Jennifer Farrar

Several songs are abbreviated in medleys, but the nostalgia factor is amped up with plenty of full, splashy dazzling dance numbers and lavish costumes. Jones has filled the cavernous stage with exuberant choreography, and the nimble, hardworking ensemble is airborne one minute, then dreamily waltzing the next.

Welcome aboard the Barracuda, a floating casino and discotheque of dubious construction. It's 1979 and we're anchored to a pier in New York City's Hudson River, but about to set sail on a side-splittingly funny evening of singing, dancing and near-death experiences. Directed by Jack Plotnick with a book by Plotnick and Seth Rudetsky, the musical 'Disaster!' is a campy carnival of cliches and gleefully cheesy comedy...Tony Award-winner Roger Bart is confidently smarmy as Tony DelVecchio, the corner-cutting casino owner. Co-writer Rudetsky is nerdy perfection as Professor Ted Scheider, the disaster-predicting expert whom Tony will, of course, ignore until the Barracuda is upside down and floating out to sea.

If you think you've seen Arthur Miller's dark classic 'A View From the Bridge' enough times, think again. The muscular production that opened Thursday night at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre is a stunning, imaginative theatrical experience, an impassioned interpretation that really brings the heat to Miller's gripping drama...van Hove has stripped it down to a stark set that resembles a boxing ring. During nearly two tense hours without intermission, the barefoot cast members warily circle one another under bright lights, while a dissonant soundtrack increases the tension and unease. Anti-hero Eddie Carbone is embodied with driven intensity by hawk-browed Mark Strong, also making his Broadway debut. Strong is a brooding, glowering force as the flawed longshoreman...Eventually all the actors enfold one another in a haunting, anguished tableau, a brilliant visual summation by van Hove of how people in this close-knit community must stand or fall together.

A serious musical with epic themes doesn't come to Broadway that often. The refreshing new show 'Amazing Grace' admirably covers slavery, abolition, sedition and spiritual themes in 1740s England and Africa, complete with spirited acting and inspirational ballads and anthems...A charismatic Josh Young opens the show strongly...Erin Mackey sings captivatingly, wearing a sweet, saintly air as Mary Catlett...It's a long time coming, but the title song is performed in the beautiful and emotional finale. By then we've been on quite a journey with these characters, and the hymn resonates with relevance and hope, both for their personal stories and the still-uneasy state of racial relations today.'

There's an opulent, almost operatic feel to this production...Five-time Tony Award-nominated O'Hara...gives a warm, loving persona to young widow Anna Leonowens, who must navigate sexism and cultural differences to get along with the capricious king...O'Hara is perfectly suited to her role as a prideful Englishwoman, and sings rapturously throughout the show, especially on her poignant renditions of 'Hello, Young Lovers.' Watanabe...delivers a layered performance despite some difficulties enunciating English...His king is, by turns, mischievous and morose, and generally commanding except for some distractingly childish moments...Watanabe is quite natural in the role, and creates a pleasing chemistry with O'Hara as their characters establish a friendship despite obstacles...If you can accept the king's personality quirks, this production of 'The King and I' is definitely something wonderful.

A good wedding might offer touching moments, tension, humor and perhaps some surprising revelations. All that and more is provided by the new musical 'It Shoulda Been You,' a frequently funny satire of wedding mishaps. It's smartly staged like an extended sitcom by David Hyde Pierce...Brian Hargrove's book and lyrics have moments of both wit and poignancy, as well as the occasional vulgarity and a sometimes contrived set of surprises. Barbara Anselmi, who also conceived the show, provides tuneful, sprightly music which creates an air of gaiety as the carefully planned Big Day unspools into farcical chaos. Along the way, everyone must deal with the pressure of expectations, disappointments and strained family dynamics. An excellent cast transcends the sometimes predictable material...The show has a brash, non-stop pace...Even if you see many of the jokes coming a long way off, the sheer talent on display in 'It Shoulda Been You' is worth snagging an invitation to this comically inventive wedding.

