Chris Jones — Theater Critic

Most great American dramas of familial anguish and conflict are driven by outrageous individual behavior. But what distinguishes Stephen Karam's inestimably kind, rich and beautiful new play 'The Humans'...is not that Karam lacks awareness of human failings. On the contrary, his characters wear their flaws on their sleeves. But while this extraordinarily talented young writer has an innate sense of dramatic tension and theatricality, he also has a rare understanding that you do not need to pop pills or hit the liquor cabinet for tragedy to bang persistently on your door...Mantello has cast a plethora of superb ensemble actors...'The Humans' is written without excessive sentiment but also without condescension, and Mantello and his cast avoid both those qualities.

For the first time in its long history of dramatization, 'The Color Purple' has been afforded an incarnation fully in sync with one crucial aspect of Walker's original authorial intent -- that the audience must participate in the imaginative act in order to comprehend its richness of theme and story...Hudson's portrayal of Shug Avery is notable in the way it forces an audience to measure the extent and limits of its attraction to this glamorous siren with her life-affirming but hedonist ways. For those of us who watched Hudson in concert early in her career, this performance, which is vocally exquisite, shows the remarkable growth as an actress...But Hudson is not the performer who brings down the house...That work belongs to Cynthia Erivo, the British actress playing -- actually, inhabiting is the better word -- the role of Celie and who, better than the several other actresses I have seen play this role, captures not just the fullness of her pain but the stature of her resilience.

For his much-anticipated return to Broadway, and the very theater where his ubiquitous kitties pawed and warbled their way through a different era, the ever-savvy Andrew Lloyd Webber has kept himself and his ditties more in the background. He has pushed to the fore a group of rockin'-out U.S. youngsters so capable, charming, vulnerable and aspirational, their open hearts surely will fell any and all resistance... You keep waiting for a really great rock number that never quite arrives, a sticky but repetitive ditty called 'Stick it to the Man' notwithstanding. But with the help of lyrics by Glenn Slater, the score more than does its job theatrically.

What are we to make of these bizarre later Broadway endeavors by the man from Chicago who wrote some of the greatest dramas of the 20th century? Are they soupcons? Digressions or meditations yet to be understood? Anarchistic jabs of defiance at the hyper-liberal, perpetually self-examining theatrical establishment with its committees, action groups and abiding impotence?...Herewith, a script and production so provocatively dismissive of all that is generally associated with theatrical craft, rule keeping and hive-driven aesthetic understanding that it feels at least partially deliberate.

The fundamental problem, alas, with the performance of Willis, the star of some of the highest-grossing action movies in Hollywood history, is that his reaction to all of those realizations, upon which the forward trajectory of this theoretically scary play depends, are wholly homogenous - to the extent, that is, that one can detect any reaction from him at all. Metcalf is, of course, an inveterate creature of the stage, and in the first few minutes of 'Misery,' which is directed by Will Frears without enough attention to those old-fashioned fundamentals, you can enjoy her fussy, annoying Annie. In those early scenes, she's a carefully wrought Metcalf creation, credibly rooted in a certain reality - you feel, as you should, like you have met this Annie on a prior occasion.

The white-hot director Ivo van Hove is not the first to embrace the passionate smolder behind Arthur Miller's 1955 play of forbidden passion in Italian-American Brooklyn...But it is hard to recall another staged production -- beyond this exquisitely profound Broadway import from London's Young Vic Theatre Company starring Mark Strong, Nicola Walker and Phoebe Fox -- that has depicted with such complexity and intensity what Eddie and his niece actually had together, before his infuriatingly effeminate usurper Rodolpho arrives, illegally, from the motherland...this is the very rare production that matches the complexity of the text, with its mixed-messaged collision of the cerebral and the sensual, a dichotomy at the heart of everything Miller ever wrote...Van Hove's brilliance is multifaceted, but much rests on his ability to focus the mind and soul on a work's tiny moments.

But although it revolves around the Kimura family, ripped apart by life in the camps, 'Allegiance' gets trapped in the very freneticism of its own storytelling. Relationships are built and fall apart without anyone seeming to take the time to think through the implications of anything. Even the small number of emotionally potent ballads in Kuo's florid, traditional and mostly romantic score are taken at a tempo where you wonder how the singer has any time to emote anything. So go the scenes, designed with retro fluidity, by Donyale Werle. Nobody seems to take the time to think, or to feel.

