‘KIMBERLY AKIMBO’: Victoria Clark & Justin Cooley. Photo: Joan Marcus.

KIMBERLY AKIMBO
Book & lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire
Music by Jeanine Tesori
Directed by Jessica Stone
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street.
(212-239-6200), www.KimberlyAkimboTheMusical.com

By David NouNou

I had no idea that Kimberly Akimbo the musical was originally a 2001 play of the same name. I only knew the musical opened in 2021 Off-Broadway and was a huge success—and has now transferred to Broadway. As I was watching the show, I was mesmerized by David Lindsay-Abaire’s book and how compelling the storyline was, and thinking to myself of how the score was getting in the way of the script. When a book is so strong, the score becomes superfluous. I realize now that, in modern-day musicals, the score doesn’t propel the storyline forward as in yesteryear’s musicals, but the score now describes the characters and who and what they are. It’s the characters words with the music twisted around them that forms the score. This often makes most 21^st century scores unmemorable.

Back to the script, set in New Jersey in 1999.  It’s about a lonely 16-year-old high school girl, Kim (Victoria Clark) who suffers from a condition that causes her to age four times faster, which makes her look like 64. She is befriended by an anagram genius, Seth (Justin Cooley) who wants to work with Kimberly on the science project about her condition so that they can present to the class together.

There are also other teenagers that are fraught with their teenage angst and who wants to work with whom on various school projects. They are presented as real normal kids with their frailties but trying to figure things out for themselves. It’s the adults that are horrid with their repellent behaviors and attitudes.

Kim’s father, Buddy (Steven Boyer), is an alcoholic who is mostly repelled by her, and her mother, Patti (Alli Mauzey) is pregnant again, and hopes the second child doesn’t turn out like Kim, so she gets pregnant by a neighbor. Add to the mix, Patti’s sister, Aunt Debra (Bonnie Mulligan), who is a con artist and a convicted felon. Her aunt is ultimately Kimberly’s friend and helps Kim follow her dreams and her right to enjoy her life despite her handicap.

If you’ve seen Mr. Lindsay-Abaire’s Rabbit Hole and Good People, you have an idea of what a genius he is with words and setting up a play and Kimberly Akimbo is no exception. There are so many layers to this beautifully textured show, it has to be seen and relished. His handling of Kim and Seth is both beautiful and touching. It is nothing like the perverse Harold and Maude. That’s thanks in large part to Victoria Clark.

Although a veteran of many Broadway shows, with the part of Kim, this establishes Victoria Clark as a contender in the theatre. Her dazzling performance is sublime. You can see her as 16 when she is giddily happy and 64 when she is down. Don’t ever count her out because she makes Kimberly a winner all the way because she lives on hope.

Her counterpart, Seth (Justin Cooley), making an impressionable Broadway debut is so charming and uplifting; there is nothing creepy about their relationship but genuine love of two lost teenage souls who see each other’s beauty.

Just as she stole the show in the ill-fated, short-lived musical Head Over Heels, once you get to know Debra, you’ve got to love Bonnie Milligan. Her quirkiness makes her lovable and you forgive her inequities.

The tough pills to swallow are Buddy and Patti—not the fault of Steven Boyer and Alli Mauzey, both of whom give their all. As characters, they are just vile.

Director Jessica Stone brings sensibility to all the proceedings, especially when dealing with the teenagers, but her main focus always centers around Kim and Seth and Aunt Debra. From a personal observation, at our performance there were a lot of older teenagers who were really into the show, and it is always a thrill to see younger audiences being absorbed by what’s going on stage and not what’s on their smartphones. Kudos to all the teenagers who will discover Kimberly Akimbo when they come and see the show.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 16, 2022
Reviewed at November 15, 2022 press performance.

‘KIMBERLY AKIMBO’ (left to right): Michael Iskander, Justin Cooley, Victoria Clark, Nina White, Olivia Hardy & Fernell Hogan. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘KIMBERLY AKIMBO’ (left to right): Nina White, Michael Iskander, Fernell Hogan & Olivia Hardy. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘KIMBERLY AKIMBO’ (left to right): Victoria Clark, Justin Cooley & Steven Boyer. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘KIMBERLY AKIMBO’: Victoria Clark & Justin Cooley. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘KIMBERLY AKIMBO’: (left to right): Victoria Clark, Justin Cooley, Michael Iskander, Olivia Hardy, Nina White & Fernell Hogan.

