The True

B

This new play by Sharr White (The Other Place), now at The New Group, offers a wonderful vehicle for Edie Falco’s return to the New York stage. For many, including me, that is sufficient reason to celebrate. Better yet, she is supported by a terrific cast that includes Michael McKean (The Little Foxes, Hairspray), Peter Scolari (Lucky Guy, Sly Fox), Glen Fitzgerald (Ripcord, Lobby Hero) and John Pankow (Dada Woof, Papa Hot; "Episodes"). The setting is 1977 Albany where potty-mouthed, no-nonsense Polly Noonan (Falco; Frankie and Johnnie in the Claire de Lune, House of Blue Leaves, “The Sopranos”) has been working as assistant to Mayor Erastus Corning II (McKean) for 35 years. Her long-suffering husband Peter (Scolari) has learned to survive by keeping a low profile and trying to ignore rumors that his wife is more than Corning’s assistant. Corning has been not only a boss but a close friend to Polly and Peter. When the death of the local Democratic Party chairman sets off a power struggle, Corning suddenly and mysteriously cuts off relations with the Noonans. Discovering the reason is the rather weak hook on which the plot is hung. Despite the pain of being frozen out, Polly loyally plows ahead to insure Corning’s success in an upcoming primary. During her efforts, she meets secretly with slick Howard Nolan (Fitzgerald), the man running against Corning, and wily Charlie Ryan (Pankow), the politician pulling Nolan’s strings. In a related subplot, Polly invites Bill McCormack (Austin Caldwell; Intimacy), a dim young man she is attempting to recruit to Corning’s team, over for dinner with hilarious results. Sharr has a flair for snappy dialogue, but resorts to shouting matches a bit too often. The view seen here is enough to make one nostalgic for the heyday of urban machine politics where the worst sculduggery was an envelope with a $5 bill in it on election day. The depiction of how little opportunity there was for a strong woman in 1977 politics reveals one aspect of the down side of that era. The main feature of Derek McLane’s (Jerry Springer — The Opera, Sweet Charity) set is floor-to-ceiling bookcases decorated with a variety of table lamps that initially depicts the Noonan’s home and morphs, with varying degrees of success, to several other locations. The period costumes by Clint Ramos (Sweet Charity, Violet) are spot-on. Scott Elliott (Good for Otto, Evening at the Talk House) directs with assurance. It’s not a wonderful play, but it’s quite entertaining. Running time: one hour 45 minutes, no intermission.

Good for Otto

I

With a Tony-awarded playwright, a stellar cast and an important topic, how could The New Group’s production of David Rabe’s play about mental health care in America possibly go wrong? Let me count the ways. While my “I” grade stands for “Incomplete” (since I couldn’t force myself to return after intermission), it could just as well stand for “inert” or “indulgent.” Dr. Michaels (Ed Harris), the chief therapist and administrator of a small town mental health clinic in northwest Connecticut, has a lot to deal with — the patients he cares for deeply, the insurance company bureaucracy he battles, and the verbal abuse he receives from the ghost of his mother (a miscast Charlotte Hope). who committed suicide when he was nine. His patients include Jane (Kate Buddeke), a woman guilt ridden over her son Jimmy’s suicide; Jerome (Kenny Mellman), a hoarder who can’t bring himself to move to his mother’s basement; and the patient the doctor is most concerned over, Frannie, (Rileigh McDonald), a 12-year-old girl who cuts herself and is subject to violent outbursts. We also meet another therapist, Evangeline (Amy Madigan), whose patients include Timothy (Mark Linn-Baker), a man on the spectrum whose social awkwardness gets him into trouble; Alex (Maulik Pancholy), a gay man who has recently come out (whom I unfortunately did not meet because he only appears in the second act); and Barnard (the wonderful F. Murray Abraham), an intellectual 77-year-old who could not rouse himself to get out of bed for several weeks. Laura Esterman doubles as Jerome’s mother and Barnard’s wife. Rhea Perlman portrays Nora, the foster mother struggling to cope with Frannie. Nancy Giles plays Marcy, the soulless case manager at the insurance company. Lily Gladstone is Denise, the clinic’s receptionist. One of the most powerful scenes in the first act is the extended monologue by the ghost of Jimmy (Michael Rabe, the playwright’s son) describing the night he shot himself. Although the scene does not really fit into the framework of the play since Jimmy was not a patient and his remarks are not shared with anyone except the audience, it was one of the few times that I felt involved. The stringing together of monologues and therapy sessions grew tiresome quickly. Dr. Michaels’s fantasy of all his patients joining to sing old favorites such as “Glow Worm” didn’t work for me. The set design by Derek McLane is appropriately drab. Director Scott Elliott made the interesting choice to seat several members of the audience onstage interspersed among the actors. Perhaps if I had stayed for the second act, my opinion of the play might have improved. Or not. Running time: three hours including intermission.

