David Rooney — Theater Critic

...this Broadway summer filler's main challenge is to inject variation into an entertainment built entirely around a single sultry dance tradition, defined by its heightened sense of melodramatic sizzle. But creator-director Luis Bravo's worldwide hit addresses the fatigue issue by steadily cranking up the degree of difficulty in the routines as the marathon progresses....Smirnoff and Chmerkovskiy are about as authentically Argentinean as Tango & Cash, but who cares? The crowd is mad for them, and it's easy to see why. They're tall, sinuous and sexy, delivering polished showmanship with effortless charisma. The four routines that feature the duo are among the highlights

A medieval fable that makes a giddy hodge-podge out of Candide and Faust, bulging with sexy circus acts, magic tricks, tuneful early-'70s pop-rock songs, elementary existentialism and comedy that runs the gamut from goofy and campy through grotesque and bawdy, Pippin shouldn't work, but it does. Up to a point. Diane Paulus' Broadway revival of the 1972 musical is massively, almost overwhelmingly entertaining, even if its audacious razzle-dazzle doesn't mask the limitations of its book. Still, fans of this much-loved show couldn't ask for a more energized production.

Midler's consummate ability to deliver brassy chutzpah, fierceness and silky comic seduction at the same time is harnessed to perfection, allowing just a judicious whisper of vulnerability. Infusing her performance with equal parts Sue and Bette, plus a dash of her old Sophie Tucker routines, she makes this role her bitch.

Midler's consummate ability to deliver brassy chutzpah, fierceness and silky comic seduction at the same time is harnessed to perfection, allowing just a judicious whisper of vulnerability. Infusing her performance with equal parts Sue and Bette, plus a dash of her old Sophie Tucker routines, she makes this role her bitch.

[Tyson's] performance as Mrs. Watts is as remarkable for its spry, shuffling energy and wiliness as for its warmth and emotional transparency...Tyson's ability to convey stubborn resilience in the face of defeat is profoundly touching...But the production's tone is inconsistent, too often sacrificing truthful poignancy in favor of jaunty humor and manufactured sentiment. Instead of a quiet elegy that can cut deep with its sense of reaching for a past that exists now only in the imagination, it has become a heartwarming dramedy (a word I hate) of a kind regularly found on basic cable. It's still perfectly entertaining, just a long way from being all that this play can be.

A dense, boldly unorthodox piece for risk-averse Broadway, it has been directed with transfixing focus by Deborah Warner, whose frequent collaborations with Shaw go back 25 years...[Shaw's] Mary is haunted, scornful, a hardened skeptic as uncompromisingly judgmental with herself as she is with others. She also has the manic energy of a woman whose refusal of the comforts of sleep - and more pointedly, the healing balm of dreams - has taken her beyond fatigue...Provocative as much of the content is, Toibin is not doing anything so blunt as a revisionist interpretation of the Scriptures. He is undertaking a nuanced psychological exploration of a figure whose nobility is due in part to her eternal silence, rendering her instead here as a woman who will not be silenced.

Alan Cumming puts a daring new spin on Shakespeare's tragedy, shifting its focus from the cost of ambition to the harrowing imprisonment of madness.

Alan Cumming puts a daring new spin on Shakespeare's tragedy, shifting its focus from the cost of ambition to the harrowing imprisonment of madness.

...this dynamite production of Lyle Kessler's play needs no assist from offstage friction to galvanize attention. Packaged as a post-30 Rock return to the stage for Baldwin, this is a scorching display of ensemble acting in which the star is evenly matched by riveting performances from Ben Foster and Tom Sturridge, making the descent from black comedy into tragedy a bracing theatrical thrill ride.

Basically, it's like Aaron Sorkin meets Neil Simon. That should register as studied and artificial, and on many levels it does. But the cleverness is supported by a foundation of warmth, sensitivity, even delicacy that makes this funny-sad comedy as unexpectedly affecting as it is entertaining...This is an idiosyncratic play that reveals itself slowly and perhaps never quite fully, but Lynne Meadow's expertly gauged production has just the right feel for its shifting rhythms...More than the physical production, however, what separates this from a mannered New Yorker cartoon world is the wonderful anchoring performances of Jessica Hecht and Judith Light, both of them rich in complex humanity.

In The Nance, Douglas Carter Beane undertakes an archeological investigation into the homosexual subculture of late-1930s New York, which in itself seems an audaciously unfashionable enterprise in this age of gay marriage and increasing social acceptance. Perhaps the playwright's intention was to remind today's complacent audiences of the injustices of an intolerant society. If the ambitious play ultimately doesn't dig deep enough to find the ideal balance between its delirious low comedy and pathos, at the very least it provides a tremendous vehicle for Nathan Lane.

You can't hurry love, but apparently you can hurtle through 25 years of pop history without depth or complexity if Motown: The Musical is any indication. With its narrowly self-serving perspective and simplistic connect-the-dots plotting, Berry Gordy's book makes Jersey Boys look like Eugene O'Neill. And Charles Randolph-Wright's direction struggles to get a fluid handle on the music empire founder's superficial chronicle of his legendary Detroit hit factory. But there's no denying the power and energy of the show's arsenal of killer tunes.

Any show that arrives from London fueled by as much critical and commercial fanfare asMatilda can hardly be called a surprise. Yet the capacity for constant surprise, and an almost overwhelming sense of wonder at the magic of storytelling - and by extension, stagecraft - is central to the experience of this dazzlingly inventive musical. Capturing the unique flavor of Roald Dahl's classic 1988 children's novel, this funhouse fairy tale is by turns riotous and poignant, grotesque and menacing, its campy comic exaggeration equaled only by its transporting emotional power. I can't wait to see it again.

Who doesn't love Cyndi Lauper? A proudly idiosyncratic pop priestess since the early '80s, she's always been way more real than her contemporary, Madonna, let alone such 21st century descendants as Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj. Rocking the thrift-store chic and subjecting her hair to chemical torture, Lauper has made a career out of celebrating her extravagant individuality and everybody else's with the unpretentious chutzpah of a true-blue Queens girl. The fact that her infectious spirit shines through every number in her first Broadway musical score is unquestionably the chief asset of Kinky Boots, helping to elevate the show above its familiar template.

A frequent stumbling block in any dense dramatic chronicle is too much tell, not enough show. But the late Nora Ephron circumvents that problem in her entertaining salute to the tabloid newspaper business of the 1980s and '90s, Lucky Guy. She smartly enlists a garrulous crew of reporters and editors to serve as the oral-history vessel for her nostalgic look back at old-school, foot-in-the-door journalism...Directed with warmth and vitality by George C. Wolfe, it's performed with relish by a dynamic cast of pros, piloted by an uncharacteristically rough-edged Tom Hanks...Is it exceptional drama? Not by any means. It's talky, cursory in its conflict exploration, and not exactly packed with complexity. Yet it's intelligently written, engrossing and laced with crackling humor.

Given the static nature of the premise, director Neil Pepe and choreographer Sergio Trujillo do a remarkable job of injecting motion into the production as the contestants drop out one by one due to physical or mental exhaustion. The unpretentious integrity of the material, the straight-up presentation of the characters and the likable cast encourage you to root for them, yielding many affecting moments. However, the show seems stretched at two hours twenty; tightening it into a one-act might heighten its impact. But even if Broadway ends up being only a branding stop, this tender collection of hard-luck heartland stories should go on to become a popular regional entry.

It might be time to call for a moratorium on stage adaptations of Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's...Sean Mathias has taken a blundering stab at turning it into a Broadway play, this time with a page-bound script by Richard Greenberg and a strained Emilia Clarke in the central role. Far more than the casting or writing, however, the insurmountable problem is Mathias' cloddish direction...Ultimately, this translation is an inert substitute for both the written and filmed versions, its central characters distant and lacking in warmth.

Taylor’s intention is admirable in shining a spotlight on a woman driven by a heroic passion for public service. But the longer the show runs on, the more its lack of shading becomes apparent. She peppers the dialogue with pandering audience nods to racial and gender equality and gun laws. But she glosses over the potentially juicy stuff such as the dirty politics that tried to keep Richards out of office the first time and succeeded when she ran for a second term. It also might have been interesting to include a wry acknowledgment that Richards’ failed re-election bid gave her the dubious distinction of opening the door to the political career of George W. Bush.