The exuberant new musical is helmed with panache by best director and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. Gloriously inventive and balletic, it has an intriguing new book by Tony-nominee and Pulitzer Prize finalist Craig Lucas... Scenery and costumes by Tony-winner Bob Crowley are bold and witty, with inventive props whirling around amid the dancers, such as artfully aged mirrors to simulate a ballet studio.

Elisabeth Moss is a luminous, quizzical Heidi in the stylish revival that opened Thursday night on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre, with Bryce Pinkham and Jason Biggs giving depth to two important men in Heidi's life. Director Pam MacKinnon moves the cast with assurance through each flashback showing Heidi's conflicted idealism and indecision, as the ensemble adeptly delivers Wasserstein's dialogue, which crackles with wit, ironies and pointed social commentary...Pinkham is completely captivating, giving a nuanced portrayal of Heidi's longtime close friend Peter Patrone...

'Century' is filled with delightfully improbable madcap action, flamboyant musical numbers and polished, inventive choreography by Warren Carlyle. There's even an adorable quartet of tap-dancing porters. Chenoweth glamorously milks each comical cliche while her opera-trained voice trills and soars in song after song. Golden Globe-winner Gallagher plays duplicitous theater producer Oscar Jaffee, Lily's Pygmalian-like former lover who discovered and molded her into a star. Oscar's career is fast losing steam after a string of failed plays, while Lily's continued to have wealth and success after their breakup.

With impressive ingenuity, Nick Payne's touching, playful drama 'Constellations' takes on some big topics -- the nature of time and mortality -- through his unconventional presentation of a love story set in 'the multiverse'...Roland and Marianne flash through a series of scenes playing and replaying various versions of their encounters that twist into different outcomes...Despite abrupt scene and mood fluctuations, Gyllenhaal and Wilson perform the tricky repetitions and time shifts with breathtaking smoothness. Wilson expressively signals Marianne's emotions, whether glee or mischief or heartbreaking vulnerability. Gyllenhaal's performance is more opaque, yet he infuses Roland with decency and an earnest desire to communicate with the better-educated, more emotional Marianne...Despite Payne's witty, challenging structure, Michael Longhurst...keeps everything comprehensible, on track and focused, creating lovely quiet moments amid the whirlwind.

Whether wearing tattered dresses or sumptuous, sparkling gowns, all designed by Paul Tazewell, Padgett and Davie are always riveting to watch. In the final scene, voluntarily facing yet another arena of exploitation, the twins reflect sadly, 'Are we ever to learn/why we've lived as two.' Thanks to Krieger's memorable melodies and the stellar cast, the audience will be thinking about the same thing.

Director Marianne Elliott stages a swirling, beautifully kaleidoscopic series of scenes, contrasting with the background of a giant, black-and-white grid representing the complete order that Christopher needs. When Elliott's kinetic vision and Bunny Christie's dazzling technological design - alternately playful and alarming - combine, the orderly grid explodes with fantastical projections including constellations, outer space, complicated city maps and terrifying escalators.

Not many old people who fear being shipped off to a nursing home fight back with a home arsenal and bomb threats. However, the inimitable Estelle Parsons has gleefully unleashed her inner anarchist with gusto to do just that in the dark comedy 'Velocity of Autumn,' which opened Monday night in a wry, spirited Broadway production at the Booth Theatre. Playwright Eric Coble presents the aging decay of the human mind and body as a necessary process replete with mordantly humorous and empathetic moments. He lightens the potentially depressing subject matter by providing plenty of comedic zingers to both Academy Award-winner Parsons -- here powerful and ingratiating -- and to her co-star, the equally skilled Stephen Spinella. Both of these pros imbue their characters with genuine poignancy, rueful humor and their own adept timing. Molly Smith's deft direction also creates a sense of urgency during the 90-minute showdown about a seeming no-win situation.

McDonagh ricochets between crass humor, careless cruelty and tender sorrow, all the while poking fun at Irish folklore, toying with stereotypes, and setting his characters up to have their dreams crushed. He suddenly reverses their backstories or presents unseen sides to their personalities that upend what the audience thinks it knows...While Billy's coming of age is tinged with melodrama by McDonagh's fervid plotting, he and his fellow Inishmaan residents remain memorable and richly drawn, providing an evening of boisterous theatricality that overlays buried empathy for our shared human frailties.

