Michael Sommers — Theater Critic

From the sniffles pervading the auditorium, apparently some people are moved deeply by this comedy-drama-weeper. Not me. At least not in the way the playwright intends. Frankly I could scarcely wait to move myself out of the theater and into a martini. The modest production trimly directed by Sheryl Kaller is all right as far as the acting and staging goes. The play, however, is shamefully derivative claptrap regarding an unlikely gay couple. It reeks with such tired business as clueless, bigoted parents, the obligatory ditsy-though-wise gal pal and even a (non-AIDS) sickroom confrontation. This is meant to be a cutting-edge love story of today? Really?

One very sick yet awfully funny play, 'A Behanding in Spokane' stars Christopher Walken as a scary guy dead set on finding the forelimb he lost as a boy. Anyone squeamish or especially politically correct should skip the new Broadway play that premiered on Thursday at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Racial slurs and moldering body parts fly all over the place. Otherwise snare an adults-only ticket. Showcased at his spookiest best as a one-handed weirdo, Walken is hilarious and the sharply-staged comedy-thriller he haunts packs 90 minutes of nasty entertainment.

Crafted as a chamber piece with less than a dozen characters and a four-member vocal ensemble, 'A Little Night Music' is directed by Trevor Nunn in a particularly intimate fashion. Expect not a ton of fancy scenery and spectacular 1900s costumes. Staged more as a rueful comedy with music, this show unfolds quietly against a flexible setting of duskily mirrored panels that later opens to disclose a modest view of birch trees.

Broadway has never before witnessed a musical quite like 'Fela!' — an explosive mix of catchy Afrobeat rhythms, wild, sexy dancing and raw bio-dramatics — and while its unique charms certainly are powerful, one frankly wonders whether this unusual show will catch on with the mainstream public.

Not a jukebox musical stuffed with golden oldies so much as a compelling bio-musical, 'Jersey Boys' gets plenty of mileage from can't-get-em-outta-your-head classics like 'Big Girls Don't Cry' while legitimately employing the music for dramatic purposes. Fluently scripted by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, this classic rags-to-riches story is narrated in turn by each member of the 4 Seasons, beginning with Belleville wise guy Tommy DeVito, who organized the group between his visits to the slammer in the late 1950s. Energetically weaving story, songs, visuals and exciting performances into a can't-stop-the-music tidal wave, director Des McAnuff stages a compelling rush of events that pauses only occasionally to savor the beauty of certain songs. Live video is spliced with vintage film of '60s crowds reacting to the band or pop art-style cartoons that comment upon various moments.