Jerry Springer -- The Opera

B-

It is easier for me to understand why it took 15 years for a fully staged production of this controversial Olivier-winning musical to reach New York (a concert version ran for two nights at Carnegie Hall in 2009) than to grasp how it won several best musical awards in London in 2003. In this thru-sung piece with music and lyrics by Richard Thomas (Anna Nicole) and book and additional lyrics by Stewart Lee, we visit the set of Springer’s notorious tabloid talk show, with side trips to Purgatory and Hell. It is hard to satirize a TV show that is essentially its own parody. The authors go for shock value, throwing in large doses of the profane, the salacious, the scatological and the blasphemous. For me, the novelty of hearing four-letter words sung from the stage faded quickly. The first act, though a bit long, was entertaining, but after intermission things headed south. The thinness of the material is almost counterbalanced by the quality of the performances. The cast, led by Terrence Mann (Pippin, Assassins) as Springer and Will Swenson (Waitress, 110 in the Shade) in the dual role of Warm-Up Man and Satan, is first-rate. Several have operatic voices that are thrilling to hear. Tiffany Mann and Luke Grooms are especially strong. Sean Patrick Doyle (Wig Out!) is notable in the transgender role of Tremont. The rather simple scenic design by Derek McLane (Sweet Charity, Noises Off) features a thrust stage with the audience seated on three sides. The costumes by Sarah Laux (The Band's Visit) are wickedly funny. The choreography by Chris Bailey is unremarkable and the direction by John Rando (On the Town, Urinetown) is a bit sluggish. The New Group deserves commendation for bringing a neglected work to New York and casting it with superb singers. It’s not for everyone, but if you place a high value on great singing and are not turned off by offensive language and themes, you might enjoy it. The rather young audience tonight responded with enthusiasm. Running time: two hours 15 minutes including interimssion.

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.

Rasheeda Speaking ***

This workplace drama by Chicago playwright Joel Drake Johnson, now in previews at The New Group, is notable mainly for providing juicy roles for two fine actresses, Tonya Pinkins and Dianne Wiest, and for marking the directorial debut of Cynthia Nixon. The setting is the in-hospital office of Dr. Williams (Darren Goldstein), a surgeon who is both smug and cowardly. The two clerical jobs in the office are filled by the white Ilene (Wiest), who has been there for eight years and loves her job, and the black Jaclyn (Pinkins), who has been there for six months and does not. The doctor wants to get rid of Jaclyn for not being a team player. When Jaclyn is out for a week suffering from exposure to mysterious office toxins (racism, perhaps?), he promotes Ilene to office manager and enlists her reluctant help to find and document reasons to let Jaclyn go that will pass muster with Human Resources. He makes clear that truthfulness is not a requirement. Whether Jaclyn is really a satisfactory employee is called into question by her brusque treatment of a patient, Rose (Patricia Connolly), and her generally truculent demeanor. When she catches on to the plan to get rid of her, she fights back with mind games that threaten Ilene’s stability. The dialog is smart, but the workings of the plot are a bit repetitious and predictable. About ten minutes before the play’s actual conclusion, there is a scene that ends with the words of the title. Most of the audience thought the play had ended and acted surprised when the lights came back up for an additional scene. Since the final scene did not really add to the play’s impact, the playwright might well have ended the play one scene sooner. Although the play addresses the issue of racism, 21st century style, its various strands don’t cohere all that well. Nevertheless, I was grateful for the opportunity to enjoy such uniformly fine acting. Allen Moyer’s set looks just like many doctor’s offices I have visited and Toni-Leslie James’s costumes are apt. Aside from the problem of the false ending, Nixon’s direction is effective. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutew; no intermission.