..the shrewd book writer Alexander Dinelaris finds conflict instead in the Estefans' insistence to the skeptical men in suits that the Sound Machine's signature hybrid of guitar, synthesizer and Latin rhythms...actually is the new sound of an America with a changed face...Dinelaris finds more tension in Gloria's long estrangement from her mother...You never doubt that all of these obstacles will be overcome by hard work and mutual affection...but one great asset of this show is that the struggles still feel emblematic of the greater immigrant struggle, which Broadway has charted as long as there has been a Broadway...In the lead role of Gloria, newcomer Ana Villafane has found her voice and emotional core since a more tentative Chicago debut. Villafane does not have the formidably rich Estefan lower register...but her interpretations of the Estefan hits are quite lovely because they feel rooted in the kind of warmth and sincerity that marks the reputation of their subject.

So why have an affair? How about if you're Keira Knightley? The very capable British screen actress...has the chance to explore that question with paparazzi-free impunity by playing the title role in the Roundabout Theatre Company's new production of Emile Zola's 'Therese Raquin'...on a spectacular set from the redoubtable Beowulf Boritt that is at once expressionistic, operatic and aquatic...The overarching problem with this production is that neither Knightley nor Ryan evidences any joy in their initial coupling -- I speak not, necessarily, of wild partying of un-Zola-esque frivolity, but merely of a palpable connection, of anticipated pleasure. Even their extramarital sex is perfunctory -- and executed with a positively unsettling rapidity of the kind one might suffer with one's husband, maybe, but surely not with one's chosen lover.

...Broderick does not really show us a vulnerable guy on some kind of journey...[he] is pretty much the same at the end as he is at the beginning: He delivers his lines with much the same cadence in both acts, which can be funny in a technical sense, but does not move us much of anywhere, dramatically speaking, nor provide the requisite complexity of relationship..That's not to say 'Sylvia' has no laughs...Ashford navigates many of the pitfalls of this role well -- her doggy is a detailed set of observations, and her crotch nuzzling, couch laying, sitting, begging and the rest are all executed with amusing aplomb on a romantic Central Park-themed set from David Rockwell that tacitly acknowledges the retro, patriarchal nature of the play.

For the Founding Father never had a friend so loyal and true as Lin-Manuel Miranda, whose audaciously ambitious and supremely executed new musical is surely the most entertaining, provocative and moving civics lesson in Broadway history...it's true that the language and nomenclature of 'Hamilton' feel wildly fresh and distinctive...But what makes Miranda such a uniquely potent Broadway figure is that he also is steeped in the craft and tradition of the American musical and can forge melody and lyrics that hold up to the work of the old masters...Thomas Kail, the immensely skilled director of 'Hamilton,' not only unleashes all of this excitement with abandon, but he also forges a wholly consistent world, aided by the best work of choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler's career.

in the deeply emotional performance from Chuck Cooper, who plays Newton's personal slave and surrogate father in this new musical, there is profound longing, pain and hope for the future...Very little of that was evident in the show's Chicago tryout last fall. Much good work has been done on 'Amazing Grace'...'Amazing Grace' wants to tell the story of a conversion...But it feels rushed and unsatisfying, although not as sudden as the appearance of the title song at the conclusion of the night, even though we are hungry for more exploration of its genesis and legacy...he book, an overly linear piece of storytelling never better than serviceable that lacks nuance and ambiguity, even as the production it accompanies lacks a truly vibrant theatrical metaphor.

With most of its stellar original cast from the Steppenwolf Theatrein Chicago intact, Lisa D'Amour's 'Airline Highway' moves to Broadway as...a gentle, even sentimental, portrait of those who keep New Orleans humming...D'Amour, whose previous works include another Steppenwolf premiere, 'Detroit,' has positioned herself as a chronicler of the souls of American towns and cities...But while much of this play, warmly directed both in Chicago and on Broadway by Joe Mantello, is about the lives of those who form a tight community in their cheap hotel, the other side of D'Amour's protective instincts involves the preservation of New Orleans' distinctively outre counterculture.

