Matt Windman — Theater Critic

On paper, the new Broadway revival of Yasmina Reza’s “Art” sounds like a winner: three Tony Award winners — Neil Patrick Harris, Bobby Cannavale, and James Corden — trading barbs in a sleek comedy about male friendship and the value of modern art. The result is hardly terrible, but it is slight. The laughs are modest, the pacing drags, and the play never builds beyond its simple conceit.

For all its beauty and occasional flashes of humor, “The Brothers Size” remains more evocative than fully satisfying. At 90 minutes, it drags in places, its lyrical style and deliberate pacing sometimes testing patience. It works best as part of the larger “Brother/Sister” cycle, where its themes of loyalty, family, and survival resonate more deeply.

Sharper, sleeker, and eerily timely, the revival proves that what began as a cult curiosity has grown into one of the best stage musicals of the last decade. Eleven years ago, “Heathers” premiered at New World Stages and was met with skepticism and a short-lived run. But in the years that followed, it built a rabid cult following thanks to its original Off-Broadway cast album, a hugely successful West End production (which yielded its own cast recording), and a professionally filmed version of the London staging. Combined with the viral spread of its songs on social media, “Heathers” became a genuine phenomenon among younger audiences raised on TikTok and YouTube bootlegs.

Sharper, sleeker, and eerily timely, the revival proves that what began as a cult curiosity has grown into one of the best stage musicals of the last decade. Eleven years ago, “Heathers” premiered at New World Stages and was met with skepticism and a short-lived run. But in the years that followed, it built a rabid cult following thanks to its original Off-Broadway cast album, a hugely successful West End production (which yielded its own cast recording), and a professionally filmed version of the London staging. Combined with the viral spread of its songs on social media, “Heathers” became a genuine phenomenon among younger audiences raised on TikTok and YouTube bootlegs.

A three-hour fan wiki brought to life, complete with origin stories, stilted dialogue, lame jokes, and sequences seemingly constructed only to set up the next visual effect.

A three-hour fan wiki brought to life, complete with origin stories, stilted dialogue, lame jokes, and sequences seemingly constructed only to set up the next visual effect.

The play doesn’t discard “The Crucible.” It wrestles with it—closely, critically, personally. The students point out how John Proctor remains emotionally distant and never fully acknowledges the harm he has caused to others. These aren’t acts of revisionism; they’re acts of engagement. And in that sense, “John Proctor is the Villain” becomes not just a critique of a text, but an embodiment of how literature should be read: actively, critically, and with full awareness of who gets to tell the story.

‘Old Friends’ tries to be everything at once, moving from ‘Company’ to ‘Into the Woods’ to ‘A Little Night Music’ to ‘Sweeney Todd’ at breakneck speed. The result feels more like a mixtape than a tribute, more exhausting than illuminating.

Yes, it’s kid-friendly. Yes, it’s visually slick. But it’s also toothless. A show about a boundary-pushing cartoon icon shouldn’t feel this safe or generic. Betty Boop may be ready for her close-up, but this isn’t the vehicle she deserves. You are better off watching the original animated shorts on YouTube.

Yes, it’s kid-friendly. Yes, it’s visually slick. But it’s also toothless. A show about a boundary-pushing cartoon icon shouldn’t feel this safe or generic. Betty Boop may be ready for her close-up, but this isn’t the vehicle she deserves. You are better off watching the original animated shorts on YouTube.

Yes, it’s kid-friendly. Yes, it’s visually slick. But it’s also toothless. A show about a boundary-pushing cartoon icon shouldn’t feel this safe or generic. Betty Boop may be ready for her close-up, but this isn’t the vehicle she deserves. You are better off watching the original animated shorts on YouTube.

Unfortunately, this long-awaited debut is a frustrating misfire — overproduced, emotionally hollow, and fundamentally at odds with the delicate intimacy that makes the musical so beloved.

“Good Night, and Good Luck” is both a tribute and a reckoning—a stylish, sobering reminder of journalism’s power and the price of using it. With Clooney’s quiet strength at the center and Cromer’s riveting stagecraft all around him, this production looks to the past but refuses to stay there. The message is clear: if no one stands up, history isn’t just doomed to repeat—it already is.

“Good Night, and Good Luck” is both a tribute and a reckoning—a stylish, sobering reminder of journalism’s power and the price of using it. With Clooney’s quiet strength at the center and Cromer’s riveting stagecraft all around him, this production looks to the past but refuses to stay there. The message is clear: if no one stands up, history isn’t just doomed to repeat—it already is.

