Michael Dale — Theater Critic

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.

In between, a terrific cast bangs out the gritty, wise-cracking dialogue of newspapermen turned playwrights Ben Hecht andCharles MacArthur with the precision of freshly greased keys striking at the platen of a Royal typewriter. Nathan Lane and John Slattery lead the way, but the twenty-five member ensemble is made up of name stars and below-the-title theatre pros who each contribute solidly to a rousing production.

Pop star Leona Lewis has been cast as Grizabella, the cat of tragically faded glamour who sings the musical's dramatic 11 o'clocker, 'Memory.' She has no acting credits in her bio and it shows, making the evening's climactic moment a sad letdown, especially when considering the many underused Broadway actresses who can really make a meal out of it.

Broadway's faithful didn't have to wait long before the second coming of David Javerbaum's cute and charming comedy, An Act of God. In the beginning (last May) Jim Parsons premiered the nightclubby diversion at Studio 54. Now Sean Hayes stars in a limited run at the Booth, described by his character as 'the only theatre named for the brother of a man who assassinated a President in a different theatre.'

There's no shortage of thrills and amazement to be enjoyed by their latest assemblage of remarkable artists who tumble in the air, swing on straps, balance onto each other and perform gasp-worth feats of strength and muscle control. However, PARAMOUR is a venture presented by the company's theatrical enterprise in an attempt to create a new and original book-and-score Broadway musical that incorporates their regular ensemble of performers into the story.

Under Doug Hughes' direction, Langella makes fluid transitions from charmingly self-assured to nervously befuddled to positively terrified. The 90-minute piece serves better as an actor's showcase than a satisfying play, and the star subtly and believably builds to a shuddering climax. Erbe is rock solid as a woman trying to stay in control of an impossible situation. One would expect her to be the next to start losing her mind.

For a musical about literary folk, Bright Star's words never approach the stimulating freshness and intelligence of other current musicals about writers; namely HAMILTON, FUN HOME, the revival of SHE LOVES ME and Off-Broadway's DADDY LONG LEGS. Nice music, fine performances, but other than that, barely a twinkle.

How do you describe admiration for a display of such sad and stark emotional vulnerability without it feeling like objectification of the fictional characters who have gone through the experience, and those who are confronted by similar ones in real life?...In varying degrees, Williams and Daniels, both excellent, effectively confront the audience to feel sympathy for their characters as it becomes increasingly clear what emotions are for each other. On top of that, you can admire the actors for just the taking on the responsibility of using their craft to take them 'there' eight times a week.

Plays about the different ways women choose to respond to institutionalized rape during wartime are not standard Broadway fare, and ECLIPSE's transfer from its October-opening run at The Public Theater, should be considered a major achievement, no doubt accelerated by the facts that the playwright is known for her acting role on the popular television series THE WALKING DEAD, and one-fifth of its superb ensemble is Academy Award-winner Lupita Nyong'o.

The play is essentially a monologue for Erie, as he tries making buddies with the new, disinterested night clerk in an attempt to change his luck...Sadly, Whitaker's performance is far too undistinguished...Under Michael Grandage's direction, he's a rather ordinary, friendly presence, who continually speaks in a repetitive sing-songy rhythm. There's little depth, or even vocal variety in his portrayal and the proceedings get dull quickly. It would be unfair to say that Wood steals the show with his tiny role, but his fine, understated turn is a lovely display of a stage actor's craft.

In his fresh, funny and chilling take on the genre, The Humans...playwright Stephen Karam believably adds elements of an old-fashioned Irish ghost story to the mix...Director Joe Mantello's exemplary ensemble is granted a wonderfully detailed and realistic two-level set by David Zinn, allowing for simultaneous action on both floors. Fitz Patton's sound design perfectly replicates the chorus of noises from city living and orchestrates them into a nightmarish soundscape. At one point Richard, more or less the observer of the gathering, describes a comic book series about a race of monsters who live in fear of humans. They may have a point. Stephen Karam sure does.

