Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

B-

A well-timed tax refund gave me an excuse to indulge my inner child and spend a king’s ransom on a ticket for this award-winning two-part extravaganza from London. As an avid fan of the seven Potter novels and eight films, I was curious to see how well J.K. Rowling’s creations would translate to the stage. Clearly the producers expected a very long run or they would not have invested $60+ million on a stunning renovation of the Lyric Theatre. Because of all the hype, I was afraid that the play by Jack Thorne, based on a story by Rowling, Thorne and John Tiffany, could not live up to my high expectations. My fears were, to some extent, justified. The play, set 22 years after the end of the last novel, has a timeless theme — the fraught relationship between parent and child — particularly father/son. The plot device of time travel opens up the opportunity for several clever touches. There is a wonderful cast of 40, mostly imported from London, a striking set design by Christine Jones evocatively lit by Neil Austin, terrific movement direction by Steven Hoggett, excellent costumes by Katrina Lindsay and seamless direction by John Tiffany. The illusions and magic by Jamie Harrison are often breathtaking. We meet Albus Potter (Sam Clemmett), awkward younger son of Harry (Jamie Parker) and Ginny Potter (Poppy Miller), as he is about to begin his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ron Weasley (the droll Paul Thornley) and his wife Hermione Granger (the terrific Noma Dumezweni) are also seeing their daughter off to Hogwarts. On the train, Albus befriends the nerdy Scorpius Malfoy (the wonderful Anthony Boyle), son of Harry’s archrival at Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy (Alex Price). The relationship of the two outcast boys reaches bromance proportions. The problem for me was that I found the plot both convoluted and repetitious. It did not succeed in holding my interest for over five hours. Even though I consider myself fairly well-versed in the Potter canon, I occasionally became confused. At times, the British accents were surprisingly difficult to understand. Unless you are familiar with either the novels or the movies, you will be totally lost trying to figure out what is going on or why the audience is wildly applauding the appearance of a new character. While I am not sorry I saw the show, I would have enjoyed it more if there had been less of it. I suspect it is critic-proof and will run for several years. Running time: about 2 hours 40 minutes for each of the two parts, including an intermission.

Brooklynite **

This new musical about superheroes in Brooklyn, now in previews at the Vineyard Theatre, has lots of talent behind it. Composer/lyricist/ book co-author Peter Lerman has won both a Jonathan Larson Award and a Stephen Sondheim Young Artist Citation. Director and book co-author Michael Mayer brought us “Spring Awakening.” Choreographer Steven Hoggett’s many successes include “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” and “Once.” The story is based on characters created by Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman. The cast includes Nick Cordero, so impressive in “Bullets over Broadway,” and the always entertaining Ann Harada. The production is lavish by Vineyard standards. Donyale Werle’s modular set creates several diverse locales, Andrea Lauer’s superhero costumes are wonderful, as are Andrew Lazarow’s projections. With all this talent, why did I find the show curiously flat and uninvolving? I think the main problems are the book and the music. The story of six superheroes created when an asteroid hit Gowanus and the nebbishy hardware store clerk who would like to join their ranks works better for a comic book than an off-Broadway musical. Except for a couple of songs, the music seemed merely serviceable. The cast, led by Matt Doyle and Nicolette Robinson, do their best to animate cardboard characters. The other recent musical about Brooklyn, “Fortress of Solitude,” was superior in every way. With its story of Brooklyn superheroes and in-jokes about that borough, this show might have been more suitable for some Williamsburg venue than for the Vineyard. I think a younger audience would appreciate it more. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes including intermission.

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.

Rocky **

Since I am not a fan of Sylvester Stallone's 1976 movie, I'm not sure what possessed me to buy a ticket for the musical version, now in previews at the Winter Garden. Curiosity, I guess. After all, it was a hit in Hamburg. The creative team is impressive: music and lyrics by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, a book by Thomas Meehan and Stallone, choreography by Steven Hoggett (and Kelly Devine) and direction by Alex Timbers. The cast has no big names, but that's not an essential. The real stars here are the designers; there is a spectacularly mobile set by Christopher Barreca with projections by Dan Scully and Pablo N. Molina, vivid costumes by David Zinn, fine lighting by Christopher Akerlind and excellent sound by Peter Hylenski. Alas, when the show's design is its strongest feature, it does not bode well. Andy Karl is terrific as Rocky and the other actors are energetic, but their roles are so lacking in nuance that they are little more than caricatures. The show belatedly springs to life for the last 10 or 15 minutes with the wonderfully choreographed fight scene. The first several rows of the theater are emptied and their occupants are invited onstage for ringside seats as the boxing ring moves forward into the theater. It's a gimmick, but it works. The fight itself is spectacular, but for me it was not worth over two hours of boredom waiting for it. The music made so little impression that the point of turning the film into a musical was lost on me. All that being said, most of the audience seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes including intermission.

What's It All About? Bacharach Reimagined ***

(Please click on the title to see the complete review.)
While I have come to expect edgier fare from New York Theatre Workshop than an evening of Burt Bacharach melodies, their management just may be on to something. In their new soft-rock arrangements, Bacharach's songs seem to appeal to a new audience. The average age of the sold-out house was decades younger than usual and the crowd was wildly enthusiastic. The production is elaborate in the extreme: the theater walls are covered with a variety of rugs and acoustical foam, there are two overstuffed sofas suspended from the back wall, a dozen or so floor lamps with antique shades fill the stage, and a tower of guitars and other instruments is prominently featured. The lighting is often synchronized with the music in lurid colors and the stage has not one but two revolving platforms. Apparently director Steven Hoggett ("Once") thinks all this is necessary to hold our attention. In my opinion, the extremely talented group of seven young performers (arranger Kyle Riabko plus Daniel Bailen, Laura Dreyfuss, James Nathan Hopkins, Nathaly Lopez, James Williams, Daniel Woods) would be just as compelling on a bare stage. Basically, it's just a gussied-up concert, more suitable to a different venue, but, if you like Bacharach, it's quite entertaining. Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission.