The Sorceress

B

The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (NYTF) has returned to the Museum of Jewish Heritage with another restored Yiddish operetta, this one written by Avrom Goldfaden in 1877 and historic for being the first Yiddish theater piece produced in New York back in 1883 (by Boris Thomashevsky no less.) It is the first fruit of the Global Restoration Initiative, a painstaking effort to restore and present significant works of the Yiddish theater. Wisely edited from three hours down to 85 minutes, It offers a peek at what passed for popular entertainment in an earlier era. One of its features is the incorporation of tropes from fairy tales into the operetta’s book. As fans of NYTF have come to expect, the production values are very high, with excellent actors, musicians, costumes (by Izzy Fields), a clever set (by Dara Wishingrad) and lively choreography (by Merete Muenter) that makes the most of a smallish stage. Jazmine Gorsline and Josh Kohane are fine as the affianced couple. Rachel Bolchan is a convincing evil stepmother. The drag role of Bobe Yakhne is enthusiastically performed by Mikhl Yashinsky. Steve Sterner is a hoot as the itinerant merchant Hotsmakh. Motl Didner’s direction keeps the pace brisk. As usual for NYTF, there are surtitles in both English and Russian. While pleasant enough, the work is far from memorable. (For memorable, you’ll have to try the Russian coffee cake at the museum’s restaurant, Lox.) The show almost makes up in charm what it lacks in depth. If you expect something as good as NYTF’s The Golden Bride, you may be disappointed. I am afraid that the Times’s Critic’s Pick designation may set expectations too high. Lower yours a notch and you are likely to enjoy yourself. Running time: 85 minutes; no intermission. Closes December 29.

The Year in Review

Gotham Playgoer Year in Review — 2019

A+ (excellent)

My Fair Lady (revisited)

A

All My Sons

A- (very good)

Enter Laughing: The Musical

Eureka Day

Hadestown (Broadway)

Ink

Little Shop of Horrors

Make Believe

Moulin Rouge

A Strange Loop

B+ (good)

Ain’t No Mo

By the Way, Meet Vera Stark

Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven

The Inheritance

Kiss Me, Kate!

Merrily We Roll Along

Mojada

The Rolling Stone

Seared

The Secret Life of Bees

Tootsie

Underground Railroad Game

White Noise

B 

Bella, Bella

Frankie & Johnny in the Clair de Lune

Handbagged

The New Englanders

Power Strip

Something Clean

The Sorceress
Summer Shorts: Series B

We’re Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time

B-

Boesman and Lena

Greater Clements

The Lehman Trilogy

Linda Vista

Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow

The Mountains Look Different

Novenas for a Lost Hospital

Octet

The Pain of My Belligerence

Rinse, Repeat

The Sound Inside

Superhero

Switzerland

C+ (fair)

The Cake

The Cradle Will Rock

The Height of the Storm

LaBute New Theater Festival

The Light

Little Women

The Mother

Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie

Socrates

Toni Stone

C

Burn This

Do You Feel Anger?

The Great Society

Hillary and Clinton

Nantucket Sleigh Ride

Scotland, PA

Soft Power

Summer Shorts: Series A

Two’s a Crowd

The Wrong Man

The Young Man from Atlanta

C-

Alice by Heart

BLKS

Continuity

Curse of the Starving Class

“Daddy”

Fleabag

Happy Talk

Heroes of the Fourth Turning

Life Sucks.

Long Lost

Nomad Motel

True West

D (poor)

Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus

Norma Jeane Baker of Troy

F (terrible)

The Waiting Game

If you would like to read my review of any of the plays listed, simply type the name in the search box at the left side of the menu bar next to the stylized B logo.

Here is a comparison with the last two years. Interestingly, the percentage of B’s has remained constant. but the percentage of C's has increased while the percentage of both A’s and D’s has decreased. Fewer bright spots but fewer clunkers. You may have noticed that I reviewed about 30% fewer plays this year. I was seeing more than I could enjoy so I have deliberately cut back.

                    2019    2018                    2017  

A, A-            13%     17%                      14%                               

B+, B, B-     42%            42%                       42%

C+, C, C-     41%     32%                       32%

D+, D, D-       3%          7%                       11%

F                    1%        0%                        1%

I                     0%          2%                        0%

Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven

B+

Stephen Adly Guirgis’s ambitious new play about the residents and staff of an Upper West Side halfway house for women is now at Atlantic Theater Company’s Linda Gross Theater in a coproduction with LAByrinth Theater Company. With 18 actors and a goat playing 21 roles and a running time of almost three hours, it operates on a large scale. The residents include Happy Meal Sonia (Wilemina Olivia-Garcia), a mentally unstable woman overdependent on her daughter Taina (Viviana Valeria); Wanda Wheels (Patrice Johnson Chevannes), a depressed wheelchair-bound elderly former nightclub entertainer who once dated Noam Chomsky and who takes a motherly interest in Queen Sugar (Benja Kay Thomas), who is involved in an Amway-like scam; Betty Woods (Kristina Poe), a morbidly obese woman who doesn’t bathe; Bella (Andrea Syglowski), a young recovering addict with a baby; Sarge (Liza Colon-Zayas), the female vet with PTSD with whom Bella is involved; Venus Ramirez (Esteban Andres Cruz), a trans woman resented by the other residents but lusted after by custodian Joey Fresco (Victor Almanzar); Munchies (Pernell Walker), a buxom beauty having a fling with Mr. Mobo (Neil Tyrone Pritchard), the Nigerian immigrant who is second in command to devoted director Miss Rivera (Elizabeth Rodriguez). There is also the addled Rockaway Rosie (Elizabeth Canavan) and two youngsters: Mateo (Sean Carvajal), whose mother is dying from a kidney disease and Little Melba Diaz (Kara Young), who has a knack for rap. Jennifer (Molly Collier) is a freshly minted Columbia MSW overwhelmed by her first job but eager to do good. Father Miguel (David Anzuelo) is the kindly but forceful local priest. Nicky (Greg Keller) is an abusive husband who wants to see his wife. Late in the play we meet Detective Sullivan (Keller again) and Councilwoman Golden (Syglowski again) who are investigating the disappearance of Mr. Skittles, one of the goats brought to Riverside Park to eat weeds who have become celebrities with their own FaceBook pages. Almost every character gets a moment to shine, often with a monologue that raises urban patois practically to the level of operatic aria. Some are hilarious, others are heartbreaking. The stories of the characters are linked loosely by a narrative that involves the disappearance of a resident, which gets less attention from the police than the disappearance of the goat. The set by Narelle Sissons (All My Sons) features a cross section of the house with a dilapidated meeting room. A couple of scenes take place outside the home on either side of the stage at audience level. (I would suggest not getting seats in rows B through D to avoid having sightline problems for these scenes.) The costumes by Alexis Forte (Our Lady of 121st Street) suit their characters. The direction by LAByrinth artistic director John Ortiz (Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train) is fluid. I do think that Guirgis might have trimmed a character or two and come up with a stronger ending. While I did not feel the play quite reached the level of some of his other plays (The Motherf**ker with the Hat, Between Riverside and Crazy), I did find it worthwhile. One of the pleasures was to reconnect with several marvelous actors who appeared in other Guirgis plays. If you don’t know his work, be prepared for rough language and sexual situations. Running time: 2 hours 50 minutes.

