Sweet Charity *** B-

It has been 50 years since this show arrived on Broadway with a formidable array of talent behind it: music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields, a book by Neil Simon based on a Fellini film, Gwen Verdon in the title role and, last but certainly not least, choreography and direction by Bob Fosse. To be honest, it has never been one of my favorite musicals. I find the book too disjointed and cliched and the characterizations exaggerated. Still, it has some catchy songs and several terrific dance numbers. Now The New Group has revived the show in a stripped-down version, modest even by Encores standards. The cast has 12 instead of the original 30 and the orchestra has been reduced to five over-amplified musicians. For a show that has so many dance numbers, the choreography is critical. Joshua Bergasse has the unenviable task of following Fosse’s exceptional work. While he has demonstrated talent elsewhere (On the Town), he is no Fosse. Sutton Foster, while one of the most talented actresses in musicals, is no Gwen Verdon. In the opening number, her neediness is shown as so grotesque that it is hard to feel much sympathy for her. Her perkiness is tiring, but she demonstrates a real flair for physical comedy. The always watchable Shuler Hensley makes a fine Oscar, the man she hopes will be her rescuer. Joel Perez is a standout in all four of his roles. The racially mixed ensemble is very good. Derek McLane’s scenic design features a a bare square stage with a brick back wall and two runways. Furniture is rolled in as needed. The audience is seated on three sides. The costumes by Clint Ramos bring back the 60s in all their excess. I do wish they had sprung for more than one dress for Charity. The directorial choice by Leigh Silverman to emphasize the extent to which the show is an artifact of the 60s robs it of some immediacy. Nevertheless, it is always a pleasure to see Foster and Hensley on stage. If you never saw or don’t remember Fosse’s choreography, you won’t be bothered by its absence. Despite some reservations, I did not regret seeing this production.  Running time: two hours, ten minutes including intermission.

No Man's Land ***

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Let me admit up front that I have never found the works of Pinter a good fit for my tastes. That may qualify me as a card-carrying philistine, but I don't find his usual blend of humor, cruelty and obscurantism appealing. While his plays, including this one, offer some wonderful opportunities for actors to show their stuff, the whole usually is less than the sum of its parts, at least for me. It's not so much that I ask myself "What does this mean?" as "Why should I care?" The reason to care about this production is to see two of Britain's finest actors, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, sharing a stage. When the two of them are alone, there is theatrical magic to behold. When the other two characters, played by Shuler Hensley and Billy Crudup, appear, it seemed an intrusion on the magic. Half the time I was entranced and the other half I was bored. On the balance, the chance to see Stewart and McKellen in action outweighed the misgivings I have about the play. Stephen Brimson Lewis designed the atmospheric set and character-appropriate costumes. Sean Mathias directed. Running time: 2 hours, including intermission.

The Whale **

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I wish I could join the chorus of praise for Obie winner Samuel D. Hunter's strange new play at Playwrights Horizons, but I found it thoroughly muddled and disagreeable. In it we meet Charlie (the superb Shuler Hensley), a 600+ lb. man who is eating himself to death in his apartment in northern Idaho. During the course of a week, he is visited by his nurse and devoted friend Liz (Cassie Beck); his ex-wife Mary (Tasha Lawrence); his estranged 17-year-old daughter Ellie (Reyna de Courcy), who has to be the most obnoxious character to grace a New York stage this year; and a mysterious Mormon missionary, Elder Thomas (Cory Michael Smith). We learn that Charlie left his wife and infant daughter for a male lover many years ago.  Charlie blames the Mormon Church for his lover's subsequent death and has been eating nonstop ever since. He supports himself by teaching an online expository writing course for the local university. We hear occasional snippets of his exchanges with students. Periodically there are references to Moby Dick and the story of Jonah. Between scenes we hear the symbolic pounding of the ocean. Unfortunately there are plot developments that make absolutely no sense, e.g. Liz's applying lipstick to Charlie. What first impressed me as fascinating soon became tedious and I found myself looking at my watch several times. The uncomfortable seats in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater did not help either. Mimi Lien's set and Jessica Pabst's costumes are admirable. Davis McCallum's direction is assured. Running time: I hour, 50 minutes without intermission.

Sweet and Sad **

Last November, the Public Theater presented Richard Nelson's play "The Hopey Changey Thing," which was set on and opened on Election Day 2010. Now we have Nelson's "Sweet and Sad" (the title comes from a line in Whitman's "The Wound Dresser") which takes place on and opens on 9/11/11. In both plays, we visit the three adult Apple daughters (Barbara, Marian and Jane) their brother Richard, their uncle Benjamin, and Jane's partner Tim at Barbara's home in Rhinebeck. This time out, they are gathered to attend a 9/11 commemoration put on by Barbara's students, at which Benjamin, a retired actor with amnesia, will give a recitation. As the Apples eat supper, the conversation ebbs and flows, alternating between the personal and the public spheres, with the topic of 9/11 often rising to the surface. As in last year's play, nothing much happens. Although seeing the earlier play is not essential, it did help to flesh out the characters. The excellent cast from last year (see my November 2010 review for their names) inhabits their roles even more fully. While I admire Nelson for undertaking this series of plays reflecting current events through the prism of the Apple family, I didn't find this instalment as satisfying as the first. Nelson also directed. Running time: 110 minutes; no intermission.

That Hopey Changey Thing ***

Richard Nelson's latest effort, now in a production directed by the playwright at The Public Theater, could serve as a bookend to Lisa Kron's "In the Wake," which is also playing there. While Kron's work chronicles the life of New York lefties in the W. era, Nelson portrays a liberal family's dinner two years into the Obama era on election night 2010. The four grown Apple siblings gather at the Rhinebeck home of the unmarried sister who is caring for their uncle, an actor who is suffering from loss of memory after a heart attack. The divorced sister has brought along her current interest, who is also an actor, to meet the family. During the early scenes, we pick up on the complicated relationships that unite and divide the family. When the conversation turns to politics, everyone voices opinions that arise naturally from what we have learned about them. Noone's behavior escapes criticism. The best that can be said is that some politicians are less bad than others. Not much happens, nothing is resolved, yet the experience is mildly bracing, mainly because of the superb ensemble acting, The entire cast -- Jon Devries, Shuler Hensley, Maryann Plunkett, Laila Robbins, Jay O. Sanders and J. Smith-Cameron -- is topnotch.