‘ART’: Bobby Cannavale & Neil Patrick Harris. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

ART
By Yasmina Reza
Translated by Christopher Hampton
Directed by Scott Ellis
The Music Box
239 West 45^th Street
https://artonbroadway.com/
 

By Scott Harrah

Star power, dynamic performances and dark humor are the main reasons to see this winning Broadway revival of Art. The show won the Tony Award for Best Play back in 1998. Is a 27-year-old show featuring an overpriced painting still relevant? Of course. And with a stellar cast including Neil Patrick Harris, James Corden and Bobby Cannavale, the classic Yazmina Reza play is one of the hottest tickets in town.

Pricey painting

Successful dermatologist Serge (Mr. Harris) spends 200,000 francs on an all-white painting by a famous artist that purportedly has several white lines somewhere in the middle. When he invites his two best friends over to show it off, they are not amused.

Marc (Mr. Cannavale) is outraged when he sees the painting and hears how much Serge spent. He crudely dismisses the artwork as a “white piece of s**t” and accuses Serge of becoming pretentious.

The high-strung Yvan (Mr. Corden) at first tries to be neutral. He’s all worked up about his upcoming wedding and attempts to diffused the tension between the Marc and Serge to no avail.

Subtext more relevant in 2025

The title and setup of Art suggests the play is simply about the subjective nature of what is or is not considered “art.” However, the subtext of playwright Yasmina Reza’s story is far more relevant nearly 30 years later: The precarious and fragile nature of longtime friendships, particularly among men.

Marc is horrified that Serge would spend so much money on such a gimmicky painting. He is so contemptuous toward Serge that it puts their 25-year friendship in jeopardy.

Yvan tries in vain to make peace between the two old pals but he ends up simply annoying them instead of improving matters.

The one-act play starts out as an argument about art but quickly becomes a nasty emotional meltdown for all three friends. They wonder if they can all remain friends after such a vitriolic evening.

Great direction & performances

Director Scott Ellis extracts fine performances from the cast.

Neil Patrick Harris is magnificent as Serge, the wealthy doctor who finds it odd that anyone wouldn’t think the painting he bought was great art.

Bobby Cannavale is superb as the angry, argumentative aeronautical engineer Marc.

One of the nicest surprises is just how good James Corden is as the insecure Yvan. Mr. Corden often steals the show with his many neurotic outbursts and temper tantrums. He’s a bit too slapstick at times, but the audience seemed to enjoy his over-the-top antics at the performance this reviewer attended.

Art, like art itself, won’t please everyone but this revival is a lot of fun regardless. There is no question as to why it’s a must-see this fall.

Published October 2, 2025
Reviewed at press performance on September 25, 2025

‘ART’: Bobby Cannavale. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘ART’: James Corden. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

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‘PETER PAN GOES WRONG’: (Left to right) Ellie Morris, Jonathan Sayer, Charlie Russell, Henry Shields, Henry Lewis & Matthew Cavendish. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

PETER PAN GOES WRONG
Based on J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan
Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer & Henry Shields
Directed by Adam Meggido
Through July 23, 2023

Ethel Barrymore Theatre
243 West 47th Street
(212-239-6200), https://pangoeswrongbway.com/

By David NouNou

If you are into hyper-energetic physical comedy and relentlessness, then Peter Pan Goes Wrong is your ticket. Whether it is The Play That Goes Wrong or Peter Pan Goes Wrong, it is basically the same show, the same authors and the same leading men consisting of Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields of the London-based Mischief Theatre. However, only the titles are different.

What’s different about this show is it is loosely based on J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan and has the distinction of having Neil Patrick Harris as the narrator and playing other bit parts to the delight of the audience. His every entrance and exit elicited applause and that is the better part of the show.

You have to be prepared to in some way be a part of the show. The actors, doubling as stagehands as the audience enters the theatre, mill through the masses, setting up wires and doing bits to prepare the audience for the theatrical pandemonium that ensues. The audience at my performance was more than eager to participate in the interactive shenanigans and then the play began.

