Mark Kennedy — Theater Critic

The high-energy, deeply felt but ultimately overwrought production opened Thursday in a blaze of N-words at the Palace Theatre, proving both that rap deserves its moment to shine on a Broadway stage and that some 20 Shakur songs can somehow survive the transformation -- barely...Unlike other jukebox musicals, the songs in 'Holler If Ya Hear Me' are rarely ever delivered in the style of the original artist. Instead, the show's creators test their elasticity by turning them into duets or group songs -- and one even gets a folky acoustic guitar treatment. The danger is that the urgent, free verse style of Shakur's very personal songs gets diffused, lightened and flattened...Either way, rap is firmly on Broadway, and that's something to celebrate.

Not a revival so much as a revival of a revival, this 'Cabaret' -- again produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company -- opened Thursday night, with only hours to spare before its eligibility expired. Whatever it's called, it's as thrilling as ever, a marvel of staging that hasn't lost its punch...One big change is the woman in the bob: Michelle Williams makes her Broadway debut as Sally Bowles and she does an excellent job, playing both scared and daffy superbly and singing with real heart...Williams starts out a little tentatively but soon roars into the role and her version of the title song has a wrenching, dead-eyed quality that hauntingly undercuts its light lyrics...Cumming is as lascivious as ever -- more playful than Joel Grey-scary in the film version...The addition of Linda Emond as the landlady Fraulein Schneider and Danny Burstein as her Jewish suitor Herr Schultz are strokes of casting genius.

It's obvious from the first moments of 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch' that star Neil Patrick Harris is doing something special. And it's not just trying on a new role...Before our eyes, Harris is opening another chapter in his exceptional show business career with this 90-minute show and he simply crushes it, holding nothing back, softening no edges, making no nice...Harris sings with real feeling, whether it's a torch song on a stool while dressed in a little cocktail dress or rocking out a head-banging tune by attacking the scenery...it will come as no surprise that while Hall has an understudy, Harris does not. And that's perfectly right: Rarely does a role fit a performer so well. Harris is funny, twisted, poignant, outrageous, bizarre, silly and very, very human.

Some musicals are big and brassy, calling out for attention with their razzle-dazzle and sassy sets. Others are more demure, letting their simple beauty shine. How appropriate then that a show about inner loveliness chose the latter path...Violet is a reminder - if we have already forgotten the power of Once - that a Broadway musical has to hit your heart as much as be visually pretty. A recent preview of Violet left some in the audience crying and smiling. And that's with a show that has actors simply bumping up and down on chairs to recreate a bus trip...It's not too hard to figure out that a show about a woman who thinks she's repulsive will ultimately deal with issues of beauty and the nature of love. It does, but it also explores guilt and belief, proving there's a lot you can do when you have great songs, wonderful singers and keep it simple.

It makes perfect sense that his autobiography is onstage. And no less a modern theater icon than James Lapine has adapted and directed the play, using the stage thrillingly in a way the book could not. The sweet 'Act One,' which opened Thursday at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, faithfully and chronologically charts Hart's rise from poverty in the Bronx to co-writing with Kaufman 'Once In a Lifetime' in 1930, his first Broadway hit. But it's of course more than that: The majority of the 22 actors play multiple parts, jumping in and out of characters and costumes while the bold, complex set by Beowulf Boritt spins and spins. So in its very fiber and execution, it's a celebration of the theater itself.

There are hordes of teenage girls waiting outside the Longacre Theatre each night hoping to squeal over uber-muffin James Franco. But true theater fans should be waiting for his co-star to emerge. Chris O'Dowd, known more for films like 'Bridesmaids' and 'Friends With Kids,' turns in a very impressive performance as the mentally challenged Lennie in a fine revival of 'Of Mice and Men.' Franco? He's pretty good in his Broadway debut as George, but O'Dowd, in a tricky role, steals the show...O'Dowd, his hair shaved and sporting a bushy beard, beautifully conveys Lennie's innocence, his tics and his toddler-like frustrations. Franco is more standoffish, creating a George who apparently longs to be alone, tries to be decent and squints a lot.

