Jonathan Mandell — Theater Critic

The most prominent graphic element on the new Best Man poster is the list of names of the stars of the show. There is a general rule of thumb about movies that if the ad features numerous boxes with pictures of each star and the caption “[star] as [role]” that the movie is likely to be a dog. That is not the case here. Nearly every role is cast with thespian royalty, including Michael McKean as an aide and Jefferson Mays as a character who has dirt on one of the candidates. Even Donna Hanover, the former first lady of New York, has a small role as a reporter in her Broadway debut. Most of the actors deliver. The exceptions, though, undermine the production: Eric McCormack as the slick candidate and Kerry Butler as his catty Southern belle wife. They are not just wrong-headed but whiny-voiced and annoying. This is not comic caricature, or at least not successful caricture. They just seem the result of inadequate stage craft. That this is so is both disappointing and completely baffling.

Menken’s dozen songs, spiced with some undeniably catchy tunes, get the treatment they deserve, backed by a live 12-piece band and put forth by a splendid cast that is not only as good-looking as those in the movie; these performers can actually sing. And dance. The choreography by Christopher Gattelli is dazzling. The acrobatic moves – leaps and kicks, back flips and mid-air somersaults – put “Newsies” up there with “Memphis” and “Anything Goes” for the most thrilling dancing currently on Broadway. Why they’re dancing is not always clear. At several moments in “Newsies,” I found myself asking: What exactly does this chorus line have to do with the plot? But perhaps this is just as well. “Newsies” may be based on a true story, but the story here feels largely synthetic.

Once stays homey, charming, and inviting; on a smaller scale than usual for a Broadway musical, which turns out to be a good thing. It is also slow moving and slight. It requires patience, or at least the right mind-set, to fall for this show (Falling slowly, indeed.) The musical is an hour longer than the movie. But even with John Carney’s movie script adapted by a first-rate playwright, Enda Walsh (whose most recent play produced in New York was the eerie Misterman), the story in Once the musical is only a bit less sketchy than the film.

This may be the most familiar William Shatner of all – Shatner as talk show guest. In 100 minutes, an amiable, informal Shatner tells the sort of jokes and anecdotes that you have heard him deliver on Johnny Carson/Merv Griffin/Leno/Letterman over the last 100 years — sometimes corny, sometimes mildly self-deprecating, often semi-humorous, occasionally semi-coherent. ... Shatner’s aim seems to turn his life story into an entertainment that is no more taxing, and no less relaxed, than the Tonight Show. Too often, though, it is way too relaxed. ... Your tolerance for such sloppiness masquerading as spontaneity surely depends on how much of a William Shatner fan you are, and what you expect for $126.50.

His fans might feel let down, but it is difficult to call the new Broadway production of “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever” a complete disappointment. That is because even its director, Michael Mayer, has said the original 1965 Broadway show was unsuccessful, and its plot “extremely problematic.” (A reviewer in 1965 called it “labored and creaky.”) So how can you be completely disappointed when expectations are so low? Long in love with Burton Lane’s score, Mayer decided he would revamp everything else, hiring playwright Peter Parnell to rewrite Alan Jay Lerner’s book. The director’s efforts have yielded any number of satisfactions: The songs are tuneful, the singers know what they are doing, there are some amusing moments; as a bonus, there is even something of a gay twist that already has disturbed a troglodyte or two. But none of these satisfactions are enough to make “On A Clear Day” much more than an intermittently entertaining oddity.

Arianda was subsequently propelled onto Broadway last season playing the part that made Judy Holiday famous, the dumb blonde of 'Born Yesterday.' Reaction was mixed to that revival, but not to her performance. She has since had small roles in 'The Good Wife' on TV and Woody Allen's movie 'Midnight in Paris,' and now, at 27, Arianda is back in 'Venus in Fur,' this time on Broadway. She is just as good as she was. Her co-star Hugh Dancy is better than the actor he replaced, hard-charging when on the offense, mesmerizing in his submission, persuasive as a European because he is one. A few things about the play, though, have been lost in the transfer.

Those who already love Schwartz's score will probably bounce up and down with them, aided by a band that is cleverly sprinkled throughout the audience. Those who performed in the show in middle school might be tempted to sing along. Regular theatergoers, however, are likely to continue to try to get tickets to 'The Book of Mormon,' the anti-'Godspell.'

What traveler does not have a favorite anecdote about something he heard — or that he said — that was in hysterical error. “Chinglish” captures this comic confusion with considerable clarity, hilarity and élan. “Chinglish” ambushes the audience, delightfully, with a series of little surprises about each character, which I am loath to give away, except to say: Nobody is exactly as they initially appear.