JOHN-ANDREW MORRISON TO JOIN JANE KRAKOWSKI IN ‘OH, MARY!’ OCT. 14, 2025

NEW YORK — Producers Kevin McCollum & Lucas McMahon and Mike Lavoie & Carlee Briglia announced today that Grammy and Emmy Award nominee Cheyenne Jackson and Tony Award nominee John-Andrew Morrison will join the cast of the Tony Award-winning hit comedy Oh, Mary!, beginning October 14, 2025. Jackson will play ‘Mary’s Teacher’ and Morrison will play ‘Mary’s Husband’, joining Tony Award winner Jane Krakowski as ‘Mary Todd Lincoln’ for a limited eight-week engagement through December 7, 2025.

Written by 2025 Tony Award-winner Cole Escola and directed by 2025 Tony Award winner Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary! opened on Broadway on July 11, 2024 at the Lyceum Theatre, where it became the first show in the theater’s 121-year history to gross more than $1,000,000 in a single week. Oh, Mary! has since broken its own box office record twelve times, became the first show of the 2024-25 Broadway season to recoup its investment and won two 2025 Tony Awards. Originally meant to be a limited 12-week Broadway engagement, tickets for Oh, Mary! are now on sale through July 5, 2026.

The current cast of Oh, Mary! includes Jinkx Monsoon as ‘Mary Todd Lincoln,’ Jenn Harris as ‘Mary’s Chaperone,’ Martin Landry as ‘Mary’s Husband’s Assistant/Kyle,’ Kumail Nanjiani as ‘Mary’s Husband’ and Michael Urie as ‘Mary’s Teacher. Julian Manjerico, Jackie Sanders, and Sean Peter Forte complete the company. Harris will remain with the cast alongside Krakowski, Jackson, and Morrison, and Landry will play ‘Mary’s Husband’ until original company member Tony Macht returns on November 18, 2025. As previously announced, Monsoon, Nanjiani and Urie will play their final performances on September 28, 2025. From Tuesday, September 30 through Sunday, October 12, original company member Hannah Solow will play the title role, alongside returning cast members Phillip James Brannon as ‘Mary’s Husband’ and James Scully as ‘Mary’s Teacher.’

Oh, Mary! is produced on Broadway by Kevin McCollum & Lucas McMahon and Mike Lavoie & Carlee Briglia with Bob Boyett, The Council, Jean Doumanian Productions, Nicole Eisenberg, Jay Marcus & George Strus, Irony Point, Richard Batchelder/Bradley Reynolds, Tyler Mount/Tommy Doyle, Nelson & Tao, Palomares & Rosenberg, and ShowTown Productions.

General tickets for Oh, Mary! begin at $58.00 (including fees) and are available now on Telecharge, in person at the Lyceum Box Office (149 West 45th Street), or by calling 212.239.6200. A digital lottery can be accessed at OhMaryPlay.com/lottery, with select tickets available at $47.00. ‍A limited number of in-person rush tickets are available at the Lyceum Theatre Box Office for $43.00, day-of, when the box office opens.

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‘OH, MARY!’: Three-time Emmy nominee Betty Gilpin takes over the lead role as Mary Todd Lincoln on January 21, 2025. Photo: Daniel Rampulla.

THREE-TIME EMMY-NOMINEE BETTY GILPIN

TO MAKE BROADWAY DEBUT AS MARY TODD LINCOLN IN 

OH, MARY!

BEGINNING JANUARY 21, 2025 NEW BLOCK OF TICKETS RELEASED

COLE ESCOLA’S HIT COMEDY NOW ON SALE THROUGH JUNE 28, 2025

NEW YORK— Places, Miss Gilpin! The producers of Oh, Mary! have announced that the record-breaking hit comedy will continue its run on Broadway, with Emmy Award-nominated actor Betty Gilpin (“Glow,” Netflix’s upcoming “American Primeval”) taking over the role of Mary Todd Lincoln. She joins the show beginning Tuesday, January 21, 2025 for a limited eight-week engagement through Sunday, March 16, 2025. The show has released a new block of tickets, with performances now on sale through Saturday, June 28, 2025.

While Gilpin is no stranger to the stage, having appeared Off Broadway in Atlantic Theater Company’s 2015 production of I’m Gonna Pray For You So Hard, Signature Theatre’s 2012 production of Heartless, and more, Oh, Mary! marks her Broadway debut.

“I have worshiped at the altar of Cole for years, but seeing their billion layered brilliance in Oh, Mary! was a new plane of demented genius I didn’t know was scientifically possible,” Gilpin said. “I am beyond honored to step in so that Cole can get back to tending their neglected passions: fracking and skincare. Diving in with the perfect Sam Pinkleton to play Mary will be one of the single greatest joys of my life, and I will say that to my two daughters’ faces.”

Runaway Broadway hit

Written by Cole Escola and directed by Tony Award nominee Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary! opened on Broadway on July 11, 2024 at the Lyceum Theatre. It became the first show in the theater’s 121-year history to gross more than $1,000,000 in a single week. Oh, Mary! has since broken its own box office record ten times, most recently the week ending December 1, 2024, grossing $1,286,789.