‘KIMBERLY AKIMBO’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘KIMBERLY AKIMBO’: (left to right): Alli Mauzey, Victoria Clark & Steven Boyer. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘KIMBERLY AKIMBO’: Victoria Clark & Alli Mauzey. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘KIMBERLY AKIMBO’: Alli Mauzey. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘KIMBERLY AKIMBO’: Bonnie Milligan. Photo: Joan Marcus.

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‘FOR COLORED GIRLS’: (left to right) Stacey Sargeant, Amara Granderson, Okwui Okpokwasili, Tendayi Kuumba, Kenita R. Miller, D. Woods & Alexandria Wailes. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF
Written By Ntozake Shange
Directed & choreographed by Camille A. Brown
Through June 5, 2022
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.forcoloredgirlsbway.com

By David NouNou

The late Ntozake Shange and her play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf were both ground-breaking. Ms. Shange was only the second African-American woman to have a play produced on Broadway by 1976. The first was Lorraine Hansberry and her immortal 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun.  Ms. Shange coined the term “Choreopoem” for her play, meaning poetic monologues accompanied by dance movement and music.  It tells the stories of seven African-American women who have suffered in a sexist society.

The seven women in the play have no names except for the beautiful colors of the rainbow. They are simply known as (placed in alphabetical order): Lady in Blue (Stacey Sargeant), Lady in Brown (Tendayi Kuumba), Lady in Green (Alexis Sims), Lady in Orange (McKenzie Frye), Lady in Purple (Treshelle Edmond), Lady in Red (Kenita R. Miller) and Lady in Yellow (D. Woods), and beautiful they are.

Their stories are many: They are singular but yet they blend into each other, lyrical and yet poetic. Some have been battered but they are survivors; they have been abused by their men but have come out the other end of the rainbow stronger. They celebrate their color and their womanhood through dance, music and the joy of their lives.

The women are a cohesive unit. They are the perfect ensemble that is so intertwined, they pick up where the other leaves off. They are in sync together; it is impossible to single out one from the other; they are a beautiful rainbow team, all of whom I mentioned by name earlier. These magical performances are beautifully staged by Camille A. Brown, an actress, dancer and choreographer. Ms. Brown has used her talent and expertise injecting the show with rhythm, passion and joy. The stage is in constant motion. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf is an ode to the women in the play and the women they represent.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 27, 2022
Reviewed at April 26, 2022 press performance.

‘FOR COLORED GIRLS’: (left to right) D. Woods, Kenita R. Miller, Alexandria Wailes, Tendayi Kuumba, Okwui Okpokwasili, Amara Granderson & Stacey Sargeant. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

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GARY: A SEQUEL TO TITUS ANDRONICUS
By Taylor Mac
Directed by George C. Wolfe
Through August 4, 2019
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
212-239-6200, https://garyonbroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

One doesn’t need to be familiar with Shakespeare’s grisly tragedy Titus Andronicus to appreciate Gary, billed as a “sequel” to the epic. The show has a stellar cast and an incredible set by Santo Loquasto, and there is enough lowbrow, slapstick humor here to make the first moments of the 95 minutes pass quickly even if one hasn’t seen the show on which it is based. However, Taylor Mac’s jet-black comedy falls flat on so many levels that, despite the initial laughs, we are left scratching our heads halfway through. Other than being a star vehicle for Nathan Lane, why is Gary even on Broadway?

Set in the year 400 during the fall of the Roman Empire, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus opens with Carol (Julie White), a midwife supposedly “on the verge of death.” Shortly after she appears onstage, a mysterious liquid shoots from her hand. Is it blood? Water? Vomit? Another gross body fluid? Go figure, but it is the first of a series of repeated sight gags throughout Gary that grow increasingly tiresome.

The set is a gruesome hodgepodge featuring dead bodies and various severed limbs and other human remains all piled up. The years of bloody Roman battles are supposedly over and Gary (Nathan Lane) is a servant/clown whose job is to clean up the mess. He speaks in a cockney accent and honks a horn whenever he makes endless unfunny jokes. Helping him clean is his boss and fellow cockney Janice (Kristine Nielsen). She shows him how to insert a tube into the dead bodies to pump out the contents of the intestines and how to bend the corpses to and fro in order to release trapped gas. Of course, this is an excuse for excessive fart noises (one of the only genuinely funny moments in an otherwise dreadful evening). Gary is also hot for the corpses (he masturbates one) and in another scene, robotic soldiers, staged with “movement” created by Bill Irwin, sport metallic armor and firm erections (don’t ask). The show has fittingly creepy original music by Danny Elfman.

