The Wanderers

 C+

 

After productions in San Diego, Pittsburgh and Washington, Anna Ziegler’s (The Last Match, Boy, Actually) two-family drama has arrived in Manhattan at Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre. The two Jewish couples at the center of the action are both Brooklyn residents, but otherwise have very little in common. When we first meet them on their wedding night, Esther (Lucy Freyer) and Shmuli (Dave Klasko) are members of the Satmar Hasidic community whose marriage was arranged and who barely know each other. Sophie (Sarah Cooper) and Abe (Eddie Kaye Thomas; Golden Age, The Submission) are writers in their thirties who have known each other virtually all their lives. Sophie is biracial, but that turns out to have very little to do with the plot. One of Abe’s books won a Pulitzer while Sophie’s only book bombed. Both wives are expected to defer to their spouse’s needs and both are chafing at their situation. At a book reading, the neurotic, self-absorbed Abe spots movie star Julia Cheever (Katie Holmes; All My Sons, Dead Accounts) in the audience, becomes obsessed with her, and begins an online relationship. For the first hour of the play, we are in the dark what, if any, is the connection between the two couples. Then there was finally a dramatic development that engaged my interest and, subsequently, a reveal that seemed too gimmicky. Each scene is a duo, either between a husband and wife or between Abe and Julia. The main feature of the set by Marion Williams (Him) is a long conference table with six chairs. The back wall is made entirely of pages of opened books, through which a blue light occasionally shines. The floor is piled with more books. Chapter titles are projected between scenes. I gathered that the set and titles were intended to lend a literary weight to the proceedings. It didn’t work for me. The costumes by David Israel Reynoso (Sleep No More, The Burnt City) were appropriate. The actors were competent but not outstanding. Those expecting a star turn from Katie Holmes will be disappointed. Barry Edelstein (All My Sons, The Twenty-Seventh Man) directed. I was left with a feeling of regret that nothing quite clicked. Others near me seemed to be enjoying themselves more. Running time: one hour 45 minutes without intermission.

Toni Stone

C+

It’s an interesting coincidence that “Toni Stone” and “A Strange Loop” have arrived in New York within a few weeks of each other because in some ways they form a pair of bookends. Both shows have a talented all-black ensemble that includes one woman and several men, with the men playing a variety of characters of diverse age, race and gender. Both have protagonists who are surrounded by unsupportive people. Both shows are enhanced by first-rate choreography. Both have lead actors who are giving a memorable performance. However, while the hero of “A Strange Loop” has trouble finding a clear goal, the title character in “Toni Stone,” a Roundabout commission, knows exactly what she wants — to be a professional baseball player. Based on a biography by Martha Ackmann, the show depicts moments in her interesting life from childhood in the Twin Cities to her years with the Indianapolis Clowns, the Negro League team where she replaced Hank Aaron. Playwright Lydia R. Diamond (Smart People, Stick Fly) tells Stone’s story out of sequence. At the beginning, she is already with the Clowns. The backward and forward movement from that point does not always make clear what period we are observing. The other actors play her teammates as well as her priest, a racist coach, a friendly prostitute and her much older suitor, among others. The play vividly captures what it was like to be a Negro League ballplayer in the racist 1950’s when the league was struggling to hold onto an audience as its best players were hired away by major league teams. Its biggest flaw is that there is far more telling than showing. There are many long monologues, particularly in the first act, that slow the momentum. Fortunately, after intermission the pace picks up and the anecdotes, while sometimes only loosely connected, are more interesting. The impressive April Matthis (Fairview, Antlia Pneumatica) makes Stone a sympathetic character. The supporting cast — Eric Berryman (The B-Side), Harry Blanks (Jitney), Phillip James Brannon (JUNK, Log Cabin), Daniel J. Bryant, Jonathan Burke (Choir Boy), Toney Goins, Kenn E. Head and Ezra Knight (Mean Girls) — is uniformly strong. A stylized baseball scene choreographed by Camille A. Brown (Choir Boy, Once on This Island) is a knockout. The set by Riccardo Hernandez (Frankie & Johnny…, Indecent) is dominated by five banks of stadium lights that extend into the auditorium and three sections of bleacher seats. Dede Ayite’s (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark; BLKS) costumes are apt. The lighting design by Allen Lee Hughes (Intimate Apparel, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff) was a bit hyperactive. Pam MacKinnon’s (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff, Clybourne Park) direction is assured. As social history, I found the play informative; as theater, it was less than compelling. If you are a baseball fan or a history buff, you are more likely to enjoy it. Running time: two hours 15 minutes including intermission.

