Theater Reviews

Susan Granger’s review of “Real Women Have Curves” (Broadway: James Earl Jones Theater)

 

This season’s best musical surprise is “Real Women Have Curves,” a fun, bodice-bursting collision of compassion and comedy revolving around a bright, 18 year-old Chicana woman living in Boyle Heights section of East Los Angeles in 1987 during the Reagan-era amnesty program for longtime undocumented immigrants.

Ambitious Ana Garcia (newcomer Tatianna Cordoba) is a first-generation Mexican-American who yearns to be a journalist; she’s not only been admitted to Columbia University but also given a full scholarship. Problem is: since she’s the only one in her family with U.S. citizenship, she has certain responsibilities she’s expected to fulfill.

Her cynical, resilient Mexican mother, Carmen (Justina Machado), settled in Southern California years ago with her father Raul (Mauricio Mendoza) and started a small garment factory that’s now run on a shoe-string by Ana’s hard-working older sister Estella (Florencia Cuenca).

Suddenly, one day, they’re given an order for 200 dresses to be filled in a scant three weeks, causing a make-or-break crisis. Avidly sewing alongside the tight-knit Garcias are five other vulnerable Guatemalan and Salvadoran women – all of whom live in constant fear of Immigration Naturalization Service (INS) raids.

The generational trauma inherent in that challenging émigré experience is as valid today as it was then – perhaps even more so, given the current, unforgiving political climate.

Meanwhile, there’s a sweet romance blossoming between Ana and Henry (Mason Reeves), a fellow intern on a locally distributed Spanish-English newspaper. Plus a unique appreciation of full-figured women’s bodies that culminates in a joyously bold, crowd-pleasing, second-act show-stopper!

Based on Josefina Lopez’s same-named 1990 play and its HBO film adaptation (2002) starring America Ferrera, it’s adroitly directed and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo – celebrating culture and community – with vibrant Latin music and lyrics by Joy Huerta & Benjamin Velez and a heartfelt book by Lisa Loomer & Nell Benjamin.

The multi-textured set is by Arnulfo Malfonsfo, lighting by Natasha Katz, costumes by Wilberth Gonzalez & Paloma Young, and video by Hana S. Kim.

Running 2 hours, 15 minutes with one intermission, “Real Women Have Curves” is currently playing at the James Earl Jones Theater on Broadway.

 

Susan Granger’s review of “Grief Camp” (Off-Broadway: Linda Gross Theater at Atlantic Theater Company)

 

Playwright Eliya Smith is a new theatrical voice whose avant-garde works will be worth watching. Marked by an episodic naturalism, her “Grief Camp” recently opened at the Linda Gross Theater at the Atlantic Theater Company.

It begins in the pre-dawn darkness inside a rustic cabin that’s part of a Gen-Z co-ed summer camp in Hurt, Virginia, as its inhabitants are summoned to breakfast by Rocky’s (Danny Wolohan) cheerful announcements on the P.A. system.

But the six recently awakened teenagers aren’t your usual crowd. Each is suffering a loss, either of a sibling or parents. Over a period of 15 days, we come to know the four girls and two boys through their many disconnected, distracted yet self-revelatory encounters.

Cade (Jack Di Falco) is their RA (resident assistant); he’s an older alum of the camp and somewhat in charge of his bunkmates’ structured interaction. Judging by her provocative, sexually-tinged monologue involving menstrual blood, Olivia (Renee-Nicole Powell) seemingly has an uncomfortable connection with Cade.

Olivia’s sister Esther (Lark White) chatters about beauty with her seemingly attached friend Luna (Grace Brennan), and there’s Blue (Maaika Laanstra-Corn), who has written a surreal drama and asks for feedback, noting: “I’d prefer if you kept it sort of granular.”

Sadly, less is known about the boys – Bard (Arjun Athalye) and Gideon (Dominic Gross) – whose parts seem underwritten. Aside from vocals from Danny, the only other adult is (Alden Harris-McCoy) who strums the guitar on an outside porch.

While the eerie characters she has created are certainly bereaved, Eliya Smith leaves perhaps too much unsaid, never dwelling on morbid details, demanding a catharsis or inflicting a moral lesson.

Director Lee Waters makes the most of Louisa Thompson’s cozy, cluttered set, enhanced by Isabella Byrd’s subtle lighting, Oana Botez’s costumes, Bray Poor’s sounds and Jeremy Chernick’s ‘special effects’ rain.

Running 1 hour, 40 minutes with no intermission, “Grief Camp” plays at the Linda Gross Theater at the Atlantic Theater Company (330 West 20^th Street) through May 11. For tickets, call 646-452-2220 or atlantictheater.org.

