AVID HYDE PIERCE plays an old playwright, who finds love with a young girl played by Mary Catherine Garrison, in Accent on Youth, by Samson Raphaelson, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.  

This sweet, old-fashioned 1934 comedy is light and enjoyable.  The delight in seeing a play like this is the language.  There is not a vulgar word spoken, the characters are pleasant, and one can walk out of the theatre with your ears intact.  

The cast is engaging, with Byron Jennings in a superb drunken routine, and Charles Kimbrough as a comic butler, under Daniel Sullivan's direction. I could relate to this play, as on April 17 I presented a diamond ring to my young gorgeous fiancee.

Tovah Feldshuh as Irena Photo by Carol Rosegg

A Night Like No Other

ATTEND every opening night on Broadway, shoot the curtain call, and go to the party.  Never in 30 years have I experienced an opening night like Irena's Vow, by Dan Gordon, at the Walter Kerr Theatre.  

Tovah Feldshuh, in the title role, hushed the applause, and introduced Jeannie Opdyke Smith, the daughter of Irena Gut Opdyke, a Polish Catholic young girl, who saved twelve Jews in Nazi occupied Poland.  The lady said she would answer any questions from the audience. About 15 minutes later, we were allowed to leave the theatre.  It was probably the highlight of the evening.  

The story is touching and inspirational, and the real heroine displayed astounding courage, but the play does not do her justice. Tovah Feldshuh works hard to put life into her role, but basically the play seems like a history lesson, rather than a good theatrical drama. Most of the rest of the cast is competent, under the direction of Michael Parva. Irena deserved more.

Harriet Walter as Elizabeth (left) and Janet McTeer as Mary Photo by Joan Marcus

A Royal Performance

HERE are no words to do justice to the finest night that can be spent in the theatre. Every lover of theatre must run, not walk, to buy a ticket to Mary Stuart, by Friedrich Schiller, translated by Peter Oswald, at the Broadhurst Theatre.

Two of the most brilliant actresses of the British theatre give the performance of a lifetime as the two famous Queens, Mary of Scotland (Janet McTeer), who was beheaded by Elizabeth I of England (Harriet Walter). Both will be nominated for the Tony Award, and both deserve the award. McTeer won a Tony 12 years ago for A Doll's House.

Maria Tucci, Michael Countryman, Chandler Williams, Nicholas Woodson, Michael Rudko, Brian Murray, Robert Stanton, and especially John Benjamin Hickey deserve the applause of a grateful audience, who have experienced one of the most memorable nights in living memory.

HE revival of West Side Story, book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, at the Palace Theatre, is a fine introduction to a new generation of theatergoers, who never caught the excitement of this great musical that opened over fifty years ago.  

The cast is quite good, especially Karen Olivo as Anita, under the direction of Arthur Laurents.  It's a joy to listen again to the glorious music, and beautiful songs. Joey McNeely has choreographed the dances, more or less, in the original style of Jerome Robbins.

I regret that a decision was made to have some dialogue in Spanish, and also a couple of songs, which is an injustice to Sondheim's wonderful lyrics. Translations are only necessary in Spanish speaking countries.  On Broadway, it does nothing to enhance the production, and is patently unfair to a non-Spanish speaking American audience, which has no understanding of the extended Spanish dialogue in the second act.

Marcia Gay Harden, Hope Davis, Jeff Daniels and James Gandolfini in Carnage of God Photo by Joan Marcus

Broadway’s Most Hilarious Play

NE of the most delightful evenings yet this season on Broadway has to be God of Carnage, by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.  

Four brilliant actors, Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden, under the expert direction of Matthew Warchus, give the most wonderful, comedic performance imaginable.  

Two married couples meet to discuss a fight between their two young boys, and the evening degenerates into a chaotic verbal and physical fight, in which four civilized adults turn into raging beasts.  We watch with amazement at each turn in the plot, and almost die with laughter.  

I haven't enjoyed a play this much in an eternity of theatre reviewing.

ELLINI’S La Sonnambula is a charming, melodious opera, rarely seen at the Metropolitan Opera. The new production by Mary Zimmerman is a disappointment.