All My Sons

A

Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of Arthur Miller’s first successful play is as fine a production of a Miller play as I ever hope to see. All the elements — casting, direction, scenic design, costumes, lighting, sound design and projections —are near perfect. Tracy Letts (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf), Annette Benning (Spoils of War, Coastal Disturbances) and Benjamin Walker (American Psycho, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) all give performances that I will not soon forget. Francesca Carpanini (The Little Foxes), Hampton Fluker (Too Heavy for Your Pocket) and Michael Hayden (Judgment at Nuremberg) are solid in feature roles, as are Jenni Barber (The Nance), Monte Greene, Nehal Joshi (School of Rock) and Chinasa Ogbuagu (Her Portmanteau, Sojourners) in supporting ones. Together they convincingly portray a close-knit community. Director Jack O’Brien (Carousel, The Hard Problem) uncovers a depth and breadth in the play that I had not found in previous productions. He also knits the various subplots together with uncommon skill. Douglas W. Schmidt’s (Into the Woods, The Front Page) set depicts an idyllic Midwestern yard and house facade. Jane Greenwood’s (She Loves Me, Major Barbara) costumes capture the period well. Jeff Sugg’s (Sweat, Bring It On) projections are used sparingly but effectively. Miller’s depiction of the dark side of the American Dream sadly remains as relevant now as it was in 1947. Today it may be a group of anonymous Boeing executives who are putting unsafe planes in the air instead of an individual parts supplier, but they are motivated by the same corrosive greed. Rarely have I been in an audience that was so totally involved. It is definitely one of the dramatic highlights of the season. Running time: two hours 20 minutes including an intermission and a brief pause.

Merrily We Roll Along

B+

In view of the success of their production of Into the Woods a few years ago, it is not surprising that Roundabout has again turned to Fiasco Theater to apply their magic touch to another Sondheim show. A 1981 Broadway flop that has become a cult classic, Merrily has been revised numerous times for productions around the country as well as in London, where it won an Olivier in 2001. In this version, Fiasco has reduced the cast to six performers playing 11 roles. The streamlined book hews more closely to Kaufman and Hart’s 1934 play than George Furth’s original. What makes the story of three show business friends over a 22-year period unique is that it is told backwards from fame and prosperity in 1979 back to humble beginnings in 1957. Frank (Ben Steinfeld; Into the Woods) is a talented composer who gives up his talent to become a successful Hollywood producer. Charley (Manu Narayan; My Fair Lady) is his lyricist and buddy who, after a rupture with Frank, goes on to win a Pulitzer Prize. Mary (Jessie Austrian; Into the Woods), authors a best seller, gives up writing to become a film critic, harbors unrequited love for Frank and becomes an alcoholic. We also meet Frank’s first wife Beth (Brittany Bradford; Bernhardt/Hamlet), her parents (Paul L. Coffey and Emily Young; both in Into the Woods), his second wife Gussie (Young again); Joe (Coffey again), the husband she leaves for Frank; and Frank’s latest fling Meg (Bradford again), the star of his new movie. From a Hollywood party celebrating Frank’s latest film, we move backward in time and eventually end up on a New York rooftop watching Sputnik fly by. Along the way there are such strong songs as “Old Friends,” “Not a Day Goes By” and “Our Time.” The staging is very creative. The acting is first-rate; the singing leaves a bit to be desired in a case or two. The set by Derek McLane (The Price, Noises Off) is a show all by itself and worth arriving early to examine in detail. Recalling his cluttered set for “I Am My Own Wife,” he gives us the world’s largest prop shop with shelves laden with a multitude of objects reaching the highest levels of the stage. The shelves are punctuated by a window here and a chimney there and two enormous doors in the center which occasionally part to reveal backdrops that set the scene. I am not sure what relevance the crowded shelves have to the production, but they are something to behold. The costumes by Paloma Young (Time and the Conways) and Ashley Rose Horton help set the period. Noah Brody’s (Into the Woods) direction is fluid and assured. While I doubt that I will ever include Merrily among my favorite Broadway musicals, I grant that this production makes a strong case for it and provides an entertaining experience. Running time: one hour 50 minutes; no intermission.

NOTE: For an entertaining, informative look at the experiences of those in the original Broadway production, I highly recommend the 2016 documentary “Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened,” which is available to stream on Netflix.

True West

C-

Regular readers of this blog may recall that, over the years, the plays of Sam Shepard have held little appeal for me. For what ever reason, I seem to have little affinity for his sensibility. That being said, I must admit that Shepard often writes roles that are absolute catnip for actors. Such is the case with this play. Since it premiered in 1980, the roles of brothers Lee and Austin have been filled by high-powered actors like Tommy Lee Jones and Peter Boyle, Gary Sinise and John Malkovich, Bob Hoskins and Anthony Sher, and, in the much-praised 2000 Circle in the Square revival, Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Reilly, who alternated roles. The current Roundabout production stars Ethan Hawke (Macbeth, The Coast of Utopia, “Boyhood”) as the charismatic rebel and sometime burglar Lee and Paul Dano (A Free Man of Color. “Love and Mercy”) as his younger brother, the buttoned-up married screenwriter Austin. As a fan of Hawke’s film career, I was driven by curiosity to see him despite my usual misgivings about Shepard. Hawke does not disappoint; his performance is high-energy and, at times, over the top. Dano, in the less showy role, comes into his own during the second act. When the play opens, Lee has turned up at his mother’s home in Southern California to find her away on vacation in Alaska and his brother Austin, whom he has not seen in five years, house-sitting for her. Austin has been struggling to close a film deal with producer Saul Kimmer (Gary Wilmes; If I Forget, Chinglish). When Lee butts into their meeting, he manages to talk Kimmer into a game of golf that leads to Kimmer’s decision to produce a Western based on Lee’s idea instead of Austin’s script. After a slow, mostly uneventful first act, mayhem ensues after intermission. There are some very funny scenes, many of which involve skillfully executed physical humor. The brothers reverse roles to an extent. A disillusioned Lee now finds Austin’s carefree life appealing. Their mother (Marylouise Burke (Fish in the Dark, Fuddy Mears), wasted in an underwritten role) arrives home unexpectedly to find a scene of utter chaos. The play ends on an ambiguous note. James Macdonald’s (The Children, Cloud Nine) direction is fine in many details but does not overcome the slow pace of the first act. Mimi Lien’s (The Lifespan of a Fact, Fairview) set recreates a kitchen and breakfast room befitting a middle-aged suburban lady. In what seems to have become a scenic cliche this season, the stage has an illuminated frame that lights up very brightly between scenes. Kaye Voyce’s (Significant Other, The Nap) costumes suit their characters well. While the play had its moments, it ultimately did not seem to have much point, at least to me. Perhaps I have OD’ed on dysfunctional families. Running time: two hours 15 minutes including intermission.