The play, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, takes place in some regional/community British theatre, and as the title aptly suggests everything, everywhere all at once goes wrong. From Nana, the dog getting stuck in a trap door to Peter Pan flying upside down to cast members being electrocuted, doors slamming into faces, getting planked in the crotch, and there is a glorious revolving stage. Mayhem, pratfalls and chaos ensue in each scene at a nonstop pace. The audience is encouraged to hiss and boo at some of the characters, and there is no end to that, but suffice it to say the audience is enthralled with all this madness. This comedy genre is enormously popular in the United Kingdom, and obviously has many fans on this side of the Atlantic, too.

Believe it or not, the clever and interesting set design by Simon Scullion is the highlight of the show. After a while and by the second act, all the characters blend into each other and they become indistinguishable from one another, with the exception of Neil Patrick Harris, because he is Neil Patrick Harris—and we are grateful for that.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 21, 2023
Reviewed at April 20, 2023 press performance.

‘PETER PAN GOES WRONG’: Henry Lewis, Neil Patrick Harris & Henry Shields. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘PETER PAN GOES WRONG’: (Left to right) Harry Kershaw, Chris Leask, Henry Shields, Nancy Zamit, and Greg Tannahill & back (left to right) Charlie Russell & Henry Lewis.

‘PETER PAN GOES WRONG’: Neil Patrick Harris. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘PETER PAN GOES WRONG’: Matthew Cavendish (front) with (left to right) Harry Kershaw, Charlie Russell, Greg Tannahill, Henry Shields, Jonathan Sayer & Henry Lewis. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘PETER PAN GOES WRONG’: (Left to right) Ellie Morris, Chris Leask & Bianca Horn. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘PETER PAN GOES WRONG’: Nancy Zamit. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘PETER PAN GOES WRONG’: Henry Lewis & Jonathan Sayer. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘PETER PAN GOES WRONG’: Nancy Zamit & Greg Tannahill. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

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FLIPPING OUT FOR ‘HEDWIG’: Neil Patrick Harris gives the performance of his career. Photo: Joan Marcus

A LOVABLE LOW LIFE IN HIGH HEELS: Neil Patrick Harris in ‘Hedwig & the Angry Inch.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

By Scott Harrah

Phenomenons are rare on Broadway, but here is one with two once-in-a-decade things in its favor: It is a beautiful production of a cult-rock opera with a fanatical following of both the Off-Broadway and indie film incarnations, and stars TV and stage icon Neil Patrick Harris at the pinnacle of his career, giving an electrifying performance that has the whole city (and soon, the entire nation) abuzz with gender-bending glee. No, this is not another Book of Mormon since it will be difficult for any star to fill Mr. Harris’s killer pumps when he leaves the run, but it has arrived with Mormon’s unprecedented spirit and irreverence. The revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch for the mainstream theater is far more complex and ground-breaking than anything critics can shower with mere adulation in the April crush of back-to-back shows opening to meet the Tony-nomination deadline. Hedwig is a show-biz anomaly, something reviewers cannot easily categorize, making it all the more revolutionary.

One could not find a more fitting actor to sell Hedwig to the masses than Neil Patrick Harris, the openly gay star of TV’s “How I Met My Mother,” “Doogie Howser, M.D.” and beloved Tony Awards host. He has the powerful voice necessary to sing the complicated rock ballads and the triple-threat skills and comic timing and charm to mesmerize audiences with the many jokes and stage antics.  Granted, Mr. Harris doesn’t have the haunting, David Bowie-style vocal delivery that John Cameron Mitchell did when the show played Off Broadway at the Jane Street Theatre in 1998. Yet it does not matter, for this is one hell of a glamour makeover.  With his toned biceps and all-American look, tottering across the Belasco stage, through many costume changes, in runway-model stiletto heels and gold platform boots, sporting numerous wigs, denim cutoffs and  glittery thrift-store hooker dresses, Neil Patrick Harris sheds any traces of his goody-goody “Doogie” persona at last and morphs into a self-proclaimed “internationally ignored song stylist” and a lovable freak. He’s Ziggy Stardust, Farrah Fawcett and an amalgam of a younger Madonna or Kylie, Gaga, young Marlene Dietrich and every diva worth lip-synching to, all at once.  In fact, in his first entrance, he is lowered onto the stage in a bejeweled jumpsuit in a rocket-style landing, very similar to the opening of recent Kylie Minogue and Lady Gaga concerts.  It’s the sort of razzle-dazzle, high-tech spectacle that was not possible Off Broadway, but is magical here. However, the glitzy androgyny ends with Arianne Phillips’ fabulous costumes and Mike Potter’s make-up and wig designs because this is not a drag show or a pop diva’s concert.  In order for Hedwig to gel with audiences, male charisma, copious amounts of testosterone and stage presence are needed.

