Tanner Stransky

Tango is light but fun, and it moves along at a spicy clip. If you love Latin dance - or hell, if you just love a good time - you won't regret a night at the show, which impresario Luis Bravo has been mounting in various incarnations for more than two decades.

The beauty of Greenberg's play lies in its richness. The playwright captures the particulars of how a New York family lives and loves through the years, with special attention to the subtle differences between 1980 and 2000 (a corded phone becomes cordless!). Director Lynne Meadow's production is greatly enhanced by Santo Loquasto's turntable set, a wonder in all its intricate details. And Meadow has assembled a first-rate cast that feels as familiar and complicated as any real-life clan. As an added bonus, you may be left with an overwhelming urge to call your mother. A-

the stage adaptation plays like a heart-tugging, best-of version of the movie, with a saccharine score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and a book by Joseph Robinette that desperately panders for laughs...The musicals pleasures are far and wide: Dan Lauria is steady as an older version of Ralphie, who narrates the story. Johnny Rabe, who played Ralphie at my performance, did a nice job of wrangling the curmudgeonly, hopeful nature of his character. Zac Ballard, as younger brother Randy, is a delight. Director John Rando borrows film techniques like freeze-frame and simulated slow motion to great effect. The show feels too long, particularly in the first act...And of course, the whole production is super-duper schmaltzy. But it's Christmas. On Broadway. In the winter wonderland of New York City. And a pink bunny suit is involved. For the most part, A Christmas Story: The Musical isexactly what you expect. B+

The Performers is everything the masses want on Broadway: It's short (just 90 minutes), sexy (a send-up of the porn industry), and ruled by a ditzy scene-stealer (The Sitter's Ari Graynor). Oh, and it also stars Alicia Silverstone, Henry Winkler, and Cheyenne Jackson, whose ripped body is blessedly on display for the show's first 10 minutes. David West Read's laugh-a-minute script is light, but it fires on all cylinders. A–

Cyrano de Bergerac will always be Cyrano — that is to say, you can't expect new revelations from Edmond Rostand's often exhausting, bloated 1897 play itself. In the Roundabout Theatre Company's new Broadway production, it's still the same sing-songy piece about a tragic, weird love story set in an opulent, war-torn 17th-century France.

After seeing Quinn in Long Story Short, it's hard to fathom why the star didn't succeed with his two major post-SNL ventures — the three-episode-long NBC sketch-comedy series The Colin Quinn Show and post-Daily Show political gabber Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn. Perhaps the medium is to blame. Judging by Long Story Short, Quinn seems more in his element on stage.

It's a good thing, then, that in this well-executed revival, Patrick Stewart and T.R. Knight — playing the lead pair of theater actors at opposite ends of their careers — have the chemistry of offbeat pals who like to jabber. Stewart and Knight, both at the top of their game here, embrace the strange spirit of the show and imbue Mamet's 26 madcap vignettes with a feeling of buoyant, urgent comedy that elicits lots of laughs — and only the occasional grimace.

Mrs. Warren's Profession moves at a pretty quick clip, and Jones maintains a commanding and grand presence on stage. But overall, a little nipping and tucking - better blocked scenes, some trims of long-winded passages, warmer sets - would have made this show's oftentimes arduous work a lot more appealing.

deal of the credit goes to Stanley Tucci, in his Broadway directing debut. Tucci obviously spent a great deal of time working with his actors on their timing and perfecting delightful flourishes like the flying objects and one particularly blood-curdling scream from one of the actresses. The rest of the credit goes to the stellar cast: All involved are great, but LaPaglia, Shalhoub, Bartha, and Maxwell particularly stand out. (Shalhoub's searing and repeated 'goddammit!' during the show's first act is especially memorable.)