Marriage
Compass Theater

A 'Boston marriage" is a long-term monogamous relationship between two unmarried females, usually living together, which may involve physical and emotional intimacy but may not. The term came into use after Henry James' book, "The Bostonians" (1886).

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
November 2009
After Miss Julie
American Airlines Theater

After Miss Julie, Patrick Marber's adaptation of Strindberg's Miss Julie, directed by Mark Brokaw, is a strong exploration of morality and possibilities in a country with a strict caste system. Moving the action from 1888 Sweden to 1945 England doesn't seem to make much difference - climbing the economic and social ladder is impossible in the situation that exists between mistress and serf.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
November 2009
Understudy, The
Laura Pels Theater

The Understudy by Theresa Rebeck, zippily directed by Scott Ellis, is a concoction about theatrical foibles. An actor (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), his understudy (Justin Kirk), and a stage manager (the great farceur, Julie White) populate this overacted, overdone farce that is all great fun as the vanities and silliness of thespians are magnified into a ridiculous reality. It's a roast of the acting profession in a mixture of narration and performance, given an almost-believability by these talented, pro actors.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
November 2009
Extinction
Elephant Space

A friend quit teaching screenwriting at USC because, as she put it, "I got tired of reading stories about guys trying to get laid in Las Vegas." Her remark leapt to mind when Gabe McKinley's world-premiere play, Extinction, unfolded at Elephant Space in Hollywood. It deals with two old college buddies, Max (Michael "House" Weston) and Finn (James "Psych" Roday), who meet in Atlantic City for a repeat of one of their wild weekends involving gambling, booze, coke and sex with any women they can coax into bed.

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
November 2009
Ragtime
Neil Simon Theater

Marcia Milgrom Dodge's poignant pageant of America coming of age at the turn of the 20th Century, Stephen Flaherty, Lynn Ahrens and Terrence McNally's Ragtime revival has so many stirring, rousing, and dramatic musical numbers that is soars, soars again, and keeps on soaring for over two and a half hours.

The variety of the Flaherty/Ahrens amazing score is endless - from rousing ragtime to, well, soaring, ballads that will long stay with you.

Ellis Nassour
Date Reviewed:
November 2009
Finian's Rainbow
St. James Theater

With a pot of gold, a quirky leprechaun and talented performers, the current Broadway revival of Finian's Rainbow delights the hearts of the audience with its first song. Finian's Rainbow is filled with wonderful, timeless Burton Lane- E.Y. Harburg musical numbers, including "Old Devil Moon," "Look to the Rainbow," "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" and "If This Isn't Love."

Elyse Trevers
Date Reviewed:
November 2009
Royal Family, The
Samuel J. Friedman Theater

George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's The Royal Family first opened on Broadway 82 years ago, and this domestic comedy about a leading theatrical family and their squibbles and squabbles is still totally entertaining theater. It's poseurs posing -- the myths and affectations of being in thee-atah, dahling is directed with a lively pace, superb timing and clean staging of its manic doings by Doug Hughes.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Annie Get Your Gun
Lewis Middle School

I don't know of another show that has so many hits in it as Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun. Opening with "There's No Business Like Show Business," then continuing with "They Say It's Wonderful," and "The Girl that I Marry." Precious few shows have had such lasting appeal from its Broadway opening in 1946 with a run of 1,147 shows to the revivals in 1966 and 1999. It was in 1999 that Berlin's "I'll Share it All With You" and "Who Do You Love I Hope" was added.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
May 2009
Bad Night in a Men's Room Off Sunset Boulevard
Compass Theater

We all make mistakes. Most are inconsequential and private. Some, however, are life changing; especially in 1982. In the case of Michael (Douglas Myers), an indiscretion in a gay restroom ends his budding film career and makes him question his sexuality. Thus begins Ira Bateman-Gold's Bad Night in a Men's Room Off Sunset Boulevard, currently running at Compass Theater.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
June 2009
Steady Rain, A
Gerald Schoenfeld Theater

