Michael Dale

From row P of the orchestra section of the cavernous Lyric Theatre, one might feel a bit disconnected from the characters and plot, especially with designer Christopher Jones' skeletal set adding to the hollowness, but admittedly, that might just be the result of my unfamiliarity with the play's backstory. Surely, judging from the enthusiastic responses throughout the two-parter, fans of the books and films were having a blast.

With attitudes, and the language we use to express them, drastically changing in the nearly four decades since Children of a Lesser God first hit New York, the play's criticism of well-intentioned coddling of those of diverse abilities is now pretty much preaching to the choir. The play might be best viewed today as a period piece that helped popularize a way of thinking that is now much more widely accepted.

While Tina Fey is one of the top comedy writers around when it comes to social issues, especially as they affect women, Mean Girls gets off to a shaky start with an overload of gags and quips and not enough emphasis on developing empathy. But the pieces start adding up by act two and her book shifts gears from pleasant to hard-hitting.

While the AIDS epidemic has certainly not been completely conquered, it is no longer the automatic death sentence it was in ANGELS IN AMERICA's mid-1980s setting, so in that respect the play can be seen as a bit of a history lesson. But, as the full title indicates, Kushner uses the plague as means by which to address themes that are still with us today; perhaps most prominently the commercialization of health care, the hypocrisy hidden by elected leaders and the effort to guide the country by religious morals. Is eight hours really enough for all of that?

What goes a long way in making it work is that the authors have managed to craft a plot that almost reasonably connects the pre-existing songs (there are new ones, too) into something resembling an integrated score. Buffett wrote a song about a volcano? Okay, make a character an environment scientist working with volcanic soil. A song about cheeseburgers? Okay, have a character struggling to stay on a diet. A song about being comforted by things like grapefruit and Juicy Fruit? Okay, that's the 'Whistle a Happy Tune' moment. 'Why Don't We Get Drunk (And Screw)'? There's the audience participation number! Wait, the main character needs a philosophy of life song. 'It's Five O'Clock Somewhere'? Perfect!

With the script playing to Rylance's strengths, such as asides to the audience and jolts of anachronistic language played for laughs, the imbalance of power in the two leading roles keeps the piece from fulfilling its high potential. It's nevertheless an enjoyable venture, with the sumptuousness of director John Dove's production helping to mask the flaws. The elegant visuals by designer Jonathan Fensom and costume coordinator Lorraine Ebdon-Price (accented by hair and wigs by Campbell Young Associates), are illuminated by lighting designer Paul Russell with candles placed at footlights and hanging from chandeliers. The playing area is surrounded by two levels of onstage seating for both audience members and music director Robert Howarth's ensemble of musicians playing van Kampen's arrangement on period instruments.

With another author, the 100-minute play might have been shaved down to set up an adventure story of sensational heroism, but the great impact of Kirkwood's drama comes from its naturalism and simple presentation of a moral issue. Hazel and Robin seem like perfectly nice people who lived their lives as products of their generation and now wish to be left alone. But do they owe younger people more than just no longer contributing to what's damaging the world? Is it their responsibility to participate in the struggle to fix what their generation has done?

On paper, The Parisian Woman works pretty well. On the stage of the Hudson Theatre, it's generally a bore, due primarily to the exceedingly bland performance of Uma Thurman as Chloe. Though playing a woman with hedonistic desires and an intellect that sets her two steps ahead of most of the DC players around her, Thurman's uncomplicated performance communicates little beyond surface earnestness. Willimon provides her with good many dry observations and witty remarks that hardly register because the star's subtext-barren readings sap them of their bite.

In Steve Martin's good old fashioned, slam bang Broadway comedy, Meteor Shower, married couple Corky and Norm work hard on communication. Whenever one says or does something that hurts or offends the other, they immediately take a time out to hold hands, look at each other eye-to-eye, and recite their words of healing.

Touted on show's website as 'some of the greatest voices of our generation' (Is Audra McDonald of our generation? How about Marilyn Maye?), Candice Glover ('American Idol' Season 12), Josh Kaufman ('The Voice' Season 6) and Bianca Ryan ('America's Got Talent' Season 1, when she was 11) are, in all seriousness, at least reasonably talented. And again, in all seriousness, this New York theatre critic probably has no business critiquing their vocal capabilities, since they're of a style he rarely pays attention to. But their show is on Broadway, so it's the responsibility of a Broadway theatre critic to see and review it.

As Latin History For Morons now moves to Broadway, the play is pretty much as it was downtown with one very noticeable difference; an extremely angry attack on a president who regularly displays ignorance of the people who originally lived on the land on which the United States of America was placed and who seems nonplussed about the continual hardships Americans in Puerto Rico continue to endure after Hurricane Maria.

Though richly textured dramatically, the mood of the piece is largely introspective until a lively closing jam session that unites the actor/musicians with their non-acting musical colleagues. While THE BAND'S VISIT never preaches its message of human fellowship beyond hostile borders, this final moment is a joyous expression of unity.