Little Shop of Horrors

A-

Did New York really need another revival of this oft-produced cult musical by the talented team of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken? Without having seen it, I would have said “no” and I would have been wrong. This is a revival with a difference, combining big talent with small scale. It is not often that we get to see Broadway stars like Christian Borle (Something Rotten!, Peter and the Starcatcher, Falsettos) and Jonathan Groff (Spring Awakening, Hair, Hamilton) in such an intimate space, in this case the Westside Theatre. Since the show only has eight actors (one of whom is unseen) plus two puppeteers, it really belongs in a small theater rather than on Broadway. (Alas, Broadway talent, even in an off-Broadway theater, comes with Broadway prices.) The ever-watchable Christian Borle is amazing here in several different roles, most notably that of Orin, the sadistic dentist (a role created by Jack Nicholson in the original Roger Corman film). He makes it clear why he has two Tonys. The versatile Jonathan Groff captures both the nebbish and the opportunist in Seymour. Tammy Blanchard (Gypsy, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying), in the unenviable position of following the memorable Ellen Greene as Audrey, wisely does not attempt to imitate her. Blanchard’s Audrey seems even more world-weary and insecure. Her voice, while pleasant, is no match for Greene’s. Tom Alan Robbins (Head Over Heels, Newsies) is fine as Mushnik, Seymour and Audrey’s gruff boss. The three urchins — Ronnette (Ari Groover; Head Over Heels), Crystal (Salome Smith) and Chiffon (Joy Woods)— who serve as Skid Row’s amusing Greek chorus, are terrific although it is occasionally difficult to hear their lyrics over the orchestra. The unseen Kingsley Leggs (Sister Act, Pretty Woman) nails the voice of Audrey II, the plant with a taste for human blood. The puppet, designed by Nicholas Mahon, is wonderful and is skillfully manipulated by Eric Wright (Madama Butterfly at the Met) and Teddy Yudain (The Little Match Girl at Spoleto USA). Julian Crouch’s (Head Over Heels, Big Fish) modest set is efficient. Tom Broecker’s (Everyday Rapture, “Saturday Night Live”) costumes are apt. Director Michael Mayer’s (Spring Awakening, Brooklynite) flawless direction pulls it all together splendidly. The book and lyrics by Ashman (Smile, Beauty and the Beast) and the music by Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Aladdin) continue to delight. Each of the stars seemed to have an avid fan base from previous stage, film or television appearances; the audience was wildly enthusiastic. I was glad I splurged on a ticket because it was a very enjoyable evening. Running time: two hours including intermission. 

NOTES: 

After January 19, Jonathan Groff will be replaced by Gideon Glick, who filled in for him for two weeks when he had another commitment. 

It is unfortunate that the upstairs theater at Westside is inaccessible to wheelchairs.

Greater Clements

B-

I suspect that the Idaho Chamber of Commerce wishes that native son Samuel D. Hunter would find a different setting for his next play. If one judged Idaho solely by his plays, which include The Whale, Pocatello, The Few and Lewiston/Clarkston, one could easily conclude that it is impossible to have a happy life anywhere in that state. Take Maggie (the magnificent Judith Ivey; Hurlyburly, Park the Car in Harvard Yard, The Heiress), the heroine of Hunter’s latest play, now in previews at Lincoln Center Theater. She has been disappointed by all the significant men in her life: her father, who broke up her romance with a young Japanese-American man; her husband, Caleb, who left her for a man; and her son Joe (a remarkable Edmund Donovan; Lewiston/Clarkston), who suffers from mental illness. Maggie runs the town’s mine museum and its popular tours of the abandoned mine where 81 men including her father perished in a fire several years ago. Joe, now 27 and recently back from six years in Alaska, helps her by serving as a tour guide. Hordes of wealthy Californians have built expensive weekend homes in the area and then tried to use their influence to bend local ways more to their liking. To prevent their gaining power, the townies have voted to unincorporate. One of the effects is that the museum must close and the tours must end. Maggie’s overbearing longtime friend Olivia (Nina Hellman; Pericles, 10 out of 12) is incensed over the seemingly spiteful vote and can’t stop talking about it. The town’s sole policeman, Wayne (Andrew Garman; Admissions, The Christians), soon to be the newly elected sheriff, drops by for pie. Eventually we learn why Joe had to leave town six years before, why he returned, and why Wayne keeps a close eye on him. Maggie’s former beau Billy (Ken Narasaki), now a widower, and his 14-year-old granddaughter Kel (Haley Sakamoto; Big Green Theater), who lives with him because her father is an abusive alcoholic, stop by for a visit, allegedly on the way to drop Kel off at a mock state legislature session. Billy really has come to see Maggie because he has hopes of rekindling their romance. Only someone who has never seen a Hunter play would think that there is any way in the world that this will end happily, so the only real suspense is in how their dreams will be thwarted. The first two acts lay out the groundwork skillfully. Unfortunately, the third act goes off the rails and turns into melodrama. A powerful flashback seems manipulative because of where it is inserted. In addition, the final scene brings in a new character, Mona (Kate MacCluggage; The Farnsworth Invention) whose role adds nothing to the mix and leads to a weak ending. Perhaps in the week remaining before opening night, they will whip the third act into shape. I hope so. My disappointment was all the more acute because I liked the first two acts so well. One other negative aspect is the set by Dane Laffrey (The Harvest, Once on This Island). In order to gain the suggestion of a mine elevator, there are three thick pillars that periodically block the view of a good portion of the audience. The platform supported by the pillars rises and lowers to reveal different levels of the house. It seemed a very cumbersome solution to a problem that could have been solved much more simply. Also a dozen or so audience members are seated onstage for no particular reason. Despite its shortcomings, the play is worth seeing just for the great performances by Judith Ivey and Edmund Donovan. Just accept the fact that it is a downer. Davis McCallum’s (The Whale, Pocatello, The Few and Lewiston/Clarkston) direction is assured most of the time, although the play could use some trimming. Running time: two hours 50 minutes including two short intermissions.