Keith Huff's A Steady Rain, briskly directed by John Crowley, is a well-orchestrated minuet of cop life and drama told story-recitation style by a terrific combo of two charismatic actors, Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman. They are as exciting as I had hoped, each with a contrasting style of acting. It's a riveting narration with Jackman as the hardass, a full outlaw, and Craig as not so strong and more sensible. Craig gives us a real person with vulnerabilities: he's a fine actor. Jackman conjures up some strong emotions in himself and is a great performer.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Memphis
Shubert Theater

Memphis, with book by Joe DiPietro, lyrics by DiPietro and David Bryan and music by Bryan, is a cookin' rock-n'-roll show with a splattering of gospel. The story about getting into the music business is simplistic, but the singing is terrific and the music will get you. Also, since I was a very early -- maybe premature -- Civil Rights campaigner in Georgia, the story of forbidden love in the `60's (black and white) has special resonance for me.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Superior Donuts
Music Box Theater

Tracy Letts' Superior Donuts offers a slice of contemporary Polish/Russian working-class life in a Chicago neighborhood that is now mixed with black inhabitants. Superior acting, superior writing, superior jokes based on character, and two superior leading characters - Michael McKean as an old hippie and Jon Michael Hill as his new assistant -- create a complex counterpoint that is theatrically engrossing.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Wishful Drinking
Studio 54

Carrie Fisher is a pisser -- and a great story teller. Her autobiographical one-woman show, Wishful Drinking, now on Broadway, with her celebrity-filled life stories, her bouts with drugs, alcohol and personal betrayals, is totally engaging and enjoyable, with her tongue-in-cheek attitude carrying us through some awful episodes and some happy ones. Her star parents, her notoriety from "Star Wars," her headline-making plunges -- all is revealed, all mocked, by a true survivor who is a terrific performer. Long may she wave!

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Hamlet
Broadhurst Theater

The current Hamlet, now on Broadway starring Jude Law, is still Hamlet, arguably the greatest play ever written, and the timeless brilliance of Shakespeare's drama and humor are there. The grim, dark set by Christopher Oram is a powerful presence, and his costumes, a contemporary black or brown palette (except for The Players who are in white), the brilliant lighting by Neil Austin vividly highlighting the action, and the great fencing, all well staged by director Michael Grandage, give a balance to the production's flaws.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Bye Bye Birdie
Henry Miller's Theater

Bye Bye Birdie, now on Broadway, is a fun, old-fashioned teeny-bopper cartoon of a musical about a pop singer going into the army in about 1960, and the effect on the familiy of a small-town girl (a sweet Allie Trim) who won the contest to kiss Birdie goodbye. The old songs, including "Put On A Happy Face," with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, still bounce, and the lead, John Stamos, as the star's manager is really cute -- singing and dancing. (I wish he had more dancing: he's fun.) And Nolan Gerard Funk as Birdie can put over a number quite well.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Next to Normal
Booth Theater

It requires a certain amount of courage to attend next to normal, now playing on Broadway at the Booth Theater. Far from the "feel-good" musicals of the past, this is an in-your-face examination of a dysfunctional family trying to make it day by day. At first, all seems completely normal. There's a dad, a mom, and two teenage kids, all singing "Just Another Day." As Diana, the mom, continues to chirp in this light-hearted tune, she admits that her daughter is a freak, her son's a shit, and her husband is boring. So much for family harmony.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Hamlet
Broadhurst Theater

Many of those who come to see Broadway's Hamlet likely are drawn by the star power of Award-winning actor Jude Law, who plays the title role. However, they may find themselves marveling more at the author's wit and craft than at the handsome, animated actor. Law may be a heartthrob in real life, but he is a skilled stage actor who makes an exceptional Hamlet, too.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Oleanna
Golden Theater

Oleanna, by David Mamet, snappily directed by Doug Hughes, tells of a well-meaning, somewhat full-of-himself, earnest professor (Bill Pullman) meeting with and being accused by student with a bug up her ass (Julia Styles). He foolishly tries to help her, stepping beyond boundaries he should know about.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Dracula
Geva Theater Center

