Patrick Ryan — Theater Critic

“Back to the Future” is a technical marvel that hits all the right nostalgia buttons, and in the immortal words of Marty McFly, your kids are gonna love it. But with soulless songs that are more obligatory than earned, you can’t escape the feeling that they’re just running down the clock.

But this 'Sweeney' belongs to the spellbinding Ashford, a Broadway veteran known more recently for her TV work in CBS sitcom 'B Positive' and Hulu's 'Welcome to Chippendales.' From the moment she springs up from behind the counter, her Lovett is instantly endearing and almost pitiable in her delusion. Desperate for Sweeney's affection, she constantly hangs on his arm and flirtatiously pretzels herself around him, refusing to believe she's just a means to an end. Ashford is bloody brilliant in her elastic expressiveness and slapstick comedy, throwing and spinning herself across the stage in showstoppers 'A Little Priest' and 'The Worst Pies in London.'

Imagine Lady Gaga's 'Bad Romance,' but as a steamy Spanish tango. Now imagine that's been mashed up with Britney Spears' 'Toxic' and The White Stripes' 'Seven Nation Army,' and vigorously performed by a group of hot-blooded bohemians in early 1900s Paris. It's an absurd combination that by no means should work, but winds up being the undeniable highlight of Broadway's new 'Moulin Rouge! The Musical,' a wildly entertaining adaptation of Baz Luhrmann's 2001 movie that opened Thursday at New York's Al Hirschfeld Theatre.