Thom Geier — Theater Critic

Messing acquits herself well in her Broadway debut. Though she seems ill at ease through the first half of the show, too aware of the audience and of the effort to keep up her accent, she settles in toward the end when she's able to deploy her gifts for physical comedy...Ultimately, Outside Mullingar is wispier than the smoke from a peat bog. Shanley has a fondness for quirkiness, which provide some of the biggest laughs. At times, though, the oddities threaten to overwhelm the whole affair, particularly in the long final scene between Anthony and Rosemary where they finally, inevitably confront their long-suppressed feelings...For plays, though, feelings can come in handy. In the end, too few of them quite ring true here. B

Watching Beautiful, the new jukebox musical celebrating the remarkable life and work of Carole King, you may not feel the earth move under your feet. But the new Broadway show emerges as a slick and joyous celebration of female empowerment. Like Jersey Boys, Beautiful features a smart, well-crafted, and often funny book (by Douglas McGrath) that cleverly threads together a memorable catalog of early rock hits such as 'Some Kind of Wonderful' and 'Take Good Care of My Baby.' It also boasts a winning central performance by Jessie Mueller as the shy Jewish girl from Brooklyn who only gradually comes into her own as a headlining voice of a generation... Beautiful fills the charisma vacuum with the substantial addition of King and Goffin's friendly songwriting rivals Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, played with megawatt scene-stealing abandon by Anika Larsen and Jarrod Spector...

Watching Beautiful, the new jukebox musical celebrating the remarkable life and work of Carole King, you may not feel the earth move under your feet. But the new Broadway show emerges as a slick and joyous celebration of female empowerment. Like Jersey Boys, Beautiful features a smart, well-crafted, and often funny book (by Douglas McGrath) that cleverly threads together a memorable catalog of early rock hits such as 'Some Kind of Wonderful' and 'Take Good Care of My Baby.' It also boasts a winning central performance by Jessie Mueller as the shy Jewish girl from Brooklyn who only gradually comes into her own as a headlining voice of a generation... Beautiful fills the charisma vacuum with the substantial addition of King and Goffin's friendly songwriting rivals Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, played with megawatt scene-stealing abandon by Anika Larsen and Jarrod Spector...

In both plays, McKellen and Stewart deliver a master class in acting that seems to echo Beckett and Pinter's underlying theme: the struggle of men against the challenge and inevitability of death. By their age-defying enthusiasm, the seventysomething stars manage the tricky feat of making challenging material engaging, fun, and ultimately life-affirming. The ease of their companionship is almost infectious, elevating these productions to the sublime.

In both plays, McKellen and Stewart deliver a master class in acting that seems to echo Beckett and Pinter's underlying theme: the struggle of men against the challenge and inevitability of death. By their age-defying enthusiasm, the seventysomething stars manage the tricky feat of making challenging material engaging, fun, and ultimately life-affirming. The ease of their companionship is almost infectious, elevating these productions to the sublime.

...This production's secret weapon isn't the poison in Monty's pocket but Lutvak's jaunty score, which sounds both fresh and period-perfect with its echoes of Gilbert and Sullivan and classic British music hall. And the lyrics are as gut-bustingly clever as anything in The Book of Mormon...No one is likely to get sick of the black comedy in A Gentleman's Guide, which remains winsome and charming despite an alarming surfeit of devious and devilish characters. Quite simply, it's a bloody good time.

Rylance plays the humpbacked and murderous conniver Richard III with much the same comic brio — he pats his shriveled (fake) baby hand when he speaks of being 'rudely stamp'd' and 'not shaped for sportive tricks,' then during his coronation flashes both thumbs up and whips his oversize cape about in childlike triumph. His Richard, while consistently entertaining, throws the play's more tragic elements somewhat off-balance, particularly in the many (more serious) scenes when he's off stage. Still, Rylance exquisitely manages Richard's tricky seduction of Lady Anne (Joseph Timms), whose husband and father-in-law he has killed. And there's a delicious crackle to the late scenes with Barnett's Queen Elizabeth, who responds to Richard's entreaties to woo her own daughter with a bold and surprising response. (No spoilers here.)