One organization invited to perform in Geva Theater Center's Nextstage for Geva's 2008 Rochester Theatrefest, a generous presentation of smaller local theater groups, was PUSH Physical Theater, which Geva's Artistic Director Mark Cuddy called a "treasure," labeling PUSH's performances "by far, the highlight of the entire Theatrefest season, so much so that I invited them back." They returned with the world premiere of their dracula, preceded by about 35 minutes of earlier short pieces displaying the troupe's signature dance-mime-improv works which demonstrate what

Herbert M. Simpson
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Clean House, The
Geva Theater - Mainstage

I have liked several plays by the brilliant young playwright Sarah Ruhl, and I was amused and entertained by The Clean House when I read it in manuscript several years ago. But I do not understand the great fuss over this play, even almost awarding it a Pulitzer Prize. Its funny, quirky plot strikes me as smotheringly whimsical, and I am never unaware of Ruhl's effort to surprise. Still, it is witty and fiercely good-natured and virtually guaranteed to provide its audience with a wry good time.

Herbert M. Simpson
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Superior Donuts
Music Box Theater

Watching Superior Donuts on Broadway is a little like sitting in front of your TV set watching a re-run of "Seinfeld." This is not necessarily a bad thing. There's a reason that sitcom went on and on for many years. It offered "authentic" characters that did everyday things. Same with Superior Donuts.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Bent
Diversionary Theater

Germany, the mid-30s, the rise of the Third Reich, the persecuted Jews and homosexuals are the elements of Martin Sherman's electrifying Bent.

The stage is draped in black. Only a three-step stair holding some potted plants and a divan grace the barren space. First we meet Max (Michael Zlotnik). Moments later, his roommate, Rudy (Chris Buess), enters. Finally, after a bit, Wolfe (Bobby Schiefer), who had come home with Max, enters nude.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Narcissa & Goldmund
Metropolitan Room

Micaela Leon and Adrienne Haan at The Metropolitan Room are billed as "Diabolical Weimar Wunderkinder" in Narcissa & Goldmund, a lively Teutonic musical review about 1920's Berlin with two tall, beautiful blonde singers with well-matched voices, enchanting us in songs with whimsical charm, blatant feminism and costumes (by Julia Jentzsch) that are provocative and glamorous. These are two commandingly heroic female personas dressed to the nines, filling the room with their glamorous presences.

This is also classy cabaret - entertaining beyond the ordinary.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
November 2009
Bye Bye Birdie
Henry Miller's Thetaer

Broadway's not quiet anymore. The new season is off to a high-flying start. The newest revival, Bye, Bye, Birdie, at the new Henry Miller's, and the newest musical, Memphis, at the classic Shubert, have turn-up-the-heat choreography by, respectively, director Robert Longbottom and Sergio Trujillo. Birdie's Conrad B., as gyratingly and high-flyingly portrayed by former gymnast Nolan Gerard Funk, and the amazing Sweet Apple, Ohio, & and Memphis's breathlessly jiving ensemble are reason enough to catch the two shows.

Ellis Nassour
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Memphis
Shubert Theater

Memphis, on Broadway via the La Jolla Playhouse and Seattle's 5th Avenue Theater, is a very fictionalized account of the roots of rock 'n roll as it emerged from unknown black boppers in "underground" clubs of the 50s along Memphis' Beale Street (there are no basement clubs, but storefront ones).

Ellis Nassour
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Wishful Drinking
Studio 54

So you thought you came from a dysfunctional family? Think again. As you'll find out at the limited engagement of Roundabout's Wishful Drinking at Studio 54, your life has been a month at Disneyland compared to Carrie Fisher, daughter of a long-ago era's Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston: hitmaking recording artist Eddie Fisher and legendary movie star Debbie Reynolds.

Ellis Nassour
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Tanguera: The Tango Musical
City Center

Tanguera: The Tango Musicalhas arrived on its world tour from Buenos Aires for a limited engagement stop at City Center through October 18, 2009. The choreography by dancer and top tangophile Mora Godoy is part tango, ballroom, ballet, contemporary, and acrobatic. Some of the tango choreography is quite classic, but there are very nice modern twists. Godoy's goal is to "extend the lines between dance and theater, in the same vein as did Moving Out and Contact.

