The Nance ***

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All praise to Douglas Carter Beane for creating Chauncey Miles, a role that Nathan Lane was born to play. He is a complex character -- a homosexual who plays a flamboyant gay stereotype in burlesque, but who finds drag demeaning, whose politics are arch-conservative, whose preferred sex is a romp in the park or a pickup at the Automat in Greenwich Village, but who, surprisingly, attracts the love of Ned (Jonny Orsini), an young innocent new to the big city. A pre-election vice crackdown in 1937 puts both his livelihood and his lifestyle in jeopardy. Beame's clever concept is to alternate scenes of Chauncey's personal life with burlesque routines and backstage scenes. The burlesque sketches with his stage partner Efram (the excellent Louis J. Stadlen) are hoary but still hilarious. The three strippers, Sylvie, Joan and Carmen (Cady Huffman, Jenni Barber and Andrea Burns) are the funniest to tread the boards since "Gypsy." The rapid alternation of short scenes in the first act works like clockwork. The second act does not fare as well. The level of inventiveness is not as high, the focus gets a little blurry, and the ending is peculiar and abrupt. For Lane fans, his performance makes the play a "must-see" despite the flaws. Orsini runs the gamut from wooden to inspired; he certainly shines in the obligatory nude scene. John Lee Beatty's set design is effective and Ann Roth's costumes are evocative. Director Jack O'Brien's work is mostly fine. I wish the second act were better, but I am still very glad that I saw the play. This Lincoln Center Theater production at the Lyceum is still in previews as I write this. Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes including intermission.

The Big Knife **

After the success of the recent revivals of "Awake and Sing!" and "Golden Boy," it must have seemed like a good idea for Roundabout Theatre to revive another Clifford Odets play. Unfortunately, it wasn't -- at least not this minor work set in Hollywood in 1948. Charlie Castle (Bobby Cannavale) is a disillusioned leading man whom  studio head Marcus Hoff (Richard Kind) is determined to get to sign a 12-year contract by whatever means necessary. Charlie's idealistic wife Marion (Marin Ireland) threatens to divorce him if he signs. Their screenwriter friend Hank Teagle (C.J. Wilson), who is going back to New York to write a novel about Tinseltown, hopes Marion will leave Charlie and come with him. We also meet Buddy Bliss (Joey Slotnick), the PR man who took the rap and served time for an auto accident that Charlie was responsible for, his unsatisfied wife Connie (Ana Reeder) who has slept with Charlie occasionally, Dixie Evans (Rachel Brosnahan), the ingenue who was in the car with Charlie when the accident occurred and whose silence the studio has bought, the aptly named Smiley Coy (Reg Rogers), Hoff's right-hand man, Charlie's agent Nat Danziger (Chip Zien), gossip columnist Patty Benedict (Brenda Wehle) and the butler Russell (Billy Eugene Jones). While I have much admired Cannavale and Ireland on other occasions, I found them inadequate here. In their defense, their roles are less interesting than the supporting characters, up to and including the butler. The play springs briefly to life in the final scene, but by then it is far too late to care. The dialog is overwrought, the characters are underwritten and the production is undercooked, all adding up to a long tedious evening. Doug Hughes' direction shows no improvement over the mess he made out of "Enemy of the People" last year. On the plus side, John Lee Beatty's set design is superb and Catherine Zuber's costumes are wonderful. If the trite plot really interests you, you can save a lot of money by renting the film version with such Hollywood luminaries as Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen, Rod Steiger, Shelley Winters, Ilka Chase and Everett Sloane. Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes, including intermission.

Kinky Boots ****

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The industrial decline of Britain has been a promising topic for movies that were then turned into musicals. In 1997 we got "The Full Monty," in 2000 along came "Billy Elliot." In 2005 a lesser known film, "Kinky Boots," developed mainly as a vehicle for the talented Chiwetel Ejiofor, arrived on the screen. Despite a mixed reception from American critics, it became a cult film in some circles. Now, with music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper, a book by Harvey Fierstein and direction and choreography by Jerry Mitchell, "Kinky Boots" has arrived on Broadway. The reputation of its creators and the buzz from the sold-out Chicago run have raised expectations very high, perhaps too high. Although I enjoyed the show thoroughly, I will confess that it did not quite live up to all the hype. The fine cast is led by Stark Sands as Charlie Price, the young man who is suddenly burdened with responsibility for the family's moribund shoe factory, and Billy Porter as Lola (a/k/a Simon), the black drag queen who inspires him to replace the factory's men's dress shoe line with a niche product -- glamorous boots for transvestites. There are problems along the way with Charlie's unsupportive fiancee, homophobic employees, financial difficulties and the self-doubt that Charlie and Lola share. In addition to a strong cast that includes The Angels, Lola's six back-up drag performers, there is a terrific factory set by David Rockwell and marvelous costumes by Gregg Barnes. The book is witty, but the score is merely serviceable and the lyrics rarely rise above the banal. There is one touching number "I'm Not My Father's Son," during which Charlie and Lola/Simon bond. The choreography of the first act finale is wonderfully inventive, with clever use of conveyer belts  and other factory equipment. The show's closing number is also a winner, with everyone donning the kinky boots for a blowout finale. Although not everything was as fantastic as I had hoped, these two numbers went a long way to winning me over. I left with a big smile. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes including intermission.