Gary has little to do with Titus Andronicus. Some may argue it’s a profane burlesque of the grotesque, with shades of vaudeville (hence Gary’s honking horn). Gary and Janice mostly banter and babble about power and what they would do if they ruled the world. Are they simply cleaning up the mess made from people in authority? Who knows, but one thing is certain: Taylor Mac’s narrative is dull, puerile and fails to make any real comedy out of tragedy. Like Titus Andronicus, much of Gary is written in iambic pentameter, but this is all the more confusing to anyone unfamiliar with Shakespeare’s tragedy.

Perhaps Taylor Mac is trying to make a statement about the current mess in Washington, who should clean it up and the parallels to the Rome of Titus. If so, he misses the mark. Mr. Mac has taken three minor characters from Titus Andronicus—Gary, the clown, Janice, the maid and Carol, the midwife—and attempted to create a farcical sequel to Shakespeare’s play.

 Gary is haphazardly directed by George C. Wolfe. Mr. Lane, who was absolutely brilliant last year as Roy Cohn in the Angels in America revival, is a huge disappointment as Gary. Here, Mr. Lane mostly hams it up for laughs, and he can only do so much with the paper-thin material.  Kristine Nielsen gives a far more convincing performance as Janice. Ms. Nielsen’s Janice is full of energy and she delivers dialogue with razor-sharp wit and timing. Tony Award winner Julie White has lots of spunk as midwife Carol, but her talents are mostly wasted.

With Gary, Taylor Mac attempts to mimic the absurdist sensibility of Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco. However, the jokes and visual gags here seem more like “gross-out” stuff from early John Waters films, but Mr. Waters’ shameless antics were at least funny.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 21, 2019

‘GARY: A SEQUEL TO TITUS ANDRONICUS:’ Nathan Lane. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

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‘AMERICAN SON’: (left to right) Kerry Washington, Steven Pasquale & Jeremy Jordan. Photo: Peter Cunningham

AMERICAN SON
Written by Christopher Demos-Brown
Directed by Kenny Leon
Through January 27, 2019
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.americansonplay.com

By David NouNou

Topical and timely, American Son shows the disparity, anguish and complexity of an unexplained incident involving a teenager and the intense impact on his parents as they await answers.

Set in present-day Miami, Florida at 4:00 AM on a stormy night in a police station waiting room, Kendra Connor (Kerry Washington) is anxiously waiting to get any form of news on her missing son Jamal. Kendra is being placated by Officer Paul Larkin (Jeremy Jordan) by being evasive, tolerant but ingratiating. She is desperate and often belligerent due to the lack of any real forthcoming information.

In walks Scott Connor (Steven Pasquale), an FBI agent and Kendra’s estranged husband. In no time at all Officer Larkin—thinking agent Connor is heading the case of the missing teen—divulges all the information that Kendra has been desperately asking for. Larkin berates Kendra to Connor, only to find out that Kendra is his wife and Jamal is Connor’s son as well. The triangle here is Kendra is an African-American woman with a white husband and in the middle is white Officer Larkin.

From the onset we learn that Jamal is a well-educated, polite young man who, upon his father’s insistence, will be attending West Point Academy in the fall. From this point the play tackles myriads of issues: a biracial marriage, a black boy in an all-white high school, the boy’s confusion of which world he belongs in, and the revolt of the status quo of his family life. There is also the issue of how a desperate black woman can’t get any information on her missing son, while her white husband is handed the information without even asking for it. In turn, this makes everything in Kendra and Scott’s marriage topsy-turvy, with each seeing things from their own standpoint.

Finally, Lieutenant John Stokes (Eugene Lee) comes to sort things out, only to have Scott arrested for assault and refusing to cooperate with the law for wanting information on his son. Scott is taken away and Stokes sits Kendra down and gives her the facts of the situation. Stokes is an African American himself and knows how the system works.