“I could not be more excited to see what Betty Gilpin does with the role of Mary,” Escola said. “She’s a brilliant comedic actress who understands the heart of this character and knows the serious business of being a fool. I promise, you won’t want to miss Betty as Mary.”

Oh, Mary! currently stars Escola as a miserable, suffocated Mary Todd Lincoln in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, alongside Conrad Ricamora as Mary’s Husband, James Scully as Mary’s Teacher, Bianca Leigh as Mary’s Chaperone, and Tony Macht as Mary’s Husband’s Assistant, with Peter Smith, Hannah Solow, and Martin Landry completing the company. The entire production is directed by Sam Pinkleton. Oh, Mary! is produced on Broadway by Kevin McCollum & Lucas McMahon and Mike Lavoie & Carlee Briglia.

General tickets, beginning at $58.00 (including fees), are available now on Telecharge, in person at the Lyceum Box Office (149 West 45th Street), or by calling 212.239.6200. A digital lottery is available at OhMaryPlay.com/lottery, with select tickets available at $47.00. A limited number of in-person rush tickets will be available at the Lyceum Theatre Box Office for $43.00, available day-of when the box office opens. 

About Betty Gilpin

BETTY GILPIN is a three-time Emmy Award nominee, two-time SAG Award nominee, and three-time Critics’ Choice Award nominee for her performance as Debbie Eagan/”Liberty Belle” in the hit Netflix series “GLOW,” from producers Liz Flahive, Carly Mensch, and Jenji Kohan. She can currently be seen opposite Shailene Woodley in the Starz limited series, “Three Women,” based on The New York Times best-selling non-fiction book by Lisa Taddeo. Gilpin plays one of the three women, ‘Lina,’ a homemaker in Indiana who has a passionless marriage until she has an affair that changes her life.

The Emmy nominee recently completed production opposite Michael Shannon and Matthew Macfadyen on the Netflix limited series “Death By Lightning.” The series dramatizes the stranger-than-fiction true story of 20^th U.S. President James Garfield and admirer Charles Guiteau, who assassinated him. Gilpin plays Garfield’s wife, Crete Garfield.

Early next year, Gilpin will star opposite Taylor Kitsch in the Netflix limited series, “American Primeval,” releasing globally on January 9, 2025. The six-episode series from director and executive producer Pete Berg takes place in 1857 during a prolonged period of ruthless Western expansion into the middle part of America. It is a fictionalized dramatization and examination of the violent collision of culture, religion, and community as men and women fight and die to keep or control this land.

In 2023, Gilpin garnered rave reviews for her lead performance in Damon Lindelof and Tara Hernandez’s series “Mrs Davis” for Peacock. The series follows Gilpin’s character, ousted nun Sister Simone, after she vows to destroy the powerful artificial intelligence responsible – “Mrs. Davis.” The series had its world premiere at SXSW before its debut on Peacock that spring.

TV & stage work

Notable television credits include “Gaslit” (Starz), “Roar” (Apple), “Masters of Sex” (Showtime), and “Nurse Jackie” (Showtime). Notable film credits include Craig Zobel’s The Hunt (Universal/Blumhouse) and Chris McKay’s The Tomorrow War (Amazon).

On stage, Gilpin made her off-Broadway debut in 2008 in Second Stage’s production of Good Boys and True by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Other stage credits include Boys Life (Second Stage), What is the Cause of Thunder? (Williamstown Theatre Festival), The Language Archive (Roundabout Theatre Company), That Face (Manhattan Theatre Club), We Live Here (Manhattan Theatre Club), Fish Eye (Colt Coeur Theatre Company), Sam Shepard’s Heartless (Signature Theatre), Where We’re Born (Rattlestick Theater), Lila Neugerbauer’s An Intervention (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Halley Feiffer’s I’m Gonna Pray for You So Hard (Atlantic Theater Company) and Barcelona (Geffen Playhouse).

In Fall 2022, Flatiron Books, an imprint of Macmillan, published Betty’s debut collection of essays titled ALL THE WOMEN IN MY BRAIN: AND OTHER CONCERNS. Her essays have been published in The New York Times, Glamour, Lenny Letter, The Hollywood Reporter, and Vanity Fair.

CONNECT WITH OH, MARY!

@OhMaryPlay OhMaryPlay.com

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‘OH, MARY!’ Cole Escola. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

OH, MARY!
By Cole Escola
Directed by Sam Pinkleton
Through January 3, 2027
Lyceum Theatre
149 West 49^th Street
https://www.ohmaryplay.com/

By Scott Harrah

Don’t go to Oh, Mary! expecting an historically accurate portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln. Do go if you want to see Broadway’s funniest show in many years. The show recently transferred to the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway after a sold-out run downtown at the Lucille Lortel. Original comedies are almost unheard of on Broadway nowadays, and no one ever thought we would get one that’s consistently hysterical from start to finish.