The Young Man from Atlanta

C

When I saw the original production of Horton Foote’s drama in 1995, I was disappointed. When it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, I was surprised and puzzled. In the years since, I have enjoyed several plays by Foote, including The Trip to Bountiful, Dividing the Estate and The Orphans’ Home Cycle. When Signature Theatre announced this revival, I was curious to see whether I had somehow underestimated the play the first time around and whether my greater exposure to Foote’s work might change my mind. Unfortunately, I think I got it right the first time. Of the plays by Foote I have seen, I would have to place this one at the bottom of the list. Even when it was new, it seemed dated and it hasn’t improved with age. Furthermore, the current production is flat-footed (pun intended). As Will Kidder, the 61-year-old Houston businessman whose American dream collapses in an instant when he is fired from his long-time job, Aidan Quinn (A Streetcar Named Desire, Fool for Love) is believable but not memorable. As his cosseted but emotionally starving wife Lily Dale, Kristine Nielsen (Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) is miscast. Her performances in comic roles are always a treat to see, but here she seems to be fighting too hard to suppress her natural exuberance. Six months prior to the time of the play, their 37-year-old son Bill, who fled Houston for Atlanta at his earliest opportunity, drowned in a Florida lake while on a business trip. Although both Will and Lily Dale suspect it was suicide, they cannot even broach the subject with each other. The title character is Bill’s Atlanta roommate Randy, unseen in the play, who, as Will tells it, cried more at Bill’s funeral than Lily Dale. Will is suspicious of Randy’s motives and forbids Lily Dale from contacting him. She disobeys, with dire consequences. Lily Dale’s stepfather Pete (Stephen Payne; Straight White Men), of whom she is very fond, has just moved into their home. His grandnephew Carson (Jon Orsini; The Nance), who conveniently lived in the same boardinghouse as Bill and Randy, turns up for a visit and says that everything Randy has told Lilly Dale is a lie. We question whether Carson might perhaps be the liar. We also meet Will’s boss Ted (Devon Abner; The Trip to Bountiful, Dividing the Estate), Will’s subordinate and soon-to-be successor Tom (Dan Bittner; The Vertical Hour), the Kidders’ maid Clara (Harriett D. Foy; Once on This Island) and their maid thirty some years before, Etta Doris (Pat Bowie; The Trip to Bountiful). Her recollection of Bill as a child and her forthright expression of religious belief should be transformative for the Kidders, but it wasn’t impactful, at least not for me. There are other subplots including a puzzling confession of a misdeed from 20 years ago by Lily Dale and her doubts about whether Pete had serially mistreated women. In a rather heavy-handed metaphor, Lily Dale is obsessed to find out the truth about the Disappointment Club, which she is convinced Eleanor Roosevelt has started to lead maids to accept jobs and then fail to show up on the first day, just to spite Southern women. The themes of the hollowness of the American dream, the relentlessness of change, the power of denial, the use of money either to avoid intimacy or to seek it and the decreasing relevance of small town virtues in the big city all are touched upon. Three of the characters — Will, Lily Dale and Pete — appeared in The Orphans’ Home Cycle. Perhaps I would have felt more for them if I had had their earlier versions fresh in mind. Perhaps not. Director Michael Wilson (The Orphans’ Home Cycle, Incident at Vichy) has a sterling track record with Foote’s work, so I am puzzled why things did not come together better here. Van Broughton Ramsey’s (The Trip to Bountiful) costumes enhance the production greatly. On the other hand, Jeff Cowie’s (The Orphans’ Home Cycle, Incident at Vichy) set is problematic. In what is supposed to be a $200,000 (1950 dollars) home, the elegant living room has matching short stairs with no risers but pipe railings at either side of the room. It seems unlikely that a 1950 Houston house would be built around a central courtyard or that you would need to open a door to get from one wing to another, but that’s what we see. It’s just a symbol of the many ways this production misses the mark. The bottom line is that, no matter what the Pulitzer judges thought, this play is not top-drawer Foote. The brief catharsis at play’s end is too little reward for all that precedes it. Running time: two hours, 15 minutes.

The Inheritance

B+ (A- for Part I, B for Part II)

After its ecstatic London reviews and the large commitment of time and money required to see it, Matthew Lopez’s (The Whipping Man, The Legend of Georgia McBride) two-part drama about a circle of contemporary gay men in NYC and their debt to their predecessors arrives on Broadway with a lot to prove. The fact that Lopez has taken inspiration from Howard’s End in creating his characters and themes adds to its interest for E.M. Forster fans. However, Howard’s End is not the only ingredient in Lopez’s recipe. Add large dashes of Angels in America, The Normal Heart and Boys in the Band. Does this recipe work? Mostly yes. The decision to include Morgan (the M. in E.M. Forster) as a character in the play pays off brilliantly, especially since he is played by the excellent Paul Hilton (“A Very English Scandal,” “The Crown”). Hilton also plays Walter, the kindly older man and life partner of Henry Wilcox who befriends and inspires Eric. The other male leads, all carryovers from London, are also very good. As Eric Glass, the play’s core, Kyle Soller (The Government Inspector) radiates goodness. As budding playwright Toby Darling, Eric’s lover of seven years at the play’s opening, Andrew Burnap (This Day Forward) nails his charm, insecurity and self-loathing. Samuel H. Levine (Kill Floor) is superb both as Adam, the actor who captures but does not reciprocate Toby’s interest, and as Leo, the young hustler who reminds Toby of Adam. In one remarkable scene, he plays both simultaneously. As Henry Wilcox, the hard-nosed conservative billionaire who is drawn to Eric, the reliable John Benjamin Hickey (Six Degrees of Separation, Love! Valour! Compassion!) once again proves his worth. The supporting cast playing Eric’s circle of friends make the most of their moments. The only principal role recast for Broadway is that of Margaret, an old woman Eric meets late in Part II. Replacing Vanessa Redgrave with Lois Smith (Marjorie Prime, John) is going from strength to strength. However I did feel that her long, touching soliloquy (and indeed the inclusion of her character) came across as an audience-pleasing interpolation that was not really organic to the plot. What would a New York story be without talk of real estate? Here we have two topics, the legendary $575 three-bedroom rent-controlled apartment on West End Avenue which Eric’s grandmother lived in and which he is struggling to hang onto, as well as Henry's upstate country home which Walter made a refuge for AIDS patients and which he wanted Eric to have. Scenes that advance the story are interpolated by extended discussions, the topics of which include the downside of gay assimilation, Forster’s cowardice in not publishing Maurice during his lifetime, proper attribution of credit for accelerated introduction of AIDS drugs, and the challenges brought on by the 2016 election. Bob Crowley’s (The History Boys, Carousel) minimalist set— a large beige rectangle surrounding a smaller rectangle that raises and lowers and a back wall that opens occasionally to reveal specific settings — serves the production well, as do his costumes. Stephen Daldry’s (Machinal, Billy Elliot) direction is impeccable. How you respond to all this may well depend on your level of interest in the lifestyles of privileged gay men and in the works of Forster. I strongly recommend that you watch the film of Howard’s End before seeing the play so you will appreciate Lopez’s appropriations. If you have time, watch Maurice too. Some of the New York references are so specific that I am surprised London responded with such enthusiasm. You should be cautioned that there are graphic — very graphic — descriptions of gay sex. I wonder who the target audience is. A totally unscientific look at yesterday’s audience suggested that 75% of the orchestra and 95% of the mezzanine were gay men. I would normally suggest that you see both parts on the same day. However, the investment of time and money is so large that you might want to see Part I before deciding whether you want to invest in Part II. I thought Part I was the better half and could stand alone. The end of Part I is definitely the emotional high point of the play. Running times: Part I — three hours 20 minutes including an intermission and a pause; Part II — three hours 15 minutes including an intermission and a pause.

