The Last Ship ***

The best feature of this new musical now in previews at the Neil Simon Theatre is the appealing score by Sting. The music is lively, varied, and well-performed by a vocally gifted cast. Unfortunately, muddy amplification and occasional diction problems made it difficult to decipher some of the lyrics. Choreographer Steven Hoggett, whose work added so much to “Once” and “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” does a fine job again here. The set and costumes by David Zinn are unexceptional. Director Joe Mantello keeps things moving briskly. The show’s weak link, in my opinion, is the book by John Logan (“Red”) and Brian Yorkey (“Next to Normal”), which suffers from implausibility and sentimentality. The main character, Gideon Fletcher (Michael Esper of "Red Vienna"), is the son of an abusive shipbuilder who flees the dying town as a teenager, leaving behind his girlfriend Meg Dawson (Rachel Tucker), vowing to return for her. Fifteen years later, he finally does return, but only because he has been summoned by the earthy but wise Irish priest Father O’Brien (Fred Applegate). Meg has a new man in her life, Arthur Millburn (Aaron Lazar), who was smart enough to leave shipbuilding before it collapsed. Gideon’s return causes her much turmoil.  There’s also young Tom (Collin Kelly-Sordelet), whose relationship to the other characters will not be revealed here. Jimmy Nail and Sally Ann Triplett are strong as foreman Jackie White and his wife Peggy. After the shipyard has been closed and about to be turned into a salvage operation, the shipbuilders plan a last hurrah with the aid of Father O’Brien. The character of Gideon is not very sympathetic, which wouldn’t matter if he were more interestingly flawed and the role had more coherence. As it stands, I did not feel greatly involved in his fate. If you go to enjoy Sting’s music without worrying too much about the book, you’ll have a pleasant evening. Running time: 2 hours 25 minutes including intermission.

Tales from Red Vienna ***

Although far from flawless, this new play by David Grimm is the most interesting thing I have seen at Manhattan Theatre Club so far this season. It presents a vivid cross-section of Viennese life right after World War I. Austria has lost its empire, the socialists are in control in Vienna, the resentful aristocrats have lost their titles and the Jews are, as so often, convenient scapegoats. Helena Altman (Nina Arianda) is a war widow forced to take extreme measures to survive. Edda Schmidt (Kathleen Chalfant) is her loyal longtime housekeeper. "Mutzi" von Fessendorf (Tina Benko) is a haughty self-centered childhood friend who has ulterior motives for introducing Helena to Bela Hoyos (Michael Esper), a handsome Hungarian socialist journalist. Rudy Zuckermaier (Michael Goldsmith) is a young Jewish grocery deliveryman with a crush on Helena. Karl Hupka (Lucas Hall) is a mysterious figure about whom I dare not say more.  In this era of 90-minute plays sans intermission, it is a novelty to see a play with three acts and two intermissions. The play starts with a gripping scene that certainly gets your attention. The rest of the first act plays out well, but the second act is considerably weaker with an abrupt turn to melodrama. For me, the final act did not provide a satisfactory resolution. Why then, you may ask, am I giving it three stars? The two main reasons are Arianda and Chalfant, who are among our finest stage actresses. It is always a privilege to see them in action. Also, I credit the play for its ambitions, even though it doesn't fully realize them. Esper needs to turn up the volume a bit and Benko needs to tone things down a smidgen. With over two weeks until opening night, I suspect that everything will be more polished by then. John Lee Beatty's set design is appropriately oppressive and Anita Yavich's costumes are very good. Kate Whoriskey's direction does not call attention to itself. Running time: 2 hours 25 minutes including 2 intermissions.

Assistance ***

(Please click on the title to see the full review.)
If the miracle drug that combats workplace depression in the current play Rx actually existed, the good folks at Primary Stages should rush a shipment to Playwrights Horizons pronto. The characters in Leslye Headland's new play now in previews there could really use it! The six under-30s in her play are all personal assistants or interns whose hellish job is to cater to the needs of their tyrannical, abusive boss Daniel. Although Daniel is never seen or heard, we get a vivid picture of him from the assistants' half of many phone conversations. Each character finds some way to cope with the constant pressure, sometimes supporting, other times subverting each other. Some of the strongest scenes in the play are monologues during which the character absolutely loses it. Some of their scenes together are hilarious, others are just annoying. The fine cast -- Michael Esper, Virginia Kull, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe, Sue Jean Kim, Amy Rosoff and Bobby Steggert -- show deep commitment to their roles. David Korins' set of a Tribeca office complete with cast iron pillars, brick walls, exposed ducts, industrial lighting, fire sprinklers, Aero chairs and lots of clutter is terrific (just how terrific will be apparent before the play is over!) Trip Cullman's direction keeps the play moving along at a brisk pace. Nevertheless, I found the play tiresome a good deal of the time. But then.... the final scene brought the play to an unexpected and highly theatrical ending that the audience (myself included) absolutely loved. I don't recall being so exasperated and so exhilarated by the same play. Running time: 85 minutes.