The exceptional performances of the four people involved raise the bar here. Kerry Washington displays a wide range of emotions, from rage and aggression to anger and submission. Her tears are genuine because what she feels is raw and real. Steven Pasquale has never been better. He plays a conflicted father—who only knows right from wrong and good and bad—but is now caught in the crossfire of a rebelling son. His outrage at the system and how it treats people is a highlight in his career. The chemistry between Ms. Washington and Mr. Pasquale is palpable because it is so real.

Jeremy Jordan is very good as the affable Officer Larkin, with nothing more to do than be ingratiating. The real scene-stealer here is Eugene Lee, as the lieutenant who indicts Connor and then tries to explain things to Kendra. Mr. Lee is top notch; there is so much strength and dignity to his performance that it solidifies the proceedings.

The proceedings may not feel all that new, but the story certainly reflects today’s grim news, and the evening of sterling performances grounds the show to sustain one’s interest. It might make some people uncomfortable, but if you are a theater lover, you should put this down as a must-see show.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 8, 2018
Reviewed at November 7, 2018 press performance.

‘AMERICAN SON’: Kerry Washington & Steven Pasquale. Photo: Peter Cunningham

‘AMERICAN SON’: (left to right) Kerry Washington, Steven Pasquale & Eugene Lee. Photo: Peter Cunningham.

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‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: (left to right) Robin de Jesus, Michael Benjamin Washington, Andrew Rannells & Jim Parsons. Photo: Joan Marcus

THE BOYS IN THE BAND
Written by Mart Crowley
Directed by Joe Mantello
Through August 11, 2018
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
(212) 239-6200, http://boysintheband.com/

By Scott Harrah

My first encounter with Mart Crowley’s The Boys in the Band was back in college, decades after it was originally produced in 1968. I read the play one evening in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down because I’d never read anything that had so many gay-male characters, speaking in such crisp, rapid-fire bitchy dialogue.  As engrossing as the play was to me in my early 20s, I also found it completely offensive, particularly the lead character Michael, a reprehensible man who is full of self-loathing and makes racist and anti-Semitic comments and jokes to his friends. Seeing the show in its first-ever Broadway revival, with a stellar cast under Joe Mantello’s tight direction, has taken much of the insolent sting out of Mr. Crowley’s classic.

It’s still a flawed play, dated and inherently off-putting by 21^st century standards, but if one looks beyond the now “politically incorrect” content, the show remains a curious masterpiece, and was groundbreaking for being the first drama to show a microcosm of the gay-male subculture. Before Boys, gay men were mostly portrayed in films for comic relief as effeminate, stereotypical characters (hairdressers, florists, interior designers, etc.). As a vehicle for Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Robin de Jesus (all openly gay, by the way) and others, this ebullient revival is certainly an event. For millennials and anyone too young to remember the dark days of gay life before and after Stonewall and the horror of the AIDS pandemic, it is an historical reminder of how far gay men have progressed.

The plot revolves around Michael (Jim Parsons), an unemployed writer who somehow can afford a posh, two-level Upper East Side Manhattan apartment (David Zinn’s scenic design is gorgeous, but seems too modern for the 1960s). Michael is a high-strung, well-educated man from the South and was raised in an affluent Catholic family. As the story opens, he’s preparing to host a 32^nd birthday party for his friend Harold (Zachary Quinto), a man he derisively refers to as a “pock-marked Jew.” His friend Donald (Matt Bomer), an easygoing “underachiever,” arrives after a canceled session with his therapist and is helping Michael with party preparations. The phone rings and Michael learns his supposedly straight college roommate from Georgetown, Alan (Brian Hutchison), is in tears and desperately needs to see him. Michael hesitantly invites his old friend over.

Guests start arriving. There is Emory (Robin de Jesus), the swishy interior decorator; “Cowboy” (Charlie Carver), a mentally vapid, pretty-boy blond male hustler and Emory’s “birthday present” for Harold; Hank (Tuc Watkins), a schoolteacher in the process of divorcing his wife; Hank’s lover, Larry (Andrew Rannells), a fashion photographer with monogamy issues; and Bernard (Michael Benjamin Washington), a bookstore clerk, the only African-American in the group and the butt of many cruel, unfunny racist jokes and “n” word slurs by Michael.

