Smash    (9)
I went in with no expectations or even a recollection of what the play was about and left having thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the musical about a musical about Marilyn Monroe. Robyn Hurder was a convincing Marilyn, but “Karen” and “Chloe” also performed show-stopping diva numbers in the role. Best of all was Brooks Ashmanskas as the gay Broadway veteran director Nigel, who despite age and girth showed off all the hip-grinding dance moves he was giving the dancers. And they were uniformly great. The 21 numbers by Marc Shaiman, mostly diegetic, left hardly a moment to catch one’s breath, and I can’t think of one I didn’t enjoy. The supporting cast–shoutout to Krysta Rodriguez as the song-writing Tracy–were another delight. This was Broadway as entertainment, quite enough for me.

Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes    (9)
A cliche of a plot only underscores the brilliance of performance by Hugh Jackman as the horny middle-aged English professor temted/abetted by the coyly diffident Ella Beatty as his 19-year-old student in Hannah Moscovitch’s unerring play. Like much of  great art, the end left me scratching my head,  causing me to think more deeply, if confusedly, about what I had just seen. In any case, it was great theater (at the intimate Minetta Lane Theater) and the chance to watch Jackman perform in three dimensions was priceless and, after Gypsy, restorative.

Gypsy     (4)
Having never seen this classic American musical before, I can’t judge whether Audra McDonald’s portrayal of Madam Rose as an insufferably neurotic, egotistical harridan was par for the course; knowing that Ethel Merman originated the role I’m not sure that McDonald’s overmiked vocals that veered on screeching were unusual, but her operatic vibrato that seemed out of place on Broadway exaggerated the problem. She gave it her all, I will say, but all for what? I had had a hard time watching “Rose’s Turn,” her let-it-all-out finale, and put my hands over my ears to turn down the sound. I had always considered “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” a cheerfully optimistic number and “Small World” a sweet romance, but in McDonald’s hands they were songs of desperation. The other familiar number, “Together, Wherever We Go,” came across better, but only because Herbie (Daniel Burstein) and Louise (the excellent Joy Woods) were so devoid of ego they together balanced the self-centered Rose.
In short, I hated almost every minute of the production, with the notable exception of the three strippers singing “You Gotta Get a Gimmick.” The mood so lightened and I found myself smiling when Rose was nowhere to be seen. The dance numbers were fine, but they are almost a given in Broadway productions these days, and this clearly was a Broadway production. But “the great American musical”? I don’t think so.