While Mamet’s offstage persona may continue to provoke discomfort, this revival reminds us why his plays—at their best—remain so potent onstage. “Glengarry” still crackles with vicious energy, bitter humor, and brutal truths about American ambition. This sharp, superbly cast production doesn’t just close deals—it slams the door.

The first half of the Encores! production is unwieldy but terrific, with the lush romantic duets “Here I’ll Stay” and “I Remember It Well” (which was later repurposed by Lerner in the movie musical “Gigi”) interposed against the comic commentary of “Progress” and “Economics” and operetta-style sung conversations involving the full cast. Mitchell, one of Broadway’s most vital leading men since “Ragtime,” sings beautifully and brings an everyman persona to the role, while Baldwin is bright and vocally pristine. All the while, the large orchestra (conducted by Rob Berman) sounds glorious.

I was looking forward to the production – not just because of the track records of Washington and Gyllenhaal (who have both given excellent performances on Broadway in recent years) and Leon (who helmed a stunning production of “Our Town” at the same theater earlier this season). “Othello” is a play about the dangers of misinformation and mistrust as engineered by an exceptionally persuasive orator. It should speak directly to this cultural moment. Instead, it’s a hollow star vehicle – expensive but cheap, flashy but dull.

The ideal way to present ‘Buena Vista Social Club’ would have been as a nightclub concert or a revue that discarded the new book altogether.

A major problem with the City Center production (directed by the little-known Teddy Bergman) is that the venue is too large for “Urinetown,” which is a minimalist work that benefits from an environmental feel. It brings back memories of when City Center used to revive Off-Broadway musicals over the summer as part of its Off-Center series, which has been on hiatus since 2019.

However, the text has not been altered to explicitly support this thesis, leaving the racial subtext as an intriguing but peripheral layer to an otherwise outstanding production of one of the greatest musicals. One wonders whether Wolfe intended to develop the concept further and ultimately decided against it, which may have been for the best. I look forward to seeing “Gypsy” on Broadway again in 2040 – but not before attending this remarkable production at least a few more times.

While “Elf” can still hardly be considered a great or even good musical (many songs that fail to leave a lasting impression and loads of clunky comic business), the new Broadway production is, I must confess, a crowd-pleasing, feel-good delight that is presented with genuine showmanship, including expansive dance choreography by Liam Steel, whimsical digital projections, and (in a feat reminiscent of the “Back to the Future” musical) Santa’s sleigh flying high above the audience. There are also, of course, obligatory bursts of snow throughout the theater.

While “Elf” can still hardly be considered a great or even good musical (many songs that fail to leave a lasting impression and loads of clunky comic business), the new Broadway production is, I must confess, a crowd-pleasing, feel-good delight that is presented with genuine showmanship, including expansive dance choreography by Liam Steel, whimsical digital projections, and (in a feat reminiscent of the “Back to the Future” musical) Santa’s sleigh flying high above the audience. There are also, of course, obligatory bursts of snow throughout the theater.

The production rides on heavy sensory overload, with intense lighting (which is used to depict location rather than scenery or props), live filming and video projections (with tons of extreme close-ups), smoke and fog effects, monochromatic design, stylized ensemble movement (at one point, the chorus members break into convulsions), and other melodramatic and self-aware gestures. The sound quality of the orchestra is also top-notch, allowing the mostly sung-through score to contribute to the outsized experience.

The production rides on heavy sensory overload, with intense lighting (which is used to depict location rather than scenery or props), live filming and video projections (with tons of extreme close-ups), smoke and fog effects, monochromatic design, stylized ensemble movement (at one point, the chorus members break into convulsions), and other melodramatic and self-aware gestures. The sound quality of the orchestra is also top-notch, allowing the mostly sung-through score to contribute to the outsized experience.

I initially came away from “The Hills of California” feeling that it is a neatly constructed but derivative family drama that lacked the excitement of Butterworth’s 2018 melodrama “The Ferryman” (another London import directed by Mendes and starring Donnelly) and was subject to meandering scenes full of accusations. But over the next few days, I became increasingly fascinated by the play’s plot mechanisms (which leave a lot of lingering mystery), the psychological damage sustained by each character, and impressed by the shaded performances and meticulous stagecraft.