The play has been referred to as an anachronistic “Auntie Tom” story for gays because it depicts gay men as victims of both society and their own self-abasement.  Granted, Boys was written in an era when most gay men had no choice but to stay in the closet, but have supposedly close friends (gay or straight) of any time period ever been so vicious to each other? Then again, the premise of friends being catty to each other is the foundation of all the puerile, sophomoric TV reality shows nowadays, so in that sense The Boys in the Band was decades ahead of its time.

As the drinks flow, the guys’ true feelings come out and one of the narrative highlights is a “truth” game and Michael insists that each guest pick up the telephone and call someone from the past or present to proclaim their love. Painful secrets and pathos are revealed with each telephone call, but discussing them further would spoil much of the story.

Joe Mantello directs the amazing ensemble of actors beautifully, but the biggest disappointment is Jim Parsons as Michael. Mr. Parsons, a TV superstar in his own right as nerdy genius Sheldon Cooper on the megahit series “The Big Bang Theory,” is no stranger to the Broadway stage, appearing in everything from winning revivals of Harvey and The Normal Heart to the lead in An Act of God. Unfortunately, Mr. Parsons is miscast as Michael, because he exudes too much charisma and likability for the despicable character of Michael. Michael is a man who says mean-spirited, repulsive things like “Oh, you really gotta figger, it’s tough to be a n****r, but it’s tougher to be a Jew” and self-deprecating zingers such as “You show me a happy homosexual and I’ll show you a gay corpse.”  However, Mr. Parsons is too charming, guileless and—dare I say it?—too much like TV’s Sheldon Cooper when he should simply be vile. As Harold himself says, “Michael doesn’t have charm. He has counter-charm.”

Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Charlie Carver, Robin de Jesus, Brian Hutchison, Michael Benjamin Washington and Tuc Watkins are all outstanding. This production’s biggest standout is Zachary Quinto as Harold. Mr. Quinto, first known for playing Spock in several Star Trek film sequels, is also a Broadway stage veteran, but here he gives one of his most memorable live performances ever. Although Mr. Quinto is perhaps too handsome for the role of Harold, he is nonetheless a revelation of wit and venom in his tinted glasses and outrageous mod 1960s garb, delivering his acerbic lines with zeal. However, in this case, he would have had greater impact on the show had he played the character of Michael. One can imagine how great he might have been in the role. Perhaps he might have evened out this production a bit and given Michael the hateful edge that’s necessary for the part.

Some have said that, without The Boys in the Band, there would never have been Angels in America and the countless gay-themed plays that followed, such as Terrence McNally’s Love! Valour! Compassion! Love it or dismiss it, Mart Crowley’s 50-year-old drama shows the dark, unsettling roots of LGBT life in the 1960s, and there is certainly a lot to ponder with these complicated “boys” back in town on the Broadway stage.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published May 31, 2018

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: Jim Parsons (left) & Zachary Quinto. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: Jim Parsons & Matt Bomer. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’:Zachary Quinto & Charlie Carver. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: Matt Bomer (left) & Jim Parsons. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: The cast facing Brian Hutchison. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: (left to right) Tuc Watkins, Michael Benjamin Washington & Matt Bomer. Photo: Joan Marcus

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‘METEOR SHOWER’: Amy Schumer stars in this disappointing ‘comedy’ by Steve Martin. Photo: Matthew Murphy

METEOR SHOWER
Written by Steve Martin
Directed by Jerry Zaks
Through January 21, 2018
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.meteoronbroadway.com

By David NouNou

Thank God the show has star power. If it wasn’t for that, there isn’t a single reason why anyone would want to see this wisp of a marginal “comedy.” Even if you are a Steve Martin fan, you’ll find this 80-minute babble fest as a head-scratcher and ask “did he really write this”? You have to really stretch to find a plot here. Other than one-liners strung together, you’ll be grateful that it is only 80 minutes long.

Set in 1993 in Ojai, California, Corky (Amy Schumer) and Norm (Jeremy Shamos) are awaiting the arrival of their guests Gerald (Keegan-Michael Key) and Laura (the wonderful Laura Benanti—whom they never met before—for cocktails to watch a meteor shower. Corky and Norm are the boring couple and Gerald and Laura are the aggressive couple who are going to stir things up between Corky and Norm or as they say “bring them down.” That is the entire plot of the show.