Cole Escola wrote Oh, Mary! and stars as Mary Todd Lincoln in a show that is like a very raunchy, family-unfriendly extended skit from TV’s “Carol Burnett Show” with shades of humor similar to the absurdist gender-bending genius Charles Busch and his many farcical shows. However, Cole Escola has a unique comic style all their own, from their manic energy to the endless pratfalls and exaggerated facial expressions.

There’s not much a reviewer can tell you about the show without giving away all the crazy comic twists but here’s the basic premise in this totally unauthorized, inaccurate “historical” bio-comedy: Mary Todd Lincoln is an alcoholic diva who will do anything for booze. She tries hiding it and her husband, President Abraham Lincoln (Conrad Ricamora), goes to great lengths to keep her away from the bottle but is always unsuccessful. The president is watching the Civil War wind down and is worried that news of Mary being a boozer will damage his already fragile public image, but he has a scandalous secret of his own: He’s gay and has the hots for his assistant, Kyle (Tony Macht).

Mary is also at odds with her friend and chaperone, Louise (Bianca Leigh). Mary insists she is a cabaret star and her time would be better spent working the cabaret circuit around the country rather than sitting around bored, being First Lady of the United States in the White House.  The humor is tasteless, silly, stupid and completely juvenile, and that’s what makes Oh, Mary! so much fun. From Mary desperately drinking paint thinner when she can’t find her booze to puking in a bucket, Cole Escola’s comedic sensibility is shamelessly lowbrow, in the same way that early John Waters films were vile, gross, inane but also hysterical. Everything is done for cheap laughs here—and it always works.

To humor Mary’s dreams of being in show business, Abe hires a handsome young acting teacher (James Scully) to teach Mary how to act in classic Shakespearean dramas. Mary reacts like a spoiled brat of a child, insisting the Bard is beneath her and she’s much more suited to wearing showgirl costumes in a ridiculous cabaret act.

This reviewer will not give any more of the story away, but of course we all know how the story of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln ends on that fateful night at Ford’s Theater in Washington. Or do we?

Director Sam Pinkerton gets outstanding performances from the entire cast and manages to keep all the insanity together for 80 glorious minutes. Conrad Ricamora as “Mary’s husband” (as he is listed in the Playbill) gives a gleefully goofy portrayal of Abraham Lincoln as a horny closeted gay man, and his performance shows what great range he has as an actor considering that, last year, he played Philippine senator Ninoy Aquino in Here Lies Love on Broadway. Bianca Leigh, Tony Macht and James Scully are all marvelous supporting players. Cole Escola as Mary is simply brilliant, a true master of the absurd. Cole Escola is Broadway’s newest, most original gender-fluid clown, and they have set a new high standard for comedy in the American theater.

2024 is a year when most Americans have little to bring us joy and something so absurd and mirthful that it makes us guffaw and howl with delight. Oh, Mary! is a gift to a troubled city and a deeply divided nation in need of genuine laughs.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published July 11, 2024
Reviewed at July 9, 2024 press performance

‘OH, MARY!’: (left to right) Tony Macht, Cole Escola, Conrad Ricamora & Bianca Leigh. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘OH, MARY!’: Cole Escola & Bianca Leigh. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘OH, MARY!’: Cole Escola & James Scully. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘OH, MARY!’: Cole Escola & Conrad Ricamora. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

The post ‘Oh, Mary!’: Spoof is funniest show in years appeared first on StageZine.

‘GREY HOUSE’: Laurie Metcalf & Eamon Patrick O’Connell. Photo: MurphyMade, 2023.

GREY HOUSE
Written by Levi Holloway
Directed by Joseph Mantello
Through July 30, 2023
Lyceum Theatre
149 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.GreyHouseBroadway.com

By David NouNou

Upon leaving this show, one wishes ushers had handed out leaflets to explain what on earth playwright Levi Holloway was writing about to clarify what happened on the stage of the Lyceum Theatre for the last 100 minutes. What is supposed to pass as a thriller comes across as a pretentious, incomprehensible, inconceivable tale. It is the story of a married couple, Henry (Paul Sparks) and Max (Claire Karpen)—Tatiana Maslany was absent at our performance due to illness—driving in a blizzard. They get into a car accident by hitting a deer, and that leaves Henry with a broken ankle. He hobbles in with Max to the cabin in the woods. Wooo—scary concept.

The time is 1977 (I guess people got scared easier in those days). The time is essential to know, because back then there were no cell phones to call for help. Of course, all the prerequisites are here, the house is creaking endlessly, the wind is howling outside, the cabin is a creepy mess and empty, and in order to call for help, Henry and Max walk into this seemingly abandoned cabin to call for help only to find out the phone’s cord is severed and there is no way to call out. This should have been a sign to get out of the house.

To add to the thrills and chills, there are the loud blackouts, a basement door that opens and closes with smoke billowing out of it. You ask yourself if this the stairway to hell? There is a refrigerator that, when opened, has different contents in it. The first time there are jars of elixirs in it, followed by different contents and back to the jars. Of course, what horror tale doesn’t have a face staring blankly through a window? These are the best of the jolts and shockers.

