Matt Windman

As much as one can appreciate Lithgow's elated and elastic theatricality, generous and open spirit and passionate advocacy for the arts, it is not easy to fall in love with the show - or even sit through it without zoning out. Sitting to my right was a young girl who spent most of the show with her head down and eyes closed.

It may contain arias from obscure Baroque operas and candlelit chandeliers, but the play is, at heart, a straightforward and sentimental 'bromance,' one in which Farinelli is willing to give up adoring audiences all over Europe to serve at the king's command. It is also a celebration of the power of music to overcome emotional and mental instability. Rylance, who excels at playing sad and strange characters, gives a full-bodied and endearing performance that combines volatile behavior and over-the-top comedy with gentle contemplation. As it turns out, van Kampen, who also did the musical arrangements, and Rylance are married, so it's no wonder that 'Farinelli and the King' is so specifically suited to their talents.

Black humor occasionally pops up, as do secrets from the past. At one point, the characters listen to James Brown's 'Ain't It Funky Now' and recreate a choreographed dance routine from 40 years earlier. But first and foremost, 'The Children' is a social drama that is disturbing and thought-provoking.

Despite some weak spots, the new Broadway musical adaptation of the Nickelodeon cartoon 'SpongeBob SquarePants' works well enough as a lively, silly, trippy show appealing to kids, Millennials and anyone who has watched the TV show since it premiered in 1999.

There has probably never been a production quite like the stunning new Broadway revival at Circle in the Square. Emphasizing the musical's themes of natural disaster and economic inequality, director Michael Arden brings an unexpected dose of gritty realism, while also honoring its gorgeous score of dynamic group numbers and tender ballads. Vocal fireworks and full-bodied dance choreography imbue spirituality and joyful theatricality.

Although the play revolves around heavy-handed plot machinations, it still manages to feel slight and slow. The characters are initially interesting but prove to be one-dimensional. The direction (by Pam MacKinnon) does little to pep up the production. One gets the sense that 'The Parisian Woman' was built specifically as a star vehicle to showcase the actress playing Chloe, to make her alluring and dominant while not demanding much in terms of acting.

Unfortunately, 'Meteor Shower' (as directed by Jerry Zaks, who recently staged the 'Hello, Dolly!' revival) turned out to be a nonsensical and tedious skit that is simultaneously starry and substandard, flimsy and overstuffed. I'm even tempted to call it a 'trainwreck' (in a nod to Schumer's hit 2015 film).

The show (which runs about two hours without an intermission) is a tall order for Leguizamo to fill on his own, with overlapping tracks that include a slow and sentimental multicharacter family drama, stand-up comedy, personal confessions, history, political criticism and even an elaborate dance break. Although one can appreciate the sincerity behind Leguizamo's emphasis on his family, his long-winded attempt to dramatize conversations with his son, wife and daughter falls flat and weighs down the rest of the show, in which he interacts directly with the audience with flare, fervor and ease.

While there is little plot or character development, one by one the players open up in song and dialogue, revealing that they are suffering from emotional paralysis and the monotony of everyday life. The integration of David Cromer's intimate and sensitive direction; David Yazbek's Middle-Eastern flavored score, much of which is performed onstage by cast members; and Itamar Moses' book, which hews closely to the original screenplay, is so seamless that it is virtually impossible to pick apart. They have turned a slight, short, quiet tale into an urgent, realistic and relatable portrait of vulnerable individuals from different cultures who are able to make an unexpected human connection, often just through a shared appreciation for music.

'Junk' marks a critical departure point for Akhtar, a Pakistani-American writer whose prior dramas involved Pakistani-Americans (the Pulitzer Prize-winning 'Disgraced,' 'The Who & The What') and an American kidnapped by a Pakistani terrorist ('The Invisible Hand'). Even while many of the characters are underdeveloped, the commentary on anti-Semitism feels tacked on and the industry lingo can throw off a layperson, 'Junk' is engrossing from start to finish and Doug Hughes' sleek, high-powered and fluid production (staged around a two-story set of empty squares and shining surfaces) never lags in momentum.

Hwang's 1988 Tony-winning play is a critical-minded drama dissecting race relations, gender roles and international affairs - and also a gripping thriller full of sex, spying and disguises. Its seriously misguided and marred Broadway revival contains direction by Taymor, lead performances from English actor Clive Owen ('Closer') and Jin Ha (Chicago cast of 'Hamilton') and extensive, unnecessary and mostly detrimental rewrites.

Except for a handful of striking moments, the play comes off as a boring mishmash of Chekhov's 'The Cherry Orchard,' Sondheim's 'Merrily We Roll Along' and, of course, 'Downton Abbey.' Perhaps it would work better with an all-English cast that possesses ensemble unity. Here, the performances are uneven - and so are the accents.

'Prince of Broadway,' the lavish, unwieldy, mostly enjoyable revue celebrating Prince's long and unparalleled career of presenting daring new musicals (usually based on difficult subject matter and incorporating strong visual concepts), has finally opened on Broadway after many stops and starts, and I'm 'sorry-grateful' to see it there.

