Matt Windman

The revival could be better in some respects. The original production provided a more transporting experience because it played on a wider stage, which increased the intimacy, and its theater was more extensively transformed to suit the show's unique physical environment. Musically, the size of the orchestra has been cut in half.

The show has been updated to include a few new zingers. For instance, God announces that he knows full well that the crowd is only there because they couldn't get tickets to 'Hamilton.' In fact, God can't snag a ticket, either. Even at just 90 minutes, 'An Act of God' (directed by the prolific Joe Mantello) is long-winded and full of unoriginal jabs at easy targets, but it is cute and occasionally witty . Hayes, who appeared on Broadway six years ago in the musical 'Promises, Promises' and is best remembered as the flamboyant Jack on 'Will and Grace,' has terrific stage presence and makes for a giddy, loosened-up and irreverent host.

All things considered, 'Paramour' is a lame, harmless alternative for international tourists who want to see a Broadway show but would prefer something with the Cirque du Soleil imprimatur than a long-running hit like 'Chicago,' 'The Lion King' or 'The Phantom of the Opera.' Frankly, I think they can do better.

Whether old or new, it is a hot mess of the highest caliber - a dazzling and dizzying documentary mixed with star turns, syncopated rhythms, stylish attire, fierce tap-dancing and weak subplots...For nearly three hours, 'Shuffle Along' throws at its audience nonstop sound and fury and historical detail. It's like climbing aboard a rocket that doesn't stop spinning...But the storytelling is chaotic and choppy, and the characters are painted in broad strokes. The second act, set after the show has become an overnight sensation, comes off as superfluous...McDonald plays it up as an over-the-top diva, while Stokes once again proves himself to be an outstanding leading man...It should come as no surprise that something so experimental and ambitious needs more development.

This is an extremely difficult play to pull off, relying on rich prose instead of overt action and featuring miserable characters basking in overwhelming despair. The performances here are exceptional all around, but the production is likely to grow smoother and more engrossing as the run continues...Lange's Mary is a performance of unmistakable stature and refined acting ability...Lange exhibits more dramatic control, emphasizing Mary's downward progression from denial and erratic mood swings into drug-induced euphoria. As James, Byrne shows vulnerability behind the miserly and defensive exterior.

The Fountain of Youth is just a spring hidden in the backwoods of a rural community in 'Tuck Everlasting,' the G-rated, surprisingly well-crafted new Broadway musical based on Natalie Babbitt's 1975 coming-of-age novel...Its whirlwind adventure plot touches upon serious themes like mortality and loss. Claudia Shear and Tim Federle's book for the musical successfully expands upon these themes. The folksy score (by composer Chris Miller and lyricist Nathan Tysen) emphasizes a child's sense of wonder, along with some tender spots...'Tuck Everlasting' is refreshingly free of camp and flash...Lewis makes an assured, professional debut, capturing Winnie's eagerness and vulnerability.

The heart of 'Fully Committed' lies in Sam, who is willing to endure an overwhelming job where he is routinely humiliated and mistreated in order to pursue his acting ambitions. But for the most part, it is an empty, overextended actor showcase. By the end, it has become a whirling blur of silly voices and high-strung personalities. Under the direction of Jason Moore ('Avenue Q'), Ferguson throws himself into it head first. And if it was being staged at a smaller space, it may very well have been captivating. But on the Lyceum Theatre stage, it looks naked. The overly elaborate set (full of pipes, file cabinets and chairs that ascend to the heavens) also takes attention away from Ferguson's performance.

Director Rupert Goold, songwriter Duncan Sheik and book-writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa persuasively capture the designer chic milieu, materialistic attitude and dance club sound of 1980s Manhattan while adding a pervading sense of eerie unease...Benjamin Walker's Bateman brings to mind a Ken doll with a dirty mind and a butcher knife. He captures the character's crisp, cocky demeanor and the lost, twisted psyche underneath the impeccable exterior. The strong cast also includes Heléne Yorke as Bateman's high-strung girlfriend, Jennifer Damiano as his sweet young secretary and Tony winner Alice Ripley as his heavily medicated mother...Notwithstanding all this, the piece has serious structural problems...It also ends on an unapologetically depressing note.

..The audience can never be sure what's going on, where we are or who everyone is in 'The Father,' a jarring and intense French drama by Florian Zeller (translated into English by Christopher Hampton) that is told from the perspective of an 80-year-old man suffering from severe dementia...Doug Hughes' focused production is built around an all-out, highly emotional performance from Langella that brings to mind King Lear's extreme fall from security into chaos...a dramatically effective and culturally important one that forces the audience to see the world through the eyes of someone with dementia and identify with him. It should be mandatory viewing for anyone who knows a person with dementia.