Like a Shakespearean history play set during wartime, Junk is loaded with peripheral characters who propel the story forward.Matthew Saldivar is especially effective as Merkin's steely colleague who knows how to get his way. Joey Slotnick also scores as the powerful investor whose disheveled appearance and demeaner contrast with his reputation as The Prince of Darkness.

To call Priestley's play timeless would be too obvious a play on words, but in this time when Americans are wondering which side of the economic ladder their elected officials are favoring, plays like Time and the Conways offer warnings from the past about the possibilities for the future.

More of a political rally than a theatre entertainment, the nearly two hour long intermissionless production, directed by Michael Mayer, is played under the assumption that every attendee wishes to see every member of the current administration out of office yesterday. The Oscar-winning activist documentarian frequently refers to his patrons as 'us' and, at least at Tuesday night's preview, many felt fired up enough to yell out their disapproval of Trump using the kind of language usually reserved for 'Access Hollywood' tour buses. 'Donald Trump outsmarted us all,' is the inconvenient truth he insists his fans accept, pointing out the newbie politician's crafty ability to tell voters in each individual state he sought to capture exactly what they wanted to hear, packaged in easy-to-digest sound bites.

While this is an ensemble play with plenty of richly drawn characters, Kline is the colorful centerpiece, with the star delivering droll John Barrymore-like hamminess to cover his desperate fear of becoming obsolete.

All the context you'll need to deal with at the Lyceum's latest offering, Britain's Mischief Theatre import, The Play That Goes Wrong, is right there in the title. Forgoing pesky details like plot and character development, the two-act evening of visual gags - some worthy of a Mack Sennet silent - pieced together by bits of verbal silliness is one of those endeavors that charges onto the stage as a force of choreographed chaos, bombarding the audience with so many jabs to the funny bone that even if only a third of them strike properly you're in for a sufficient number of laughs.

While the decline of American communities when jobs are sent to other countries is a familiar subject, Nottage's even-handed treatment of multiple viewpoints, giving sympathy to all sides, makes Sweat a truly realistic and moving tragedy that, sadly, has gained relevance on its way to Broadway.

Powerfully-voiced Eva Noblezada combines sensitive nobility and naiveté as Kim, and Alistair Brammer's rocker-belting Chris effectively displays the steady growth of post-traumatic stress disorder developed from his wartime experiences.

COME FROM AWAY, the inspiring, funny and kick-ass beautiful new musical serving as the Broadway debut for the married team of Irene Sankoff and David Hein, who co-authored the book and score, takes a true story that began on September 11th, 2001, and tells it in an exhilarating fashion that celebrates decency and human kindness. The helpers of Come From Away were not in a position to risk their lives on that tragic day, but they were given the opportunity to open their hearts and, as dramatized on the Schoenfeld stage, they gloriously did so....As a theatre critic, I'm often asked by people I meet for recommendations. Before answering, I always ask what kind of plays or musicals they usually like, so I can match them up with something they'd more likely enjoy. As long as Come From Away is playing on Broadway, I will recommend it to everyone. Everyone.

I'll admit to finding Significant Other no better than admirably pleasant when this mounting originated at Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre during the summer of 2015, but there's a noticeably new spark in director Tripp Cullman's production, that neatly glides from effervescent to emotionally raw. If there have been script changes, they don't appear to have been major. Jones is the only new addition to the cast, but perhaps what's happening is a strengthened connection between Mendez's Laura and Glick's Jordan as their relationship moves far beyond the straight woman/gay man dynamic typically found in popular culture. A second act confrontation that has Laura in tears because Jordan feel she's abandoning him by getting married is brutal to watch and you can legitimately ache for both characters.

Price's staging makes fun use of period film clips, but also includes some oddball moments like a dead body being lifted by wires into the air and a car chase being simulated by black-clad actors racing around in the dark with hand-held headlights. Nevertheless, Glenn Close is the reason to rush to the Palace these days. She may be playing a faded star, but her intelligent and skillful performance is luminous.

While Jitney's impact may not reach the magnitude of Wilson's zenith, FENCES, or outstanding works like Ma Rainey'S BLACK BOTTOM and GEM OF THE OCEAN, this compelling production is continually engaging and thick with humor and emotion.

In director John Crowley's well-acted, lethargically staged Sydney Theatre Company production of Andrew Upton's adaptation, titled The Present, Cate Blanchett, who happens to be married to the playwright, is the beneficiary of the evening's funny and dramatically flashy moments while co-star Richard Roxburgh pulls his weight admirably, portraying the inebriated symbol of self-absorbed misogyny.

Lapine serves as director for the terrific new Broadway revival of Falsettos that, through more lyric revisions and interpretations that provide a greater unity of tone, finally fuse the two acts into a singular piece of romance, wit, jaunty melodies and realistic characters trying to keep their neuroses in check.