Soon, five of the creepiest children start appearing: Marlow (Sophia Anne Caruso), seemingly the eldest and the chilliest, an act perfected from her playing the role of Lydia Deetz in the musical Beetlejuice. Next is Bernie (Millicent Simmonds) who is deaf and uses sign language and can make Henry’s nose bleed with the merest hand gesture. Squirrel (Colby Kipnes) creeps in and out of the basement. A character named A1656 (Alyssa Emily Marvin)—this is not a typo —is the nicest of the lot, and one boy, The Boy (Eamon Patrick O’Connell), is the youngest. He is mostly blindfolded and hardly ever speaks. There’s also The Ancient (Cyndi Coyne); she is old and ghoulish—I think a ghost—who preys on Henry’s mind with the elixirs.

Oh, I almost forgot, there is also Raleigh (Laurie Metcalf), a seemingly gruff mother (or just having a bad day) mother figure to these children.

As Henry’s pain gets worse, Marlowe and the rest start plying Henry with the jars of moonshine—better known as the nectar of dead men—his condition worsens, these demon children start playing devious head games with Max to reveal inner secrets. Now, one would ask why would anyone allow themselves to be subjected to any of this? One would sooner amputate one’s own leg than be subjected to these children and this awful setting. It is at this point we find out there are many hidden secrets that brought them here. Was it really an accident or fate brought them here? You decide; I didn’t care.

Director Joe Mantello, usually a very concise and thorough director, has shed no light onto the proceedings except for the eerie lighting by Natasha Katz and a creepy set by the ever-brilliant set designer Scott Pask.

In a thriller, you expect to get scared and terrified, and not end up with a headache trying to figure out “what in the hell did I just sit through”?

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 5, 2023
Reviewed at June 3, 2023 press performance.

‘GREY HOUSE’: The cast. Photo: MurphyMade, 2023.

‘GREY HOUSE’: (left to right on stairs) Sophia Anne Caruso, Alyssa Emily Marvin & Millicent Simmonds. Photo: MurphyMade, 2023.

‘GREY HOUSE’: Sophia Anne Caruso. Photo: MurphyMade, 2023.

‘GREY HOUSE’: Paul Sparks & Colby Kipnes. Photo: MurphyMade, 2023.

‘GREY HOUSE’: Eamon Patrick O’Connell & Paul Sparks. Photo: MurphyMade, 2023.

‘GREY HOUSE’: Tatiana Maslany & Paul Sparks. Photo: MurphyMade, 2023.

‘GREY HOUSE’: (left to right) Laurie Metcalf, Tatiana Maslany, Alyssa Emily Marvin & Millicent Simmonds. Photo: MurphyMade, 2023.

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‘A STRANGE LOOP’: (left to right): James Jackson Jr., L Morgan Lee, Antwayn Hopper, John-Andrew Morrison, Jaquel Spivey, Jason Veasey & John-Michael Lyles. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

A STRANGE LOOP
Book, music & lyrics by Michael R. Jackson
Directed by Stephen Brackett
Lyceum Theatre
149 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.StrangeLoopMusical.com

By David NouNou

What one expects from A Strange Loop going into the theatre is completely different from what one gets coming out. The expectations going in are for a “Big, Black & Queer American Musical!” as the poster tells us, a laugh riot, and in fact it is just that for the first half. The agony comes in the second part; of what it’s like to “travel the world in a fat, Black, queer body” and the pressures that go with it in the first song sung by Usher, “Intermission Song.”

Our hero, Usher (Jaquel Spivey) is an usher at Disney’s The Lion King and can barely make a living with this job. In addition, Usher carries a lot of baggage consisting of a chorus of six people in his head named Thought 1 through Thought 6. These thoughts play many parts: including his father and mother, both named after The Lion King characters. Some thoughts remind him of his self-loathing, student loans, issues on Black pride and his repressed sexuality. Various others comment on the show Usher is writing a musical about a gay Black man writing a musical about a gay black man to be named A Strange Loop, about that never-ending loop that man travels throughout his life.

Usher is further burdened by the guilt injected by his mother of how much she has sacrificed in raising him and in return wants him to write a Tyler Perry-style Gospel play with Jesus bringing salvation. Usher wishes he could be more like his “inner white girl” because they are free to do what they want, instead of being held back by expectations put on Black boys.

Usher at this point goes to his doctor for a physical and is asked about his sex life. This scene is a scream. To follow the doctors’ orders to find sex, he goes on various gay apps only to be rejected as being too Black, too fat, too feminine, and for having a small appendage. It’s around this point that the hilarity stops, and the truth that hurts starts appearing. Usher is outraged not only by his parents’ outlook on homosexuality; in addition, he now has to contend with the way the gay community discriminates against people with shortcomings.

Usher goes down a spiral of self-humiliating acts to finally find redemption and be able to live this strange loop he calls his life and how to bring an end to his show. Even when he brings an end to the show, what next, how will that loop of life still continue?