Bernhardt/Hamlet

C

Roundabout Theatre Company is to be congratulated for commissioning a new play for Broadway by an established playwright starring a superb actor in a lavish production. That being said, I only wish the results had turned out better. Theresa Rebeck (Seminar, Mauritius) has taken a critical moment from the long career of the famous Sarah Bernhardt, added a fashionable dash of female empowerment, and embroidered actual events with a few liberties to pique interest. This would be fine if the play were more involving and coherent. Perhaps if I were a student of theatrical history and/or an avid Shakespearean, I might have found it more gripping. At the age of 55, Bernhardt (the charismatic Janet McTeer; Les Liaisons Dangereuses, God of Carnage) was tired of playing dying courtesans and thought taking on Hamlet might be the box office success she needed to fill her expensive new theater. Her last play, by the promising Edmond Rostand (Jason Butler Harner; The Crucible, Cock), although a critical success, had been a commercial disaster. Constant Coquelin (a droll Dylan Baker; The Front Page, Mauritius) is a veteran member of her company. Louis — for some reason, he doesn’t get a last name — (Tony Carlin; Pygmalion, Junk) is a pompous critic. Alphonse Mucha (Matthew Saldivar; Saint Joan, Junk) is the artist who created posters for all Bernhardt’s plays. We also meet three members of Bernhardt’s company, played by Brittany Bradford, Triney Sandoval and Aaron Costa Ganis. Rebeck’s conceit is that Rostand, although over 20 years her junior and married with young children, is her current lover. Furthermore, she asks him to rewrite Hamlet to remove the poetry and make Hamlet a more dynamic character. (She actually did commission a revision to her specifications, but not by Rostand.) Unable to say no to her, Rostand accepts the job, which requires him to neglect his own play in progress. Her request is the curtain line of the long, turgid first act. In the livelier but unfocused second act, we meet Bernhardt’s adult son Maurice (Nick Westrate; Casa Valentina, Tribes), who returns home from university suddenly to see what is rotten in Paris, and Rostand’s clever wife Rosamond (Ito Aghayere; Junk, Mlima’s Tale) who confronts Bernhardt over the affair. The Hamlet production seems to get lost. Instead of seeing Bernhardt’s Hamlet, we instead get a scene from the play Rostand had suspended work on, Cyrano de Bergerac, with Coquelin playing the career-making title role. The final scene has a clever coup de théatre that unfortunately offers too little too late. McTeer makes a convincing Bernhardt, but when she portrays Hamlet, her speech becomes too quiet and rapid. The impressive revolving set by Beowulf Boritt (Act One, Come from Away) captures the theater’s backstage, Bernhardt’s ornate dressing room and a few other locations. Toni-Leslie James’s (Come from Away, Jitney) period costumes are excellent. The pace set by Moritz von Stuelpnagel’s (Hand to God, Verité) direction often seems rushed. All in all, it was a disappointment. Running time: two hours 30 minutes including intermission.

Skintight

B-

If you are gay or Jewish or preferably both, have I got a play for you! Joshua Harmon (Bad Jews, Significant Other, Admissions) is back at Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre with this family dramedy that easily qualifies as a guilty pleasure. Idina Menzel (Wicked, If/Then) plays Jodi Isaac, a 40-something L.A. attorney, smarting from her ex-husband’s engagement to a 24-year-old. She turns up at the West Village townhouse of her father Elliot (Jack Wetherall; The Elephant Man, Tamara), a world-famous fashion designer (whose biographical details are extremely similar to one CK) on the eve of his 70th birthday, seeking love and comfort, but finding little of either. What she does find is Elliot’s studly new 20-year-old boy-toy Trey (Will Brittain), who introduces himself as her father’s live-in partner. Jodi’s gay son Benjamin (Eli Gelb; How My Grandparents Fell in Love), on a break from his year abroad pursuing Queer Studies in Budapest (I mean, really??), joins them to celebrate Elliot’s birthday. Jodi takes an immediate dislike to Trey; Benjamin doesn’t. Elliot notices. If you are looking for a truly sympathetic character here, you won’t find one, with the possible exception of the maid Orsolya (Cynthia Mace; The Suitcase under the Bed) or the butler Jeff (Stephen Carrasco; Anastasia, Kinky Boots). The main characters are so self-absorbed that it is difficult to relate to any of them except as caricatures. The play deals with our obsession with beauty and youth, the nature of love vs. lust, bad parenting, and a touch of Hungarian anti-Semitism. As in any Harmon play, there is lots of snappy dialogue. The cast has been well-chosen and works well as an ensemble. Lauren Helpern’s  (Bad Jews, 4000 Miles) ultramodern monochromatic two-story set doesn’t look like anything I would expect to find on Horatio Street. Jess Goldstein’s (The Rivals, The Mineola Twins) costumes are perfection. Daniel Aukin’s (Bad Jews, Admissions) direction is seamless. Don’t go if you are offended by same-sex relationships, intergenerational sex, raunchy language or near-nudity. I found it very entertaining, but instantly forgettable. Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes including intermission.