Moulin Rouge

A-

Baz Lurhrmann’s 2001 cult film musical has been adapted for Broadway with a book by John Logan (Red) and a jukebox score curated, orchestrated and arranged by Justin Levine (Here Lies Love) into a production that is relentlessly entertaining. The opulent scenic design by Derek McLane (The Parisian Woman) transforms the Al Hirschfeld Theater into a wonderland of gold and red, featuring a windmill above one side of the proscenium and a blue elephant above the other. Catherine Zuber’s (My Fair Lady) wonderful costumes present heightened versions of 1899 Parisian attire. Everything is perfectly lit by Justin Townsend (The Humans). Karen Olivo (West Side Story, In the Heights) combines earthiness, vulnerability and charisma as Satine, the nightclub’s star who has no illusion that “courtesan” is anything more than a polite word for “whore.” She is well-balanced by Aaron Tveit’s (Catch Me If You Can, Next to Normal) Christian, an innocent from Lima, Ohio just arrived in Paris to make his mark as a songwriter. He fortuitously meets bohemian writer Toulouse-Lautrec (Sahr Ngaujah; Fela!) and tango dancer Santiago (Ricky Rojas; Burn the Floor), who enlist him to write the music for the show they hope to present at the Moulin Rouge. Danny Burstein (My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof) gives a multilayered portrayal of Harold Zidler, the club’s impresario, who is eager to give Satine to the Duke of Monroth (Tam Mutu; Doctor Zhivago) in return for his providing financial backing for the failing nightclub. Satine and Christian are forced to hide their budding romance from the Duke. Satine also hides from Christian the fact that she has consumption. Logan’s book captures all the melodrama, but does not have much chance for nuance since it must make room for so many songs plus spectacular dance numbers with choreography by Sonya Tayeh (Hundred Days, “Rent: Live”). What makes this the ultimate jukebox musical is that the score is comprised of over 70 songs or fragments of songs from a cross-section of recent pop composers. Levine has cleverly built a musical collage that presents familiar material in unexpected contexts. Throughout the evening, there were chuckles from the audience as they recognized familiar songs. How much pleasure you derive from this added dimension depends on how familiar you are with pop music (In my case, not very). The cast is uniformly strong, the dancers are amazing, and the entire production, ably directed by Alex Timbers (Beetlejuice, Here Lies Love), is dazzling. If you just sit back and let all the over-the-top spectacle roll over you, you will enjoy yourself immensely. One quibble: the extended curtain call number, although terrific, undercuts the mood of the show’s actual ending. Running time: two hours 45 minutes including intermission.)

Seared

B+

After a run last year in Williamstown, Theresa Rebeck’s (Seminar, Downstairs) entertaining comedy set in the kitchen of a tiny Park Slope restaurant has made it to New York in a first-rate production at MCC’s Frankel Theater. If you are a foodie, you will enjoy seeing Harry (Raul Esparza; Company, The Normal Heart), the brilliant but difficult chef, at work. Harry fancies himself a food artist unconcerned with critical acclaim or commercial success. To the great frustration of his partner Mike (David Mason; Trick or Treat) who funded the restaurant and runs the front of the house, Harry refuses to capitalize on a mention in New York magazine praising his scallop dish. Since the quality scallops he insists on are hard to come by in quantity, Harry refuses to make the dish a regular offering. When an attractive, rather mysterious consultant, Emily (Krysta Rodriguez; First Date, The Addams Family), visits the restaurant one night, she bends Mike’s ear with ideas for improving the restaurant. Mike is sold, but Harry is not. Much of the action consists of shouting matches over implementing Emily’s ideas. The relationship that develops between Harry and Emily is not completely hostile. Meanwhile, the restaurant’s sole waiter, Rodney (W. Tré Davis; Zooman and the Sign), quietly observes everything. When Emily persuades Harry to come up with a new signature dish, he develops one based on wild salmon, which is even harder to obtain than quality scallops. The first six minutes of the second act, with a jazz background but no dialogue, present Harry working on his new seared salmon dish. Depending on your interest in cooking, you will either be fascinated or bored. In any case, it is a virtuoso scene for Esparza. The simmering conflicts come to a boil when a major food critic arrives for a visit. The outcome was a surprise, at least for me. Rebeck writes actor-friendly roles. Everyone gets a chance to shine, Mason somewhat less than the others because his role is less fully developed. Esparza makes the most of a role that fits him well. Rodriguez is so much fun to watch that I was willing to overlook the fact that Emily’s motivation is never satisfactorily explained. Tim Mackabee’s (The Last Match, Vietgone) kitchen is wonderfully detailed. Tilly Grimes’s (Underground Railroad Game) costumes are apt. Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Bernhardt/Hamlet, Hand to God), directs with precision. If you don’t mind a lot of shouting and aren’t too concerned about credibility, you are likely to have an enjoyable experience. I did. Running time: two hours ten minutes including intermission. 

Bella Bella

B

Harvey Fierstein (La Cage aux Folles, Kinky Boots) has written an affectionate tribute to larger-than-life New York politician Bella Abzug, whose many breakthroughs for women and efforts for the marginalized are not often spoken of today. Set on the night of the 1976 NY Democratic senatorial primary, pitting her against five opponents including Daniel Moynihan, this solo piece at Manhattan Theatre Club's Stage I shows Bella locked in the bathroom of a guest room (not a suite, she complains!) at the Summit Hotel, where she awaits the election results. The bathtub is piled high with campaign signs. On the other side of the door are her family, campaign staff and close friends. Downstairs in the ballroom hundreds are waiting for her to appear. What follows is an entertaining, informative look at highlights of her career and life story. I had thought I was generally familiar with her career, but I learned several things. I didn’t know that she defended a black man accused of raping a white woman in Mississippi. Nor did I know that New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger overruled his editorial board and withdrew their Abzug endorsement in the senatorial primary. The material includes lots of enjoyable anecdotes and several very funny one-liners. So far, so good. My problem with the show is Fierstein’s decision to play the role of Bella. It seems ironic that a play about female empowerment casts a man as Bella. From what I have read, several actresses (if one is allowed to use that word these days) turned down the role because of schedule conflicts. The producers were eager to do the show now to get a jump on a forthcoming documentary about Bella. Fierstein (Hairspray, Torch Song Trilogy) wisely does not try to impersonate Abzug. He wears a black shirt and slacks, but no makeup or wig. Only the big red hat he wears at the beginning and end of the play and the nail polish on his toes signal female. Harvey also has a big personality and a rough charm, so his version of Bella essentially works, but I found myself wishing that they had waited for a worthy actress to play the role. The production is first-rate with a set by John Lee Beatty (Doubt, Proof) that surrounds the playing area with the facade of the hotel and performs a clever transformation. Rita Ryack (Casa Valentina) did not have much of a costuming challenge. Kimberly Senior’s (Disgraced), direction is assured, never letting the pace lag. I wish the Playbill had included a few notes on her career and a Yiddish glossary. All in all, it’s an enjoyable production that might have been even better with a different Bella. Running time: 90 minutes; no intermission.

