Elysa Gardner — Theater Critic

Vogel and co-creator Rebecca Taichman make the journey from there to the mid-20th century vividly theatrical and overtly political, suggesting other artists from that period - Bertolt Brecht, especially - while appealing to a world famished, once again, for tolerance and compassion...The larger focus of Indecent, and it couldn't be a timelier one, is the plight of the outsider or other, of anyone whose identity can be twisted into an easy target under tough circumstances...In our own troubled century, there's at least some encouragement to be found there. A-

As we now know, that period was just a warm-up for the noise and chaos that followed, and Oslo has arrived at LCT's Broadway venue with its sense of urgency intact, if not heightened. Director Bartlett Sher, whose rigorous insights into history and human relationships have buoyed new works and revivals, has actors rearrange the pieces of Michael Yeargan's spare set as one scene flows into another, so that the production seems in constant, almost frantic, motion. Their characters pace and circle each other and raise their voices suddenly, lashing out or buckling under the strain of having to maintain their composure. Bits of dialogue teeter into speechifying here and there, but you'll barely notice; the balance of passion, discipline, and suspense is organically, thrillingly theatrical.

But what emerges as this play progresses is something sharper and more unsettling. If Harmon doesn't eschew cliches - the playwright wields them with surprising wit, in fact - he has crafted, in Jordan, a central character who defies them. On the surface, our protagonist is the sweetly nerdy guy you can always confide in, whose company you always enjoy - the perfect platonic date. But as his buddies begin to pair off, his loneliness deepens into a tragicomic, primal fear, turning ominous and even ugly at points.

Menken and Ashman, who reached their greatest heights scoring animated Disney classics such as Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, generally worked in milieus more welcoming of tenderness and whimsy than Palminteri's is here. The streets revisited in this new production are paved with a heavy-handed and, in musical-theater terms, restrictive earnestness. There is humor (much of it mobster-related, mined deftly by Zaks and DeNiro), and parental love, and a bit of romance; what's missing is the even more essential element of joy.

In this season of Hamilton, it's been a tall order for any new Broadway production to rise to the level of an event. But Shuffle Along... (* * * ½ out of four) qualifies, and not just for the length of its title...The names recruited to appear in this new Shuffle Along...are equally impressive...The stars, all excellent, provide portraits that are at once recognizably human and lavishly entertaining, from Porter's wry, aspirational Aubrey to Henry's imperious but thin-skinned Noble. McDonald and Dixon have a charming, ultimately bittersweet chemistry relaying the sparks that flew between Shuffle Along's star and its married composer. The new Shuffle Along also benefits, greatly, from the exuberant gifts of choreographer Savion Glover.

It's Lange's nuanced, quietly wrenching performance that anchors Roundabout Theatre Company's new revival (* * * out of four stars) of Eugene O'Neill's seminal dysfunctional-family drama...This staging, by British director Jonathan Kent, doesn't pack the emotional or theatrical wallop of its predecessor, but its bleak naturalism remains compelling...it's Lange who haunts us most. Having played Mary on the London stage 16 years ago, she returns to the part with an obvious and profound sense of empathy for this woman who is compared, more than once, to a ghost. Mary's world, outside the drug-induced hazes, is hardly a comforting place, but you'll leave it feeling very much alive.

'Sugar,' 'butter' and 'flour' are the first words we hear in the new Broadway musicalWaitress (* * * ½ out of four) - simple ingredients that can produce scrumptious, and healing, results. That's certainly the case with this delightful adaptation of Adrienne Shelly's 2007 film, which followed a small-town gal trapped in an unhappy marriage but blessed with a prodigious talent for making pies. Arriving in a season that has brought Hamilton and now the majestically unsettling American Psycho, the new musical may initially strike you as - pardon the inescapable food metaphors - a modest confection.

Patrick - a young investment banker who moonlights as a serial killer - popped up on a London stage a few years ago, in a musical adaptation that actually proved more entertaining and poignant than its source. That show has now brought Patrick and his story home, and they're scarier and more thrilling than ever...reminds us how little has changed in the past 30 years. Patrick's idol Donald Trump, mentioned more than once in Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's razor-sharp libretto, looms larger and sparks more debate than ever...The triumph of this American Psycho, directed with gale force and fabulous style byRupert Goold, is that it doesn't get lost in the details informing its brilliant, brutal satire... Es Devlin's cold, sleek set design...Katrina Lindsay's alternately slick and garish costumes reinforce both the superficiality of Patrick's lifestyle and the throbbing tension underneath....Walker's witty, terrifying Patrick - disturbingly sexy, then unexpectedly moving- holds us rapt throughout.

At a time when smearing a neighbor or movie star or rival presidential candidate can be as easy as hitting 'send,' it's especially troubling to watch riled-up teenagers and self-centered adults point such destructive fingers with impunity...Perhaps because Crucible invokes the supernatural, the staging seems less mannered than van Hove's take on Miller's A View From the Bridge last fall -- but not much...the excellent actors help ensure that Miller's dialogue is never overshadowed...Whishaw's beautifully shaded tenderness and fury also contrasts with the repressed desperation Ronan brings to her role. Alternately cool and rash, her Abigail is more wounded child than calculating homewrecker.