In any event, the show (which runs just under two hours, without intermission) is a fun and freewheeling night of theater for Moore's fans and anyone else who wants to attend.

A cute sense of humor pops up throughout the play, such as when Ruth dresses up for a special episode of her favorite television soap opera, Lee shamelessly dumps a tray of candy into her purse while touring a nursing home and Bessie is rescued at Disney World by a costumed cartoon character. Staging the play is deceptively difficult, as its slow pace and confessional mini-monologues can easily become tedious, and that is often the case with this production (directed by Anne Kauffman, who has extensive Off-Broadway credits). Laura Jellinek's misconceived set design is overly expansive (with the actors frequently far away from each other) and elaborate (requiring the assistance of visible stagehands) and yet still incomplete (with a backyard scene performed around the kitchen).

Running about 101 minutes (in a nod to 'room 101,' the novel's chamber of horrors), this visceral and unpredictable staging is more exciting and effective than this summer's other politically-oriented productions (including Robert Schenkkan's prison drama 'Building the Wall' and The Public Theater's uneasily Trump-infused 'Julius Caesar').

It's apparently never too late to create a sequel - even to a Norwegian domestic drama written more than a century ago. Lucas Hnath, who had two of his plays ('The Christians,' 'Red Speedo') produced last year by major off-Broadway companies to great acclaim, now makes his Broadway debut with the lightweight but feisty comedy 'A Doll's House, Part 2.' This marks the play's New York debut following a world premiere just last month on the West Coast.

It would have been easy to simply plug in 1940s pop standards. But instead Richard Oberacker and Robert Taylor created a swinging original score that not only captures the period style but also digs deep into the characters. The music is so tightly integrated into the script that 'Bandstand' becomes unusually powerful musical theater. Its reinterpretation of the traditional 11 o'clock number is both smart and electrifying. Andy Blankenbuehler, who rose to prominence as the choreographer of 'In the Heights' and then 'Hamilton,' does a stunning job as both director and choreographer.

Any doubt that John Guare's 1990 sharp-edged comedic drama 'Six Degrees of Separation' is one of the finest contemporary American plays should be put to rest by the terrific new Broadway revival starring Allison Janney ('The West Wing'), John Benjamin Hickey ('The Normal Heart') and Corey Hawkins ('Straight Outta Compton'). The play (which was adapted into a 1993 film with Will Smith) popularized the idea that everyone in the world is connected by just a handful of people (i.e. 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon'). But it also displays a class-based society, where an Upper East Side penthouse is a world away from a homeless youth sleeping in Central Park - though not necessarily impenetrable.

Combine early 20th-century Russian history with bits and pieces of 'Les Miz,' 'My Fair Lady' and 'Newsies,' and you've got 'Anastasia,' the uneven but well-meaning and mostly pleasant new Broadway musical based on the 1997 animated film of the same title from 20th Century Fox.

Pity the poor Oompa Loompas that get assigned by Willy Wonka with the impossible task of cleaning up the disastrous and distasteful Broadway musical adaptation of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.' No amount of 'Pure Imagination' can save this train wreck.

With her broad and brassy comic personality, star presence and underlying tenderness, Midler is ideal to inherit the sacred mantle of Dolly Gallagher Levi from actress Carol Channing, who starred in the original 1964 production and played the role for decades...The production (directed by Jerry Zaks and choreographed by Warren Carlyle) lovingly recreates the look and feel of Gower Champion's iconic 1964 production, bursting at the seams with old-fashioned showmanship, hyperkinetic energy and stylized movement.

You can learn the dates that Linney and Nixon will be playing each role in advance. Linney and Nixon are better suited to playing Regina and Birdie, respectively, but the show is fine either way, and checking out both casting arrangements makes you appreciate their versatility. The fullest performance actually comes from Thomas as Regina's sick and wheelchair-bound husband, who switches off between gentility and heated fervor as he attempts to outsmart his wife. Meanwhile, McKean and Goldstein play it up as Regina's similarly aggressive and greedy brothers.

International diplomacy isn't easy - especially when it involves getting two warring populations to make hard concessions - and neither is 'Oslo,' J.T. Rogers' three-hour ensemble drama depicting the back-and-forth backroom negotiations leading up to the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. The play is long and talky and jam-packed with names, dates and historical exposition, but also well-crafted and nuanced, with interesting characters and even humor every now and then. The subject matter is also increasingly vital at this time of heightened instability throughout the Middle East. Under the direction of Bartlett Sher, it is presented with as much clarity and personality as possible.

'War Paint' still has a lot going for it, including self-empowered protagonists, high-powered performances, well-crafted period-style songs, the classy aura of old-school New York and the smooth direction of Michael Greif (who staged 'Dear Evan Hansen' earlier this season). It ought to be a hit with Broadway's primary ticket-buying demographic: women from the tristate area who use cosmetic products, are familiar with Rubinstein and Arden's important legacies and know that LuPone and Ebersole are musical theater artists of the highest caliber.