Ellis Nassour
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Memphis
Shubert Theater

Innovation demands risk takers, some of whom go unheralded. One of Rock and Roll's heroes was Dewey Phillips, a hillbilly from Tennessee who in the 1950's fell in love with the black music and played it on the radio. With Phillips as the inspiration, Joe DiPietro (I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change) created a book and lyrics to go with the music and lyrics written by David Bryan of Bon-Jovi to develop Memphis, an exciting new musical.

Elyse Trevers
Date Reviewed:
October 2009
Love, Loss and What I Wore
Westside Theater

Love, Loss and What I Wore, adapted by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron from the book by Ilene Beckerman, is a narrative, read and acted by five women about the foibles and interactions between girls and their mothers, their romances and passages in life, all tied to clothing. The stories are universal; the actresses are accomplished and charming. They have a rotating cast, and my night had Carol Kane Lucy DeVito, Katie Finneran, Capathia Jenkins and Natasha Lyonne -- all filled with sparks of life, all ringing true.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
December 2009
Love, Loss and What I Wore
Westside Theater

For Proust, food might have triggered memories, but most women associate articles of clothing with significant events. A wedding gown, a deceased mother's dress and favorite shoes might conjure up relationships or memorable conversations.

In Love, Loss and What I Wore, an adaptation of Ilene Beckerman's book, Nora and Delia Ephron mine that concept, using clothing to tell a series of stories.

Elyse Trevers
Date Reviewed:
December 2009
As You Like It
Coronado Playhouse

Coronado Playhouse's latest production, under the able direction of Keith A. Anderson, is As You Like It. My program flopped open to a dense page titled, "Why A Modern-Language Text Of Shakespeare?" I was aghast that another director with some crazy idea thought he could possibly be better at prose than The Bard, the very man who added over 1700 words to the English language. NEVER!

Director Keith A. Anderson garnered nary a moment of wrath from me as he gently changed but a few words. It was either that or a glossary defining some obscure word's meaning.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
September 2007
Is Life Worth Living?
Mint Theater

Director Jonathan Bank has done it again: his Mint Theater presentation of the 1933 Irish play, Is Life Worth Living?, by Lennox Robinson takes an antique from its obscure shelf and gives us a delightfully entertaining drama peopled by high-level actors, all of whom bring a depth of character and a reality to their roles, on a fine expansive set by Susan Zeeman Rogers with perfect period costumes by Martha Hally, an impressive soundscape by Jane Shaw, and excellent lighting by Jeff Nellis.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
September 2009
Short Wake, A
Manhattan Theater Source

A Short Wake by Derek Murphy, strongly directed and clearly staged by Ludovica Villar-Hauser, gives us two twisted brothers from a deteriorated gangster family, powerfully, believably played by Peter Bradbury and Brandon Williams, at the funeral of their father whom they hated. It's an imaginative conflict dipping into the past of a working gangster and his lawyer brother and their earlier life with their miserable, alcoholic father and angry drunk mother who died young.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
September 2009
After Luke / When I Was God
Irish Repertory Theater

Part of the 1st Irish Play Festival, After Luke and When I Was God, two colorful working-class dramas by Conal Creedon directed by Tim Ruddy, full of elemental conflict between brothers and between fathers and sons, is performed by three strong actors: Gary Gregg, Colin Lane and Michael Mellamphy. In the first, it's a Cain-and-Abel-style, powerful dynamic conflict, and in the second, it's sturm and drang between father and son revolving around sports. Basically, both are about miscommunication and the hope of parental love.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
September 2009
World Elsewhere!, A: Arias in the Key of Clown
Cherry Lane Theater

Ben Newman and Wide Eyed Productions have created an unusually exciting, seven-performer clown show, A World Elsewhere!: Arias in the Key of Clown. Led by the multi-talented Justin Ness, aided and abetted by Lucy McRae and a lively troupe, the separation and ultimate reuniting of two clowns takes us on an entertaining journey full of shtick, folderol and tomfoolery that doesn't let down for a moment.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
September 2009

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