The concept of staging the opera in a gloomy rehearsal studio is ridiculous. Grand Opera is a visual delight, as well as a musical delight.  This production is shabby. The chorus appears in horrible work costumes and looks like a motley crew, made worse by ripping paper and throwing clothes to end the first act.

The saving grace is that the singers are first rate.  Natalie Dessay is adorable, with a strong, powerful voice.  Michele Pertusi is a fine singer with great stage presence, and Juan Diego Florez is a handsome matinee idol, whose second act aria Tutto e sciolto was greeted with a well deserved, lengthy applause.  The orchestra was conducted by Evelino Pido and the chorus sang well, under Donald Palumbo.

Now if we could return the setting to a picturesque Swiss village with pretty costumes, the audience would leave contented.

Jane Fonda Photo by Joan Marcus

Only To See Jane Fonda

RITTEN and directed by Moises Kaufman, 33 Variations, at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, is about a musicologist (Jane Fonda), dying from a life threatening disease, who goes to Germany to do research about why Beethoven devoted many years to compose 33 variations on a waltz by Diabelli.

Diane Walsh plays parts of the variations at the piano at the side of the stage. Two other stories are presented. In one, we see Zach Grenier as Beethoven obsessed with the music, and in the other we see the daughter (Samantha Mathis) of the musicologist in an affair with a male nurse (Colin Hanks).  The play is like a fact-filled lecture, and not very exciting, unless one is a musicologist. The reason one will attend this production is to see a 71-year-old Jane Fonda return to the  stage after a 46-year absence. 

Susan Sarandon and Geoffrey Rush

This Is Indeed Absurd

CADEMICS consider Eugene Ionesco’s Exit the King, now at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, to be Theatre of the Absurd.  Ionesco is an acquired taste for most critics.

Unfortunately, I have not acquired that taste.

A 400-year-old king is dying in ninety minutes and his kingdom is collapsing. It takes the play 140 minutes to reach that death, which is 50 minutes too much long for the audience.

The redeeming value is the powerful performance of Geoffrey Rush as the king.  It is absolutely brilliant, and he is sure to be nominated for a Tony Award, and will probably win it. It's the most electrifying performance by an actor this season. Everyone must see it, but it comes at a cost.  The supporting cast of fine actors, like Susan Sarandon, Lauren Ambrose, Andrea Martin, William Sadler and Brian Hutchinson, are forced to shout the frequently repetitive, irritating dialogue, directed by Neil Armfield.

mpressionism, by Michael Jacobs, at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, is a pretentious art lesson. It is also, supposedly, a love story between a gallery owner (Joan Allen) and a photographer (Jeremy Irons).  

The fact that these two wonderful actors have not the slightest bit of chemistry between them is the fault of the playwright and the trite dialogue.  

The eight scenes move back and forth in time with the actors forced to play multiple roles.  The result is deadening. There are six other underused actors, directed by Jack O'Brien.  

Theatre audiences, who looked with eagerness to the return to the stage after many years of these two splendid actors, have been shortchanged. [The play has closed.]

T was a joy to see the 822nd performance of Rigoletto, by Verdi, at the Metropolitan Opera. The outstanding cast included Diana Damrau as Gilda. She has a magnificent voice, strong in each register and a fine actress.

Joseph Calleja was an attractive Duke of Mantua, singing the role beautifully, and Roberto Frontali was impressive in the title role.

The rest of the cast, and the chorus under the direction of Donald Palumbo, contributed to the pleasure of good, old fashioned opera presented traditionally in a production by Otto Schenk, without the imposition of a new director's modern concept.

The orchestra was in fine form, under the baton of Riccardo Frizza.

It was a most enjoyable night at the opera, and one can well understand why opera will survive for centuries when presented in a traditional manner.

VER forty years ago Hair, book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado, music by Galt MacDermot, caused a sensation on Broadway.  

At the time, I was irritated by its loud rock style music, offended by its profanity and surprised by its nudity. With the passing of time, this revival at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre seems quite innocent and naive.

Young people run around the stage and descend frequently into the audience with boundless energy and enthusiasm, with their message of peace and love. The female leads, Sasha Allen, Allison Case, Caissie Levy and Kacie Sheik, have strong, powerful voices, and the male leads, Gavin Creel, Darius Nichols, Bryce Ryness, and especially Will Swenson, are hyperactive, but appealing, under the direction of Diane Paulus.