Children of a Lesser God

C+

The years have not been kind to Mark Medoff’s drama about deafness. Since it arrived on Broadway in 1980, there have been better plays, e.g. Tribes, and better films, e.g. Sound and Fury, on the subject of deafness and deaf rights. I would assume that it won its Tony and Olivier more for the seriousness and, at the time, novelty of its subject matter than for its artistic merit. In any case, it’s back on Broadway in a Roundabout production that has been imported basically intact from a Berkshire Theatre Group run. Joshua Jackson (Smart People, "The Affair") plays James Leeds, a speech instructor at a residential school for the deaf. When the school’s head, Mr. Franklin (Anthony Edwards; A Month in the Country), asks him to work with Sarah Norman (Lauren Ridloff), a graduate of the school who is still on campus as a maid, Leeds promptly falls in love with her. He tries unsuccessfully to persuade her to learn lip reading and to attempt to speak. He visits her mother (Kecia Lewis; Leap of Faith, Marie and Rosetta), who placed Sarah in the school as a child and has basically turned her back on her. Orin Dennis (John McGinty; Veritas), a student who has learned to read lips and speak, has been Sarah’s close friend for years and is jealous of her relationship with Leeds. Lydia (Treshelle Edmond; Spring Awakening) is a childlike student who has a crush on Leeds. When James and Sarah marry, the outlook is uncertain. In the second act, the play turns polemical when Orin tries to enlist Sarah to join him in an action against the school for job discrimination against the deaf. Edna Klein (Julee Cerda) is the attractive lawyer whom Orin recruits. Much of the second act is clunky. Mr. Franklin, James, Sarah and Mrs. Norman get together for an unlikely bridge game. The polemic and the personal compete awkwardly for our attention. Near the end, there is a big cathartic scene that, for many, will have made the long buildup worthwhile. The strongest argument for seeing this revival is the powerful performance by Ms. Ridloff. It is easy to see why James would be so attracted to her. Mr. Jackson gives a creditable performance in a demanding role, although I would have liked a little more variety. Mr. McGinty is strong as Orin. Kecia Lewis is impressive as Sarah’s mother. Mr. Edwards and Ms. Edmond do their best with cartoonish roles. The direction by Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun, Fences) is assured, but I wish he had made a few cuts. I did not care for Derek McLane’s (The Parisian Woman, The Price) set, which features several blue door frames painted a garish salmon pink on the inside and several tree trunks. The costumes by Dede Ayite (School Girls, Mankind) are fine. There are surtitles above the proscenium arch which you will not be able to read if you are sitting in the first few rows. Running time: two hours 25 minutes, including intermission.

Amy and the Orphans

B

Kudos to Roundabout Theatre Company for their Underground program that produces early work by promising playwrights such as Stephen Karam (Speech & Debate), Steven Levenson (The Language of Trees) and Joshua Harmon (Bad Jews), who prove worthy of a move upstairs to the Laura Pels Theatre for their next work. This new play by Lindsey Ferrentino (Ugly Lies the Bone) continues their enviable track record. Having an aunt with Down syndrome inspired her to write this tragicomedy about three adult siblings temporarily reunited after their father’s death. Jacob (Mark Blum; The Assembled Parties, Rancho Viejo), a 60-year-old middle school teacher from California, and Maggie (Debra Monk; Curtains, Steel Pier), his recently divorced sister from Chicago, meet at LaGuardia Airport on their way to pick up their younger sister Amy (Jamie Brewer; "American Horror Story") [or, at matinees, their younger brother Andy (Edward Barbanell; "The Ringer")] at the group home in Queens where she [or he] lives and proceed to their late father’s home in Montauk for his funeral. They are dreading the task of telling Amy [Andy] about the death of their father — and mother, who died some months before. Amy’s [Andy’s] protective aide Kathy (Vanessa Aspillaga; Daphne's Dive, The Clean House) insists that state regulations require that she accompany them on the trip. In interspersed scenes, we also meet Sarah (Diane Davis; Golden Boy, The Model Apartment) and Bobby (Josh McDermitt; "The Walking Dead"), a 30-ish couple at a workshop trying to do a communication exercise that might help them reach an important decision. We soon realize that these are the parents of the three siblings and the decision they are trying to reach is whether to institutionalize their Down syndrome baby. The alternation of the two plot lines in two time periods works well. The nature of the topic makes it all the more surprising that the play is basically a comedy with serious overtones. This is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, the humorous dialogue is very entertaining with lots of zingers. On the other hand, the neuroses of Jacob and Maggie flirt dangerously with sitcom humor and Kathy’s exuberance is almost overbearing. I thought the scenes between Sarah and Bobby struck the best balance between humor and pathos. There is a revelation late in the play that punctures the lighter mood. I found the transformation that it elicits in Maggie and Jacob unconvincing. A lot rests on the title character. At my performance, that was Andy and Edward Barbanell played him superbly, especially in the moving final monologue. All the roles must be catnip for actors. Rachel Hauck’s (Latin History for Morons, Hadestown) uncluttered set design facilitates scene changes. Alejo Vietti’s (Holiday Inn, Storefront Church) costumes are evocative. Director Scott Ellis (She Loves Me, Curtains) navigates the changes of time, place and mood smoothly. Even though I had reservations about its flaws while watching it, I surrendered and allowed it to both entertain and move me.  Running time: 90 minutes, no interimssion.