Ivo van Hove's Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's 1953 Salem witch trial drama/political allegory 'The Crucible' is so bewildering that I hardly know where to start. That being said, the production is, more often than not, absorbing and blazing with intensity...More importantly, why does one of the young girls levitate in the air at one point? Why does the set fall apart at a climactic moment? Is van Hove suggesting that the girls really do have supernatural abilities? Or, more likely, is this all just striking but overblown and overindulgent imagery?...These are all great actors, but they achieve uneven results in this twisted environment. Whishaw comes across as too weak and lacks chemistry with the fully aggressive Okonedo. Ronan and Hinds are so assured and terrifying in the predator roles that it's no surprise to see Camp and Harner looking so shaken up and helpless.

Compared to other new Broadway musicals, 'Bright Star' is a total anomaly. It's wholly original and unashamedly sentimental and romantic, with a country-folk score and no well-known actors in the cast...The storytelling can be jumbled, improbable and sappy, and the characters are undeveloped. Nevertheless, it is a heartwarming and crowd-pleasing musical, sporting many pleasant country songs (backed by piano, guitar and banjo), a sunny disposition and a Southern Gothic flavor...Walter Bobbie's attractive production is marked by vibrant performances, brisk movement...and a backwoods visual design.

I dare you to find a flaw in 'She Loves Me,' Harnick and Bock's intimate, tender-hearted, altogether exquisite 1963 musical comedy/romance...With her superb vocal abilities and comedic instincts and open emotionality, Benanti scores a homerun as the hopeful but staunch Amalia, and the same can be said about Krakowski as Ilona, the gal pal who's been around the block one too many times. Levi...is likable but underwhelming as the hardworking, affable clerk Georg, but that hardly matters. The overall impact of this winning production leaves you teary-eyed and overjoyed.

It is a lean and muscular piece of drama, where two emotionally damaged characters with a terrible past are brought together for an uncomfortable reunion that is sure to end in further disaster and trauma. Mantello...once again shows how he can draw out fully-developed performances from great actors that are both believable and richly detailed. The interplay between Daniels and Williams could not be rawer or more dramatically charged. From the start, Daniels is jumpy and terrified, while Williams starts off as playful and confident and then lets her guard down in reliving the past.

'Disaster!,' the scrappy, witty, ultra-campy new musical that parodies 1970s disaster flicks like 'The Poseidon Adventure' and 'Airport 1975' to a soundtrack of disco-era pop hits, may have been better off staying off-Broadway instead of making the unanticipated and improbable move to Broadway, where it looks and feels out of place and its flaws become more apparent...'Disaster!' takes ridiculousness to an extreme that, at its best, can be hilarious. Visual gags are plentiful and each hit song is integrated with the dialogue in an unusually artful manner...Even so, the show's relentless, one-note silliness grows tiresome, resembling a 'Saturday Night Live' sketch that goes on way too long.

'Eclipsed' is not an easy play to take in. It brings the audience uncomfortably close to a destructive environment. But it is an important one that brings attention to the ongoing plight of women in war-torn Africa. The performances are exceptional all around. The production (directed with graphic detail by Liesl Tommy) also has historical significance, marking the first Broadway show with a female playwright, a female director and an all-female cast.

There's a reason why Eugene O'Neill's 1942 two-hander 'Hughie' is usually presented on a double bill with another play: it is only an hour long and is essentially a rambling monologue, with a few lines here and there for a secondary character...Christopher Oram's towering set design of a decaying hotel lobby is visually impressive but inappropriate for such a small piece. Whitaker gives a hyperactive yet sensitive performance that reveals the unease and desperation behind Erie's jovial exterior, while Wood does a fine job serving as the blank-faced listener.

Stephen Karam's family drama 'The Humans'...is unapologetically depressing and lacking in narrative. Its pretentious and generic title is also a turnoff. Nevertheless, it makes for a compelling and often terrifying character portrait...there isn't much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, and none of the problems are resolved or ameliorated by the play's end...'The Humans' is not as appealing as Karam's terrific comedic dramas ('Speech & Debate,' 'Sons of the Prophet'), but Houdyshell's razor-sharp delivery of her character's witty responses earns laughs. Under the direction of Joe Mantello...the actors deliver vulnerable, truthful performances while also handling simultaneous action on the two-story set, overlapping dialogue and many silent pauses.