What happens in the ensuing 80 minutes is a lot of psychobabble that was big in the 1990s, getting in touch with your feelings and apologizing to each other for not respecting that feelings were hurt. The gimmick here is that they do the same scene with four different endings. Each time Corky and Norm advance their timidity until they overpower Gerald and Laura. Another way of looking at this is that Gerald and Laura are not real and only the invention of Corky and Norm fantasizing about finding themselves through other people by finding their strengths and weaknesses during a meteor shower. Wow, they had a lot of free time in Ojai to delve into such earth-shattering problems.

Amy Shumer has a larger-than-life persona. I give her credit for wanting to stretch her acting chops, but the poor thing has nothing to bite on to make her character be realistic. Keegan-Michael Key has played this role of the belligerent narcissist with better material in his award- winning Comedy Central show “Key and Poole.” Jeremy Shamos strains for credibility. The lone survivor is Laura Benanti and is she luscious when she is seducing not only the people on stage but the audience as well.

Published December 7, 2017

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‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: Gideon Glick, Rebecca Naomi Jones & Lindsay Mendez. Photo: Joan Marcus

SIGNIFICANT OTHER
Written by Joshua Harmon
Directed by Trip Cullman
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.SignificantOtherBroadway.com

By David NouNou

My God,  present-day millennial gay dating is fraught with so many obstacles and so much angst and pressure, it’s a wonder Jordan Berman, the show’s lead, comes out of it alive. I thought it was tough in the 1970s and 1980s navigating through one-night stands, but it was a breeze compared to what poor Jordan has to go through. What with having to see his three BFFs getting married one at a time and attending their engagements and bridal showers, it’s a wonder he has any time to go out and find a date for himself. When he does land a date, it’s with a coworker who may or may not be gay. Let’s also not forget the pressures one has to endure with social media.

Basically that is the plot of Significant Other. It is a harmless comedy that tries to show a gay 29- year-old, who is good-looking, fun, life of the party. Jordan Berman (Gideon Glick) sees his three BFFs Kiki (Sas Goldberg). Vanessa (Rebecca Naomi Jones) and his closest, Laura (Lindsay Mendez), getting married off and with each loss, he becomes more morose and sinks into a deeper funk.

The three BFFs: Kiki, the Jewish girl; Vanessa, the black girl; and Laura, the white girl are not so much as real characters as they are stereotypical TV sitcom characters; so the actresses that are playing them, Ms. Goldberg, Ms. Jones, and Ms. Mendez respectively do their best to define these roles. In the lesser male roles, playing multiple parts each: John Behlmann (Will, the man crush, Conrad/Tony) and Luke Smith (Zach/Evan/Roger) both play their characters with distinct personalities and come off more favorably.

Which brings us to the hardest part, Jordan Berman, who becomes a buzzkill by the end of the play. As each friend gets married, he becomes more isolated and obsesses on his fellow worker, Will, which makes him even more pitiful than pitiable. He leaves these long-winded, ridiculous messages on his friend’s voicemails, who don’t pick up when he calls, throws tantrums, and becomes needier, as he sinks deeper into his downward spiral. The sad part is as each of his friends gets married and moves on, Jordan just stays in his place and clings to the past. Instead of going out and trying to meet someone, he just wallows in his loneliness. Mr. Glick skillfully changes moods like a chameleon, which is what is demanded of him, and makes the part believable.

There are funny and touching moments in Significant Other, especially the ones with his loving grandmother, Helene (the wonderful Barbara Barrie). She brings a lot of heart to the obvious Nana role. Thanks to Trip Cullman’s fast-paced, breezy and inventive direction, he keeps this otherwise obvious fluff story afloat.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 8, 2017
Reviewed at press performance on March 7, 2017

“SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: Gideon Glick, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Sas Goldberg & Lindsay Mendez. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: (left to right) Sas Goldberg, Lindsay Mendez, Rebecca Naomi Jones & Gideon Glick. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: (left to right) Luke Smith, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Gideon Glick, Sas Goldberg & John Behlmann. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: Lindsay Mendez & Gideon Glick. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: Barbara Barrie & Gideon Glick. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: John Behlmann & Gideon Glick. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: Gideon Glick. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: John Behlmann & Lindsay Mendez. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: Gideon Glick. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: Barbara Barrie. Photo: Joan Marcus

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‘LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES’: Janet McTeer & Liev Schreiber. Photo: Joan Marcus

LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES
Written by Christopher Hampton
Directed by Josie Rourke
Through January 22, 2017
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.LiaisonsBroadway.com

By David NouNou

Seeing Les Liaisons Dangereuses for the third time, I marveled at how well written and crafted a play it is. Granted, productions can vary, casts can give different interpretations, and weak directors misguide the show but this play about love, passion, deceit, seduction, deception, lust and much more, all set in Paris and the countryside in the 1780s, is a marvel to behold.