John Lithgow: Stories By Heart

C+

I confess that I arrived at the American Airlines Theatre with a chip on my shoulder. I was annoyed that Roundabout had not only filled out its schedule with a warmed-over one-man show that had originated at Lincoln Center Theater ten years ago, but had chosen to place it in their largest theater. The cynic in me assumes that they were more interested in improving their bottom line than in satisfying their subscribers. That being said, at least the solo performer is John Lithgow (The Changing Room, The Sweet Smell of Success), one of our most versatile actors. It’s always a pleasure to see him, even when his material is less than compelling. The evening consists of his performance of two short stories, each preceded by reminiscences of his family, particularly his father. In the first story, “Haircut” by Ring Lardner, a small-town Midwestern barber regales a new customer with a tale that turns from comic to tragic. It was a story that Lithgow’s father read to him and his siblings at bedtime. Lithgow mimes all the appropriate gestures of giving a haircut, complete with sound effects. The nervous giggle he chose for the barber became annoying quickly. After intermission, he performs ”Uncle Fred Flits By,” a P.G. Wodehouse story with several characters that Lithgow entertainingly brings to life. It is a story that he credits for helping pull his ailing father out of deep depression when Lithgow read it to him. I enjoyed the family reminiscences he recounted before each story more than the stories themselves. I wish he had devoted the entire evening to an expanded sharing of his family memories. John Lee Beatty (Junk, Sweat, Disgraced) designed the set, a stately wood-paneled room with a cozy wing chair, a small table, a chair and a stool. Daniel Sullivan’s (The Little Foxes) direction tries to enliven the proceedings with modest success.

Running time: two hours including intermission. 

Napoli, Brooklyn

C

Playwright Meghan Kennedy does not exactly have a knack for titles. Her promising 2013 work for Roundabout Underground was titled “Too Much, Too Much, Too Many.” Whatever relationship that had to the play was lost on me. Now she has “graduated” up a level at Roundabout from the Black Box to the Laura Pels Theatre for this semi-autobiographical drama about an Italian family made up of a tyrannical father originally from Naples, a long-suffering mother and three daughters in Brooklyn in 1960. This title is an improvement, but not exactly an attention grabber. Perhaps she should have called it “Three Sisters See the View from the Bridge” or, for reasons that will be very clear near the end of the first act, just “Boom!” Actually the title of her earlier play would have been more suitable for this one because it suffers from too much plot and too many characters. Nic Muscolino (Lev Gorn) is embittered that he has no sons. His wife Ludovica (the excellent Alyssa Bresnahan) prays to God via an onion that she hopes will restore her ability to cry. 26-year-old Tina (Lilli Kay) has been forced to forgo an education and go to work in a tile factory to help support the family. 20-year-old Vita (Elise Kibler; Indian Summer) has been shipped off to a convent after her father has broken her nose and a few ribs when she threatened him with a pair of scissors to prevent him from attacking 16-year-old Francesca (Jordyn DiNatale) for cutting off her long curls. Francesca is a budding lesbian who is planning to stow away on a ship to France with her very close friend Connie Duffy (Juliet Brett; What I Did Last Summer). Connie’s widowed father Albert (the fine Erik Lochtefeld; The Light Years, Small Mouth Sounds), the neighborhood butcher, has a crush on Ludovica. Celia Jones (Shirine Babb) is an African-American coworker of Tina’s who becomes her only friend. The second act deals with the differing ways each character copes with the cataclysmic event that actually occurred in Brooklyn in 1960. After a fractious Christmas dinner, there is a quiet denouement. My many reservations include a gratuitous SM scene with a lit cigarette, an unclear explication of the circumstances of one character’s departure and a feminist pep talk at the end that seemed anachronistic at best. Furthermore, something is amiss when the most touching moment in the play is a brief exchange between two peripheral characters. Gordon Edelstein's direction was a bit sluggish. The set by Eugene Lee suggests multiple locations by the use of signs and symbols hung high above the stage. The costumes by Jane Greenwood are authentic to the period. The sound design by Fitz Patton and lighting design by Ben Stanton are most effective. All in all, I preferred the playwright’s earlier, more focused offering for Roundabout. Running time: 2 hours including intermission.