Power Strip

B

Sylvia Khoury’s timely new play at LCT3’s Claire Tow Theater is a gripping drama about Yasmin (Gina Shihabi; Dance Nation), a young Syrian woman at a refugee camp on Lesbos. In observing her tragic experience, we get a microcosm of the enormous refugee problem and the terrible human cost of the Syrian civil war on those who have fled their homeland. To escape the worst problems of the camp, Yasmin has chosen to stay in an olive grove outside the gates, where a power strip brings her the warmth of an electric heater and a charge for her phone. We soon learn why she is so mistrustful when Khaled (Darius Homayoun), a young man newly arrived at the camp with a sick mother, tries to steal her heater while she sleeps. Through flashbacks, we meet her fiancé Peter (Ali Lopez-Sohaili) and learn the awful circumstances that led her to flee Syria. We also meet Abdullah (Peter Ganim; Oslo), an older man who has suffered great loss, who turns to Yasmin for comfort. The story is never less than absorbing but makes an unfortunate turn toward melodrama at the end. The underlying feminist subtext pokes out a bit awkwardly at times. Ms. Shihabi makes a powerful impression. The appropriately drab set by Arnulfo Maldonado (School Girls; A Strange Loop) is marred by excessive use of dry ice. The costumes by Dede Ayite (Slave Play, School Girls) are appropriate. Tyne Rafaeli’s (Usual Girts, I Was Most Alive with You) direction is occasionally a bit slack. The playwright successfully made me care about Yasmin and, through her, the many others she represents. The play offers a suspenseful, occasionally uncomfortable experience but a worthwhile one. Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission.

Soft Power

C

I had high hopes for this collaboration by two Tony winners – playwright David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly, Yellow Face, Chinglish) and composer/lyricist Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home, Caroline or Change, Violet) – now at the Public Theater. Alas, working together does not seem to have brought out their best efforts. The concept of a musical within a play that deals with US-China relations, the state of the union, the status of Asian-Americans in our society, the colonialist subtext of The King and I, the 2016 election as seen by the loser, cultural misunderstanding and the conflict between saving face and following one’s heart is certainly ambitious. We meet Xue Xing (the impressive Conrad Ricamora; The King and I, Here Lies Love), a married Chinese film producer sent to the US to recruit DHH (Francis Jue; Wild Goose Dreams, Yellow Face), the leading Chinese-American playwright, to adapt a popular Chinese film as a musical. Alyse Alan Louis (Amelie, Disaster!) plays Xue Xing’s American girlfriend Zoe. DHH is stabbed on the street in a possible hate crime. In his fever dream after the stabbing, we meet Hillary Clinton, as played by the impressive Ms. Louis. There is an over-the-top musical number at a Hillary rally set in a luxurious McDonald’s. In another number, Hillary scarfs down pizza and ice cream while singing about her loss. Xing and Hillary discover a mutual attraction. Until intermission, things were relatively coherent. Alas, in the second act, things go off the rails. A panel of experts 50 years in the future is discussing the film that we have allegedly been watching. Our president threatens war with China and Xing attempts to avert it. The satire becomes even more heavy handed and the play loses energy. The production team is first-rate: the gold and red set by Clint Ramos (Wild Goose Dreams, Barbecue) is beautiful, the elaborate costumes by Anita Yavich (Chilglish, The Legend of Georgia McBride) are gorgeous, the wigs by Tom Watson (Wicked, My Fair Lady) are excellent. The lively choreography by Sam Pinkleton (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812) pays tribute to several genres of dance and is superbly performed by the talented ensemble of ten. The music, performed by an orchestra of over 20, is more than serviceable but less than memorable. Although there are many moments along the way to enjoy, particularly in the first act, they are eventually done in by an incoherent book. Even a fever dream needs some logic. Director Leigh Silverman (The Lifespan of a Fact, Chinglish), has not figured out how to pull it all together. It was a fascinating disappointment. Running time: two hours 20 minutes including intermission.

The Sound Inside

B-

I was of two minds about seeing this Lincoln Center Theater import from Williamstown, now at Studio 54. One the one hand, I have long been a fan of Mary Louise Parker (How I Learned To Drive, Prelude to a Kiss, Proof, Heisenberg) and rarely pass up the opportunity to see her onstage. On the other hand, my previous experience with plays by Adam Rapp (Red Light Winter; The Hallway Trilogy; Dreams of Flying, Dreams of Falling) has not been positive; somehow our sensibilities do not align. This dark (literally and figuratively) two-hander charts the course of a fraught relationship between Bella, a 50-ish, rather solitary writing professor at Yale, recently diagnosed with advanced cancer, and Christopher (Will Hochman; Dead Poets Society), a talented, rebellious freshman working on his first novel. Their initially contentious office-hour meetings develop into something more congenial as Bella encourages him with his nascent novel. Eventually, each asks the other for an important favor. I suspect that any guesses you have about how things will turn out will be wrong. In addition to the articulate dialogue, there are long passages of well-wrought narration, mostly by Bella. Director David Cromer (The Band’s Visit, Tribes, Our Town) clearly has an affinity for this material. The minimalist set design by Alexander Woodward, with locations emerging from the murk as needed, is quite effective, thanks in part to sensitive lighting by Heather Gilbert. While there was much about the production to admire, especially the fine acting, I ultimately found it a bit contrived and manipulative. The many literary allusions will be catnip to those who catch them. The gloomy subject matter may be a trigger for those who have had recent family tragedy. Running time: one hour 40 minutes; no intermission.

The Wrong Man

C

The first clue that perhaps this was not the right show for me was that I had never heard of Ross Golan (2016 BMI Pop Songwriter of the Year), who wrote the book, music and lyrics for this new musical at MCC Theater. What started as a single song in 2005 about a man unjustly convicted of a murder in Reno has been developed into a concept album, an animated film and now a 90-minute sung-through musical. Since there is no dialogue, one must hang closely on every word of the lyrics to extract the story, a task that I occasionally found difficult. There is little back story or character development. The music itself sounded monotonous to my uneducated ear and the rap-style rhymes were often awkward (e.g. Reno rhymed with Evil). On the plus side, the three lead roles — Duran (Ryan Vasquez; Hamilton), the Sunday alternate for Joshua Henry (Carousel); Marianna (Ciara Renée; Big Fish) and The Man in Black (Anoop Desai on Sundays) — are performed by superb singing actors. They are supported by an ensemble of six whose performance of Travis Wall’s (“So You Think You Can Dance”) exciting choreography is a major strength of the piece. The set by Rachel Hauck (Hadestown) is a mostly empty stage flanked by bleachers on two sides. Chairs and benches are moved around as needed. The musicians are seated at the back of the stage with a plastic shield over the percussion. The main visual element is the lighting design by Betsy Adams (Daphne’s Dive) featuring wall-to-wall rows of colored LED lights that flash in various colors and combinations. Perhaps they are meant to remind us of the bright lights of Reno, but I found them distracting. The monotone costumes by Jennifer Moeller (Sweat) & Kristin Isola (A Walk in the Woods) are in shades of grey. The reason for the repeated donning and doffing of jackets escaped me. Attempting to replicate the magic they worked in Hamilton are director Thomas Kail and music arranger and orchestrator Alex Lacamoire. Most of the people around me seemed to be having a very good time. I envied them. Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission.