It's sad without being maudlin, a history lesson without being preachy. It's earthy and seemingly honest. Since her death, Billie Holiday, who was raped and mistreated and jailed, has become a siren for singers, her tortured life and vocals too rich too pass up. McDonald does honor to her troubled spirit...As for the singing, it's a testament to McDonald, who has one of the strongest voices in musical theater, that she molds hers to fit Holiday's sound, whether it's in a subdued 'Crazy He Calls Me' or a sassy 'Baby Doll.' She manages to capture that smoky, peanut-buttery, sometimes staccato delivery. It's haunting. Close your eyes and Lady Day is back.

It's sad without being maudlin, a history lesson without being preachy. It's earthy and seemingly honest. Since her death, Billie Holiday, who was raped and mistreated and jailed, has become a siren for singers, her tortured life and vocals too rich too pass up. McDonald does honor to her troubled spirit...As for the singing, it's a testament to McDonald, who has one of the strongest voices in musical theater, that she molds hers to fit Holiday's sound, whether it's in a subdued 'Crazy He Calls Me' or a sassy 'Baby Doll.' She manages to capture that smoky, peanut-buttery, sometimes staccato delivery. It's haunting. Close your eyes and Lady Day is back.

It's Stroman's vision that will keep this cute, brashy ode to Broadway on Broadway for long to come. She has staged a truly deliciously vulgar scene sung to 'The Hot Dog Song' that, let's put it bluntly, will not be making the Tony telecast. She has teamed up with Santo Loquasto's ambitious and lovely set designs to put a snazzy looking real car onstage and yet also make a train out of dancers dressed as red caps in white gloves. When she has mobsters in three-piece suits tap dance to ''Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness If I Do,' their masculine movements are a joy. When the play-within-the-musical is staged, the proscenium has real dancers posing like carved statues. It's all been so well thought out and executed, right down to its bouncy chairs and rotating houses. Stroman has the right to sing, as the title of one song goes 'Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You.' When the critical reviews of the fictional play come out at the end of the show, the consensus must be the same about this fun, beautiful musical: 'A work of art of the highest caliber.'

It's Stroman's vision that will keep this cute, brashy ode to Broadway on Broadway for long to come. She has staged a truly deliciously vulgar scene sung to 'The Hot Dog Song' that, let's put it bluntly, will not be making the Tony telecast. She has teamed up with Santo Loquasto's ambitious and lovely set designs to put a snazzy looking real car onstage and yet also make a train out of dancers dressed as red caps in white gloves. When she has mobsters in three-piece suits tap dance to ''Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness If I Do,' their masculine movements are a joy. When the play-within-the-musical is staged, the proscenium has real dancers posing like carved statues. It's all been so well thought out and executed, right down to its bouncy chairs and rotating houses. Stroman has the right to sing, as the title of one song goes 'Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You.' When the critical reviews of the fictional play come out at the end of the show, the consensus must be the same about this fun, beautiful musical: 'A work of art of the highest caliber.'

You know when people first meet and it can be instantly awkward? They talk over each other, make inane comments and sometime completely miss the point? Well, that pretty much never ends in Will Eno's quirky, existential Broadway debut...That exchange pretty much sums up this play - funny, but more than a little maddening. Or it's just over our heads. Or maybe under it. Whatever. It's fun. Or maybe not fun, but definitely some other word.

The show that opened Thursday night at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre is blistering, beautifully acted and superbly touching...Director Kenny Leon gets a second bite of the apple...and offers a throbbing, vibrant production that is a match for this 55-year-old American masterpiece. There's real humor here, too, both physical and scripted. Washington is startlingly good as Walter Lee Younger, the frustrated chauffeur and dreamer. He has the cadences and the trapped physicality in his bones -- warm and loose until he's cold and volatile...The script says Washington is supposed to be 35 -- the actor is 59 -- but all that matters is a brilliant performance, funny and poignant.

The tonal difference between the two acts is striking. A whimsical comedy in the first is taken over by a series of tragedies and sadness. One of the best crafted scenes and songs - 'The Moment Explodes' - will brings gasps, and not just because it's a bit too manipulative. It's set on a plane in trouble. Sometimes, real tragedies intrude on Broadway...Credit goes for attempting to explore parallel lives onstage and the acting is great. But a show with so much potential is marred by poor editing. So, the overall answer is, if you really, really need to see and hear Menzel, then go and watch an actress wonderfully giving it her all. But if you're of two minds, then go see 'Frozen' and just listen to her voice.