Stage and screen actress Linda Lavin, 78, who has made a specialty out of playing difficult and domineering Jewish mothers (most recently in the 2012 play 'The Lyons'), is at it again in Richard Greenberg's underwhelming dramatic comedy 'Our Mother's Brief Affair'...The play has witty lines and a few surprises, but it's also sluggish, messy and short on plot. Greenberg's attempts to play with time and dramatic structure...come off as labored. Meadow's staging is generally flat. Lavin, nailing her character's acerbity, is terrifically funny but also identifiable and sympathetic. Keller and Arrington, in underwritten and underwhelming roles, passively sit on the sidelines while Lavin tells the tale.

There's no need for reinvention when it comes to 'Noises Off'...For 'Noises Off' to work on a basic level, its thoroughly intricate physical activity must be staged with the precision of a ballet. But a great production, which this revival certainly is, builds the slapstick around truthful performances, thus making the chaos feel natural...Jeremy Herrin, who recently staged 'Wolf Hall' on Broadway, has brought together a dynamic ensemble cast of stage veterans...Hilty is especially memorable as a buxom, airheaded actress, often waving her arms like a cheerleader doing a routine, and Shamos is endearing as a sensitive actor who gets nosebleeds at the slightest hint of violence.

Bartlett Sher, the director behind the acclaimed Lincoln Center revivals of 'South Pacific' and 'The King and I,' respects the material while enlivening it. The scenes are staged with acute sensitivity, while a full orchestra plays the timeless score. The opening sequence is somewhat new. Danny Burstein, dressed in modern attire, is apparently looking to retrace his ancestry. As he recites Tevye's opening lines ('A fiddler on the roof. Sounds crazy, no?'), the shtetl community, like a ghost being summoned back, comes forward and breaks into 'Tradition.' The fiddler also flies, a la Peter Pan.

Featuring an exceptional all-black cast led by Jennifer Hudson (in her Broadway debut), Danielle Brooks ('Orange Is the New Black') and English actress Cynthia Erivo, this marks one of the rare occasions where a musical's revival manages to outshine the original production...At first, Doyle's production comes off as overly mannered and limited in movement. But on the whole, it is far more dramatically charged and focused than the elaborate but undistinguished original production. This feels less like a revival than a revitalization, or a new musical altogether. Erivo credibly conveys Celie's 180-degree transformation in personality. The big-voiced Brooks burns with ferocity while slipping into moments of good humor. Hudson is fully authoritative and altogether fantastic in the diva role. Johnson has both a crisp edge and the air of a broken man.

Essentially a modern version of 'The Music Man,' it charts how out-of-work musician Dewey Finn (Alex Brightman) lands a gig as a substitute teacher at a snobby prep school and turns his class into a garage band, giving the children self-confidence in the process...The dozen or so children are wildly talented and absolutely adorable. I dare you not to smile as they stomp around and chant that they will 'stick it to the man.'

For the most part, 'China Doll' is a rambling, incoherent monologue. Since we never hear from the people that Pacino is speaking to by phone, it is the equivalent of a conversation where half the lines are missing...With big gestures and expressions, Pacino delivers a highly worked-up, outlandish performance that could be interpreted as a desperate attempt to add entertainment. Despite the play's problems, Pacino's theatrics throw it off further dramatically. The visual opulence of Pam MacKinnon's production is also questionable. It would be interesting to compare this with a leaner production of the play. But on second thought, it may be best to just put 'China Doll' to rest.

Whereas Rob Reiner's film was chilling, the 90-minute Broadway production (directed without focus by Will Frears), comes off as a psycho version of 'The Odd Couple,' with audience members laughing throughout at Annie's apparent insanity. Those who don't see the humor are likely to find it a pointless star vehicle. Metcalf is big, loud and over-the-top as Annie. On the other hand, the gruff-looking Willis displays little energy or presence, which easily allows Metcalf to overtake the show.

Hove takes a scalpel-edged, stripped-down yet over-the-top approach that drains the play of its naturalistic flavor...But what really hurts the two-hour production is Hove's never-ending use of an unsettling, dirge-like soundscape, which interrupts the dialogue and is often disconnected from the storytelling. It is most effective at the play's brutal climax, which also contains a splashy visual feat. Mark Strong conveys Eddie's inner torment with a quiet intensity...For the record, this production received big raves in London, and I'm sure that many people here will be similarly turned on by it. But by the same token, I suspect that plenty of others will find it pretentious and obnoxious.