Watching Rees and Rivera...On Broadway, it feels far sadder and more plaintive, and perhaps a commentary on Europe's less than stellar record with outsiders. Most of all, though, 'The Visit' now feels to be about the pain of growing older and, however rich we may or may not have grown, our inability to assuage our past mistakes, or even stop the demons that thud in our chests...It remains a weird musical, of course...Rivera is older now, and thus her Claire's determination for finality, her lack of any fear of anyone's death, makes more sense, especially when surrounded by Rees' cagey sadness (his performance is so complex and credible, it unlocks much previously hidden). Doyle, as one might expect from his past work, eschews literal staging. That works for this piece, aside from a few too many swings of a coffin.

For the first half hour of 'Something Rotten!'...it feels like same winds that blew Mel Brooks' 'The Producers' into the St. James Theatre finally are back...This musical...has the best opening comedic number of the season -- heck, several seasons...It's not just the cleverness of the song and director and choreographer Casey Nicholaw's triple-time staging -- it's the sticky melody the Kirkpatrick brothers have crafted...It's catchier than the plague, that darn thing...'A Musical' makes reference to every musical on God's green earth, given that the vision thing offers a delicious license for anachronism. Nicholaw stages this one within an inch of its life, too, stopping the show for a sustained ovation...That level of anarchic comedy is not, alas, fully sustained...Certainly the most fun of the spring musical openings on Broadway, 'Something Rotten!' is a sharply directed piece that achieves a consistent world and never checks its own literacy.

For the first half hour of 'Something Rotten!'...it feels like same winds that blew Mel Brooks' 'The Producers' into the St. James Theatre finally are back...This musical...has the best opening comedic number of the season -- heck, several seasons...It's not just the cleverness of the song and director and choreographer Casey Nicholaw's triple-time staging -- it's the sticky melody the Kirkpatrick brothers have crafted...It's catchier than the plague, that darn thing...'A Musical' makes reference to every musical on God's green earth, given that the vision thing offers a delicious license for anachronism. Nicholaw stages this one within an inch of its life, too, stopping the show for a sustained ovation...That level of anarchic comedy is not, alas, fully sustained...Certainly the most fun of the spring musical openings on Broadway, 'Something Rotten!' is a sharply directed piece that achieves a consistent world and never checks its own literacy.

Rare indeed are the musicals that begin, in essence, with three consecutive memorial services...but it is emblematic of the problems that beset this new Broadway musical...that love story is lost in a melange of flame, ice, death and frantic characters rushing around a heavily raked stage without ever seeming really to know where they are going...Nolan has an extraordinary singing voice, and Mutu certainly is no slouch in the vocal department, but he's a tad stiff and unyielding. There is a certain poignancy and truth in McAnuff's staging of a marriage rooted in warm affection but not the life force of sexual passion. And a few of Simon's songs are quite beautiful, although they all seem squelched by the conceptual whole, unable to break free. 'Doctor Zhivago' is one of those shows that needed to cut through the icy clutter and find the optimism of love and the sacrifices it spawns. Alas, the poetic leanings of the title character are never fully explored.

Cerveris - no doubt with the help of the director, Sam Gold, whose storytelling has surety and sensitivity - figured out that the way to play Bruce was the opposite of the obvious choice of a repressed, bottled-up man. Cerveris, whose performance is deeply disturbing in all the right ways, shows you a man acting out constantly, a man whose denial of self has meant excessive hunger for stimuli of all kinds.

[Morrison's] Barrie is cool, distant and strangely invulnerable; neutrality is one of the more unusual aspects of this performance. And in a show with a cacophony of different styles and ideas in play at once, it stands in stark contrast with the work of Kelsey Grammer...But the real-life story of 'Finding Neverland' is rich in complexity...In a deeper and gutsier musical, we'd better understand all that people felt about these matters -- indeed, we'd also probe the downside of not growing up and Barrie's interest therein. But 'Finding Neverland'...does not want any piece of that...Time and again, it resorts to papering over any crack that opens up...Director Diane Paulus' staging, Scott Pask's set and Mia Michaels' choreography all play with the language of the circus, or at least of the musical hall. These approaches tend to work against the trajectory of the show...the score, which often has a rootsy, 'Big River' feel and, despite some sticky melodies, remains far removed from the show's milieu. The show lacks a journey.