Michael R. Jackson won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for this odyssey and is most deserving. The way he has interwoven the hilarity and tragedy, inner thoughts vs outer reality, faith, religion and family in one huge tapestry is profound. He has given us the best and most unsettling piece of theatre of what a Black, fat, awkward gay man has to deal with on a daily basis and his inner thoughts are his worst enemy.

Mr. Jackson has written the book as well as the score. The book is most unsettling toward the end as is intended, but the score always explains the thoughts and the situations that are taking place. It is both clever and thought-provoking. For some audiences, it may not have positive results. At times, it is jarring and hard to sit through. Not the type of show that would play well in Florida or Oklahoma.

Jaquel Spivey as Usher is heartbreakingly brilliant. You can see the daily pummeling and humiliation on his expressive face and how he wishes he can change the course of his life for the better. His performance may land him the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical.

Director Stephen Brackett has done an excellent job of arranging the various thoughts: Thought 1 (L. Morgan Lee), Thought 2.( James Jackson Jr.), Thought 3 (John-Michael Lyles), Thought 4 (John Andrew Morrison), Thought 5 (Jason Veasey) and Thought 6 (Antwayn Hopper). They each move around the stage to the beat of their own drum and make a seamless ensemble.

The show is a must-see. You will laugh with glee and be joyously entertained, but be ready for the discomfort to follow. One will be traveling in Usher’s shoes; it will hurt, but ultimately a reward will ensue.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published May 1, 2022
Reviewed at April 29, 2022 press performance.

‘A STRANGE LOOP’ (left to right): Jason Veasey, James Jackson, Jr., Jaquel Spivey, L Morgan Lee & Antwayn Hopper. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘A STRANGE LOOP’: (left to right) James Jackson Jr., Jason Veasey, John-Michael Lyles, Jaquel Spivey, L Morgan Lee, John-Andrew Morrison & Antwayn Hopper. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘A STRANGE LOOP’: Jaquel Spivey. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘A STRANGE LOOP’: Jaquel Spivey & cast. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘A STRANGE LOOP’: The cast. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

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‘IS THIS A ROOM’: Will Cobbs, Pete Simpson & Emily Davis. Photo: Chad Batka.

IS THIS A ROOM
Conceived & directed by Tina Satter
In repertory with
DANA H.
Written by Lucas Hnath
Directed by Les Waters
Through November 27 & 28, 2021
Lyceum Theatre
149 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.thelyceumplays.com

By David NouNou

After seeing most of the fall plays of 2021 so far, I realize that it’s not so much about Broadway coming back to life as it is the industry has transplanted small Off-Broadway ventures (that were meant to be more experimental in nature and give voice to newer playwrights), with casts of one to four people, with minimal expenditures—many of which were successful, more effective and intimate in smaller venues—and have dropped them in these large theaters just so they can be filled and open in time for the fall season. Since no one had planned on new, original plays due to the pandemic that forced Broadway to shut down for 19 months and not knowing when theaters would reopen, hardly any new plays were planned for this season.

Cases in point are Is This A Room and Dana H., both being critical and sold-out shows at the intimate Vineyard Theatre. They alternate performances in repertory now on Broadway at the Lyceum. First, Tina Satter has conceived and directed Is This A Room. The show is based word for word from the original transcript of a true story set in June of 2017 about a 25-year-old former U.S. Air Force linguist named Reality Winner (Emily Davis). Upon arriving home one day after grocery shopping, Reality is confronted by three FBI agents in her driveway. What seems at first an inept, fumbling round of questioning turns into a systematic interrogation breakdown and charging of leaked evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 US elections, all of which led to her four-year prison sentence.

What would have been a claustrophobic and believable setting at the small Vineyard Theatre and made to feel you were witnessing an actual interrogation, in the expanse of the Lyceum Theatre that urgency is lost and the characters are swallowed on that massive stage.  In addition, redactions from the transcript are represented as blackouts, which at first are really distracting and confusing until you witness it a few times and then catch on. The saving grace is Ms. Davis’ heartbreaking, unraveling performance.

Second is a play by Lucas Hnath, best known on Broadway for the brilliant A Doll’s House Part 2 and Hilary and Clinton. Mr. Hnath has now written about and adapted the harrowing true story of his mother, Dana Higginbotham, in Dana H. Her bio in Playbill states that she is a writer, educator and chaplain. For the past 20 years, as chaplain in both hospitals and hospices throughout Florida, she has provided counsel for those who live with the effects of trauma, loss and life-threatening or life-limiting issues. Her story is recorded by Hnath’s friend and fellow writer, Steve Cosson, in 2004 about events that took place in 1997.

Dana H. is portrayed by Deirdre O’Connell, sitting in a chair in a seedy motel room facing the audience, lip syncing to the original but edited tapes about the horrible events that took place in 1997. She relates how she met Jim, a fugitive, a man she was counseling in a psych ward of a mental hospital. He was ultimately set free during the Christmas holidays and has nowhere to go, so she takes Jim in. Soon after Dana is divorced, Jim comes back to abduct her and takes her through a hellish, five-month ordeal traveling throughout the South but mainly in Florida. She encounters many evil deeds and has no chance of escape because Jim is constantly by her side and the moments that she does have, the police side with Jim instead of seeing her pain and ordeal and she is sent back to him.

