‘Purlie Victorious’ Broadway Review: Leslie Odom Jr. Gives Ossie Davis’ Preacher a Brilliant Encore
9 / 10
Davis and Ludlam both possessed a real flair for the outrageous, but they end up in different places. Ludlam’s aggressive sense of irony was unyielding. Davis, after entertaining us with memorably flamboyant characters, turns to agitprop, but keeps his sense of wicked humor intact. Despite all his sermonizing, Purlie never turns into a pedagogue, thanks to Davis, who has loaded the preacher’s speeches with great one-liners and epigrams — none of which will be repeated here. They need to be experience first-hand in the theater. “Purlie Victorious” is the funniest show now performing on Broadway, and that includes “The Book of Mormon.”