The Price

B+

While Arthur Miller’s 1968 play is not generally considered among his best, this is its fourth Broadway revival and the second by Roundabout Theatre. Clearly, it has its advocates. It stands out from most of Miller’s plays in that there is quite a bit of humor, at least in the first act, and it is told in real time on a single set. It has four juicy roles that, in this case, are filled by a starry cast. Mark Ruffalo plays Victor Franz, a NYC cop nearing 50, who is in the attic of the townhouse where he grew up, waiting for a furniture dealer to arrive to make an offer on all the old-fashioned heavy furniture stored there. He is joined by his wife Esther (Jessica Hecht), who has never fully accepted the limited expectations her marriage has brought. The furniture dealer who eventually arrives is Gregory Solomon (Danny DeVito), an 89-year-old man, who provides both comic relief and wisdom. We learn that Victor has been estranged from his elder brother Walter (Tony Shalhoub) since their father’s death 16 years ago. The Depression left their father a hollowed-out man after he lost all his money, his wife died, and the family was forced to move into the attic of their townhouse. While Walter stayed in medical school and became a wealthy surgeon, Victor dropped out of college to care for his father, gave up his dream of being a scientist, lived with his father in dire poverty until joining the police force. Victor has attempted to contact Walter to notify him about selling the family furniture, but Walter has not returned his calls. After lots of back and forth, Victor and Solomon reach a deal. Solomon is in the midst of paying Victor in $100 bills when Walter suddenly arrives, ending Act One. Most of the overlong second act is the confrontation between Victor and Walter, during which old grievances are aired and new realizations are formed. Tony Shalhoub, resplendent in his camel hair coat and shiny suit, is superb as the smooth-talking Walter, perhaps the most complex character. The role of Esther fits Jessica Hecht like a glove and she gives one of her best performances in years. Casting Danny DeVito as Solomon was a stroke of genius. It is hard to believe that this is his Broadway debut. Though tiny in stature, he is a commanding presence. Mark Ruffalo, an actor I greatly admire, does not seem entirely comfortable in the role of Victor, although his performance improves as the play progresses. Derek McClane’s wonderfully cluttered set has dozens of pieces of furniture hanging from the ceiling, but has no walls so we see a city skyline of water towers against a cloudy sky. Sarah J. Holden’s costumes are perfection. Unlike Ivo van Hove’s recent versions of A View from the Bridge and The Crucible, director Terry Kinney has taken the play at face value, rather than attempting to force his stamp upon it. Miller doesn’t need gimmicks. Running time: two hours, 40 minutes including intermission.

If I Forget

B

If the goal of Steven Levenson (The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin, book for Dear Evan Hansen) was to write a play that would elicit lively discussion afterwards, his new play at Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre is a success. While at its core an intimate family drama, the play connects the personal to a wider arena of religious, political, sociological and philosophical concerns. We meet the three Fischer siblings, all in their forties, in July 2000 at the family’s longtime home in a middle class Washington neighborhood. They are gathered to celebrate their recently widowed father’s 75th birthday. The middle child Michael (the superb Jeremy Shamos), although an atheist, is a professor of Jewish studies at a New York area university where he has just been recommended for tenure. He mentions in passing that he is faculty advisor to Students for Nader. He and his gentile wife Ellen (Tasha Lawrence) have an emotionally troubled college-age daughter Abby who is currently on a trip to Israel. Michael was opposed to letting her go because peace talks between Arabs and Israelis have just collapsed and he fears for her safety. Elder daughter Holly (the assured Kate Walsh from TV’s Private Practice), a dilettante who fancies herself an interior decorator, has a bratty teenage son Joey (Seth Steinberg) and a shallow but wealthy lawyer husband Howard (Gary Wilmes) who is Joey’s stepfather. The younger daughter Sharon (Renata Friedman, u/s for Maria Dizzia), an unmarried teacher, who has borne the brunt of caring for her late mother and her ailing father, never fails to remind her siblings of that fact. Sharon has recently broken up with her boyfriend after finding him in bed with the [female] cantor. We learn that Michael has just completed an incendiary book called Forget the Holocaust that suggests that American Jews should stop using the Holocaust as a reason to give Israel a free pass for some of its actions. (If you think it unlikely that a professor would publish a controversial book likely to damage his career while he is awaiting tenure, just google Norman Finkelstein.) Although Michael sent his father Lou (Larry Bryggman) a manuscript of his book to read six month ago, Lou has never said a word about it. In a moving scene near the end of the first act, Lou describes what it was like to liberate Dachau. The second act takes place six months later, not long after the Supreme Court has interceded to elect Bush. Lou has suffered a stroke. Michael’s book has had consequences. The family has gathered to decide what to do about Lou’s care. Lou’s only asset is his former clothing store, now leased to a Guatemalan family at a below-market rate. Sharon’s opposition to selling the store because it is the family legacy has another less noble motive. Holly’s plan to rent the store for her own nonexistent design practice is mysteriously not supported by her husband, who turns out to have an unsavory secret. Michael pushes hard to sell the store, betraying some confidences in the process. At play’s end Joey asks Michael about his cousin Abby’s condition. We learn that she had an experience in Jerusalem that was either transcendent or symptomatic of her worsening mental condition. The play shifts gears from naturalistic to expressionistic in its final scene, which didn't work for me. One can fault the play for being overstuffed; there’s enough plot for three plays. On the positive side, the play presents a compelling picture of family dynamics, fortunately relieved by frequent flashes of humor. It raises important questions about Jewish identity in America today that seem even more relevant in the light of recent headlines. The dialogue is sharp and the cast is excellent. Derek McLane’s revolving two-level set and Jess Goldstein’s costumes serve the play well. Daniel Sullivan (Proof, Rabbit Hole) directs with his usual skill. Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes including intermission.

Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical *** B

While it’s hardly new, this adaptation of the 1942 film that starred Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire is a welcome addition to the Broadway season. If you are stressed out by the state of the nation, get yourself to Studio 54 where you can return to a simpler, gentler America, at least for 2+ hours. Gordon Greenberg (who also directed) and Chad Hodge have tossed out a few songs (including the blackface number), added several other Berlin standbys, and reworked the plot to make it slightly less ridiculous. For those old enough to remember, it wasn’t the plots that drew us to Hollywood musicals. As Jim Hardy, Bryce Pinkham (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder) lacks Bing Crosby’s pipes, but is otherwise fine. As Ted Hanover, Corbin Bleu is an amazing dancer and a charming presence. Megan Sikora is a hoot as Lila Dixon, their dance partner with more ambition than loyalty. As Linda Mason, Lora Lee Gayer looks and acts the part of the local schoolteacher with hidden talents. Comic relief is added by two new characters — Louise (Megan Lawrence), the politically incorrect lesbian live-in “fix-it man” and Charlie Winslow (Morgan Gao), a local child who usually bears ill tidings. The production is quite lavish. The scenic design by Anna Louizos features multiple sets. The 40’s costumes by Alejo Vietti are sensational. The lively choreography by Denis Jones (Honeymoon in Vegas) is well executed by a chorus of 16. Two numbers are showstoppers — “Shaking the Blues Away” and “Let’s Say It with Firecrackers.” The large orchestra and attractive arrangements give Berlin his due. And hearing “White Christmas” twice more won’t kill you. This Roundabout production may be the musical equivalent of comfort food, but a little comfort is most welcome these days. Running time: two hours 15 minutes, including intermission.

Old Times **

The circumstances for attending this Roundabout production were far from ideal. Fighting Times Square holiday crowds to see a 65-minute play was a dubious enterprise at best. Trying to maintain attention when there were FIVE interruptions by cellphones was nigh impossible. That being said, the play was not without its merits. The three actors — Clive Owen, Kelly Reilly and Eve Best — inhabited their roles thoroughly and even sang snippets of song pleasantly. The dialogue had moments of entertaining word play. Under Douglas Hodge’s direction, the usual long Pinter silences were virtually absent. That alone must have chopped at least ten minutes off the play’s length. The austere set by Christine Jones with a back wall of arcs radiating like rings from a pebble dropped in a pond and a door that resembled a block of ice was evocative. The costumes by Constance Hoffman suited the characters well. The moody sound design by Clive Goodman and dramatic lighting by Japhy Weideman enhanced the proceedings. The basic situation of a married couple in a remote house being visited by the wife’s former roommate of 20 years prior had promise. I just did not find the competing memories that involving. Under better circumstances, I might have enjoyed it more. In my opinion, offering a 65-minute play at Broadway prices is pushing the limits.

SIgnificant Other ***

After the success of his play “Bad Jews," Joshua Harmon is back at Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre with a new comedy-drama about Jordan Berman (Gideon Glick, in a breakout performance), a depressive 29-year-old gay New Yorker, and his three gal pals — Kiki (the hilarious Sas Goldberg), Vanessa (Carra Patterson) and Laura (the wonderful Lindsay Mendez). The play might have been called “Three Weddings and a Meltdown.” As his three friends find husbands and have less time for him, Jordan feels the deepening pain of not having his own significant other and the growing fear that he never will. John Behlmann and Luke Smith play the three husbands as well as three men that Jordan fails to connect with. Finally, there is the superb Barbara Barrie as Jordan’s grandmother, who has outlived her friends and whose mind may be slipping. I found the play irritating and moving in almost equal measure — irritating in that it too often goes for the easy laugh and moving in its wrenching portrayal of loneliness. I thought that at times the playwright was trying too hard to entertain, but the audience, at least 30 years younger than the usual subscription profile, seemed to be loving it, greeting every line, funny or not, with nervous laughter. It’s one of the rare plays where the second act is better than the first, with two stunning monologues for Jordan. The high quality of the acting elevated the material. Mark Wendland’s set impressed me as unnecessarily complicated and not very attractive. Kaye Voyce’s costumes were excellent. Trip Cullman’s direction was a bit overheated for my taste. Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes, including intermission.

Little Children Dream of God **

The mission of Roundabout Underground is to present works by emerging playwrights in the Black Box Theatre below the Laura Pels. In past years they have presented promising plays by Stephen Karam (Speech and Debate) and Joshua Harmon (Bad Jews.) Currently onstage is this ambitious work by Jeff Augustin, which deals mainly with Haitian refugees in Miami. We meet seven vivid characters. Sula (Carra Patterson) is a young pregnant woman from Haiti who struggles to delay her baby’s arrival until she is in the U.S. She is haunted by nightmares about her past. Her baby does not cry. Joel (Maurice Jones) is the son of the landlord who has turned his apartment house into a de facto refuge for immigrants. Carolyn (Deirdre O’Connell) is a nursing home aide with 11 children who lives in one of the apartments and who reluctantly takes Sula in. Vishal (Chris Myers) is the resident drag queen who sometimes sits for Carolyn’s children. Madison (Crystal Lucas-Perry) is Joel’s stereotypically yuppy cousin who hires Sula as her nanny. Manuel (Gilbert Cruz) is a dying patient of Carolyn’s who is estranged from his children. The Man (Carl Hendrick Louis) is the figure from Sula’s past who figures prominently in her nightmares. Some of the topics touched upon include the struggle to preserve a family heritage, the corrosive effects of gentrification, the disappearance of God, the attempt to escape one’s past, the efficacy of voodoo and the pain of dying alone unloved. I wished that the playwright had narrowed his scope and presented fewer but more fully developed themes. Some of the actors had trouble maintaining a Creole accent. Andrew Boyce’s flexible set design is simple but effective. Jennifer Caprio’s costumes are appropriate. Giovanna Sardelli’s direction cannot hide the unevenness of the material. Augustin shows promise if his control can catch up with his ambition. Running time: 2 hours including intermission.

