Elysa Gardner — Theater Critic

Yorkey's book and lyrics match the probing compassion of Normal without indulging in that show's preciousness. The characters here are more accessible and likable, from James Snyder's rugged but tender Josh to Anthony Rapp's wry Lucas, Elizabeth's longtime friend. LaChanze brings infectious verve to the role of Kate, a lesbian schoolteacher who evolves from a stock comic-buddy type into a compelling individual. As for the leading lady, Menzel seems both grounded and energized by the opportunity to play a grownup who learns that there really are no ever-afters. There is poignance in that discovery, but a sense of liberation as well, and If/Then captures both to moving, invigorating effect.

Yorkey's book and lyrics match the probing compassion of Normal without indulging in that show's preciousness. The characters here are more accessible and likable, from James Snyder's rugged but tender Josh to Anthony Rapp's wry Lucas, Elizabeth's longtime friend. LaChanze brings infectious verve to the role of Kate, a lesbian schoolteacher who evolves from a stock comic-buddy type into a compelling individual. As for the leading lady, Menzel seems both grounded and energized by the opportunity to play a grownup who learns that there really are no ever-afters. There is poignance in that discovery, but a sense of liberation as well, and If/Then captures both to moving, invigorating effect.

For those who can look past such weaknesses, though, Mothers emerges as one of the more engaging and uplifting new plays of the season. It doesn't hurt, certainly, that McNally and director Sheryl Kaller have for their leading lady the irreplaceable Tyne Daly, who makes Katharine's quirks and contradictions so vivid that you'll find yourself at once offended by her and richly entertained. McNally also affords Katharine the empathy that she herself withholds, so that we're always conscious of her underlying humanity.

The faithful will be pleased that producer Cameron Mackintosh's new staging (*** out of four stars), which opened Sunday at the Imperial Theatre, offers as much bombast as ever. There are thundering performances of Schönberg's syrupy, repetitive score (with new orchestrations), a vast, creepy set (by Matt Kinley) inspired by Hugo's paintings and a company of accomplished troupers who gamely glower and fret under Laurence Connor and James Powell's heavy-handed direction. For the rest of us, luckily, there is another compelling reason to check out this production: its leading man, Ramin Karimloo...Perhaps we'll have the good fortune to see Karimloo tackle Billy Bigelow or Sweeney Todd in the future, or perform in an original musical that can more fully accommodate his robust gifts as a singer and actor. For now, this LES MISERABLES will have to suffice.

You may recognize the song from the 1992 animated movie on which this new musical, which opened Thursday at the New Amsterdam Theatre, is based. In the film version, Friend is sung by Robin Williams, voicing the role of the genie who comes to our titular hero's aid, at his most breathlessly ebullient. It's an act that would be impossible to reproduce, so Iglehart, abetted by director/choreographer Casey Nicholaw, simply tops it. By the end of the number - which includes a game-show segment, a medley of tunes from other Disney musicals and a succession of winking, twinkling chorus lines - Iglehart's Genie is deliriously huffing and puffing; the audience, which responded at a recent preview with a standing ovation, is just as giddy. If Disney Theatrical's latest production doesn't sustain that frenzied high throughout, it delivers a rush that may surprise folks who attend either as chaperones or to relive their own youths.

If you want to witness the Cinderella story that put Sylvester Stallone on the map elevated to new levels of bombast in a live production, then Rocky, which opened Thursday, will leave you similarly energized. But this musical adaptation of the original 1976 film is actually at its most affecting when things quiet down a little - that is, when co-librettists Thomas Meehan and Stallone, composer Stephen Flaherty and lyricist Lynn Ahrens turn their attention to Rocky's less flamboyant, more awkward efforts as a man looking for love.

ohnson has similar concerns about both King and Hoover, and most of the men he deals with, and expresses them even more colorfully when not on guard. Schenkkan embraces LBJ's well-documented penchant for raw language, and other traits, without reserve - and Cranston plays them with relish. Strutting gut-first and affecting a gruff Southern drawl, the leading man delivers the emphatic, crowd-pleasing performance that the play, and Bill Rauch's vigorous direction, require, while also making Johnson affecting as a flesh-and-blood human being.

...Pasquale's performance, which is technically impressive and shows at least flickers of nuance. As the cliches pile up, you feel for him, and for O'Hara, and their director, Bartlett Sher, whose credits include some of the most compelling stagings of American classics in recent years (including the 2008 revival of South Pacific in which O'Hara memorably starred). They are burdened, after all, not only with the sentimentality of Bridges' premise, but with supporting contrivances such as Francesca's dull, inexplicably suspicious husband, called Bud, and a nosy but goodhearted neighbor, Marge, who uses binoculars to peer into Francesca's home. (Marge and Bud are respectively, and gamely, played by Cass Morgan and Hunter Foster.)