...Bright Star aspires to the kind of emotional sweep and folksy wit we associate with Golden Age musicals, from Rodgers and Hammerstein classics to Meredith Willson's The Music Man. That's a tall order in 2016, with irony and its bratty child, snark, having emerged as prevalent comic tools. But Martin, a master ironist, captures some of that old-school spirit with a book that's as forthright as it is smart, funny and charming...Director Walter Bobbie culls spirited, endearing performances from the actors cast in these roles. Carmen Cusack's Alice evolves convincingly from a mischievous girl to an accomplished but lonely and disappointed woman, while A.J. Shively makes Billy at once wholesome and credibly ambitious

Williams brings more of that slow-burning, nervous intensity to Una...Part of Blackbird's potency lies in Harrower's refusal to make Una either pathetic or especially likable, even as her utter devastation is revealed. Ray, similarly, is no two-dimensional monster; though he seeks to deny his demons, he has plainly done some battle with them...Daniels' performance, which was superb nine years ago, is better here -- at once more vital and more aching in its weariness, and still beautifully shaded, so that we see Ray's capacity to deceive himself and others. As his frustration and anger tip over into something more dangerous and sad, it becomes almost painful to watch the actor, but impossible to look away.

Never mind that Forest Whitaker's distinctly textured baritone has added authority and nuance to a range of complex and sometimes outsize characters...Erie Smith, Whitaker's role in a new revival of Eugene O'Neill's Hughie (* * * out of four stars)...is, in contrast, a diminished figure...Erie's voice sounds higher and more nasal than Whitaker's does normally, and he wields it with a New York accent...and a strained sense of self-assurance...British director Michael Grandage...emphasizes the play's bleak intimacy here...Whitaker makes his character worthy of compassion. Erie can, without question, come across as a lout...But Whitaker brings an awkward sweetness that makes his desperation not only pitiable but accessible.

It could certainly be argued that this home is haunted, but not by the usual suspects that pop up in horror flicks and scary campfire tales. As the Blakes gather for Thanksgiving dinner, along with Brigid's boyfriend and housemate, they are set upon, slowly but steadily, by frustrated and forsaken dreams and failed expectations...Karam...isn't interested in a polemic. Humans rather considers the trials its highly imperfect subjects face in a highly imperfect world, and resolves, without ever approaching sentimentality, that love is nonetheless resilient.

In the glorious Broadway revival of The Color Purple (* * * * out of four stars)...leading lady Cynthia Erivo -- remember the name, because you'll be hearing more of it -- speaks mostly in a low, wry voice. 'Speaks' would be the operative word here, because when Erivo raises that voice in song, it soars with a force that seems almost supernatural, but is also distinctly, piercingly human...In Purple, the director confronted a less cohesive score...with lyrics that, like Marsha Norman's book, can flirt with platitudes. Those words and music remain, but under Doyle's guidance...they seem reborn. Melodies float and swing in more R&B-savvy arrangements, providing showcases for the extravagantly gifted singer/actors featured here...The Color Purple is ultimately a story of redemption, and Doyle and his cast do a miraculous job of capturing that essence, down to its spiritual core, without getting preachy or mawkish.

How could you possibly resist them, these fresh, sunny faces and sweet pre-pubescent voices that dominate the cast of School of Rock -- The Musical(*** out of four stars)? Did I mention that some of the kids also play musical instruments, live? For the uninitiated, the show, which opened Sunday at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre, is an adaptation of the beloved 2003 Jack Black movie. The film casts Black as Dewey Finn, a would-be rocker who, after getting fired from his band, borrows his house mate's identity to land a gig as substitute teacher at an elite private school.

In Mamet's new play, China Doll (*** out of four stars)...both businessmen and politicians take their lumps, but the latter emerge as the real scourge...During much of the play, Mickey is on the phone, making his case to different key players whom we neither see nor hear. The only other character present is his assistant Carson, a stoic but patently ambitious young fellow played with marvelous discretion by Christopher Denham...Pacino, stooping slightly, paces and gesticulates; his pauses and occasional mumbled lines (others are shouted, with sometimes alarming intensity) seem entirely in character...The play itself is not always coherent, veering from obvious political commentary...to recurring references to 'seduction' and 'protection' in male-female relationships...But if China Doll is sometimes shaky or confounding, it is never boring. Whatever Mamet's points, he and Pacino consistently engage us -- which is more than you can say for a lot of the folks the playwright is targeting here.