NOTE: Once again the possible use of color-blind casting puzzled me. I had assumed that the casting of a black actor as Duran was at least partially intended to illustrate how unfairly blacks are treated by our deeply flawed justice system. The casting of a white actor as his alternate made that theory seem less plausible.

The New Englanders

B

In Jeff Augustin’s (Little Children Dream of God) absorbing new play at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Stage II, we meet a handful of residents of a picture-perfect New England town, plus one interloper. The central character is Eisa (Karla Young; Pretty Hunger), the 17-year-old mixed-race daughter of an interracial same-sex marriage. The Caucasian father is Samuel Stein (Patrick Breen; Next Fall, Fuddy Meers), a tech salesman whose job takes him out of town on alternate weeks. He sees life through rose-colored glasses that show him only what we wants to see, uninfluenced by reality. Aaron (Teagle F. Bougere; Socrates, Beast in the Jungle), the African-American biological father and primary parent, wanted to be a writer but ended up stifled in a dead-end part-time newspaper job. Now that Eisa is leaving the nest, Aaron would like to move to the city, but Samuel resists. The couple have spent many a session with an unseen feckless therapist whose platitudes have been of little benefit. Growing up different in a virtually all-white environment has made Eisa hard-edged and willful. She is eager to start a better life at NYU. Her unhappy English teacher Miss Charpie (Crystal Finn; Bobbie Cleary, Pocatello) thinks Eisa is her only bright student, but locks horns with her when she fails to complete an assignment. Aaron is visited by his Latino first love Raul (Javier Muñoz; Hamilton), with whom he broke up cruelly when they graduated high school. Raul has become a drifter, not putting down roots anywhere. His visit stirs Aaron’s thoughts about the road not taken. Atlas (Uly Schlesinger), who goes to high school with Eisa, works at a Chuck E. Cheese, where he sells pot on the side to earn money for college. He meets Samuel under rather implausible circumstances. Atlas is also eager to learn about the music that Eisa listens to. She’s a big Lauryn Hill fan, which would have meant more to me if I had heard her music. I guess the royalties would have been too high. The confrontation between Eisa and her teacher gradually escalates to dangerous heights. The consequences of Eisa’s actions lead Aaron to confront Samuel about the deep fractures in their marriage. My initial warm feelings grew cooler as the plot grew messier. Nevertheless, the play has much to recommend it. Seeing the dynamics of an interracial, same-sex marriage from the viewpoint of the child is enlightening. Getting a glimpse of the drug problem typical of small New England towns is timely. The lead actors are all very good. Ms. Young shows great promise. The role of Raul is too underwritten to show much of Mr. Munoz’s talent. Saheem Ali’s (The Rolling Stone) direction is smooth. Arnulfo Maldonado’s (Sugar in Our Wounds, School Girls) set is both attractive and functional. Dede Ayite’s (Slave Play) costumes are appropriate. I wish the last 15 minutes were better, but even with this reservation, the play is worth seeing. At the performance I attended, the audience was refreshingly diverse. Running time: one hour 45 minutes; no intermission.

Linda Vista

B-

Tracy Letts’s 2017 comedy with dark overtones has arrived at Second Stage’s Helen Hayes Theater after a detour from Chicago to LA, with most of its original Steppenwolf cast intact. It’s his most entertaining, most commercial play since August: Osage County, but that is not entirely a compliment. While it has many hilarious and incisive moments, the whole somehow seems less than the sum of its parts. Dick Wheeler (Ian Barford; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time), 50 years old and almost divorced, is a mess. He is bright, funny, opinionated, bitter and self-defeating. His list of dislikes is endless. Years ago he was a news photographer in Chicago, but he gave it up when he felt he lacked sufficient talent, moved to Southern California to be near his wife’s family and took a job as a camera repairman. When first seen, he is moving into a generic San Diego apartment with the help of his friend Paul (Jim True-Frost; August: Osage County). The beautiful view promised by the apartment’s (and the play’s) title is a stretch; if you crane your neck, you can see a sliver of ocean. Wheeler, as he prefers to be called, has known Paul and his wife Margaret (Sally Murphy; August: Osage County) since college. In fact, he actually dated her before Paul. The two of them conspire to get Wheeler to meet a female friend of theirs, Jules Ish (Cora Vander Broek), who is a life coach with a degree in happiness. They double date for an evening of karaoke, during which Jules sees through his abrasiveness to his underlying vulnerability. They end up in the sack, in what has to be the funniest sex scene I have seen on stage or film. Their budding affair is complicated by a late night knock on the door by Wheeler’s attractive young possibly pregnant neighbor Minnie (Chantal Thuy), whose abusive boyfriend has kicked her out. Wheeler invites her to spend the night on his couch. As they say, complications ensue. Another strand of the plot involves Wheeler's life at work where Anita (Caroline Neff; Airline Highway) the attractive young woman he works with, must daily endure the totally inappropriate behavior of their creepy boss Michael (Troy West; August: Osage County). On the positive side, the dialogue is snappy and the actors are uniformly strong, especially Barford and Vander Broek. Todd Rosenthal’s (August: Osage County) scenic design features a smoothly revolving set under a diorama of San Diego’s waterfront skyline. Laura Bauer’s (Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune) costumes really help define the characters. Dexter Bullard’s (Grace, Bug) direction is seamless. There is much to enjoy—a little too much; several of the scenes could use judicious trimming. The female characters would benefit from sharper definition. When it was all over, I wondered whether this character study of a difficult man really merited almost three hours. Be forewarned that there’s lots of nudity and strong language. I am glad I saw it but wish that there were more point to it. Running time: two hours 45 minutes including intermission.

Scotland, PA

C

Although Billy Morrisette’s 2001 film of the same name received mostly negative reviews, it nevertheless became a minor cult classic. It was a parody of Shakespeare’s Scottish play that reset the locale to a greasy spoon diner in a sleepy Pennsylvania town. Now Roundabout Theatre is presenting a musical version with a book by Michael Mitnick (Sex Lives of Our Parents) and music and lyrics by Adam Gwon (Ordinary Days). The results are mixed. Mac (Ryan McCartan; Heathers) and Pat (Taylor Iman Jones; Groundhog Day), a couple working at the diner, feel unappreciated by owner Duncan (Jeb Brown; Beautiful) and decide to go after what they feel they deserve. Their dream turns out to be very much like a certain chain with golden arches. Mac is goaded on by three stoners, led by the delightful Alysha Umphress (On the Town), who replace the traditional three witches. The couple’s dimwitted friend Banko, played by Jay Armstrong Johnson (On the Town), is a hoot. Will Meyers plays Duncan’s unhappy son Malcolm who has a surprising secret. When the bodies start to pile up, detective Peg McDuff (Megan Lawrence; Holiday Inn) investigates. The music and lyrics are serviceable with only a song or two that stands out. The book gets most things right but muddles the stoners’ prophecies. Anna Louizos’s (School of Rock) set is clever and Tracy Christensen’s (Sunset Boulevard) costumes are spot on.  Lonny Price (Sunset Boulevard) directs with assurance. There is nothing specifically wrong with the show; it just is instantly forgettable. The two leads are adequate but are upstaged by Umphress and Johnson. If you want an evening that isn’t too taxing and are a musical fan, you might enjoy this show. Running time: two hours 15 minutes including intermission.