Early in the 20th century, a group of extraordinary men came together, devoted to providing lesser mortals constant examples of physical and spiritual excellence. In the years that followed, they endured all manner of tragedy and adversity to stick together, so that we, too, could survive as a nation. This is not a reference to some elite military unit or civil-service organization, but to the New York Yankees, the subject of Bronx Bombers (* * out of four stars), the new play/hagiography that opened Thursday at Broadway's Circle in the Square Theatre.

O'Byrne's Anthony is an awkward loner for whom any degree of social interaction is a hurdle, but he conveys a sort of blunt integrity and a disarming sweetness that make it plausible a feisty beauty like Rosemary would fall for him...Rosemary has her own neurotic tics, visible despite the brittle exterior she has developed to ward off various wooers. In Messing's funny, moving performance, we see how Anthony breaks through that armor - even though it's Rosemary who, in an intermittently awkward but endearing climax, determines to force Anthony out of his shell...Outside Mullingar's account of human connection is generally less provocative, and a lot more comforting. But if Shanley is raising less-complicated questions this time, there are flecks of wisdom in his sweetly diverting study.

...this stark new staging, which opened Thursday at the American Airlines Theatre, forces us - and its cast, rigorously directed by Lyndsey Turner - to confront Machinal's own limitations. From the opening subway segment (Turner's addition) on, we get a keen sense of how Helen, played by Rebecca Hall in her Broadway debut, feels smothered by everything and everyone around her...An accomplished stage actress with acclaimed British productions of Shakespeare and Shaw under her belt, the leading lady seems stumped by her character's exaggerated inability to articulate her unhappiness beyond vague yearnings for freedom...By the time Machinal runs its course, theatergoers may feel as if they're the ones who have been beaten into submission, by an anti-heroine who inspires dark fascination but little empathy.

In recent years, Mueller has brought a shimmering soprano and finely tuned comic sensibility to a variety of quirky ingénue roles. Mueller's portrayal of King - far and away the best reason to see Beautiful, which opened Sunday at Broadway's Stephen Sondheim Theatre - is at once an affirmation of those virtues and a revelation...Beautiful seems less concerned with exploring King's story than with using it to string together familiar tunes...Granted, shows like Beautiful aren't generally sought out or valued for their nuanced drama. But more discerning fans will be grateful for the little bit of soul that Mueller and Epstein manage to bring to Broadway's latest musical nostalgia trip.

In recent years, Mueller has brought a shimmering soprano and finely tuned comic sensibility to a variety of quirky ingénue roles. Mueller's portrayal of King - far and away the best reason to see Beautiful, which opened Sunday at Broadway's Stephen Sondheim Theatre - is at once an affirmation of those virtues and a revelation...Beautiful seems less concerned with exploring King's story than with using it to string together familiar tunes...Granted, shows like Beautiful aren't generally sought out or valued for their nuanced drama. But more discerning fans will be grateful for the little bit of soul that Mueller and Epstein manage to bring to Broadway's latest musical nostalgia trip.

In recent years, Mueller has brought a shimmering soprano and finely tuned comic sensibility to a variety of quirky ingénue roles. Mueller's portrayal of King - far and away the best reason to see Beautiful, which opened Sunday at Broadway's Stephen Sondheim Theatre - is at once an affirmation of those virtues and a revelation...Beautiful seems less concerned with exploring King's story than with using it to string together familiar tunes...Granted, shows like Beautiful aren't generally sought out or valued for their nuanced drama. But more discerning fans will be grateful for the little bit of soul that Mueller and Epstein manage to bring to Broadway's latest musical nostalgia trip.

In recent years, Mueller has brought a shimmering soprano and finely tuned comic sensibility to a variety of quirky ingénue roles. Mueller's portrayal of King - far and away the best reason to see Beautiful, which opened Sunday at Broadway's Stephen Sondheim Theatre - is at once an affirmation of those virtues and a revelation...Beautiful seems less concerned with exploring King's story than with using it to string together familiar tunes...Granted, shows like Beautiful aren't generally sought out or valued for their nuanced drama. But more discerning fans will be grateful for the little bit of soul that Mueller and Epstein manage to bring to Broadway's latest musical nostalgia trip.

That's not to say the sense of futility and despair in this Godot isn't palpable. As this staging, vigorously directed by Sean Mathias, emphasizes, the comic and tragic elements of this absurdist classic are interwoven.