Annapurna **

It's beginning to look like the promise that playwright Sharr White demonstrated with "The Other Place" will not be fulfilled. His next play seen in NY, "Snow Geese" at Manhattan Theatre Club, was an ambitious but unfocused family drama that made my 10 Worst List for last year. Now along comes this flawed two-hander at The New Group, starring real-life couple Karen Mullally and Nick Offerman, best-known for their roles in sitcoms -- "Will and Grace" and "Parks and Recreation," respectively. Offerman plays Ulysses, a once-successful poet and professor, now dying of emphysema and lung cancer in a messy trailer in the Colorado Rockies. Mullally is Emma, his ex-wife, who ran off with their five-year-old son Sam in the middle of the night 20 years ago and who suddenly turns up unexpectedly on his doorstep. Apprently her second marriage has also failed. This set-up sounds promising and the play begins with a few lively scenes separated by blackouts. Then, unfortunately, the scenes get longer -- much longer -- and less lively. The answer to the question of why Emma left so suddenly with their son way back when, is very gradually teased out, with much verbal padding along the way. The truth that is more or less revealed seemed to me full of logical holes which I cannot discuss without telling too much. Offerman is superb; he knows how to command a stage. Mullally is strangely restrained and a bit monotonous. The set design by Thomas A. Walsh and costumes by Ann Closs-Farley are first-rate. Bart DeLorenzo's direction was problematic for me: the tone and pace of the first few minutes suddenly turn into something quite different from the tone he has established. Running time: 95 minutes, no intermission.

Intimacy **

The previous play I saw by Thomas Bradshaw -- "Burning" in 2011 -- made my Ten Worst list for that year, so I was not looking forward to Bradshaw's new X-rated comedy at The New Group. This muddled satire about sex in suburbia has lots of nudity and simulated sex but not much point. In the first act we are presented with the sexual proclivities of three neighboring families who get together in the second act to produce a neighborhood porn film. The graphic sex is more comical than erotic. The characters are a jumble of unconvincing traits and the plot, such as it is, makes very little sense. Bradshaw's desire to shock often serves no apparent purpose; he throws in a toilet scene with sound effects and a vomit scene to up the gross-out factor. A subplot about casual racism seems almost an afterthought. To see such fine actors as Daniel Gerroll, Laura Esterman and Keith Randolph Smith involved in this evoked a mixture of admiration and pity. David Anzuelo, Austin Cauldwell, Ella Dershowitz and Dea Julien all look good with their clothes off. Derek McLane's set with a candy color backdrop and quilted walls makes good use of the extremely wide stage. Director Scott Elliott also designed the costumes. Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes including intermission.

The Jacksonian ***

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Beth Henley's bizarre Southern gothic mystery set in the Mississippi of 1964 is so over the top that it flirts dangerously with parody. Without superb acting, it might be virtually unwatchable. But what a cast The New Group has assembled! For the opportunity to see Ed Harris, Glenne Headly, Bill Pullman and Amy Madigan together on the same stage, I'll put up with a lot. They are joined by newcomer Juliet Brett. The plot revolves around the Perch family -- Bill (Harris), a dentist exiled from the family home, his difficult wife Susan (Madigan), and their troubled 16-year-old daughter Rosy (Brett). Bill is staying at the titular motel whose staff include the memorably creepy bartender Fred (Pullman) and the lusciously overripe maid Eva (Headly). We learn early on there will be a murder. The lurid action moves back and forth in time over a 7-month period. The casual racism of the time and place is never far from the surface. Walt Spangler's evocative set makes good use of the awkwardly wide stage. Ana Kuzmanic's costumes are perfection. Director Robert Falls skillfully keeps the grotesquerie within bounds. It is a puzzling play that will probably displease many, but I thought it was redeemed by the outstanding acting and high production values. Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission.

