Brian Scott Lipton — Theater Critic

The evening’s “coup de grace” was a brilliant treatment regarding Hollywood’s most notorious quadrangle: Debbie Reynolds, Eddie Fisher, Richard Burton, and Elizabeth Taylor. I suspect reading these actors’ books in the privacy of your home couldn’t possibly be as much fun as seeing them reenacted on stage! In the end, “Celebrity Autobiography” also serves as a cautionary tale: Future memoirists may think twice now before putting pen to paper. I immediately went home and shredded all of my scribblings. You probably should too!

Can any show break the curse of failed vampire-driven musicals? Following belatedly in the footsteps of the ill-crafted “Lestat,” “Dance of the Vampires” and “Dracula” is “The Lost Boys,” now at the Palace Theatre. And there may not be enough garlic or wooden stakes in America to ward off this adaptation of the beloved 1987 film from becoming a commercial hit. It’s got a very appealing cast, some fine songs from the indie band The Rescues, and plenty of spectacle on its side. What more does it need? Frankly (and artistically), it needs less.

Even in a less-than-perfect production, one shouldn’t let “Joe Turner” come and go without seeing it. Wilson is one of the 20th Century’s most important dramatists and his plays, whenever they are on stage, demand we take notice.

If there was ever a case to be presented for why the Tony Awards desperately needs to add a “Best Ensemble” category – and there have been many – it’s watching 10 remarkable actors spar and strike their way through David Lindsay-Abaire’s new comedy, “The Balusters,” at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Under Kenny Leon’s superb direction, each performer offers up a precise characterization and peerless line deliveries, all of which make this extremely enjoyable show even funnier and more profound than it is on the page.

Still, some minor quibbles aside, I had a magically delicious time at “Schmigadoon.” Hopefully, so will you!.” Hopefully, so will you!

Indeed, for all its prior accolades, “Proof” rarely rises above being a compelling character study, without much implication of any larger questions outside those four Chicago walls. However, with such fine acting on display, there’s more than enough to warrant a visit (return to otherwise) and the chance to witness one of the most exciting Broadway debuts I’ve ever seen!

But that turnaround shouldn’t be the point of “The Fear of 13”; the dismal failures of the American criminal justice system is what should shock us out of our seats. Indeed, had the story been told in the proper chronological order, our outrage would have been stronger than the crowds yelling “Attica! Attica!” a few blocks away at “Dog Day Afternoon.”

Admittedly, there are moments when this eye-and-ear-popping production lives up to the idea that too much of a good thing is not necessarily a good thing. And even at the end of this lengthy extravaganza, you may still not really understand what a “jellicle cat” is! But really, who cares? You’ll still have a wonderful memory to hold onto!

Indeed, if witty, pointed arrow-like zingers that consistently hit their targets are enough for you, then “Becky Shaw” is the right play for you to see.

Guirgis also seems to assume everyone in the audience either knows the movie or has their brain turned off for the first act, since there’s no explanation until the second act for why the seemingly decent Sonny has turned to a life of crime. When it comes, it’s a doozy: the once-married Sonny is now gay and wants the money so his cross-dressing boyfriend Leon (Esteban Andres Cruz, making the most of his little stage time) can have transgender surgery. Sadly, Leon isn’t sure he wants the surgery – or a life with Sonny – and their brief phone call is quite heartbreaking.

Small details aside, though, Rosenblatt succeeds (with some dramatic license) in painting the big picture: Dahl was a brilliant author and an awful human being. As for Lithgow, he succeeds in reminding us just how much of a theatrical giant he still is!

I suspect any theatergoer who is a faithful devotee of Dumas’ novel will be disappointed, as is anyone who is truly expecting an early look at a musical that will become the next Broadway blockbuster. But everyone else can count on being at least modestly entertained and relish the excellent efforts of this mostly top-notch cast!

Unquestionably, Lili-Anne Brown’s production is exquisitely cast and so polished – even on opening night -- that it could return intact to Broadway tomorrow. And yet, time hasn’t changed the fact that for all the bathtub gin and chorine carousing on stage, the proceedings are so unrelentingly bleak – and the music so challenging – that I’m not convinced the piece could ever find a sustainable commercial run.

Instead, we are about to laugh – but not as we first expected – as we watch David Ireland’s pitch-black, provocative, and political comedy, “Ulster American,” boasting unsurprisingly superb performances from stage favorites Max Baker and Geraldine Hughes, and (perhaps a surprise) the liveliest, most engaged work I’ve seen from Matthew Broderick in many years!

Further, I would have been really happy if someone had told Galante that the 1966 megahit “I Say a Little Prayer” was not written for the 1968 Broadway musical “Promises, Promises,” but simply added into the score of the 2010 Broadway revival. (It might also have been nice to remind audiences that Aretha Franklin was a major interpreter of that song – among others -- and not just Dionne Warwick!) Still, for almost all my 65 years, this guy has been in love with the music of Burt Bacharach. So, hello, I may even be going back to “Going Bacharach” before this run ends.

The online blurb for New York Theatre Workshop’s new production of Moliere’s 1664 comedy “Tartuffe” promises “a mad-dash production full of ferocious wit, outrageous design, and downright buffoonery.” I beg to differ. While it’s possible you may have a reasonably pleasant time, especially if you’ve never seen this classic comedy before, that description is not exactly truth in advertising.

Unsurprisingly, Harrison has more questions and conundrums to pose in this taut 80-minute play about the trials of aging and the nature of memory. But the work (a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize) is more than a mere intellectual exercise or adventure in science-fiction. (If you are a movie nut and very good at math, you’ll realize the work is actually set in 2062.) It’s a decidedly human drama.

A production of the legendary American Dance Machine, the two-act 90-minute show, co-directed by Nikki Feirt Atkins and Randy Skinner, will serve as a pleasing exercise in nostalgia for many older patrons and a welcome education for others (especially younger folk) as it re-creates such landmark sequences as ‘Cool’ from ‘West Side Story,’ ‘One’ from ‘A Chorus Line,’ and ‘Simply Irresistible’ from ‘Contact,’ all of which remain as thrilling – and as groundbreakingly innovative -- as the day they were created.

Without question, both Young and ‘Succession’ star Nicholas Braun, in a stunning New York theater debut, make a much more persuasive case for the play than the show’s production at Second Stage did back in 2010. But the work still often feels a bit too much like an acting exercise rather than a fully realized drama, despite the pair’s protean efforts (which includes moving around the two beds that are the main feature of Arnulfo Maldonado’s spare set and changing in and out of Sarah Laux’s well-chosen costumes in full view of the audience).

Admittedly, though, there isn’t a lot to unpack here (it ain’t “Chess”), but the show thankfully feels both simple and honest. (Again, it ain’t “Chess.”) Most of all, I can think of no two people better equipped to carry this delightful musical than Sam Tutty and Christiani Pitts. Let’s hope they don’t stay strangers to the Broadway stage.

Does it really help to know what the future will bring? And if you do know, should you do what you can to change it? That turns out to be both a question on many people’s minds right now, for both political and practical reasons. It’s also the philosophical debate at the heart of Tom Hanks and James Grossman’s whimsical yet frustrating play “This World of Tomorrow,” now at The Shed under Kenny Leon’s solid direction.

Giving what I think is his best-ever Broadway performance – actually making us feel sorry for the difficult Freddie – Tveit stops Act II in its tracks with his extraordinary rendition of the ultra-difficult ‘Pity the Child’… Frankly, for all its great songs, ‘Chess’ contains a few too many clunkers… Still, thanks to its superb stars, ‘Chess’ remains a knight – I mean night – to remember.

Sure, ignorance may indeed be bliss, the truth doesn’t always set you free, and, yes, love may be blind. But ending “Oedipus” on an upbeat flashback is the greatest tragedy of this otherwise impressive update.

In the end, “The Queen of Versailles” really is the only show on Broadway that has everything but Yul Brynner – and it firmly remains a puzzlement!

If you’re seeking purely escapist fare, you might just want to head next door to “Buena Vista Social Club.” But more adventurous theatergoers, or anyone who loves great acting, should definitely turn onto “Little Bear Ridge Road.”