The hilarious satire on Edwardian melodrama, featuring the incomparable and seemingly tireless Jefferson Mays in eight roles, opened Sunday night on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre. A gentle, penniless young man, Monty Navarro (given disarming appeal in a star turn by Bryce Pinkham) learns of his late, downtrodden mother's secret aristocratic past as a disinherited member of the wealthy D'Ysquith clan...The music hall atmosphere is enhanced by Alexander Dodge's colorful scenery and a sumptuous variety of period costumes by Linda Cho. Pinkham's surprised delight in each of Monty's deadly successes is a fine counterpart to Mays' rollicking embellishment of his off-kilter characters.

Legendary blues and soul singer Janis Joplin was an astounding force of nature onstage and off. A new concert musical on Broadway provides a rockin' good time while imaginatively evoking her impassioned, thrilling talent...Soulful and genuine, Davies gives a lively, energetic performance. She captures much of the exuberance and uniquely raspy wailing that made Joplin a musical legend, though she lacks Joplin's raw onstage sexuality and brash, raunchy persona...With dynamic use of lighting, projections, sound design and the choreography of Patricia Wilcox, Johnson creates a high-caliber spectacle around the compelling story of a uniquely talented singer-songwriter who embodied her generation's passionate attitudes.

The book by 'Gossip Girl' writer Austin Winsberg provides the couple with plenty of flippant repartee. A madcap mashup of musical styles and lyrics blazing with one-liners are provided by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner. Director Bill Berry keeps a steady pace amid the dynamic musical staging by Josh Rhodes. Making his Broadway debut, Levi has a strong leading-man presence, smooth in his dance moves while handling Aaron's nervous gaffes with comedic flair...Rodriguez is polished and cool, gradually showing underlying vulnerability as Casey unbends a little...'Something That Will Last' is Casey and Aaron's final duet, about the uncertainties of falling in love. Never mind love, will they even make it to a second date? The point is that after just 90 minutes with this mismatched couple and their comical parade of demanding advisers, we still care how it turns out.

Even fake Beatles can bring back good memories of the real thing, when they're truly talented...If you can check your nostalgia at the door, the tribute show 'Let It Be' that opened Wednesday night on Broadway at the St. James Theatre stands on its own as a lively, multimedia concert and a rocking good time...Due to copyright issues, the Beatles' real names are never used either in the program or during the 2½-hour-long show, nor is the word 'Beatles' heard or seen onstage. But there's no question who these enthusiastic musicians are portraying. In fact, it's a little creepy for those who were around during the originals to see the two deceased Beatles accurately reincarnated. Visually invoking Lennon, Reuven Gershon performs with appropriate cool, while John Brosnan is nicely intense as lead guitarist George Harrison.

Inge might be amazed that his bittersweet examination of life's disappointments is here presented as a broader comedy, but director Sam Gold and the seasoned cast members mostly make it work...Gold has overlaid humorous interpretations onto Inge's stilted and dated dialogue, often to good effect, while still keeping the period feel. If this technique doesn't help amp up the tension that should be building throughout the play, it makes for good entertainment on the handsomely detailed set of scuffed-up houses with a claustrophobic rusty-looking wall towering above.

The excellent cast is rounded out by a few Southie denizens. Margie's money-grubbing landlady and so-called friend, Dottie, is played with a steely-eyed twinkle by the inimitable Estelle Parsons. Becky Ann Baker plays Margie's equally belligerent but supportive friend, Jean, and Patrick Carroll is sweetly sensitive as Stevie, a decent younger man who tries to help Margie despite her rudeness toward him.

Tony-winning choreographer Bill T. Jones has shaped a stirring production around Kuti's outsize personality and key events from his rebellious, unconventional life, set to the percussive Afrobeat music Kuti invented. The result is 'Fela!,' a terrific dance party of a musical, an exuberant celebration that also drives home a spirited message of human resilience.