Note: Judging from tonight’s theatergoers, Roundabout’s marketing to nontraditional audiences has been far more successful than LCT3’s. Tickets are $5 cheaper ($20 vs. $25), but I doubt that difference is significant.

The Real Thing **

Let me confess right off that I wasn’t that impressed by Stoppard’s romantic comedy when I saw the 2000 Tony-awarded revival with Stephen Dillane and Jennifer Ehle. However, that version was superior to the current revival at Roundabout’s American Airlines Theater. I only attended out of curiosity to see Ewan McGregor and Maggie Gyllenhaal in their Broadway debuts. McGregor is fine as Henry, the Stoppard surrogate who writes plays that have more wit than heart. Gyllenhaal is equally good as Annie, Henry’s mistress in act one and wife in act two. They should have more chemistry together though. Cynthia Nixon as Henry’s first wife Charlotte and Josh Hamilton as Annie’s first husband Max are less successful. Director Sam Gold does not seem to have a firm grip on the material; his decision to interpolate songs of the period sung by the cast between scenes misfires. He seems to like sets that are wide and shallow. The set by David Zinn is almost as unattractive as the one for “Look Back in Anger,” another Roundabout production directed by Gold. For an allegedly well-made play, I found the second act to be a bit scattershot and its echoes of the play’s opening scene rather clumsy. I grew increasingly restless as the second act dragged on. If you crave Stoppard, you'll do better with Roundabout's other revival, "Indian Ink." Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes including intermission.

Indian Ink ***

It took almost 20 years to get here, but Tom Stoppard’s 1995 play (based on his 1991 radio play “In the Native State”) has finally reached New York in a first-rate production by Roundabout at the Laura Pels Theatre. One can speculate on the reasons it took so long — its large cast (15), its relative lack of the playwright’s customary intellectual showmanship, and its appearance between the flashier “Arcadia” and “The Invention of Love.” In any case, we should be glad it has at last arrived. The central character is Flora Crewe (a fine Romola Garai), a free-spirited young British woman whose erotic poetry has caused a bit of a scandal and who has gone to India early in 1930. Her alleged purpose is to give a lecture tour about the British literary world, but actually she has traveled for health reasons. While in Jummapur, she meets an Indian artist Nirad Das (Firdous Bamji,) who paints her portrait, and is wooed by a British colonial functionary David Durance (Lee Aaron Rosen). Shortly after leaving Jummapur for the Indian highlands, she dies. Although her work was scorned in her lifetime, 50 years later she has become all the rage. Her younger sister Eleanor (the always wonderful Rosemary Harris), now in her late sixties, is visited by an American professor Eldon Pike (Neal Huff) who is publishing her collected letters and is far more interested in unimportant details than in the truth. She is also visited by Anish Das (Bhavesh Patel), the painter’s son, who is trying to discover what transpired between Flora and his father. The action alternates between India in the early 1930s and England and India in the 1980s. Sometimes characters from both time periods are onstage at the same time, but there is no possibility of confusion. The play touches upon contrasting aesthetic traditions, the common bond that art provides and some of the effects of imperialism. The pace is unhurried, but if you are patient you should find the emotional payoff in the final scenes gratifying. The supporting cast is excellent. Neil Patel’s set design and Candice Donnelly’s costumes are attractively effective. Carey Perloff’s direction is straightforward and uncluttered. Running time: 2 hours 45 minutes including intermission. NOTE: There is a brief moment of full frontal female nudity.

Cabaret ***

Roundabout’s revival of the revival of this classic musical is mostly successful. The Sam Mendes/Rob Marshall production has lost little of its bite. Alan Cumming’s Emcee is as compelling a presence as ever. Bill Heck makes a fine Clifford Bradshaw. The ever-reliable Danny Burstein is a natural for Herr Schultz. Linda Emond is a revelation as Fraulein Schneider — who knew she had the vocal chops to go with her fine acting? Gayle Rankin and Aaron Krohn do right by the roles of Fraulein Kost and Ernst Ludwig. The talented (and beautiful!) Kit Kat Band once again plays Kander & Ebb's terrific score sensationally and the Kit Kat Girls and Boys are easy on the eyes and light on their feet. And then, alas, there’s Michelle Williams as Sally Bowles. I can’t explain precisely why she fails — her voice is not bad — but the role somehow seems beyond her expressive range. It doesn’t sink the show, but it definitely weakens its impact. Robert Brill’s set successfully turns Studio 54 into the Kit Kat Klub. The audience was wildly enthusiastic. Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes including intermission.