Hirst, played here by a marvelously deadpan Stewart, listens and drinks while Spooner — McKellen, exquisite in his poised buffoonery — babbles on. The host and his guest met in a bar, we're informed, but in Act Two, which takes place the next morning, it's implied they may be old friends. Or, as their increasingly curious recollections and revelations (especially Spooner's) can suggest, we could be witnessing a game, or a scam, or some blurring of reality and fantasy or delusion.

Mays is as funny evoking the characters' often-grisly ends as he is giving them quirky life. The buff, blustering major is undone by his machismo, while poor, delicate Henry - whose particular fondness for Monty informs the side-splitting duet Better with a Man, one of several catchy, clever songs by composer/lyricist Steven Lutvak and lyricist/librettist Robert L. Freedman - finds his beloved little buzzers turned unwittingly against him...The actor who plays Monty, Bryce Pinkham, is pretty of voice and bone structure, but not a natural comic performer. He loosens up nicely as Guide progresses, though, and receives ample support from a sassy Lisa O'Hare and crystalline-voiced Lauren Worsham, as Monty's rival love interests. Ultimately, of course, this is Mays' show - and he seems to have as grand a time carrying it as you will watching him.

Mays is as funny evoking the characters' often-grisly ends as he is giving them quirky life. The buff, blustering major is undone by his machismo, while poor, delicate Henry - whose particular fondness for Monty informs the side-splitting duet Better with a Man, one of several catchy, clever songs by composer/lyricist Steven Lutvak and lyricist/librettist Robert L. Freedman - finds his beloved little buzzers turned unwittingly against him...The actor who plays Monty, Bryce Pinkham, is pretty of voice and bone structure, but not a natural comic performer. He loosens up nicely as Guide progresses, though, and receives ample support from a sassy Lisa O'Hare and crystalline-voiced Lauren Worsham, as Monty's rival love interests. Ultimately, of course, this is Mays' show - and he seems to have as grand a time carrying it as you will watching him.

At the Imperial Theatre, where Sundays opened Wednesday, Crystal proves an impressively spry senior, even doing a cartwheel at one point. But it isn't youthful energy that seems to propel his rapid-fire delivery as much as a sense of urgency that his story, and the story of his extended family, be shared again...Fortunately, any hints of self-conscious, kumbaya-ish social commentary are folded seamlessly into the comedy, which is gently irreverent, endearingly good-natured and, yes, funny. Your tolerance for Yiddish and penis jokes might be tested, but Crystal and original director Des McAnuff sustain a knowing goofiness that makes it all go down smoothly.

Rylance's Richard, if undoubtedly compelling, is more challenging. He bellows the famous opening words — 'Now is the winter of our discontent' — with a curious giddiness that quickly dissolves into sardonic self-loathing. Laughing nervously at himself, Rylance can make the murderous madman seem as wilted in spirit as he is physically.

As Olivia, the countess who falls for a woman she believes is a man — Viola, disguised as the servant Cesario — Rylance, his face slathered in white, moves with such exaggerated delicacy that he sometimes appears to be gliding on wheels, his teensy-weensy footsteps all but invisible.

In the new Broadway production After Midnight(three and a half out of four stars), which opened Sunday at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, a big band shares the spotlight with the singers and dancers, moving front and center for several numbers. The Jazz At Lincoln Center All-Stars, as they're billed, were assembled by that group's artistic director, Wynton Marsalis; and you will be struck as much by their intensity, playfulness and sheer joy in making music as you are by their technical virtuosity.

...Sadly, though, this new production of a very different 20th-century classic, which opened Sunday at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, doesn't pack as much punch as you'd hope it would...Too often, this Betrayal seems to make the same statement as its marketing campaign. We're reminded that we are watching great thea-tuh, staged by a prestigious company, rather than being titillated or moved by the longing and anguish and bile that courses through the play's triangle...Craig is crisp and robust throughout, deftly illustrating Robert's capacity for menace, and he and Spall have some witty fun with the festering rivalry between the two buddies. But at length, their exchanges - while absorbing enough for those who enjoy watching educated Brits struggle with their feelings - never really draw blood.

...Sadly, though, this new production of a very different 20th-century classic, which opened Sunday at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, doesn't pack as much punch as you'd hope it would...Too often, this Betrayal seems to make the same statement as its marketing campaign. We're reminded that we are watching great thea-tuh, staged by a prestigious company, rather than being titillated or moved by the longing and anguish and bile that courses through the play's triangle...Craig is crisp and robust throughout, deftly illustrating Robert's capacity for menace, and he and Spall have some witty fun with the festering rivalry between the two buddies. But at length, their exchanges - while absorbing enough for those who enjoy watching educated Brits struggle with their feelings - never really draw blood.