From the opening song Aquarius until the final number Let the Sun Shine In, the music is quite enjoyable.  The fact that many audience members join the cast on stage during the finale proves that the production is a crowd pleaser.  It is definitely the best revival of the season.

EIL LABUTE writes brutal lines, laden with profanity, for many miserable characters in all his plays that I've seen. reasons to be pretty, at the Lyceum Theatre, is no exception.

The play has been modified from the version that appeared Off Broadway.  It is now more sentimental for the Broadway audience.  

It is a story of four young blue collar losers in dead end jobs, and the hopeful redemption of one of them.

Marin Ireland, Steven Pasquale, Piper Perabo and especially Thomas Sadoski, give powerful performances, under the direction of Terry Kinney.  

Broadway audiences may find the subject matter unappealing, but the opening scene of a fight between a live-in girlfriend (Ireland) and her boyfriend (Sadoski) has to be seen to be believed. They are terrific.

Arliss Howard and Ernie Hudson Photo by T. Charles Erickson

A Great Revival

AGNIFICENT acting is the norm in plays on Broadway, but the cast of Joe Turner's Come and Gone, by August Wilson, at the Belasco Theatre, exceeds our expectations.

An 11-member cast headed by Chad L. Coleman in the title role, brilliantly directed by Bartlett Sher, reveals all the depth and poetry of this play, which takes place in a boardinghouse in Pittsburgh in 1911.

In less than three hours, we know the characters intimately, and see their pain and suffering, and their hopes. Ernie Hudson and LaTanya Richardson Jackson as the man and wife who own the house, and an outstanding portrayal by Roger Robinson as an old man, who has deep insights into the sufferings of the residents in house, are greeted by thunderous applause at the curtain call.  A memorable theatrical experience.

Jonathan Cake, Matthew Broderick and Steven Weber in The Philanthropist Photo by Joan Marcus

Boring

HEATRE must be exciting and entertaining.  The Philanthropist, by Christopher Hampton, at American Airlines Theatre, is neither.  It is possibly the most boring production of a moderately intelligent and occasionally witty play, that I have seen this season.

Director David Grindley has already done two splendid productions on Broadway, so it is surprising to have to suffer two excruciating hours of pure dullness.  Matthew Broderick must take the blame in the title role.  He is on stage throughout, and is totally lacking in charm and charisma.  The rest of the cast is competent.

Carla Gugino and Pablo Schreiber Photo by Liz Lauren

Strange But Fascinating

GRIM set by Walt Spangler, accompanied by ominous music and sounds by Richard Woodbury, sets the tone for an intermissionless 100 minutes of one of the best theatrical experiences of the season.  

Desire Under the Elms, by Eugene O'Neill, at the St. James Theatre, is a tough play to enjoy, but this production, aided by a magnificent cast directed by Robert Falls, makes it one of the highlights of the Broadway season.

Carla Gugino is terrific as the lusty young wife of the elderly Brian Dennehy. Her seduction of his son, played by Pablo Schreiber, produces the most memorable erotic scenes that I can recall. The other two members of this very dysfunctional family are played by Boris McGiver and Daniel Stewart Sherman. All five give outstanding performances, but it is the lady who will receive a Tony nomination and could possibly win the award.

Funniest Play Of The Season

VERY year critics complain about the Broadway season, usually with good reason.  But why is this season different from all other seasons?  It is because we have seen the finest plays with the greatest actors.  

The Norman Conquests, by Alan Ayckburn, at the Circle in the Square Theatre, consists of three plays.  One takes place in the garden, and one in the living room, and the third in the dining room.  

They are the funniest plays on Broadway.  If you cannot afford all three, see just one, anyone, to have the most entertaining night of your life.  

The six magnificent actors, Amelia Bullmore, Jessica Hynes, Stephen Mangan, Ben Miles, Paul Ritter and Amanda Root, have already received the Outer Critics Circle Outstanding Ensemble Award (I am one of the nominators) and many more will follow.  Under the direction of Matthew Warchus, you can enjoy the happy hours in the theatre.