 

Susan Granger’s review of “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” (Marriott Marquis Theater on Broadway)

 

IF you love Netflix’s  sci-fi drama “Stranger Things” …IF you’re familiar with the characters & curious about their backgrounds…and/or IF you’re determined to support Westport actor, Jamie Martin Mann – then skip the rest of this review.

Because despite its being named the Best new play on London’s West End, I think it’s the Worst new play of this Broadway season. Quoting from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” – “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury – signifying nothing.”

After coughing from the billows of smoke that periodically engulf the audience and an auditory adjustment from the assault of loud, cacophonous special effects, along with far too many jump scares, let me explain.

A high-tech visual spectacle from supernatural start to finish, “First Shadow” is both a chaotic prequel and a muddled, villain-origin explanation that’s filled with disparate, disjointed scene snippets aimed at those with the attention span of a flea.

Set in the fictional town Hawkins, Indiana, in 1959 – 24 years before the TV show – we’re introduced to Henry Creel (Louis McCartney), a radio-toting, troubled teenager with telepathic powers whose past is coming back to haunt him, just like his father Victor (T.R. Knight) who suffers from PTSD.

Attempting to solve a series of gruesome crimes, Henry’s cohorts include spirited Joyce (Alison Jaye), determined to stage ‘a play within a play’; Patty (Gabrielle Nevaeh), the orphaned girl he likes; Jim (Burke Swanson), the rebellious son of the police chief; Bob (Juan Carlos), the tech nerd who adores Joyce. Plus there’s an ominous scientist, Dr. Martin Brenner (Alex Breaux), studying Henry.

According to the mythology, eventually Henry Creel will become demonic Veena, the show’s antagonist in a sinister alternate universe known as the Upside Down.

Based on an original story by Matt & Ross Duffer – a.k.a. the Duffer Brothers – Jack Thorne & Kate Trefry, the stilted, incongruous script, written by Kate Trefry, is directed by Stephen Daldry and co-directed by Justin Martin. Credit special effects and illusions by Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher with video design by 59.

Running two hours, 45 minutes with an intermission geared to merchandise sales, including bizarre plush Demogorgons, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” is at the Marriott Marquis Theatre.

While orchestra seats are predictably pricey, same-day $40 rush tickets are available at the box-office on a first-come, first-served basis, up to two per person and there’s an on-line lottery for $45 tickets at broadway.strangerthingsonstage.com.

Susan Granger’s review of “Just In Time” (Broadway’s Circle in the Square)

 

Yay! Bobby Darin is back at the Copacabana nightclub…embodied by charming Jonathan Groff in “Just in Time,” a splashy, swinging Broadway tribute that just opened at Manhattan’s Circle in the Square.

Based on Ted Chapin’s original concept with a book by Warren Leight & Isaac Oliver, this exuberant jukebox bio-musical is presented cabaret-style, delineating Darin’s all-too-short life, beginning with the childhood rheumatic fever that permanently damaged his heart valves, prompting the family doctor to predict he wouldn’t live beyond his 16^th birthday.

Born in 1936 in Harlem as Walden Robert Cassotto, he was raised by his frustrated vaudevillian mother Polly (Michele Pawk).  One of Darin’s biggest hits – ‘Beyond the Sea” – was based on the French song “La Mer” that Polly sang to him.

LOCAL NOTE: the English lyrics of “Beyond the Sea” were written by Jack Lawrence, who lived in Redding, CT for many years.

Darin’s – and Groff’s – versatility is astonishing. Determined to achieve success as soon as possible, he refused to waste a single second, changing his name and song-style to please various Tin Pan Alley/Rock ‘n’ Roll music publishers.

Off-stage, Darin’s love-life was rougher, particularly his early adoration of Connie Francis (Gracie Lawrence), whose father refused to allow her to marry him.

Years later, Darin did marry 19-year-old “Gidget” star Sandra Dee (Erika Henningsen), whom he met in Portofino, Italy, where they co-starred in the movie musical “Come September” (1961).

Bobby expected Sandra to travel with him, putting her career on a back burner, attending his nightly Las Vegas shows and being ogled by the public. Sandra became the mother of his only son, Dodd Darin; they divorced in 1967.

There’s only a brief allusion to Dee’s emotional anguish – having been raped by her stepfather when she was eight – and no mention of Darin’s brief second marriage in 1973 to Andrea Yaeger.

Directed by Alex Timbers, Jonathan Groff – last year’s Tony-winner for “Merrily We Roll Along” – breaks ‘the fourth wall,’ making an immediate, intimate audience connection and miraculously sustaining it for more than two hours, darting between two stages, dancing on cafe tabletops in-between, crooning hits like “Mack the Knife,” “Dream Lover,” “Splish Splash,” “18 Yellow Roses,” “Once in a Lifetime,” “Rainin’” and the titular “Just in Time.”