What you hear is very compelling and riveting and you go along with the lip syncing because Ms. O’Connell captures every nuance and movement in the recordings, but three quarters into the play, in the middle of one of Dana’s experiences in a motel room, a fast-forward effect of the tapes takes place and the whole thing unravels and looks and feels like a gimmick. I couldn’t help but wonder why Mr. Hnath didn’t write the play as a monologue instead of using fast-forward taping methods and tape sound effects. He is an adept writer and could have written it as a riveting monologue for any accomplished actress, which would have made the events more credible and compelling.

The two women in both plays have something in common. They both give brilliant portraits of two women having their normal daily lives uprooted, and both women have strong survival instincts. Both Ms. Davis and Ms. O’Connell deliver heart-wrenching performances and give the plays their plausibility. However, what was once monumental and harrowing at the intimate Vineyard is simply performing a transcript and lip syncing to tapes and now seems both constricting and gimmicky at the Lyceum.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 20, 2021
Reviewed at October 16 & October 19, 2021 performances.

‘DANA H.’: Deirdre O’Connell. Photo: Chad Batka.

‘IS THIS A ROOM’: Pete Simpson, Emily Davis & Will Cobbs. Photo: Chad Batka.

‘IS THIS A ROOM’: Becca Blackwell, Will Cobbs, Pete Simpson & Emily Davis. Photo: Chad Batka.

‘DANA H.’: Deirdre O’Connell. Photo: Chad Batka.

‘IS THIS A ROOM’: Emily Davis. Photo: Chad Batka.

‘DANA H.’: Deirdre O’Connell. Photo: Chad Batka.

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‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’: Campbell Scott. Photo: Joan Marcus

A CHRISTMAS CAROL
By Charles Dickens
Adapted by Jack Thorne
Directed by Matthew Warchus
Through January 5, 2020
Lyceum Theatre
149 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.AChristmasCarolBroadway.com

By David NouNou

Stripped of the treacle and mawkishness usually associated with Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Jack Thorne has adapted and reshaped this tale into what would now be termed an “alternate universe.” Although being a purist at heart, one who normally prefers traditional presentations, I was nonetheless fascinated and enchanted by how this story maintains most of the central characters, with slight tweaks and character modifications. Mr. Thorne’s adaptation has slightly changed the dynamics and perception of an oft-told tale, with all the fat trimmed off.

Thanks in large part to Matthew Warchus’ seamless and fast-paced direction; one doesn’t dwell on the traditional version because Jack Thorne and Mr. Warchus allow the viewer to see Dickens’ classic from a different lens. Ebenezer Scrooge (Campbell Scott) is still a miserly crotchety skinflint but due to Mr. Scott’s youthful appearance, Ebenezer now has some sex appeal. Here, Mr. Thorne inserts Ebenezer’s cruel and drunken father (Chris Hoch), to show how Ebenezer took the wrong fork in the road to become what he is today.

Scrooge here does have psychological problems and doesn’t really see the error of his ways. Scrooge is still visited by the ghost of Marley (Chris Hoch), his late lending partner. Marley warns him about the ghosts that will come to visit him after midnight, and he better change his miserly ways. The Ghost of Christmas Past (Andrea Martin), Ghost of Christmas Present, replete with a Caribbean accent (La Chanze) and Ghost of Christmas Future (Rachel Prather) all make appearances. Ms. Prather doubles as well his late sister Fan in a dual role. His change here isn’t so much out of moral obligation as it is expeditious.

The two standout performances are, of course, Andrea Martin, a delight as usual, and La Chanze is imposing; the Caribbean accent is a bonus in all-too-brief moments. What is lacking is a dynamic Scrooge. It is interesting to note here that Mr. Scott’s father was the late George C. Scott, a formidable actor who gave a brilliant TV rendition of Scrooge. Campbell Scott, although a fine actor, lacks the forcefulness that his father brought to the role.

All in all, if you are looking for a slightly reimagined A Christmas Carol, along with Christmas carols, including “Joy to the World”, Silent Night, and “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” and a surprising immersive, interactive Christmas experience, I highly recommend this version. Coming out of the show, one feels the Christmas season has officially begun.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 24, 2019
Reviewed at November 23, 2019 press performance.

‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’ (left to right) Andrea Martin, LaChanze, Campbell Scott (center) & Rachel Prather. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’: Campbell Scott & Dashiell Eaves. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’: Andrea Martin. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’: Campbell Scott & LaChanze. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’: Sarah Hunt & Campbell Scott. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’: Chris Hoch & Campbell Scott. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’: Campbell Scott. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’: Campbell Scott. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus

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‘BE MORE CHILL’: The cast. Photo: Maria Baranova

BE MORE CHILL
Music & lyrics by Joe Iconis
Book by Joe Tracz
Based on the novel by Ned Vizzini
Directed by Stephen Brackett
Lyceum Theatre
149 West 45th Street
866-302-0995
http://bemorechillmusical.com/

By Scott Harrah

The backstory of Be More Chill is perhaps more interesting than the musical itself. When the show originated at a small New Jersey theater in 2015, it reportedly became a digital phenomenon when its pop score went viral online on various social media platforms. After an Off-Broadway run last summer at the Signature Theater, the show has for some inexplicable reason opened on Broadway, targeted at the under-30 set (the younger siblings of millennials sometimes called Generation Z). Everything about this production is derivative of earlier musicals and movies that mastered the topic of tension between high school nerds and popular kids so much better (from Dear Evan Hansen to Mean Girls and Heathers).