You can't help but feel for Bruce Willis, now making his Broadway debut in Misery (**1/2 out of four stars), a new adaptation of the Stephen King novel. ... But Misery isn't really Paul's play, any more than the 1990 screen version -- penned by William Goldman, who also wrote this play -- was his movie. You may remember that James Caan played Paul in that film, but he was vastly overshadowed by Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes, the obsessive fan who retrieves the injured writer from the site of the crash. Annie brings Paul to her farmhouse -- conveniently close to the hotel in Silver Creek, Colorado where he has just finished his latest work -- and holds him captive, through a combination of psychological torture and physical violence.

Generally, though, the performances are powerful -- Michael Gould's gritty, heartfelt take on Alfieri, a local lawyer who predicts Eddie's doom, is another standout -- and van Hove holds us rapt throughout, even when his flourishes feel overstated. While Miller's dialogue hardly requires such added fuss, the director should be commended for offering a fresh take that sacrifices none of its sting.

Allegiance (*** out of four stars), the new musical that opened Sunday at Broadway's Longacre Theatre, is as corny as Kansas in August and as obvious as Lady Gaga on a red carpet. But darned if it won't get a grip on your heartstrings. The flawed but defiantly moving show, which marks the Broadway debut of beloved Star Trek actor and social media darling George Takei, tackles an underexplored dark chapter in our history: the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

Sadly, the broad, obvious strokes used by librettist Alexander Dinelaris, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Birdman, prove not so appealing. In crafting a book that tells the Estefans' back story, weaving in their songs, Dinelaris follows a template used before in jukebox musicals, perhaps most successfully in Jersey Boys. That enduring hit (also choreographed by Trujillo) follows the ups and downs of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons with a mostly light, deft touch, ensuring that the focus is on the songs as vehicles for the performers.

At its core, King Charles III, which opened Sunday at the Music Box Theatre, is pure soap opera -- Downton Abbey refigured with real-life characters and even posher addresses. But playwright Mike Bartlett is going for something heavier. At first, his 'fantasy' seems to both ennoble the monarchy and wink at our fascination with it. Characters speak in blank verse, so that the younger Windsors, in particular, can sound comically lofty.

Certainly, fans who enjoy watching [Keira} tackle torment will find much to savor in Roundabout Theatre Company's new staging...Knightley's Thérèse tiptoes through the first scene of this production...Then Knightley is alone on stage, gasping for breath; we learn that Thérèse, the daughter of a sailor and a Nigerian woman, feels physically oppressed, and runs to the river for relief...The inevitable carnal encounters that follow, as staged by director Evan Cabnet, can be almost comical in their pained intensity...Cabnet's production succeeds largely because it doesn't try to inject any subtlety into the psycho-sexual histrionics emphasized in Edmundsen's adaptation...The most nuanced humanity here comes from Judith Light's splendid, haunting performance as Madame Raquin.

'My aim in life is to please,' Sylvia tells Greg and his decidedly wary wife, Kate, early on. But Sylvia has her own needs; and as played by the adorable and astute comedic actress Annaleigh Ashford...she makes them known without apology. This new production of the A.R. Gurney play, directed with a winking eye and a buoyant heart by Daniel Sullivan, casts Matthew Broderick as Greg, a man who has grown fed up with his work and perhaps a little itchy in his marriage...Broderick is very much in his comfort zone playing the blithely goofy straight man...Ashford has the juiciest role, of course, and she plays it to hilt...But it's Ashford's enormously expressive face that draws us in most, her eyes flaring and teasing and pleading, tickling and ultimately touching us.

So why bring this trifle to Broadway, for the first time, 49 years after its downtown premiere? Never mind; just check your cares and pretensions at the door of the Helen Hayes Theatre...and prepare to be thoroughly charmed...Through it all, happily, Skinner keeps everyone dancing, providing exuberant tap routines that his cast executes with joyful facility. Eloise Kropp, the appealingly wholesome and lavishly athletic performer who plays Ruby, may not have the kewpie-doll allure that Peters surely brought to the part; but it's hard to imagine many leading ladies who could provide the inexhaustible tap prowess demanded here -- or deliver the understated sweetness that makes Kropp a pleasure to watch even when she's standing still. Less is required, at least physically, of Lesli Margherita's Mona, though the actress plays the tyrannical vamp with infectious relish.

And for 75 minutes, director Daniel Aukin and his flawless cast, led by a riveting Nina Arianda and a fiercely unsettling Sam Rockwell, deliver, never allowing themselves or the audience an uncharged moment...The arrival of a gentleman caller named Martin -- an awkward but patient fellow, imbued with a strange grace by a wonderful Tom Pelphrey -- spurs the possessive Eddie to reveal that he and May share DNA...By this point, Arianda, who takes a short while to completely settle into her role -- her twangy accent seems to come and go -- has dug in with full force, and the results are devastating. The actress...has never had trouble holding a stage, or dominating one. Here, she reveals the desperation and shame of a woman who wants to exert her independence but cannot, and her final resignation is harrowing. Rockwell deftly mines the vulnerability and humor behind the menace Eddie shows us initially.