The enjoyment of the play is how the two main characters manipulate themselves, each other and the people that cross their paths. Needless to say the victims are virtually all annihilated. Le Vicomte de Valmont (Liev Schreiber) and La Marquise de Merteuil (Janet McTeer) are the two principles who joust and parry in this lethal game of love and conquest with other people’s lives. They were once lovers; now they are friends who constantly challenge each other on whom are they going to conquer next and to what degree is that person going to suffer.

The three lives that are going to be affected include Madame de Tourvel (Birgitte Hjort Sorensen), a married, virtuous woman who is staying with Valmont’s aunt, Madame de Rosemonde (Mary Beth Peil). Valmont truly loves Madame de Tourvel but will ultimately seduce and destroy her. Cecile Volanges (Elena Kampouris) is a girl of 15 out of the convent, and daughter of the Marquise’s cousin, whom she forces Valmont to seduce. The third being Le Chevalier Danceny (Raffi Barsoumian), who is in love with Cecile, but the Marquise decides to dally with him to thwart off and renege on her promise to Valmont.

Liev Schreiber and Janet McTeer are both very good but they don’t strike the right chord together. They lack the sting the two need that causes all this devastation around them and that comes from faulty direction. The reason for this disconnect between the two, although Mr. Schreiber makes a good Valmont, is he is too good looking for any woman to resist in the 1780s or 2016. He wouldn’t have to try very hard to seduce any woman; she wouldn’t be able to resist him. He lacks the smarminess and lechery that his predecessors had. Ms. McTeer lacks the villainess the character desperately needs.

This all comes under the heading of faulty direction by Josie Rourke. A stronger director could have corrected these minor infractions and made it into a much stronger production. In the supporting roles, Mary Beth Peil and Birgitte Hjort Sorensen are the standouts.

Despite the minor flaws I mentioned, I strongly recommend Les Liaisons Dangereuses if you are in the mood for an evening of seduction and deception. Who wouldn’t want to see Liev Schreiber and Janet McTeer live on stage?

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 4, 2016
Reviewed at press performance on November 3, 2016

‘LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES’: Janet McTeer. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES’: Liev Schreiber. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES’: Birgitte Hjort Sorensen & Liev Schreiber. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES’: Liev Schreiber & Elena Kampouris. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES’: Liev Schreiber & Janet McTeer. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘LES LIAISON DANGEREUSES’: Mary Beth Peil & Birgitte Hjort Sorensen. Photo: Joan Marcus

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‘AN ACT OF GOD’: Sean Hayes. Photo: Jim Cox

AN ACT OF GOD
Written by David Javerbaum
Directed by Joe Mantello
Through September 4, 2016
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.AnActOfGod.com

By Scott Harrah

God returns to Broadway in this hit show from last summer, appearing in the 21^st century to give us His new version of the Ten Commandments. He’s not in the form of a burning bush, but this time around he’s in the body of Emmy Award winner Sean Hayes, with mostly heavenly results.

Mr. Hayes, Jack McFarland of “Will and Grace” fame, reprises the role originated by “Big Bang Theory” star Jim Parsons in 2015. Mr. Hayes, who played God earlier this year in the Los Angeles and San Francisco productions, brings his Almighty touch to New York. Anyone who saw Mr. Parsons do the role will immediately make comparisons about Mr. Hayes’ portrayal. While Mr. Parsons’ God was more droll, ingenious and deadpan, Mr. Hayes gives a fresh, snarky take on the Supreme Being. Sean Hayes as God is more sarcastic, delivers the dialogue with more of an edge and, well, does at times seem like Jack McFarland as our Heavenly Father, but that’s not a problem at all if one is a “Will and Grace” fan.

Naturally, the script has been updated slightly for 2016. There are now jokes about Hamilton and Donald Trump (no need to spoil anything with punch lines, but there are enough new tweaks to make the show worth a second look, even if you caught it last year with Jim Parsons).