While Book of Mormon had traditional foundations of musical-theater storytelling (songs that propel the plot) in its score, Hedwig is still a bit too avant-garde for its own good, so the uninitiated might make little sense of “The Origin of Love” (about how humans were once one sex). Just savor Mr. Harris’s heartfelt vocals and Stephen Trask’s emotionally charged lyrics and his music played by The Angry Inch band (Justin Craig, Matt Duncan, Tim Mislock and Peter Yanowitz). “Angry Inch” is the one number that actually explains Hedwig’s confusing backstory. When Mr. Harris sings the most infectious song of the night, “Wig in a Box,” a ditty about self transformation, complete with a contraption that drops down from the ceiling to the stage to project the sing-along lyrics, everyone in the audience joins in the fun, offering the type of interactive Broadway experience people paying top dollar for tickets crave. Visual projections by Benjamin Pearcy and Julian Crouch’s set, complete with what looks like an old AMC Gremlin and a grid of wig mannequins, add to the excitement.

Timing is always part of success, and Hedwig opens at a time of great change in America, when both the people and the federal government have finally recognized equality for people regardless of sexuality. Gay men and lesbians can legally marry in many states, and LGBT activists now focus on enlightening the ignorant (straights and especially gays) about why transgender people are human, too. Just 16 years ago, when John Cameron Mitchell first mounted the show, talk of transgender people and sex changes was still in the realm of camp and the unexplained, relegated to sordid tabloid stories.  It is part of the reason why Stephen Trask’s glam-rock score and Mr. Mitchell’s book, about a “girly” boy in Soviet-controlled East Berlin, who had a botched male-to-female gender-reassignment surgery, originally worked so well. What was “punk” in the late 1990s, however, has a curious poignancy and relevance today that will win over new, younger audiences.

John Cameron Mitchell has made tweaks to this version for Broadway, from lewd Catholic jokes about a phantom bishop at the Belasco to a zinger about the stage tasting like Kathy Griffin to an imaginary one-night-only performance of Hurt Locker: The Musical.

The subplot about Tommy Gnossis, Hedwig’s lost love who eventually leaves him and becomes a star singing songs Hedwig wrote, remains intact. However, the purpose of the character of the other love interest, Yitzhak (Lena Hall), a former drag-queen backup singer, forced by Hedwig to be a butch male—and her subtext—can be confusing. She seems little more than an excuse to make jokes about playing a gig at the Sizzler near the salad bar and being “the only Jew singing Barbra Streisand songs from Yentl on Kristillnacht” (please, don’t ask). However, the golden-throated Ms. Hall does a spine-chilling replication of Whitney Houston’s octave range in “I Will Always Love You” near the end, and her overall portrayal is dynamic and worthy of a Tony nomination.

Director Michael Mayer somehow binds all the changes and the original narrative from a once-intimate musical (which began as a few songs performed at the alt-rock drag club Squeezebox in the Village long before Jane Street) together, assembling a genuine Broadway blockbuster as the finished product. No need to say anything more other than you may have to max out your credit cards trying to get tickets for this now.

WIG ROCK: Neil Patrick Harris. Photo: Joan Marcus

SPITTING IMAGE: Neil Patrick Harris channels Marlene, Madonna, Kylie, Gaga & more. Photo: Joan Marcus

ROCK & RAUNCH: Neil Patrick Harris, as Hedwig, gets nasty with Justin Craig. Photo: Joan Marcus

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 24, 2014
Reviewed at press performance April 23, 2014

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