The tonal difference between the two acts is striking. A whimsical comedy in the first is taken over by a series of tragedies and sadness. One of the best crafted scenes and songs - 'The Moment Explodes' - will brings gasps, and not just because it's a bit too manipulative. It's set on a plane in trouble. Sometimes, real tragedies intrude on Broadway...Credit goes for attempting to explore parallel lives onstage and the acting is great. But a show with so much potential is marred by poor editing. So, the overall answer is, if you really, really need to see and hear Menzel, then go and watch an actress wonderfully giving it her all. But if you're of two minds, then go see 'Frozen' and just listen to her voice.

Daly, the former star of the TV show 'Cagney & Lacey' and later winner of a Tony for 'Gypsy,' is simply wonderful here, a remote and chilly guest who clings to old ideas even as she knows they are out of date and secretly pines for love. The gentle and moving 'Mothers and Sons' opened Monday at the Golden Theatre, where a celebrated revival of the searing AIDS drama 'The Normal Heart' was staged in 2011. As a sign of how much has changed, McNally's play is being billed as the first time a legally married gay couple has been portrayed on Broadway...The 90-minute play moves quickly, and although some of the most angry exchanges seem to erupt from nowhere, the playwright beautifully shows how close to the surface long-suppressed emotions and slights can fester.

The well-traveled 'Les Miserables' has rolled into town for its third bite at the Broadway apple - not to mention fresh off a celebrated 2012 film - but there's nothing tiresome about its gloomy, aching heartbeat...It's beautifully sung and acted - Ramin Karimloo, Will Swenson, Caissie Levy and Nikki M. James as leads can do no wrong - and the clever sets, superb lighting and moving projections highlight a creative team fully embracing Victor Hugo's epic novel about good and evil, revolution and romance, in 19th-century France...Projections by Fifty-Nine Productions are subtle until brilliant, especially the plunge into the sewers in Act 2. There is no massive spinning turntable on the stage, as in previous incarnations, but it isn't missed...The hits keep coming, and thanks to reprises, keep coming: 'I Dreamed a Dream,' 'Do You Hear the People Sing?' and 'One Day More.' The melodies are as grandiose as the story. And here, the voices and look of the show wonderfully match. Bring your flag.

It's spritely directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, well sung by a huge 35-person cast wearing an alarming number of harem pants, and hits that sweet spot Disney Theatrical Productions do so well, a saccharine fairy tale for the kids cut by some sly, vinegary quips for their parents...Adam Jacobs stars as a sweet, hunky Aladdin -- or 'Al' as he's called -- and Courtney Reed is his stunning-looking Jasmine, in a little need of some theatrical seasoning but with grooming seemingly straight off Bravo's 'Shahs of Sunset.' A welcome bit of casting is having Jonathan Freeman return as Jafar, the same role he voiced in the animated film. He is simply delicious, relishing his evilhood. One of the biggest obstacles into turning this property into a stage musical has been the blue elephant in the room, the Genie. How can you possibly have a real actor play the shape-shifting, manic talking spirit that Robin Williams so wonderfully portrayed on film? You apparently hire Iglehart, a cartwheeling, high kicking big man who can sing and goof. His extended scene in a cave prompts some theatergoers to give him a standing ovation -- and the show's not even half over.

The puzzling show 'Rocky' opened Thursday at the Winter Garden Theatre, both lovingly faithful to the 1976 film written by and starring Sylvester Stallone and one that seems to forget it's supposed to be a musical midway through Act II...The final fight - a spectacular piece of theater, to be sure - is so lifelike that it becomes surreal. We're watching a simulated fight lifted from a fictional movie but played inside an ornate Broadway theater. Which begs the question why this material screamed out to be a musical in the first place. The gritty, bloody world of 1970s boxing is not a natural fit for bursting into song - as some very awkward early moments in a gym here will attest. The creators seem to have acknowledged this tension and just abandoned the whole musical part. So the show ends with no rousing closing number, no speeches or dialogue, just a post-bout buzz.

