Matt Windman

As one of the few new musicals not based on a familiar film or pop song catalog (or anything else for that matter), 'If/Then' certainly is a breath of fresh air. And despite nagging issues with its overall concept and divided story lines, it is a smart, romantic piece with a well-crafted soft rock score and great performances all around...Stylishly directed by Michael Greif on a sleek set containing a massive tilting mirror, 'If/Then' may not be a triumph but it is contemplative, heartfelt and fashionable in a sanitized sort of way. And in light of Menzel's growing fan base, it could be a hit.

Devised as a single scene without pause, 'Mothers and Sons' makes for a well-constructed, often funny dialogue that is both provocative and heartfelt. But after 90 minutes, very little has changed and no climax has been reached. As she did in McNally's 'Master Class,' Daly offers a masterful performance, delivering her lines with a dry acidity and firm poise while her reactions to both men reveal her conflicted emotions. Steggert, who was previously seen this season in 'Big Fish,' once again excels at playing a good-natured, clean-cut and sensitive youth.

The revival is disheartening for those who were raised on the original show, which had an elegant and extremely effective simplicity. What 'Les Miz' really needs is a rest. Too much of even a great musical can be nauseating. This 'Les Miz' feels less like a revival than a ritual.

The flow is also disrupted by all the new ballads, which attempt to psychologically probe Rocky and his girlfriend Adrian but end up being poorly integrated, musically weak and unintentionally ridiculous. Rocky, being an inarticulate individual, was not meant to burst into song. Hokey one-liners are also loaded into the script...While Andy Karl deserves credit for enduring so much physically as Rocky, he comes off as too clean cut to be credible in the role. As Adrian, Margo Seibert is stymied by her character being so undeveloped and makes little impression. In effect, 'Rocky' is the new 'Spider-Man,' a similarly flashy and misconceived spectacle-musical that exists mainly to showcase an elaborate fight sequence as its finale.

As devised by its creators, this slow, static and quiet adaptation of Robert James Waller's bestselling romance novel, which was previously adapted into a hit film with no less than Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood, is a snooze and a misfire. It revolves around an unexpected tryst between Francesca, the Italian war bride, and Robert, a magazine photographer visiting her small town in 1960s Iowa for just a few days.

The tender-hearted, super- sappy New York Yankees tribute 'Bronx Bombers,' which just transferred to Broadway's Circle in the Square after a short Off-Broadway run, really ought to be playing in Cooperstown as a sort of side show for tourists visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame. It could be done with animatronics instead of actors, a la 'The Hall of Presidents' at Disney World...Watching actors portray legendary Yankees with distinctive personalities will no doubt be a guilty pleasure for many fans. But all things considered, they deserve something better than this unchallenging and uninteresting history pageant.

While the play itself is meandering and uneventful, it opens up considerably in the heartwarming final scene where Anthony and Rosemary finally connect in spite of their hesitations and quirks. It serves as a hearty payoff after over an hour of straight boredom. Messing, who is making her Broadway debut, has noticeable difficulty handling an Irish accent but still manages to make her character sympathetic and endearing. Byrne, who originated the role of Father Flynn in 'Doubt,' foregoes his charismatic intensity and makes for an unexpectedly cute and quirky counterpart to Messing.

Lyndsey Turner's extraordinary production makes for an absolutely stirring 90 minutes of theater. It powerfully captures the play's heightened theatricality and terrifying aura, utilizing a sleek, box-shaped set that swiftly rotates back and forth to reveal new scenes. The cast is unusually large, allowing the depiction of a stifling, uncaring crowd of strangers inducing claustrophobia. English actress Rebecca Hall, who was stunning in 'The Winter's Tale' at BAM back in 2009 and has also appeared in many films, delivers the intense, vulnerable and haunting performance that her demanding role requires.

'Beautiful,' a sentimental and sympathetic biography led by a poignant, extremely winning performance from breakout star Jessie Mueller, is slickly staged, genuinely touching and very enjoyable...It lacks the sin and sex appeal in 'Jersey Boys,' or the restless momentum of 'Motown,' and relies on feel-good nostalgia. Nevertheless, 'Beautiful' is unusually coherent, character-driven and sincere for a jukebox musical. And who can resist those songs? So how can this not be a hit?