Heroes of the Fourth Turning

C-

Before you look it up, The Fourth Turning is the title of a book about historical cycles much admired by Steve Bannon. The four Catholic conservatives at the center of Will Arbery’s (Plano) new drama at Playwrights Horizons hope to play a leading role during the coming era. They are gathered in Wyoming to celebrate the inauguration of a beloved professor as president of their alma mater. I looked forward to gaining some insight into the conservative mind, but I left mostly disappointed. The protagonists are a motley crew; not one of them is someone I would want to have a beer with. Justin (Jeb Kreager; Oslo), who is about ten years older than his former classmates, was married and in the military; he is teaching at the college but is having doubts about his present life. Kevin (John Zdrojeski; Before We’re Gone) is a feckless underachiever given to self-pity over not having a girlfriend and, when we meet him, very drunk. Teresa (Zoe Winters; White Noise) is a hard-edged assertive Bannonite who works in media in New York. Emily (Julia McDermott), enfeebled by a mysterious illness, is the daughter of Gina (Michelle Pawk; Hollywood Arms), the new college president. When Gina puts in an appearance to greet her former students, she does not give them the pat on the back they crave. In a post-performance talkback, the playwright revealed that, as I suspected, the characters are based on actual people. Unfortunately, he does not present them in a way that makes them easy to care about or to explain the origins of their points of view. 

The play manages to violate three of my theater commandments:

1. Thou shalt not shine bright lights in the audience’s eyes. Rather have a scrim over the stage, the production prevents you from seeing the stage beforehand by dazzling you with very bright lights. If you have a seat near the front, I advise you be seated as close to curtain time as possible so you won’t be assaulted by the lights.

2. Thou shalt not startle the audience with sudden, very loud noises. Three times we are blasted by a horrendous sound, the source of which is never revealed.

     3.  Thou shalt not run for more than two hours without an intermission. 

I might have been more willing to forgive these sins against the audience if the play had been more enlightening. 

Laura Jellinek’s (The Treasurer) set is so dimly lit that it is hard to make out. The costumes by Sarafina Bush; Pass Over) are apt. Director Danya Taymor (“Daddy,” Familiar) does not succeed in turning dross to gold.

Running time: two hours, ten minutes; no intermission.

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The Height of the Storm

C+

You may remember a play by Florian Zeller from a few seasons back, The Father, starring Frank Langella as an older man named Andre sinking into dementia. It captured the fractured nature of the experience and provided a great role for Langella. Now Manhattan Theatre Club has imported, virtually intact, the West End production of another Zeller play about a different elderly man with an increasingly tenuous relationship to reality. As if to imply that it is a riff on the earlier play, the play’s central character is again named Andre and again has daughters named Anne (Amanda Drew) and Elise (Lisa O’Hare, the only actor new to the cast). One important difference is that this Andre has a wife of 50 years named Madeleine. The fact that Andre and Madeleine are played by Olivier winners Jonathan Pryce and Eileen Atkins is the main reason to see this elusive drama. There is a death in the family. Depending on which scene you are watching, your perception of who it is that died may shift. Andre was a noted author whose papers Anne is searching in the hope of finding a rumored diary. Madeleine meets a woman (Lucy Cohu) who claims to have been close to Andre many years before when he and his alleged friend Georges founded a literary journal and invites her for tea. Andre denies any knowledge of Georges. Anne is separating from her husband. Her younger sister Elise, who has a history of poor choices in men, introduces her new beau (James Hillier), who may or may not be an estate agent scheming to get Andre to sell his house. A floral arrangement arrives without a card. Anne’s perusal of the found diary provides shocking information that involves Georges. Andre finds the card that got separated from the flowers and reacts strongly. Unfortunately neither the contents of the diary nor the message on the card are shared with the audience. There is a touch of Pinter in Zeller’s technique.  Each time the scrim descended between scenes, the lady next to me asked whether the play had ended. The good news is that both Pryce and Atkins are at the top of their form, so if your primary goal is to see them in action, you will not be disappointed. However, if you do not like puzzlers that force you to make up your own version of the story, you will be frustrated. Judging from British reviews, many found the play extremely moving. Alas, I am not one of them. Anthony Ward’s set and costumes are evocative. Jonathan Kent’s direction is assured. Running time: one hour 20 minutes; no intermission. It seemed longer.

The Great Society

C

If you saw Robert Schenkkan’s (The Kentucky Cycle) earlier play about the LBJ years, All the Way, I suspect that, for a multitude of reasons, you will be disappointed in the sequel, now at Lincoln Center Theater, which picks up the story at LBJ’s inauguration in 1965 and ends with Nixon’s in 1969. The play is overstuffed with episodes that cover the fight to pass a voting rights bill and other Great Society legislation, the ongoing struggle for civil rights complicated by fractures in the leadership and recalcitrance of Democratic politicians both in the South and North, the developing war in Vietnam and the protests it provoked, and examples of LBJ’s skilled arm-twisting techniques. No wonder there is little room for any depth of characterization. It’s a bit like a live Cliff Notes version of the era. I wished that the author had opted for less breadth and greater depth. With 22 actors, most of whom play multiple roles, it is occasionally hard to tell who’s who. Then there’s the matter of casting. While Brian Cox (That Championship Season) is a fine actor whose work I have often admired, the role of LBJ does not fit him like a glove; if you saw Bryan Cranston’s LBJ, you may have trouble adjusting to Cox’s. In addition, his attempt to find the right accent made the first few moments of the play almost unintelligible. Gordon Clapp (Glengarry Glen Ross) is believable as J.Edgar Hoover, but, as written by Schenkkan, the role is one-note. Barbara Garrick (The City of Conversation) has the thankless task of playing a colorless version of Lady Bird. David Garrison (Hollywood/Ukraine) is livelier both as Gov. Wallace and as Nixon. The ever-reliable Marc Kudisch (Girl from the North Country) is fine as Mayor Daley. Bryce Pinkham (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder), always eminently watchable, is a convincing Robert Kennedy. Richard Thomas (The Little Foxes) is rather stolid as Humphrey, but that seems suitable for the role as written. The usually fine Frank Wood (Side Man) is unconvincing as Sen. Dirksen. As MLK Jr., Grantham Coleman (Buzzer) lacks sufficient fire. David Korins (Hamilton) has designed an austere circular set with bleacher-like seating at the rear and dugout-like seating on the sides. The selection of which actors sit in these seats during various scenes seemed rather arbitrary. Props appear as needed. Projections by Victoria Sagady (All the Way) help set the scene. Linda Cho’s (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder) costumes seem appropriate to the period. Director Bill Rauch (The Clean House) keeps things moving, but to little cumulative effect. While the earlier play dug deeper into its characters, this one skims the surface. All in all, it was quite disappointing. Running time: two hours 40 minutes including intermission.