Science fiction is the uninspired twist that sets Be More Chill apart from other teen angst musicals. Socially awkward teens Jeremy (Will Roland) and Michael (George Salazar) will do anything to shake off their geeky reputations. High school junior Jeremy is hot for Christine (Stephanie Hsu) and is eager to find new ways to impress her. Jeremy doesn’t have a great life at home, either. He lives with his divorced father (Jason Sweettooth Williams), a man who works from home and never wears pants.

Bully Rich (Gerard Canonico) introduces Jeremy to a computer-in-a-pill known as a SQUIP (an acronym for “super quantum unit intel processor”). Whenever one takes the pill, a computer implants itself in one’s brain and instructs the user in what to say and do in order to be cool. After meeting a “dealer” at a nearby Payless ShoeSource (don’t ask), Jeremy is persuaded to take the SQUIP. When he swallows the pill, the SQUIP manifests itself as a character modeled after Keanu Reeves (Jason Tam), clad in a sci-fi costume resembling a sad Vivienne Westwood knockoff. The SQUIP harshly critiques Jeremy’s personality, wardrobe and behavior and cooks up ways he can finally become popular among his classmates.

The narrative often seems like an excuse to pad out the story with numerous shrill technopop songs, from “More Than Survive” and “Do You Wanna Ride?” to “Halloween,” “Michael in the Bathroom” and “The Smartphone Hour (Rich Set a Fire)”. “The Smartphone Hour” is supposedly a tribute to “The Telephone Hour” from Bye Bye Birdie but fails miserably as a modern ode to that classic. Chase Brock’s choreography is unremarkable. One of the sillier subplots is the school play Christine and the other kids are working on, a zombie-apocalypse rendition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, written by the high school drama teacher Mr. Reyes (Mr. Sweettooth Williams again, playing one of several roles). The show’s sense of humor primarily mocks 1990s pop culture with references to Crystal Pepsi and “Red” Mountain Dew, Eminem and video games.

The performances from the cast are mostly forgettable except for Tiffany Mann, the gossipy teen with a powerful voice. Ms. Mann does her best to add some dimension to her role, but the rest of cast cannot rise above the paper-thin material and stereotyped characters. Unlike other teen musicals, there is ultimately nothing redeeming whatsoever about the characters here, so it’s impossible to root for any of these kids. Just like Mr. Reyes’ dreadful play within the play, Be More Chill is an unsatisfying evening of theater and reeks of amateur writing. Despite the colorful, clever sets by Beowulff Borritt and all the energy emanating at the Lyceum, watching the show is akin to being on a bad acid trip—awkward, painful, jarring and unsatisfying.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 13, 2019
Reviewed at March 12, 2019 performance.

‘BE MORE CHILL’: Will Roland & cast. Photo: Maria Baranova

‘BE MORE CHILL’: Tiffany Mann & the cast. Photo: Maria Baranova

‘BE MORE CHILL’: The cast. Photo: Maria Baranova

‘BE MORE CHILL’: (left to right) Katlyn Carlson, Tiffany Mann & Lauren Marcus. Photo: Maria Baranova

‘BE MORE CHILL’: Jason Tam & cast. Photo: Maria Baranova

‘BE MORE CHILL’: Stephanie Hsu & cast. Photo: Maria Baranova

‘BE MORE CHILL’: (left to right) Jason Tam, Will Roland & Lauren Marcus. Photo: Maria Baranova

‘BE MORE CHILL’: Stephanie Hsu & Will Roland. Photo: Maria Baranova

‘BE MORE CHILL’: Will Roland & George Alazar. Photo: Maria Baranova

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‘OH, HELLO ON BROADWAY’: Nick Kroll & John Mulaney. Photo: Joan Marcus

OH, HELLO ON BROADWAY
By Nick Kroll & John Mulaney
Directed by Alex Timbers
Through January 8, 2017
Lyceum Theatre
149 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), http://ohhellobroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

Fans of Nick Kroll (“The Kroll Show” on Comedy Central) and John Mulaney ( former “Saturday Night Live” writer and star of “The Comeback Kid” on Netflix) will find lots to laugh about in this 95-minute saga of geeky 70-somethings Gil Faizon (Mr. Kroll) and George St. Geeland (Mr. Mulaney) and their 40-year friendship, but Oh, Hello On Broadway is definitely an acquired taste. This odd couple relies heavily on the supposed irony of old New York and the offbeat to pack in both fans of Comedy Central and the millennial crowd, most of whom are probably way too young to remember much of what’s being satirized here, from the middling music of Steely Dan to Ed Koch, Richard Dreyfuss, Alan Alda, and the Manhattan of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Following a successful off-Broadway run last year, the comedy duo has brought the show to Broadway to the delight of their cult following. This is a show one either “gets” or doesn’t. To “get” the humor, it helps to be a true New Yorker, for how else can one relate to jokes about trying to make eye contact with the Orthodox Jews working at B&H Video on 34^th Street? Or zingers about NY 1, diner food and Zabar’s?