Too bad the second act, covering the final third of his life, loses steam, skimming over his political & folk music letdowns, eventual bankruptcy and death at age 37 in 1973.

Kudos to co-stars Emily Bergl, Cesar Samayoa, Lance Roberts and Joe Barbara, along with and leggy back-up dancers Christine Cornish, Julia Grondin & Valeria Yasmin, cavorting on Derek McLane’s elaborate art deco set, complete with a bandstand to accommodate the lively 11-piece combo.

 Booked indefinitely at Circle in the Square, ticket info on “Just in Time” is at justintimebroadway.com.

Susan Granger’s review of “We Had a World” (Off-Broadway: Manhattan Theatre Club’s Stage II at City Center)

 

Years ago, I remember seeing a cartoon depicting two lonely people sitting in a huge convention center below a banner welcoming “Children From Functional Families.”

We all come from dysfunctional families which is why it’s so easy to relate to Joshua Harmon’s “We Had a World,” an engrossing, ferocious and often funny memory play, having its world premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Stage II.

It’s an ode to his grandmother Renee, played by Joanna Gleason, one of Fairfield County’s finest actors, who delivers a rich, riveting, rapturous performance.

Outspoken Renee opens the drama, telling her writer/grandson Josh (Andrew Barth Feldman), “I’ve got your next play. It’s called ‘Battle of the Titans’ about your mother and your aunt. It’ll be ‘Virginia Woolf, Part 2.’”

“I want you to promise me something,” she adds, revealing a tantalizing touch of wickedness. “Make it as bitter and vitriolic as possible. It ought to be a real humdinger.”

“There’s no straight line to tell this story.” Josh earnestly explains. “It’s confusing.”

First, there’s the strained relationship between eccentric, alcoholic Renee and Josh’s judgmental, lawyer mother Ellen (Jeanine Serralles), followed by Ellen’s tense, awkward estrangement from her sister Susan.

Living on Manhattan’s upper West Side over a period of 30 years, the family weathers several unconventional crises, primarily precipitated by the complicated mother-daughter conflict between whimsical Renee and uptight Ellen.

Unfolding in a non-linear structure from various characters’ perspectives, the narrative is occasionally confusing and often repetitive. But that’s a minor quibble because the talented acting trio rises above the contrivances to propel the production, deftly directed by Trip Cullman.

Kudos to John Lee Beatty’s simplistic set design, lit by Ben Stanton with sound by Sinan Refik Zafa and time-authentic costumes by Kaye Voyce.

For a memory refresh: Joanna Gleason won a Tony for “Into the Woods,” Andrew Barth Feldman was the first actual teenager to star in “Dear Evan Hanson,” and Jeanine Serralles played the title role in “Gloria.” Joshua Harmon’s previous plays include “Prayer for the French Republic” and “Significant Other.”

Extended by popular demand through May 11, “We Had a World,” which runs 1 hour, 40 minutes with no intermission, is at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Stage II at New York City Center…manhattantheatreclub.com

Susan Granger’s review of “Smash: The Musical” (Imperial Theatre on Broadway)

 

Confession: I’ve never seen the NBC backstage drama series on which the new Broadway musical “Smash” is based, so I cannot make comparisons. But what I can tell you is: audiences who are familiar with the premise, love, love, love it!

Basically, it’s about the making of “Bombshell,” a musical about Marilyn Monroe. Book writer/lyricist Tracy (Krysta Rodriguez), her composer/ husband Jerry (John Behlmann), droll director Nigel (Brooks Ashmanskas) and imperious producer Anita (Jacqueline B. Arnold) are all determined that this will be an upbeat story and not end with “Marilyn lying in her bed naked and dead, wrapped in a white satin sheet.”.

But early in the rehearsal period, Tracy makes a major mistake: giving a book about how Marilyn used The Method – written by Susan Proctor, her drama coach – to Ivy Lynn (Robyn Hurder), their sweet-natured star, who immediately devours it.

“If I ever see you giving books to an actor again,” snarls Nigel with a sense of foreboding, “I will replace you – with an app!”

Sure enough, once-bubbly Ivy succumbs to The Method, hiring creepy, black-clad Susan (Kristine Nielsen, riffing on real-life Paula Strasberg, wife of Lee Strasberg from The Actors Studio), who feeds her amphetamines like candy.

Under Susan’s orders, Ivy insists on being addressed only as Marilyn and adopting the most neurotic, self-destructive traits of the doomed actress – alienating everyone, including her best friend/understudy Karen (Caroline Bowman).

Rebellion is inevitable and Ivy is replaced by Karen, who mistakenly eats a laxative-laced cupcake meant for Ivy and, literally, blows the first preview performance.