Novenas for a Lost Hospital

B-

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater is presenting the world premiere of this ambitious environmental piece by Cusi Cram celebrating the 161 years of St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village and mourning its closure to make way for expensive condominiums. The evening begins in the courtyard of St. John’s-in-the-Village Church with a prologue that combines ritual ablution, chants, instrumental music and dance. The audience then moves next door to the Rattlestick space which has been configured with pews on three sides surrounding an array of hospital privacy screens displaying moments from the hospital’s long history. Each attendee receives an electric votive candle for use later in the evening. During the play proper, we meet Elizabeth Seton (Kathleen Chalfant), who founded the order that opened the hospital, two nuns who served there during the early years and an early surgeon. We also meet two nurses and a doctor from the hospital’s later years when it became a major care center for AIDS patients, as well as Lazarus (Ken Barnett), a patient who miraculously survives two near-death experiences, and JB (Justin Genna), a talented choreographer, who meet in the AIDS ward and become a couple. There are assorted other characters from various periods in the hospital’s history. The play draws parallels between the hospital’s role in the cholera epidemic of the 1840s and during the AIDS crisis. There are recriminations over the series of terrible decisions that led to the hospital’s closure and a lament over the impermanence of all things in New York City. The evening concludes with a ceremonial march past the new condos to the nearby NYC Aids Memorial where the votive candles are deposited. It’s a noble attempt to pay tribute to an important part of local history. The narrative is perhaps too ambitious in the number of stories it tells and runs a bit too long. The story of Pierre Toussaint (Alvin Keith), a freed slave who becomes an important NYC philanthropist, while fascinating, does not seem to be integral to the hospital’s history. Nevertheless, it all makes for an unusual evening and is to be commended for offering something different. Furthermore, it’s always a treat to see Ms. Chalfant onstage. I am not sure how much interest it holds for those who do not live in the Village and those who were not touched directly or indirectly by the AIDS crisis. Rattlestick artistic director Daniella Topol directed. Running time: two hours 20 minutes.

Eureka Day

A-

Eureka Day is the rather aspirational name of the Berkeley private school where this enjoyable, thought-provoking play by Bay Area playwright Jonathan Spector is set. After winning several awards on the West Coast, it has arrived at Walkerspace in SoHo for its New York premiere in a  first-rate Colt Coeur production. We meet the school’s executive committee in the midst of their first meeting of the school year. Headmaster Don (Thomas Jay Ryan; 10 out of 12, The Amateurs) strives to keep the group’s process flowing without offending anyone. Suzanne (Tina Benko; Nantucket Sleighride, Describe the Night) is the strong-willed chair who gives lip service to the equality of group members. Brash Eli (Brian Wiles) rarely lets someone else finish a sentence lest one of his own thoughts go unspoken. Quiet Meiko (K.K. Moggie; Daphne’s Dive) usually keeps her emotions bottled up. Carina (Elizabeth Carter) is an African-American who holds the rotating position on the committee reserved for new parents. The topic under discussion at the first meeting is whether the already lengthy drop-down menu on the online admissions application needs an option for "transracial adoptee." Initially, it seems that the playwright is offering yet another satire of group dynamics and political correctness gone amok similar to that seen in “Miles for Mary” last year. However, Mr. Spector has bigger fish to fry. After being introduced to the characters’ foibles at the first meeting, we see how these play out when a crisis strikes the school — a case of the mumps. When the health authorities demand that the school prevent unvaccinated students from attending, the large number of antivaxxer parents are incensed. To mollify everyone, Don sets up a Facebook Live component at their next meeting, during which all parents can share their thoughts. Their online comments, projected on a wall, range from totally off-topic to hysterically funny to downright nasty, leading the meeting into utter chaos. After intermission, the play takes a serious turn, which I will not spoil for you. As strong feelings rise to the surface, discussions become more contentious. Will the school find a way to meet the crisis? Come and see. The play is well-written, well-acted, well-designed (set by John McDermott, costumes by Lux Haac) and well-directed (by Colt Coeur artistic director Adrienne Campbell-Holt.) It is all too rare to encounter a play that is funny, timely, fair-minded and stimulating. Unfortunately, it is scheduled to close September 21. I hope it finds further life on another New York stage. Running time: two hours including intermission.

Make Believe

A-

Bess Wohl (Small Mouth Sounds, Continuity), one of our most promising young playwrights, is in top form with this bracing new work about a dysfunctional family, now at Second Stage Theater. Wohl bravely entrusts the first half of the play to child actors who play the Conlee family’s four children—Chris (Ryan Foust; Mary Page Marlowe), age 12; Kate (Maren Heary), age 10; Addie (Casey Hilton), age 7; and Carl (Harrison Fox), age 5. When we meet them, they are at play in the enormous playroom that takes up most of the attic of their suburban home. Their usual after-school snacks are missing and their mother is inexplicably absent. As their father is away on business, they find themselves unexpectedly on their own. They have been instructed never to answer the phone, but they learn from a series of voice messages that they avidly listen to through the floorboards that their mother has not shown up for her beauty salon appointment or her book club. As they play house to pass the time, they reveal their understanding of their parents’ toxic marriage. Chris alternates between bully and protector, at one point showing up with two bags of food and a six-pack of beer that he has mysteriously acquired. Kate fantasizes that Princess Grace is her real mother. Addie lavishes attention on her Cabbage Patch doll. Carl contentedly plays the family dog. Eventually we see them all dressed up to leave with their father for an unknown occasion. The action smoothly shifts about 30 years forward when four adults—Kate (Samantha Mathis; 33 Variations, Nomad Motel), Addie (Susannah Flood; Love and Information, Tribes), Carl (Brad Heberlee; A Life, Small Mouth Sounds) and Chris (Kim Fischer; Then She Fell)—are gathered for a funeral. In an extended scene we observe how their adult versions relate to their childhood. We get a clearer understanding of what actually happened before and a few surprises about one of the siblings. We see how each person deals with loss, which, in one case, is extremely moving. I will say no more because I don’t want to spoil the experience. Wohl skillfully knits together the story with humor, suspense and sympathy. There are a few missteps; a close analysis would turn up some holes in the plot, but while you are watching, it is completely absorbing and affecting. The actors, both children and adults, are uniformly strong. The production values are top-notch. The playroom designed by David Zinn (Choir Boy, Torch Song) is inviting and the costumes by Emilio Sosa (On Your Feet!, The Light) are apt. The lighting design by Ben Stanton and sound design by Bray Poor make substantial contributions. Michael Greif (Dear Evan Hansen, Parallelogram) negotiates the play’s rapid shifts and moods skillfully. It is by far the most interesting play I have seen this summer. Running time: 85 minutes; no intermission.