Buyer and Cellar ****

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Jonathan Tolins' one-person comedy in previews at the Rattlestick Theater is a guilty pleasure. It's sheer fluff, but what delightful fluff. The premise is so wacky that I just gave into it to see where it would lead: a certain superstar, whose first name is Barbra, has built an underground mall beneath the barn on her Malibu estate to house the many possessions she has acquired over the years. She likes to visit her stash, but doesn't like to be alone, so she hires an unemployed actor, Alex More, to impersonate a salesperson and be on call for her visits. Luckily for us, Alex is played by the talented Michael Urie, who also portrays Alex's cynical screenwriter boyfriend Barry, Barbra, her personal assistant Sharon and hubby James Brolin. A series of scenes in which Barbra haggles to buy a doll (which she of course already owns) is hilarious. Will Alex ever be invited upstairs to see her home? Will Barbra ever play Mama Rose on film? If you are a fan of divas in general or Barbra in particular, or a Urie fan or a lover of musicals or an unemployed actor or all of the above, you will have a good time. Andrew Boyce's simple set is greatly enhanced by Eric Southern's excellent lighting and Alex Koch's projections. Director Stephen Brackett might want to consider trimming a few minutes. Running time: 90 minutes without intermission.

The Assembled Parties **

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Richard Greenberg's family chronicle, now in previews at MTC's Friedman Theatre, introduces us to a highly assimilated Jewish family comfortably ensconced in their 14-room Central Park West apartment on Christmas Day 1980. Julie (Jessica Hecht), her husband Ben (Jonathan Walker) and their two sons, Scotty, 24, (Jake Silbermann) and Timmy, 4, (Alex Dreier) are joined for the holiday dinner by Ben's sister Faye (Judith Light), her husband Mort (Mark Blum) and their 30-year old daughter Shelley (Lauren Blumenfeld). The only non-family member present is Jeff (Jeremy Shamos), Scotty's college friend, visiting for the first time. Julie was a movie actress before marriage. Faye married downward after getting pregnant. Her daughter appears to be at the low end of the IQ range. Julie and Ben joke that Scotty will be president some day. Jeff falls in love with their life. A necklace of possibly genuine rubies owned by Faye and Ben's mother plays an important role in the plot. Act Two takes place 20 years later. Reality has intervened. The survivors gather for a smaller, sadder Christmas dinner. On the plus side, there are juicy roles for three fine actors: Hecht, Light and Shamos. They all shine, although I found Hecht a little too mannered at times. There are many witty lines for them to deliver. Another big plus is Santo Loquasto's amazing revolving set which includes most of the rooms in the apartment. Jane Greenwood's costumes are first-rate too. The play's negatives include a few plot points that make very little sense, a sluggish pace in the first act and a few roles that are underwritten. As I write this, there are over 3 weeks left before opening night. Perhaps director Lynne Meadow will tighten things up by then. As it stands now, there are many entertaining moments and a few touching ones, but it doesn't add up to a lot. Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes, including intermission.

Breakfast at Tiffany's *

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For me, the most interesting part of this production takes place before it begins: huge photographs of New York in the 1940's and wartime propaganda posters are projected on the main panel of the set. Even this is muddled though -- instead of projecting them on a plain background where they could be clearly seen, they are superimposed on a projection of the Manhattan skyline with glass towers not built until decades later. I'm afraid it's downhill from there. Richard Greenberg's adaptation hews much more closely to Capote's novella than the sanitized Hollywood film did, but he includes long stretches of narration that quickly become tiresome. The first act moves at a snail's pace. Neither Emilia Clarke as Holly nor Cory Michael Smith as Fred has much charisma, although (gratuitous nudity alert!) they do look nice together in a bathtub. George Wendt is an understated Joe Bell, the bartender, but the rest of the cast perform much too broadly. Things improve in the second act, but by then it's too late to save the day. Derek McLane's scenic design morphs effortlessly from one setting to the next and Colleen Atwood's costumes are appropriate. Sean Mathias's direction seemed muddled. Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes, including intermission.

The Mound Builders **

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Allegedly Lanford Wilson named this play as his personal favorite. Judging from the current revival at Signature Theatre, it is difficult to understand why. During the lengthy first act, we meet August Howe (David Conrad), a famous professor who is conducting an archeological dig in 1975 in southern Illinois on the site of a vanished pre-Columbian culture. As the play's framing device, Howe is recording his notes on the disastrous events of the previous summer for his unseen secretary to transcribe. His comments are interspersed with slides photographed by his wife. The dig is a race against time, because the site is soon to be inundated and obliterated by a new dam and interstate highway. He shares a house at the site with his wife Cynthia (Janie Brookshire), their daughter Kirsten (Rachel Resheff), his colleague Dr. Dan Loggins (Zachary Booth) and his pregnant wife Jean (Lisa Joyce) who is on leave from her job as a gynecologist and who, as a child, had a nervous breakdown after winning the national spelling bee. They are frequently visited by Chad Jasker (Will Rogers), the son of the site's owner, who has dollar signs in his eyes anticipating the wealth that will be generated by the upcoming construction. Jasker is also sleeping with one of the wives and lusting after the other -- and possibly her husband too, which would be more plausible if Rogers displayed a scintilla of sex appeal and didn't come across as the village idiot. This motley crew is suddenly augmented by the arrival of August's sister D.K. (Danielle Skraastad), a former novelist and present addict. As the lady next to me aptly remarked: "She must be a visitor from a more interesting play." In the second act, the underlying conflicts erupt tragically, but not without leaving time for several lyrical speeches. One does not have to dig very deep to unearth a slew of metaphors about society, academic hubris, greed and the high cost of failure to focus on the people closest to you. The actors do not seem to have an affinity for Wilson's language and Jo Bonney's direction fails to keep them all on the same page. Neil Patel's simple set is evocative and Theresa Squire's costumes are fine. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes including intermission.