...there are times when 'It Shoulda Been You,' replete with its snarky mothers-in-law...perfidious groom, lusty servers, neurotic bride (played, mostly straight, by Sierra Boggess) and various hangers-on with agendas, feels as if it belongs to a previous generation of shows with similarly chirpy scores that you thought had choked long ago on the prime rib once served for dinner. Then again, the reason for the resilience of the comedy about the wedding...is that most of us have either had one, are relishing one or are worrying that there never will be one for us. That ease of identification, coupled with strikingly lively direction from David Hyde Pierce and a veritable plethora of superb farcical performances from the likes of Tyne Daly and Harriet Harris, explains why a great deal of the content in this show -- which actually is much better than the above description implies -- lands with its audience.

Had this ambitious new musical fully committed to telling its story through the love, pain, rush and insecurity of movement, especially movement that does not have to compete with digitized scenery drawing pictures of its own, and had it more overtly abandoned the usual way of musicals, then 'American in Paris' would have touched the heart and soul more than currently is possible. The expanded narrative, penned by Craig Lucas for this first legitimate staging of the 1951 movie, has resulted in an overly complex and less-than-involving story, exploring the residue of the Nazi occupation of Paris.

Hudgens has to come up with a Gigi in an era when it is generally thought best that little girls are allowed to grow up in a most delightful way, far away from the prying eyes of older suitors waiting for them to bloom...Heidi Thomas...clearly is aware of these issues. She amps up Gigi's moments of rebellion from her chosen path...That would all be well and good if Hudgens had got the memo. But for most of this show she comes up with the most girlie Gigi you could possibly imagine: it is as if she were told to be as chirpy and childlike as possible, skipping around the stage and, at times, bending at the waist like a rag doll...Hudgens is, for sure, sincere and working hard. But her safe-as-the-valley Gigi feels Californian all the way and, well, not even remotely French. Actually, nothing in this show (and I include both the earnest McGillin and the setting by Derek McLane, replete with a mini Eiffel Tower) feels even remotely French. And without that je ne sais quoi, well, you're left with a piece sans any viable identity.

...In this highly original and laudably fearless and politically incorrect piece - far indeed from the usual fare here - playwright Robert Askins has essentially taken this performance tradition further...Von Stuelpnagel's cast certainly goes everywhere this piece asks it to go, but the actors also convey a sense of ordinary folks struggling with the chaos that life can suddenly inflict on us all, whether it's in the form of troubled teenagers or bereavement or unfulfilled desire. That compassion is what takes 'Hand to God' beyond the usual condescension you find on Broadway toward Texans or people of faith in general...Boyer, the remarkable star of this enterprise, is thoroughly believable at every moment...'

...it was a savvy idea to cast Moss as Heidi in director Pam MacKinnon's mostly faithful, mostly pleasurable, sometimes frustrating revival of a play...Moss' performance focuses on Heidi's reticence, her inclination to stand back and observe, her disdain for conflict. All are part of Heidi, but this sometimes comes at the expense of the requisite backbone of steel that Joan Allen brought to the role when I first saw this show on Broadway in 1989 (it ran for more than 600 performances). In some ways, MacKinnon's production, aided by the charm of the actor, makes Scoop overly sympathetic and too much in control, when we need to see more of Heidi constantly matching his intelligence and his vivacity while exceeding his morality. On the other hand, Pinkham's Peter is a tad too much in the other direction, too detached, a bit unfeeling. And that means we don't fully see the relationship that might have been - in Heidi's head, at least.

Aside from giving the redoubtable Helen Mirren another chance to essay Queen Elizabeth II - a necessarily reclusive character with whom this actress is now so closely allied that the two verge on a coalition, with Mirren doing all the talking - Peter Morgan's 'The Audience' succeeds because it intuits the heavy price a monarch must pay in a constitutional democracy... Daldry, like Morgan, knows how to mix the serious and the flashily theatrical, and thus 'The Audience' is neither dull nor dry... It's a coup de theater of the old school, and watching Mirren seem to peel off years and cares is nothing short of a dazzling experience.