NY Theater Spring ’25

Dead Outlaw   (9)
An outrageous true story of a mummy brought to life by a superb ensemble cast and a catchy country rock score played live onstage. The stagecraft was everything, as each excellent actor rotated through a variety of roles at a breakneck pace that drew you in and, amazingly, made you care. Andrew Durand was good as the not-so-good outlaw but more impressive as the mummy; bandleader Jeb Brown was a commanding presence; and Julia Knitel, the only female, was a treat.

Pirates of Penzance Musical  (8)
A totally fun take on a classic G&S operetta, with everyone having a hoot, most notably Ramin Karimloo as the Pirate King and David Hyde Pierce as Major-General Stanley. The transfer to a New Orleans locale contributes to a sloppy, less satisfying ending, but any who quibble about messing with the original shouldn’t bother coming to this production.

Maybe Happy Ending   (7)
A cute simple love story with elegantly futuristic staging. On the plus side, lyrics and dialogue were easy to understand and the plot, until the ending, was easy to follow.  The technological gap between HelperBot 3 (Darren Criss, excellent) and HelperBot 5 (Helen Shen, also) seemed enormous, but nothing that love couldn’t bridge.

John Proctor is the Villain     (7)
A Me-Too Era take on Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, as studied by a group of Georgia high-schoolers under the tutelage of John Proctor – I mean Mr. Smith. How the analogy fit, or didn’t, gave me a lot to think about, having re-read the play the day before . The problems, undoubtedly related, were that too often I couldn’t understand the dialogue (despite the audience laughter after lines I missed), and only four of the seven students were played by good actors (as defined by the comfort and enjoyment level I had when they were in the spotlight). There was also a plethora of 2018 pop culture references that I recognized but didn’t resonate with–Lorde, Twilight, Taylor Swift, Beyonce–and an ending that left me cold rather than exhilarated. Judging from my wife’s reaction, I’d say this was a play written by, about and for women. For me, the high point was re-reading The Crucible.

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.

The Last Laugh    (7)
A thoroughly enjoyable riff on British music-hall comedy, familiar to me from the Benny Hill TV show, imported from the Edinburgh Festival to Brits on Broadway at 59E59. Three aging comedians with different trademark styles exchange reminiscences, witticisms and bon mots in the final dressing room, adding a serious twist of triste to their routines.