'Beautiful,' a sentimental and sympathetic biography led by a poignant, extremely winning performance from breakout star Jessie Mueller, is slickly staged, genuinely touching and very enjoyable...It lacks the sin and sex appeal in 'Jersey Boys,' or the restless momentum of 'Motown,' and relies on feel-good nostalgia. Nevertheless, 'Beautiful' is unusually coherent, character-driven and sincere for a jukebox musical. And who can resist those songs? So how can this not be a hit?

In 'No Man's Land,' an established poet (Stewart) who inexplicably invites to his home a barfly (McKellen) who may or may not be his old school chum, leaving the literary figure's secretary and bodyguard (Crudup and Hensley) puzzled. Although it is a minor title in the Pinter canon, it is the more successful of the shows.

McKellen makes a strong impression visually as a bearded, homeless-looking, hopelessly sleepy Estragon, and Stewart is full of spark as the rationalizing Vladimir. However, their recitation of the text is off-balance, with Mc-Kellen offering little expressivity and too many lines played up for laughs.

Dozens of autobiographical one-person shows have come and gone since Billy Crystal stormed Broadway in 2004 with '700 Sundays,' his Tony-winning tribute to his father, who died of a heart attack when Crystal was just 15 years old, and growing up in Eisenhower-era Long Island with an unshakable desire to become an entertainer. Seeing as few of these shows, if any, have surpassed Crystal's heartwarming and hilarious tour de force, it's a pleasure to have it return for a run before the 'Les Miz' revival takes over the Imperial Theatre.

Functioning mainly as a comedic showcase for Jefferson Mays, who shot to acclaim exactly a decade ago for his tour-de-force performance in 'I Am My Own Wife,' Mays portrays eight different members of the aristocratic Highhurst family, often switching from one to the other in a matter of seconds...With a thin premise, a sluggish book and unmemorable songs that vaguely resemble work by Gilbert & Sullivan and Noel Coward, the show makes for a tiresome 21/2 hours that depend mainly upon Mays' frequent costume changes, death scenes and all-around versatility to lend an air of slapstick. Pinkham, on the other hand, comes off as too affected to garner audience sympathy.

While there is no plot, many of the production numbers have characters and clever concepts and lead-ins. Dulé Hill ('The West Wing') also delivers some poetic lines by Langston Hughes about Harlem's atmosphere during the period. As staged by Warren Carlyle, 'After Midnight' brings lively and snazzy period entertainment to Broadway with phenomenal sound, effervescent movement and a joyous spirit.

Nichols' gloomy production features huge scenic pieces that fly up and down in between scenes, uncomfortably dwarfing this intimate drama. But the real problem lies in the fact that Nichols never really captures the elusive spark of mystery found in the best Pinter revivals, such as the 2007 Broadway staging of 'The Homecoming' and 'The Caretaker' with Jonathan Pryce, which played BAM last year. Weisz and Spall offer fine, subtle performances, while Craig occasionally gets to show off a considerably more relaxed air and ends up being the liveliest of the trio.

It takes some time -- too much really -- for the conflict to develop. But in time, 'The Snow Geese,' as directed by Daniel Sullivan with his characteristic polish, turns into the atmospheric character study that White intended. Jonigkeit's emotional transformation in disposition is the unexpected centerpiece of this production. While Parker brings a credible fragility and vulnerability, she comes off as too contemporary for a period piece. As family members, Danny Burstein and Victoria Clark offer fine performances that are remarkably sober compared to their acclaimed turns in numerous musicals.

Playwright Rupert Holmes and director Ethan McSweeny have faithfully adapted the text for the stage. While McSweeney's use of a revolving stage, which allows the audience to view the courtroom setting from multiple perspectives, is quite effective, the overreliance on ominous sound effects is embarrassingly ridiculous...Sebastian Arcelus' performance as Brigance is less than interesting, but at least he pushes the plot forward and allows us to focus on the rest of the impressive ensemble cast, which includes John Douglas Thompson as Hailey, Tonya Pinkins as Hailey's wife, Ashley Williams as a smart law student with sex appeal, Tom Skerritt as an inebriated, older attorney, Patrick Page as the district attorney, and Fred Dalton Thompson as the judge.