The Johnson who emerges at the Neil Simon Theatre is ferocious and vulgar, likely to grab you by your throat and toss off a disgusting joke or throw around four-letter words. In Bryan Cranston's hands, he's completely irascible - and one of the highlights of the Broadway season... Cranston, fresh off his triumph as a drug kingpin in 'Breaking Bad,' shows what he can do in a Broadway debut, and it's astonishing... Watching Cranston bully, threaten, feel sorry for himself, compromise, bellow and turn the knife is a hoot, no matter which side of the aisle you sit. Like 'House of Cards,' the play explores the ugly sausage of politics and the gulf between the public and private politician...The other real star here is director Bill Rauch, who keeps this jigsaw puzzle humming along. There are countless scenes and a staggering number of parts, and the action spills out into the aisles. But moments melt into the next flawlessly, and the main actors pivot seamlessly, often not waiting for the actors in the last scene to leave.

The Iowa featured in the new musical 'The Bridges of Madison County' is flat indeed but, oh boy, the voices soar. Kelli O'Hara and Steven Pasquale come just short of blowing the roof off the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in this touching doomed romance that features a superb, thrilling score by Jason Robert Brown. Brown, the talented composer behind '13,' 'The Last Five Years' and 'Parade,' has never had a real New York hit. This should be it.

The first sign a major knuckleball is coming in the baseball play 'Bronx Bombers' is when the smoke machines crank up. Until then, Eric Simonson's script is an unremarkable behind-the-scenes look at a moment in 1977 when the New York Yankees were in crisis...Simonson...also directs 'Bronx Bombers,' and he does so with such reverence to the baseball franchise that it veers into fairy tale. Major League Baseball and the New York Yankees put money in the show, and it shows. The play played off-Broadway last year and has been tweaked since then, but not enough to make it more than Yankee advertising.

The Roundabout Theatre Company's new production has kept the quirky engine but surrounded it with a good-looking chassis and new lighting and audio systems. It's even put in the driving seat the enormously appealing Rebecca Hall under the artful, creative direction of Lyndsey Turner. The result at the American Airlines Theatre is a quirky, sometimes melodramatic and expressionist scream from the past that somehow still can move you...Hall...uses her wide, soulful eyes to terrific effect, telegraphing her inexorable 95-minute march to ultimate tragedy. A tall, long-limbed beauty, Hall projects a coltish unease and otherworldliness in the role, a woman ultimately in the wrong place and time.

Carole King has apparently never seen the musical of her life that has now reached Broadway. She walked out of an early reading at intermission, finding it too tough to take. Anyone not named Carole King may toy with the same idea, but for a different reason: It's just insipid...None of this is the fault of Jessie Mueller, the rising Broadway star who plays King with genuine feeling and a lovely voice. This paint-by-numbers show would have been a whole lot better if it was just turned into a concert with Mueller singing King hits...Is there any lesson to be gleaned from this musical? Don't write songs for others? Don't marry men who are bipolar? Perhaps it's the same as the one from 'Motown the Musical,' the Broadway jukebox show playing nearby with a flimsy and idolizing book by record company founder Berry Gordy: Don't write honest musicals about living people without breaking some eggs.

Carole King has apparently never seen the musical of her life that has now reached Broadway. She walked out of an early reading at intermission, finding it too tough to take. Anyone not named Carole King may toy with the same idea, but for a different reason: It's just insipid...None of this is the fault of Jessie Mueller, the rising Broadway star who plays King with genuine feeling and a lovely voice. This paint-by-numbers show would have been a whole lot better if it was just turned into a concert with Mueller singing King hits...Is there any lesson to be gleaned from this musical? Don't write songs for others? Don't marry men who are bipolar? Perhaps it's the same as the one from 'Motown the Musical,' the Broadway jukebox show playing nearby with a flimsy and idolizing book by record company founder Berry Gordy: Don't write honest musicals about living people without breaking some eggs.

Carole King has apparently never seen the musical of her life that has now reached Broadway. She walked out of an early reading at intermission, finding it too tough to take. Anyone not named Carole King may toy with the same idea, but for a different reason: It's just insipid...None of this is the fault of Jessie Mueller, the rising Broadway star who plays King with genuine feeling and a lovely voice. This paint-by-numbers show would have been a whole lot better if it was just turned into a concert with Mueller singing King hits...Is there any lesson to be gleaned from this musical? Don't write songs for others? Don't marry men who are bipolar? Perhaps it's the same as the one from 'Motown the Musical,' the Broadway jukebox show playing nearby with a flimsy and idolizing book by record company founder Berry Gordy: Don't write honest musicals about living people without breaking some eggs.