N/A

 A-

In his new play at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Mario Correa (Tail! Spin!) presents his take on the relationship between Nancy Pelosi (Holland Taylor, Ann) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Ana Villafañe, On Your Feet!) during the period between AOC’s surprise upset of the incumbent in the 2018 primary to the days after Pelosi’s decision to step down as House Democratic leader in 2022. How much of their conversations is based on fact and how much on invention is unclear; in the playwright’s words in a program note: “The play is heavily researched and lightly imagined.” Whether fact-based or not, the dialog is lively and often very funny. Between the one-line zingers, each one makes a strong case for her own view of political philosophy and strategy. Correa scrupulously does not put his finger on the scale. Both actors are fine. Villafañe’s resemblance to AOC is uncanny. Myung Hee Cho’s (Breaking the Story) costumes are apt; her minimalist set is supplemented by the sparing but intelligent use of projections by Possible. Diane Paulus (Pippin, Waitress) directs with a sure hand. All in all, it was a very enjoyable afternoon. Running time: 80 minutes.

NOTE: Although this play is at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, it is not a production of Lincoln Center Theater.

Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties

C-

After productions in Washington, LA and London, Jen Silverman’s (The Moors) absurdist comedy is having its New York premiere at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. You should know that in addition to its subtitle, the play has a sub-subtitle which is printed in the Playbill and projected on the large panel above the stage before the play begins. I quote: “In essence, a queer and occasionally hazardous exploration; do you remember when you were in middle school and you read about Shackleton and how he explored the Antarctic? imagine the Antarctic as a pussy and it’s sort of like that.” (Poor Shackleton. Didn’t he suffer enough without becoming fodder for a twee 2017 musical and a pointless citation here?) Your reaction to the sub-subtitle should be an accurate gauge of whether this is the play for you. We meet five New York women who share the same first name. Betty 1 (Dana Delaney; Dinner with Friends) is an Upper East Side wife enraged by the daily world news and a cheating husband. Betty 2 (Adina Verson; Indecent) is an inhibited, lonely woman in a loveless marriage whose only friend is a hand puppet. Her life changes when the other Betties give her a hand mirror to look at her lady parts. Betty 3 (Ana Villafañe; On Your Feet) is a looker in a dead-end job who craves widespread acclaim. Betty 4 (Lea Delaria; On the Town) is a butch lesbian who loves to work on her truck. Betty 5 (Chaunté Wayans; “50 Shades of Black”), recently out of prison, runs a boxing gym. When Betty 3 attends her first play, she decides she wants to be an actor and recruits the other Betties to join her in recreating the play within a play from “Summer’s Midnight Dream” [wink, wink]. Rehearsals do not go smoothly. On the plus side, all five characters are vivid and the actors portraying them are a pleasure to watch. On the minus side, much of the material is banal and the overuse of the “P” word rapidly becomes tiresome (although there were several women of a certain age who laughed nervously at each repetition.) Mike Donahue’s (The Legend of Georgia McBride) direction keeps things moving along briskly, but cannot disguise the play’s weaknesses. Dane Laffrey’s (Once on this Island) set features an egg-crate ceiling from which large props periodically drop. Dede Ayite’s (School Girls) costumes aptly suit each character. This will be the last new production of MCC Theater at the Lortel before they decamp for Way West Midtown. I wish I could report that they were leaving in a blaze of glory, but I cannot. (In their defense, MCC had to quickly find a replacement for the LaBute play they pulled after he ran up against accusations of misconduct.) I wish the material were up to the level of the performances. Running time: 85 minutes; no intermission.

On Your Feet ** C+

If exuberance were all it took to make a Broadway musical a winner, this jukebox bio-musical about Gloria and Emilio Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine would make the grade. The infectious music of this Cuban-American couple is played by a terrific orchestra that is onstage for the big numbers. The two leads, Ana Villafañe and Ektor Rivera, are both excellent and are supported by a fine cast that includes Andrea Burns, Alma Cuervo and a young tap-dancing terror named Eduardo Hernandez. The dance numbers, choreographed by Sergio Trujillo, are relentlessly energetic. David Rockwell’s hyperactive set features two tall panels made of shutters that move around a lot. The costumes by Esosa are a treat. Jerry Mitchell’s direction is slick. Unfortunately, all the show’s strengths are largely undone by a lame book by Alexander Dinelaris. Its weaknesses are less apparent during the lively first act, but become increasingly problematic during the weak second act. The abrupt and rather flat finale morphs into an unusually lively extended curtain call. Go for the music and the dancing and try to ignore the book. It has been running for over a year, so clearly it has found an audience. Running time: 2 hours 25 minutes including intermission.