Bunty Berman Presents ***

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Ayub Khan Din's 1996 play "East Is East" is one of the funniest plays I have ever seen (rent the movie!), so I have been looking forward to his new musical, an affectionate look at Bollywood, now in previews at The New Group. This time around, he wrote the book, lyrics and, with Paul Bogaev, the music. Due to an injury that forced the lead actor to drop out, he even took over the title role. I found the show charming, but many might disagree. If you have a taste for silliness, cartoonish characters, corny jokes, ridiculous plot developments, pratfalls, sight gags and word play, you will have a good time. Bunty Berman is head of a third-rate Bombay movie studio whose success was built on its star Raj Dhawan (the hilarious Sorab Wadia), who is now long in the tooth and broad in the beam. The studio's only hope for survival is to take in as a partner a notorious gangster Shankar Dass (Alok Tewari) who wants to turn his son Chandra (Raja Burrows) into a star. Bunty's loyal personal assistant Dolly (Gayton Scott) longs for his attention. Saleem, the tea boy (Nick Choksi), is in love with the leading lady Shambervi (Lipica Shah). Dass is smitten with exotic dancer Sandra de Souza (Lyn Philistine). There is a running gag that one of the henchmen is a walking thesaurus, ever ready with an apt synonym or two.  Derek McLane's functional set is enhanced by projections by Wendall K Harrington. William Ivey Long's costumes are wonderful. The choreography by Josh Prince is hilarious. Scott Elliott's direction is fine. I laughed myself silly, but I am aware that not everyone would share my delight. Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes, including intermission.

Clive [zero stars]

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Having enjoyed The New Group's production of Jonathan Marc Sherman's play "Things We Want" directed by Ethan Hawke about five years ago, I was looking forward to seeing "Clive," Sherman's adaptation of Brecht's "Baal," directed by and starring Hawke. To say I was disappointed would be a gross understatement. Although it's only January, this is my nomination for worst play of the year -- any year. The dissolute poet in Brecht's early play has been transposed to a rock-and-roll musician with a large capacity for booze, drugs and sex. Unfortunately, as told be Sherman, his tale is an incoherent, indulgent, boring mess! About the only good thing I can say about it is that I enjoyed seeing Vincent D'Onofrio onstage. Other cast members include Brooks Ashmanskas, Stephanie Janssen, Mahira Kakkar, Zoe Kazan, Aaron Krohn, Dana Lyn and the playwright. Derek McLane's high-concept set included seven doors that double as musical instruments. Catherine Zuber's costumes are clever, which is more than I can say about the play. I would rather undergo root canal surgery than sit through this play again. Running time: one hour, 40 minutes without intermission.

The Good Mother *

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Ads for Francine Volpe's new play at The New Group describe it as a "taut psychological thriller." I wish! It's anything but taut, devoid of thrills, and psychological only in the sense that much of the dialogue is psychobabble. Larissa (Gretchen Mol) is a 33-year-old single mother with an autistic 4-year-old daughter. In a series of scenes with her goth babysitter Angus (Eric Nielsen), her truck driver date Jonathan (Darren Goldstein), her former group therapist and mentor during her teen years -- and father of Angus -- Joel (Mark Blum), and an ex-boyfriend cop Buddy (Alfredo Narciso), we see several aspects of Larissa which still fall far short of creating a coherent character. The fine cast struggles valiantly, but they have little to work with. Scott Elliott's sluggish direction only emphasizes the play's flaws. I liked the set by Derek McLane -- a tacky living room with knotty pine walls, an overstuffed sectional and lace curtains. Cynthia Rowley's costumes were fine too. Applause was tepid at best at play's end. Running time: 95 minutes, no intermission.

An Early History of Fire [zero stars]

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To say that David Rabe's first new play to be seen in New York in a decade is a disappointment is a gross understatement. While this alleged drama set in 1962 in middle America may have deep meaning for the playwright, its trite half-baked ideas and half-developed characters did not hold my interest for even five minutes. I will not force you waste your time reading about the many ways it fails. While I can't recover the time I lost on this dud, I can at least warn you away. The cast (Gordon Clapp, Erin Darke, Jonny Orsini, Devin Ratray, Dennis Staroselsky, Theo Stockman and Claire van der Bloom) and director Jo Bonney do their best to breathe some life into this New Group production,  but you can't light a fire with wet matches. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes including intermission.