The first-rate cast of both shows is all male, with guys made up in white-face to play the female roles. There are no visible microphones on the stage, which features a long wooden wall with two sets of doors for entrances and two-storey stalls on either side for a few dozen audience members — who sometimes get drawn into the action (to hold a flask for the tipsy Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night, for instance). The lighting remains constant, with electric lights supplemented by a large upstage candelabra and six candle-laden chandeliers hanging overhead (lit by attendants just before the play begins). And the costumes, designed by Jenny Tiramani, are wonders — made entirely of materials (linens, silks, wools, leathers) available in 1600. No Velcro, no zippers. Those who arrive early are treated to a kind of Elizabethan pre-show, with actors being made up and dressed on stage.

for the most part, After Midnight is a show that's as light on its feet as its very talented ensemble. Be sure to hang around after the curtain call for Ellington's 'Rockin' in Rhythm,' a kind of it-ain't-overture by Marsalis' incomparable orchestra that is sure to put a spring in your step for days to come. A-

Craig, his famously chiseled features half-hidden under a '70s shag, seems oddly blasé about his wife's infidelity, while Weisz strikes a lovely if tentative balance between expressive physicality and inward control. Spall has the best handle on his character's inchoate and conflicted feelings, particularly in his drunken declaration of love at the end of the play (and the beginning of the affair)...Perhaps because Pinter's backwards structure forces him to seed each scene with clues to his puzzle-like plot, there's an off-putting guardedness to the main trio. They regard their emotions from a safe distance, as if with hands safely tucked into pockets. Unable to engage with each other, they may prove a challenge for audiences to embrace as well.

as anyone who has stayed up late watching a Law & Order repeat knows, familiarity can be enormously reassuring. And Rupert Holmes (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) does an admirable job of condensing Grisham's 600-plus-page book, jettisoning entire subplots and characters (the wife of Jake, our defense lawyer hero, for instance) while emphasizing the story's dramatic highlights. Unfortunately, this also means that character development often gets short shrift. Ashley Williams' Boston-bred law student, who joins the defense team and has a brief flirtation with Jake, seems particularly sketchy... There isn't much subtlety in A Time To Kill - Lindsay Jones' overly intrusive underscore cues up at every dramatic moment - but it manages to convey a mostly satisfying sense of justice being served.

Roger Rees is marvelous as Mr. Winslow, a principled man with a stubborn streak and a gift for witty asides, who seems to physically wither over the course of the play. Charlotte Parry is equally fine as his idealistic, suffragette daughter, Kate, who willingly forgoes both her dowery and her fiancée to support the cause. Director Lindsay Posner, who previously staged the show at London's Old Vic, brings a crisp precision to the proceedings. But there's only so much you can do with the material, which feels like an over-long and decidedly twee Masterpiece Theatre drama. B-

With his stocky build, short stature, and thinning hair, Butz is an unlikely leading man, but he has the loose-limbed energy and charisma of a young Dick Van Dyke. The radiant Kate Baldwin is underused as his sympathetic wife, though she brings her silken voice to the beautiful second-act ballad, 'I Don't Need a Roof' - one of the highlights of the mostly tuneful score by Andrew Lippa (The Addams Family). Steggert is less compelling as their not-so-likable son, particularly in the problematic second act saddled with several superfluous fantasy numbers and an ending that packs less of an emotional wallop than it should...For the most part, though, Big Fish finds theatrically inventive ways to reel audiences into its central love story. In this case, it isn't boy-meets-girl but father-hooks-son. And Edward Bloom is quite a catch.

The setting is both real and unreal, as are the performances by a uniformly excellent cast, with subtle choreography (by Steven Hoggett) that recalls the unshowy movement in Tiffany's musical hit Once. Cherry Jones is masterful as Amanda...There is a real poignancy in her portrayal, which avoids the extremes that have felled some other Amandas: She noodges without being smothering, and romanticizes the past without seeming delusional. As aspiring writer Tom, who longs to leave his warehouse job and set out on a life of adventure, Zachary Quinto is wryly funny but no less affecting. Celia Keenan-Bolger astutely underplays his sister Laura's limp to emphasize how her most crippling feature is timidity of spirit. And Brian J. Smith, as Laura's former high school crush, hits just the right notes of vanity and vulnerability. As seen through the hazy gauze of recollection, these mythic characters become at once familiar and true. A

Unfortunately, the biggest sparks on stage at the Richard Rodgers Theatre come from giant black fire-spouting tubes that move in and out of view. There is precious little chemistry between Rashad and Bloom, making the all-consuming passion that would undo both their noble families a matter more of conjecture and assertion than anything demonstrable. It's a shame, because both are talented actors who aren't daunted by the Bard's poetry.

Levi is particularly winsome and adorable as Aaron..His singing voice, like his character, is engaging but a little thin...Here, [Rodriguez] projects an admirable magnetism as a brusque, red-meat-eating downtown chick...While director Bill Berry keeps the story zipping along, he's hobbled by a bland score (by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner) that leans too heavily on pastiche as well as a paint-by-numbers book (by Austin Winsberg) that strings together a series of overly broad clichés rather than flesh out truly distinctive characters...But there's a certain crackle to the performances by Levi and Rodriguez, a kinetic in-the-momentness, that elevates the material. Though your head may tell you to cut short this First Date, you find yourself rooting for this unlikely couple (and the show) to succeed. C+

The tone is set by Patina Miller (Sister Act), who brings a feline slinkiness to the Leading Player that can turn outright catty when the troupe seems to stray too far from the supposed script. Matthew James Thomas (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark) displays a bashful, aw-shucks charm in the title role, and Charlotte D'Amboise vamps playfully as his scheming stepmom. But the unlikely showstopper is 66-year-old SCTV alum Andrea Martin...Dangling high above the stage, she embodies this utterly delightful revival's big-top message: No matter our age, we need never outgrow the capacity for wonder. Jazz hands, though, are strictly optional. A

...the Tony-winning Good Wife star acts out a streamlined version of the drama, playing nearly all of the characters himself...The result is mesmerizing theater, aided enormously by Natasha Chivers' lighting and Fergus O'Hare's creepy horror-movie sound design. But as conceived by Cumming with co-directors John Tiffany (Once) and Andrew Goldberg (The Bomb-itty of Errors), it's also less a true revival of Macbeth than a wickedly clever riff on themes from Macbeth...Indeed, the stunt-like nature of the production sometimes muffles the play's emotional impact-we wind up feeling more for Cumming as a performer than we do for the characters he portrays...But what a tour-de-force performance it is. B+

First mounted in 1983, Kessler's three-man drama remains a vibrant exploration of masculinity and the challenge of forming and maintaining family connections. And Sullivan, by design and happy accident, has assembled a cast that manages to strike the tricky balance of playing the allegory with hard-earned authenticity. They make this simple story feel both real and somehow larger than life. A-

At its best, the new Broadway show - produced and scripted by Gordy himself - plays like a theme night on an all-star season of American Idol, packing in nearly 60 songs from a wide swath of the label's most recognizable artists. But between the energetic musical performances, backed by a tight 18-piece orchestra and boasting spirited choreography by Patirica Wilcox and Warren Adams, the cast is left to grapple with Berry's frankly amateurish book.

The wonder begins with the witty and hyper-literate score by Australian songwriter Tim Minchin, who has crafted several potential earworms...A word about Matilda: Milly Shapiro, a bright-eyed girl who conveys a fine sense of spunk and righteous indignation, played the title role admirably at the performance I attended. But I have no idea why Shapiro alternates with three other girls - Sophia Gennusa, Oona, Laurence, and Bailey Ryon - since the part seems significantly less demanding than the dance-heavy lead in Billy Elliot...Even gold-star students fall short of perfection, and the same is true of Matilda...On the other hand, even when you fail to pick up a well-turned phrase or eye-rolling pun, you will probably find yourself responding like a just-tucked-in child at bedtime.

Whenever Porter is on stage, though, he elevates a musical that might otherwise seem like a club-ready mash-up of La Cage aux Folles, The Full Monty, Billy Elliot, and Cabaret. Porter displays remarkable vocal versatility, making showstoppers out of three very different but equally catchy Lauper tunes: the disco song 'Sex Is in the Heel,' the affecting ballad 'I'm Not My Father's Son,' and the Whitney Houston-like anthem 'Hold Me in Your Heart.' Thanks to Porter's star-making turn, Kinky Boots delivers some pumps-up kicks. B+

Greenberg's entire first act is a slog, bogged down with dreary exposition and the introduction of far too many quirky but uninteresting characters. (Sean Mathias' listless direction does the script no favors.) It's telling that the supporting player who makes the strongest impression is Vito Vincent, who plays Holly's adoptive feline companion, Cat (Vito shares the role with Montie and Moo). There are too many scenes that just sit there, failing to delight and robbing the play of any semblance of narrative momentum. At one point, Smith's Fred even reads aloud from his journal: 'Time continues to pass without meaning.' Amen, brother.

Taylor, who often plays snarky WASPs on TV shows like Two and a Half Men, looks almost unrecognizable with her high white perm (dubbed 'Republican hair') and Texas drawl ('I wudn't drinkin' for nothin''). She may be a workmanlike playwright, but as a performer she commands the stage with authority as big as Texas itself. No wonder they call it the Lone Star State.

Like Brick, who gulps liquor until he hears 'that little click in my head that makes me peaceful,' this production tosses back many an intoxicating individual moment without ever quite clicking. B