Howard Kissel

Unlike other jukebox musicals, which use a group's hit songs to tell some other story, 'Jersey Boys' simply narrates the career of Valli, his friends and the man who wrote their successes, Bob Gaudio... Sometimes such a technique can be deadly, but the book, by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, handles everything with such lightness and finesse that you get caught up in their story. This is in no small part due to the skill of the cast under Des McAnuff's canny direction.

Wicked,' the 'prequel' to 'The Wizard of Oz,' is an interminable show with no dramatic logic or emotional center. Constantly lurching in different directions, the show seems to believe that whenever you reach an artistic impasse, throw money at it - in this case, $14 million.

If you're an ABBA fan, read no further. Just line up at the box office for 'Mamma Mia!' Immediately. Since you're already bonded to the material, you will undoubtedly have a wonderful time. If, however, your attachment to ABBA is only tangential or, as in my case, nonexistent, you might want to think twice about it.

Because the revival of 'Chicago' is so wildly entertaining, I'm hesitant to call it important - always an ugly adjective for a reviewer to use - but I'm afraid I must... What makes 'Chicago' - here's that dreaded word - important is that it reminds us that musicals are about songs and performers, not scenery. When you have material and performances as dynamic as this, you don't need chandeliers.

It is a spectacular entertainment, visually the most impressive of the British musicals. Perhaps the most old-fashioned thing about it is it's a love story, something Broadway has not seen for quite a while. To say the score is Lloyd Webber's best is not saying a great deal. His music always has a synthetic, borrowed quality to it. As you listen you find yourself wondering where you've heard it before. In this case you've heard a lot of it in Puccini, in the work of other Broadway composers and even the Beatles. Nevertheless he seems to be borrowing from better sources, and he has much greater sophistication about putting it all together. There are some droll opera parodies, several beautiful songs, an impressive septet and a grand choral number, all richly orchestrated.