Frank Rizzo — Theater Critic

This original musical has laughs, tears and joy - not to mention jaw-dropping star-turns - in a clash-of-cultures hoot that earns a big Broadway corsage. It seems like a dubious musical mash-up: Broadway narcissists-turned-activists take over a middle-American town to help a lesbian teen who just wants to bring her date to the prom. But with a tuneful score, a playful book, and performances that remind you what Broadway heart and chutzpah are all about, this cause celebre of a show turns out to be a joyous, funny, and sweet production that should appeal to several generations of musical fans.

After an earlier production in Australia and with the addition of a largely new creative team, the producers (led by Global Creatures) of this $35-million Broadway epic, based on the classic 1933 film, have re-envisioned the story in striking theatrical terms, using dazzling projections, super-sized puppetry and lush underscoring to create one thrill ride of a show. Topping the list of visual wows is the magnificent, moving and oh-so-expressive title character who, alas, is not eligible for a Tony.

Two games are performed live with an actual snooker whiz, Ahmed Aly Elsayed, as Dylan's competitor. There's in-the-moment drama as the audience follows on large overhead projections as the game is played, with tensions broken by the laughs derived from the hush-speaking commentators. The second game brings even more fraught nerves as its conclusion is entirely up to the skill of Schnetzer - with an alternative ending if things don't go exactly as planned. But either way, the game - and this improbable comedy - ends with a solid shot in the corner pocket.

But they could also be talking about the actress who portrays her. Playing a part that is as daunting as it is dazzling, Condola Rashad steps into the starring role in a blaze of glory and claims it as her own. Rashad's depiction of the wide-eyed, visionary youth of fierce determination, unwavering faith and beguiling innocence - not to mention a beatific smile that radiates to the balcony - makes you a believer, too

There's a different 'band of brothers' on stage in 'Bandstand,' the earnest and often-entertaining musical that, set immediately following WWII, never quite achieves its noble ambitions. Despite the fluid staging and evocative choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler ('Hamilton'), an uneven book, undistinguished dialogue and only-serviceable tunes keep the show from meeting its deeper, darker and good-intentioned aspirations.

Young women and girls in search of a new Broadway role model need look no further than the title character in 'Anastasia,' the sumptuous fairy tale of a musical that should please the kids, satisfy the sentimental and comfort those who thought the old templates for musical comedy were passé. The broad strokes of the familiar - a romantic young couple, a villain in hot pursuit, comic supporting characters, an endearing family member - can still be irresistible when combined with taste, craftsmanship and a willing suspension of disbelief.

'Wrong' isn't interested in the relationship between its characters and the ones they portray in the play-within-a-play. It's more lowbrow, interested in the gag and shameless in how it gets it: sometimes incredibly inventively, but sometimes going for the low-hanging fruit. (A special nod goes to sound designer Andrew Johnson who created the various bonks, splats, and crashes.)...It's clear from the beginning - even before the beginning with its pre-show shtick - that wrong will be just right. But it takes a while before the laughs come at full speed.

Subways are for singing, at least in the world of 'In Transit,' the charming a cappella musical of metropolitan life that's rapturously harmonious, even when the times aren't. The likable, lightweight tuner, which had a run in 2010 at 59E59 - and an even earlier version as 'Along the Way' at 2003's New York Fringe Festival - evokes musicals and revues that celebrate the buzz of being young, hopeful and ever-striving in New York. Okay, so the storylines go back to the days when you still used tokens. But what gives 'In Transit' its new swipe is what's not there - the orchestra - and what is - glorious, pitch-perfect voices, set to Deke Sharon's rich and expressive arrangements.

Choreographer Denis Jones is the star player of the production, keeping things playful by finding dance opportunities with wheelbarrows, firecrackers and Christmas garlands - and nearly stopping the show with the exuberant 'Shaking the Blues Away,' which evokes the best of MGM musicals. Terrific also are Alejo Vietti's costumes and fab Easter hats, which embrace '40s swank, showbiz glitz and stylish down-on-the-farm casual. (It's Connecticut, after all.)

With 'Matilda' exiting Broadway in January, there's a new singing pre-teen hoping to generate the same family-audience appeal. But whether Winnie Foster, the main character in the new musical adaptation of 'Tuck Everlasting,' can connect with all-ages theatergoers will depend on their inclination for sentiment, moralistic storytelling and a show that's nothing if not sincere. Those who lean that way will be attracted to the tuneful folk-meets-Broadway score, to the solid performances and to the gentle Americana fable with life lessons intimately told. The show's warmhearted tale and handsome production values also bode well for a family-centric market, especially on the road. But more jaded theatergoers will likely find the proceedings not so much timeless as time-consuming -- a production rooted in the twee of life.

Tevye is a mensch. In director Bartlett Sher's thoughtful but uneven revival of the enduring, endearing musical 'Fiddler on the Roof,' Danny Burstein - a longtime Broadway veteran stepping at last into a starring role as comfortably as a favorite slipper - brings charm, decency and depth of feeling to the role of a Jewish dairyman living in a shtetl in pre-Revolution Russia with his wife, Golde, and their five daughters. Some may take exception to some of Sher's tinkering with the template of the beloved title, but few will find fault in Burstein's gentle, lovable man of faith, family and community. What's not to like? The personal intimacy of Tevye's casual conversations with God, not to mention the easy rapport Burstein has with the audience, only intensifies the humor and humanity of the classic material, and should prove an attractive draw for both first-timers and returning fans of the show.

Memory floats on a giant plane of regret in American Repertory Theater's epic and intimate production of 'The Glass Menagerie,' trapped forever between a shimmering black sea and an endless void that even an infinite fire escape can't reach. Tennessee Williams' world of poetry and prose is presented gracefully, even wondrously, in this distinctive production - helmed by John Tiffany ('Once') and starring Cherry Jones and Zachary Quinto - that no doubt will have Gotham's gentlemen and women coming to call, even if sometimes it's just awkward and disconnected.