The playwright probably has something to say about forgiveness or the allure of bad boys, but while there's a decent amount of cleverness in his lines, the story never amounts to anything of significant consequence. Director Lynne Meadow's production is fine and neither she nor her actors should be blamed for the overall sluggishness of the overwritten proceedings, but aside from Lavin, who deftly blends from acerbic to gently sentimental, OUR MOTHER'S BRIEF AFFAIR is hardly one to remember.

Michael Frayn's perfectly constructed bit of nonsense, with no shortage of slamming doors and flying sardines, is back in an uproarious new Roundabout revival solidly mounted by Jeremy Herrin...What gives the play its momentum is the grave seriousness with which each character deals with their lot. The gifted clown Andrea Martin is just darling as Dotty, an actor of cultured tones who plays the screeching cockney maid and can't clear up in her head exactly what her blocking is in regards to moving a plate of sardines. Megan Hilty bursts onto the stage with air-headed moxie, all dolled up like Jayne Mansfield, and is a scream playing bombshell Brooke as an awful actor who faces front and presents her every line to the audience in between mouthing the lines of her colleagues. Jeremy Shamos is very funny as the good-natured, but nervous wreck Frederick, and has a bit of physical business about regaining his footing that might very well get him nominated for an Astaire Award...NOISES OFF is a night of wild, frenetic fun that guarantees more laughs than COPENHAGEN, DEMOCRACY and BENEFACTORS combined.

While actors doubling as the orchestra, the concept Doyle is best known for, is eschewed here, his other frequently used techniques - staging that limits personal connections between characters and production values that don't clearly communicate locations - are out in full force. Granted, this production originated at London's modestly-sized Menier Chocolate Factory, so a bit of scaling down is to be expected, but the orchestrations could at least be restored to their original 18 pieces instead of remaining at six.

Remember when Andrew Lloyd Webber's music was demonized as despicably subversive irreverence that undermined everything that was good and decent about America? If you were around in the early 1970s you'd surely remember that he and lyricist Tim Rice were considered quite the dangerous radicals when JESUS CHRIST SUSPERSTAR hit these shores. You can celebrate those good old days now with the English Lord's enthralling, high-energy kickass new hard-rockin' musical at the Winter Garden. Add to the mixGlenn Slater's solid set of lyrics, the funny and sincerely touching book by Julian Fellowes and a top flight cast led by director Laurence Conner, andSchool of Rock is a big, beautiful blast of musical comedy from start to finish.

And even if that Bluetooth device that's stuck in his ear for most of the night has someone cueing him for every line...Pacino's not letting on. He's detailed, committed and always interesting to watch. The play itself is pretty meat-and-potatoes Mamet with the star playing a standard Mametian patriarchal, alpha male son of a slime ball...While Pacino's Mickey is erratic and caustic, speaking in an unpredictable cadence and tone, Christopher Denham's Carson is soft and unobtrusively in control of every potential crisis. Though onstage for nearly the entire play, he spends much of it quietly handling matters in the background, while Mickey is bullying his way through an unseen cast of supporting characters...but the balance he adds to the play is invaluable and the most effective asset of director Pam MacKinnon's production.

Since coming to Broadway after winning three Emmy Awards for playing the low self-esteemed Jackie in ROSEANNE, Laurie Metcalf has yet to strike a false note in her rich and diverse collection of stage portrayals... It's her unbending commitment to honesty, even in the most heightened of melodramatic situations, that drives director Will Frears' marvelously entertaining production of William Goldman's play based on novelist Stephen King's Misery.

The direction seems to greatly favor those seated on stage, and while Strong is admirably forceful, there seems to be a lack of subtlety that the director imposes throughout evening. Rather than let Eddie's desires slowly reveal themselves, he smacks us on the head with them. Also smacking the audience are the bombastic tones of designer Tom Gibbons' lugubrious soundscape, which is peppered with bits of Fauré's Requiem. Miller's fine play would be better served by allowing the actors to provide such subtext.