We know that God is omnipotent and omnificent created the world in six days and can be merciful. We know He can be full of wrath, vengeful, jealous, unjust and downright cantankerous. We now know that on good days He also has a sense of humor.

Besides Mr. Hayes, the other true star is the clever script by David Javerbaum (13-time Emmy Award-winning former head writer and executive producer of “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart), all based “on the memoir of God.”

Whether you’ve seen Sean Hayes as Jack in “Will and Grace” or caught his Broadway debut back in 2011 opposite Kristin Chenoweth in Promises, Promises, you’ve never seen him quite like this.  Now, in this 90 minute monologue, he shows us God’s duality, the good side of Him and the one who is skeptical of mankind’s daily troubles. He is vain and does not concern Himself in sports, so we should stop praying to Him for our favorite team, Mr. Hayes shows us God in all of his moods. While Mr. Hayes primarily plays things for laughs (and gets them), he can be poignant in the right places, such as when he announces the 8^th commandment, “To Honor Thy Children.” Suddenly, this smart-mouthed God shows he has a compassionate side, too.

God has two engaging assistants: The questioning angel Michael (David Josefsberg) and the servicing angel Gabriel (James Gleason). The set by Scott Pask and lighting by Hugh Vanstone is sparse but effective. As he once did for Bette Midler in I’ll Eat You Last (which played the Booth back in 2013), Joe Mantello has a fine gift for extracting the best from his actors who engage in monologues.

Now here’s a commandment: Thou must now get to the Booth Theatre and see Sean Hayes as God.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 6, 2016
Reviewed at press performance on June 4, 2016

‘AN ACT OF GOD’: James Gleason, Sean Hayes & David Josefsberg. Photo: Jim Cox

‘AN ACT OF GOD’: Sean Hayes. Photo: Jim Cox

‘AN ACT OF GOD’: James Gleason, Sean Hayes & David Josefsberg. Photo: Jim Cox

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‘HUGHIE’: Frank Wood (left) & Forest Whitaker. Photo: Marc Brenner

HUGHIE
By Eugene O’Neill
Directed by Michael Grandage
Through March 27, 2016
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.HughieBroadway.com

By David NouNou

In all my years of writing, the thing I always found to be the hardest was to criticize a most honorable actor/movie star. I have admired Forest Whitaker for a long time. I first noticed him as a standout in Good Morning Vietnam, then Bird, The Crying Game, The Butler (robbed of an Oscar nomination), and, of course, his Oscar-winning role in The Last King of Scotland. He is an incredible actor to watch and so it pains me to say he is making his Broadway debut in Hughie, a non-existent Eugene O’Neill play and his interpretation of the beleaguered character Erie Smith is all wrong. To be sure, Mr. Whitaker is giving an earnest performance, but unfortunately it is a misplaced one.

Erie Smith is a lost soul. He is a drunken gambler who on this particular 1928 night happens to be sober and is returning to his hotel room. Also on this night he meets the new night clerk (the wonderful Frank Wood). The topic of choice by Erie is the former night clerk, the now deceased Hughie. Erie is trying to engage the night clerk with stories of his lucky halcyon days and anecdotes about Hughie. For Erie is afraid of the outside due to his debts, and afraid to go up to his room and be left alone with his demons. His safe haven is the dilapidated hotel lobby.

That’s the play, a 60-minute monologue by Erie prattling on about what he imagines to have been his glory days. Erie has to be full of bravado and has to have a certain charm to be likable. Mr. Whitaker has the charm but has chosen (or maybe it is a joint decision by him and the director Michael Grandage) to lose all of Erie’s bravado and play him as a schlemiel. Considering there is no plot or point to this play, the bravado has to be an essential part of the show, for without it the show becomes a big snooze.

The set by Christopher Orem, a decaying hotel lobby, is a piece of art and the ghostly lighting by Neil Austin is a vision. The expressionless, almost silent night clerk, Frank Wood, is as otherworldly as the set and the lighting and just as effective. Although it is not intentional, the three conspire to envelop and swallow up Erie/Forest Whitaker as if he never existed.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 3, 2016
Reviewed at press performance on March 2, 2016

‘HUGHIE’: Frank Wood & Forest Whitaker. Photo: Marc Brenner

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