Russian Transport **

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An immigrant family struggling to achieve the good life in Brooklyn is thrown into turmoil by the arrival of a relative from the old country.  No, I'm not talking about "A View from the Bridge." In this New Group production,  the family are Russian Jews living in Sheepshead Bay and the arriving relative is the wife's younger brother Boris (Morgan Spector.) Misha, the hen-pecked husband (Daniel Oreskes), runs a struggling car service. When she is not bullying her family, domineering wife Diana (Janeane Garofolo) works in a store. Son Alex (Raviv Ullman), still in high school, drives for his father, works in a mobile phone store, and deals a few drugs on the side. He is unrelentingly nasty to his younger sister Mira (Sarah Steele), who dreams of attending a summer program in Florence and must be the first 14-year-old girl in history uninterested in getting her first bra or wearing makeup. Even before Boris arrived, I was not looking forward to spending 2 1/2 hours with these unpleasant people. Diana's brother Boris is a sinisterly seductive sociopath who immediately sets out to corrupt Alex and Mira. He enlists Alex as an initially unwitting driver to transport newly-arrived Russian girls to mysterious locations. He turns on the charm with Mira and shows her his gun. (No, Freudians, an actual gun.) The family members have at each other for 2 1/2 hours, as various secrets are revealed. Playwright Erika Sheffer is not adept at telling a story clearly. At intermission, people around me were arguing about what exactly happened in the final scene of Act One. There is another scene near the end of the play that takes place so quickly and in such darkness that it wasn't clear what actually transpired. Director Scott Elliott shares some of the blame here. The actors are excellent with the exception of Garofolo, who struggles a bit with the Russian accent. Spector is an absolutely chilling Boris. Steele and Ullman are both fine, but I thought that she looked older than her brother, not three years younger. Oreskes deftly avoids stereotype. The two-level set by Derek McLane captures Diana's concept of good taste. I am surprised by the mostly positive reviews the play received. The audience was far less enthusiastic.

Burning *

Anal intercourse (straight and gay), anilingus, cunnilingus, fellatio, incestuous masturbation, pedophilia -- all are onstage in Thomas Bradshaw's new play, now in a New Group production on Theatre Row. Long after the shock and titillation wore off, the sex scenes continued until a groan was audible at the sight of yet another character disrobing. All this carnal activity is allegedly in service to a convoluted plot that takes place both in the 1980's and the present. Among the characters in New York are a 14-year-old hustler who wants to be an actor, a gay producer and actor who take him in to be their slave, a black artist who keeps his race a professional secret, his British wife, and his late cousin's sexually confused son. In Berlin we meet a neo-Nazi brother and sister, their constipated friend, and a gorgeous prostitute allegedly from Ethiopia. An occasional quotation from the Marquis de Sade is thrown in to supply philosophical ballast. And so it goes, on and on for almost three hours. It was often unclear to me whether the playwright was being satirical or in earnest. If there was a point to it all, it was lost on me. I will spare the actors mentioning their names. Scott Elliott directed.

Marie and Bruce *

Perhaps encouraged by their well-received revival of Wallace Shawn's play Aunt Dan and Lemon several years ago, The New Group has brought back this early black comedy by Shawn. Lightning did not strike twice. This absurdist look at a failed marriage was sheer agony to sit through. With no intermission, there was no chance to flee. Its 90 minutes seemed an eternity. Perhaps Shawn wanted to convey the banality of urban intellectuals and the difficulty of meaningful communication, but his fixation on bodily functions as a conversation topic was a turn-off. The central party scene exposed the foolishness of the guests and host, but seemed endless. Marisa Tomei and Frank Whaley made a brave effort to bring their characters to life, but they remained abstractions, not real people that I could care about. Scott Elliott directed. Many scholars regard Shawn as one of our most important playwrights. I don't understand why.