These two “legendary bachelors,” clad in corduroys and old-man makeup, share a rent-controlled Upper West Side apartment, but their $75-a-month rent is being increased to $2,500.  George, a failed writer, and Gil, a wannabe actor, are about to become homeless. Much of the humor sends up the theater, from “True Upper West” (don’t ask) to a Jean Paul-Sartre “No Exit” sign to the hodgepodge set, which supposedly includes hairdryers and props from the 2005 production of Steel Magnolias. From references to Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays to Tennessee Williams and his “sister,” Serena, it’s all in good, silly fun. However, other arcane jokes, such as “Au Bon Pain is French for ‘breakfast at LaGuardia’, ” are head-scratcher humor indeed.

The first half hour is genuinely amusing, but the show starts running out of steam when Gil and George reenact their cable-access TV show “Too Much Tuna.” However, the mock TV show gives a wonderful excuse for a different guest celebrity each night (Alex Brightman of School of Rock was the guest the night I reviewed this, and past guests have included Seth Meyers and Alan Alda). Whether one “gets” the show’s humor or not, one cannot ignore the fact that Mr. Kroll and Mr. Delaney have a marvelous chemistry together as a comedy team. The actors, both in their 30s, rely a bit too heavily on old-man stereotypes and insider jokes, but they get laughs regardless, and have a winning gift for improv and highbrow pratfalls.

The shtick in Oh, Hello on Broadway isn’t for everybody, but there’s enough hammy humor here to make the show an offbeat hit.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 14, 2016
Reviewed at press performance on October 13, 2016

‘OH, HELLO ON BROADWAY’: John Delaney & Nick Kroll. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘OH, HELLO ON BROADWAY’: John Mulaney & Nick Kroll. Photo: Joan Marcus

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‘FULLY COMMITTED’: Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Photo: Joan Marcus

FULLY COMMITTED
By Becky Mode
Based on characters created by Ms. Mode and Mark Setlock
Directed by Jason Moore
Through July 24, 2016
Lyceum Theatre
149 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.FullyCommittedBroadway.com

By David NouNou

In comedy you either laugh at or laugh with the person. Instead, I found myself laughing for Fully Committed not because it’s that funny a play but for the recognition of its star, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. After all, when you are in the huge TV sitcom “Modern Family” and have been playing the part of Mitchell Pritchett since 2009, and have been coming to our living rooms since then, you are a member of the family.

The part of Sam, the reservation taker, of a super-trendy restaurant, was created in 1999 by Becky Mode and first performed at the Vineyard Theatre, an intimate space for an intimate show. The action takes place in the basement call center of a now in-demand restaurant for which reservations are made for the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, attending with a party of 15 at the last minute with an absurdly regimented menu of all the no-no’s that cannot be served. There are about 40 different characters in total in the show, all equally obnoxious and neurotic, all with their own special demands.

The premise was cute, funny and a lot of inside jokes flew around that convulsed the audiences at the time. So much of comedy has changed since then that it is almost impossible to transfer this delicate piece to Broadway without a superstar with a schizophrenic personality. The late Robin Williams was such a chameleon, with voices as well as accents. Jefferson Mays, at this very theater, did I Am My Own Wife with magnificent results because his persona is bigger than life.

From his Mitchell Pritchett in “Modern Family” to his Chip in the abysmal 1998 revival of On The Town, and even as Leaf Coneybear in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Mr. Ferguson has always been blessed with a sweet-natured, affable and gentle demeanor. To play Sam effectively, you have to be an expert on accents and schizophrenically quick in changing that many personalities and giving each one its own distinct character. Unfortunately, most of the characters aren’t fleshed-out characters but voices Sam has to interact with on the telephone; from family, friends and bosses to lame customers with astounding demands. Sam has to take all the calls on this especially hectic day since his co-worker Bob is out and Sam has to deal with all these people alone.

Mr. Ferguson has the capability of moving at a frantic pace all over the stage but the characters and the voices somehow remain the same, static with hardly an inflection change; just raised eyebrows, nasal tones and fluttering hands make up the differences in most of the characters.

To play 40 different people in just 80 minutes where the voice and the attitude is in constant flux, you have to have a personality that is beyond bigger than life, dynamic, enigmatic and still maintain your sanity when your whole life is crumbling around you and still be in control of the situation. For that reason, we laugh “for” Mr. Ferguson due to his familiar endearing persona and the effort he puts in to deliver the goods.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 28, 2016
Reviewed at press performance on April 27, 2016

‘FULLY COMMITTED’: Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Photo: Joan Marcus

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