Reworked for Broadway from its bones as an original 1957 television musical, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella gets off to a halting start and takes some questionable detours. But this pleasurable confection overcomes its conceptual missteps with old-fashioned stagecraft, enchanting design elements, smooth direction and choreography, and most of all, winning contributions from an ideally cast ensemble...The quintessential element that the production gets resoundingly right is the chemistry between downtrodden Cinderella (Laura Osnes) and her lovestruck Prince (Santino Fontana)...

Reworked for Broadway from its bones as an original 1957 television musical, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella gets off to a halting start and takes some questionable detours. But this pleasurable confection overcomes its conceptual missteps with old-fashioned stagecraft, enchanting design elements, smooth direction and choreography, and most of all, winning contributions from an ideally cast ensemble...The quintessential element that the production gets resoundingly right is the chemistry between downtrodden Cinderella (Laura Osnes) and her lovestruck Prince (Santino Fontana)...

Somebody spayed the cat. And it wasn't the hard-working main attraction Scarlett Johansson, who plays Tennessee Williams' tenacious feline title character in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The star and her similarly marooned fellow cast members are all at the mercy of Rob Ashford, a director out of his depth and reaching for any floatation device he can grab in this sinking Broadway revival, which manages to be both thunderously emphatic and curiously flat.

While the heat between the central couple in director Sam Gold's Broadway revival could have been turned up a notch, the veil of melancholy hanging over the play's characters generates a quiet poignancy...Despite producing four popular and critical successes in the 1950s, Inge's work has proven less durable than that of some of his contemporaries. His plays lack the thematic expansiveness of Arthur Miller, or the sad poetry of Tennessee Williams. But as a snapshot of a time and place that shows the solitude of small-town life for so many people, women especially, Picnic yields gentle rewards. And if Gold's staging muffles some of them, it nonetheless finds resonance in the play's bruised cynicism about love.

In the role of a brittle biophysicist, terrified, angered and ultimately humbled by her own illness, Metcalf has found a vehicle that allows her tremendous gifts to blaze fiercely...Joe Mantello's super-sleek production perfectly mirrors the complexities of Juliana's psychological state. The set, by Eugene Lee and Edward Pierce, is a stark tangle of what could be picture frames or windows. At times illuminated in patches, at others bathed in a soft glow or deep shadow, the enclosure provides a fractured view of everything and nothing. The central character's volatile moods are echoed in the meticulous shifts of Justin Townsend's lighting and Fitz Patton's music and sound. There's a precision to the staging that enhances the puzzle-like intrigue of White's play and safeguards it from slipping into the disease-of-the-week telefilm territory it could easily inhabit.

First seen on Broadway in 1984, Mamet's tight-as-a-drum drama should still retain its bite, but it never quite catches fire in this latest revival. Allowing the play to be twisted from an ensemble piece into a platform for Al Pacino, an actor not averse to showboating, director Daniel Sullivan and his producers have done a disservice to the Pulitzer-winning work....The production packs some heat in the performances of Bobby Cannavale and John C. McGinley, along with assured work from David Harbour, Richard Schiff, Jeremy Shamos and Murphy Guyer. But their collective efforts are not enough to make the somewhat routine staging crackle....Even in an underpowered production, these guys are fascinating specimens to watch as they navigate the vicious fray of office politics. The same goes for Mamet's tautly structured play. With its fusillade exchanges and fat-free set-up, it remains a model of dramatic economy. Too bad its nasty punch is a tad soft here.

Nothing hammers home the anemia of many new plays being presented on Broadway today quite like the comparison of watching a robust nugget from the national theatrical canon such as Clifford Odets’ Golden Boy....While aspects of the three-act drama are inevitably dated, what remains most impactful – and is spectacularly well served in Sher’s production – is the sheer beauty of Odets’ language, with all its jangly musicality, shifting rhythms and flavorful vernacular. That comes from a finely tuned ensemble working in tight harmony…Numrich is especially impressive. Showing a startling leap in maturity and range from his role in War Horse, he charts Joe’s heartbreaking corruption from restless uncertainty to fierce, consuming drive...Sher and his actors allow Odets’ words to breathe and his characters to acquire three-dimensional form. The result is majestic theater.