One wonders if Lindsay Posner's revival, which was originally done at London's Old Vic, fared better with an English cast in front of an English audience. Here, it comes off as stale and stiff drawing-room fare that only springs to life whenever Roger Rees, who plays the father, seizes the stage in a fit of passion. Later this season, Roundabout will produce Sophie Treadwell's 1928 expressionist drama 'Machinal,' a brilliant, daring, female-centered work that is a rarity. That promises to be far more exciting than 'The Winslow Boy.'

No one can accuse 'A Night With Janis Joplin' of not delivering what it is promised in the title. Not unlike the recent Beatles tribute show 'Let It Be,' this marks yet another faux concert in which a performer pretends to be a legendary rock star...But whereas 'Let It Be' featured no acting of any sort, the very talented and dedicated Mary Bridget Davies really digs into the role of Joplin, authentically replicating the Queen of Rock's distinctively raw and raspy voice in every song while bringing an unrelenting intensity...It's easy to tell the Joplin fans, who stand up and cheer after she performs songs such as 'Piece of My Heart' and 'Me and Bobby McGee,' from everyone else. They'll be pleased. But what about those unfamiliar with Joplin, as well as those who never liked her in the first place?

The rich, gothic mise-en-scène and seamless transitions of the film are replaced with poor quality songs, a slow pace, excessive sentimentality, one-liners that consistently fail to land, a clumsy structure and an ugly set where video imagery is projected onto what look like barn doors.

Must every high-profile revival of Tennessee Williams' 1944 breakout drama 'The Glass Menagerie' be marred by an obtrusive and frustrating directorial concept or design scheme? True, John Tiffany's graceful production is a vast improvement over the 2005 Broadway production and the 2010 Off-Broadway staging. But the excellent four-member cast -Cherry Jones (Amanda), Zachary Quinto (Tom), Celia Keenan-Bolger (Laura) and Brian J. Smith (Gentleman Caller) - is forced to compete against Bob Crowley's chic but inappropriate set design, Natasha Diaz's harsh lighting and Nico Muhly's creepy, synthetic-sounding original music...But aside from these distractions, the acting is absolutely superb. Jones convincingly balances Amanda's brave ferocity and kooky excesses. Keenan-Bolger exquisitely captures Laura's sad, frail beauty. Even if Quinto comes off too casual and contemporary, he imbues Tom with a dreamy lyricism that contrasts with the clean-cut overachiever that is Smith's Gentleman Caller.

The real battle at the new Broadway revival of 'Romeo and Juliet' has nothing to do with Capulets and the Montagues. It's actually between Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad, the show's young, photogenic leads, who are offering flavorless performances full of fakery, and the adult actors in supporting roles who wipe the floor with them...Bloom, after making a bafflingly cheesy entrance on a motorcycle, gives an empty, uninteresting performance marked by shrill line readings. Rashad wears Juliet's naïveté like a mask that prevents her from offering any other facial expressions. At least she's graceful.

Is there a doctor in the house? Not a medical doctor, or even a 'soul doctor,' whatever that is, but what is known on Broadway as a 'show doctor,' a playwright or director who can step in and salvage a musical with serious book problems. 'Soul Doctor' - a new musical about the life of rabbi and singer-composer Shlomo Carlebach that comes off as a sanitized, overstuffed mix of 'The Jazz Singer,' 'Fiddler on the Roof' and 'Hair' - is badly in need of such help...Despite all of these problems, one is still tempted to cut 'Soul Doctor' some slack in light of its openhearted and accepting tone...As Carlebach, Eric Anderson provides an energetic performance that captures the character's spirit and sensitivity.

'First Date' - a new Broadway musical about, you guessed it, a first date - is just as generic, pedestrian, bare and altogether uninteresting as the title implies that it will be...To extend what could have been a 10-minute skit into 90 minutes, the date is constantly interrupted by a flamboyant waiter (Blake Hammond) and voices in the characters' heads representing their friends, family and ex boyfriend/girlfriend...The songs, co-written by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner, are tuneful enough to show that the team has promise. On the other hand, Austin Winsberg's sitcom-style dialogue lands few laughs. Levi...is sincere, but overplays the geekiness, while Rodriguez...manages to add signs of character depth. Too bad Levi and Rodriguez couldn't have just done a production of 'The Last Five Years' instead.