That’s when assistant director Chloe (Bella Coppola) steps in; she’s a terrific singer who has been told repeatedly that her larger body size prevents her from ever being considered as a leading lady.

Exuberantly directed by Susan Stroman, the engaging book is by Rick Elise and choreographer Joshua Bergasse with a jukebox score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.

Amplifying the comedy, there are clever ‘insider’ jokes and behind-the-scenes theater references – contributing to the farcical upheaval.

While the ensemble works superbly together, scene-stealing Brooks Ashmanskas is particularly hilarious, as is young Nicholas Matos as Scott, Anita’s Gen-Z clueless quipster assistant.

Running 2 hours, 30 minutes with one intermission, “Smash” is at the Imperial Theater on Broadway: smashbroadway.com. And, fortunately, ‘affordable’ tickets are available.

Susan Granger’s review of “Ghosts” (Off-Broadway – Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater)

 

Perhaps the first question that occurs after seeing Irish playwright Mark O’Rowe’s new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s “Ghosts” at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater is: Why?

Set on a small island off the dark ‘n’ dreary Norwegian coast, the drama occurs in the home of middle-aged Helena Alving (Lily Rabe), austere widow of the late Captain Alving who has been dead for 10 years. With the help of petty, puritanical Pastor Manders (Billy Crudup), Helena is building an orphanage in her late husband’s name.

In truth, Captain Alving was a lecherous drunk who sired at least one illegitimate child, Regina (Ella Beatty), who works as the family maid and is unaware of her disreputable parentage, having been raised by her adoptive father, Jacob Engstrand (Hamish Linklater), a crass, opportunistic carpenter.

Helena’s always protected her ‘painter’ son Oswald (Levon Hawke), who grew up in Paris. He is unaware that he has inherited his dissolute father’s penchant for debauchery and the fact that his inheritance money is what’s funding the orphanage. Now 25, he’s home, indulging in too much alcohol and tobacco, in addition to a clandestine interest in flirtatious, social-climbing Regina.

Shocking audiences back in 1882, Ibsen openly derided 19th century bourgeois morality, detailing infidelity, incest, venereal disease, euthanasia and religious hypocrisy – while obviously empathizing with the repression of women trapped by domesticity.

Collaborating with director Jack O’Brien, casting director Daniel Swee chose a muddled mis-cast of ‘nepo babies” – Lily Rabe’s parents are Jill Clayburgh & David Rabe, Ella Beatty’s parents are Annette Bening & Warren Beatty, and Levon Hawke’s parents are Uma Thurman & Ethan Hawke.  An additional familial connection: Lily Rabe’s real-life husband is Hamish Linklater, son of vocal coach Kristin Linklater.

Yet Lily Rabe’s caustic, spirited performance and quirky theatrical genealogy are not enough to overcome the provocative play’s inability to measure up to “A Doll’s House” or “An Enemy of the People,” despite John Lee Beatty’ simple but effective set, subtly lit by Japhy Weidman.

Condensed to 1 hour and 50 minutes – with no intermission – “Ghosts” is the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center through April 26.

Susan Granger’s review of “Good Night and Good Luck” (Winter Garden Theater)

 

George Clooney’s screen-to-stage adaptation of “Good Night and Good Luck,” which cost up to $9.5 million to capitalize,” broke Broadway records, grossing $3.3 million in one week – the most money a nonmusical has ever made on Broadway, as audiences seem undeterred by the $799-top ticket price.

Scripted by Clooney & Grant Heslov and directed by David Cromer (“The Band’s Visit’), this timely, powerful drama centers on crusading, chain-smoking newsman Edward R. Murrow (Clooney) who risked his professional reputation and career to attack Wisconsin’s Junior Senator Joseph McCarthy at the height of his 1950s Communist witch hunt.

“We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty…We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason.”

Murrow was supported by stolid producer Fred Friendly (Glenn Fleshler) and wary CBS-CEO William Paley (Paul Gross), along with Murray’s ill-fated protégé Don Hollenbeck (Clark Gregg). All four deliver strong performances.

Less effective is an unnecessary subplot involving secretly married producers Shirley & Joe Wershba (Ilana Glazer, Carter Hudson), while musical interludes from a strategically located jazz band serve as an unnecessary, often annoying distraction, diluting the play’s effective momentum.

News projections by David Bengali bring the historical concept up-to-date by including glimpses of a plane hitting the World Trade Center on 9/11, the attack on the Capitol, and Elon Musk’s Nazi-like salute.

With steely gravitas, 63 year-old Clooney tops it off, proclaiming from behind a podium that “There is a battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference for the very soul of this republic….What are you prepared to do?” (Cue applause)…

That’s taken directly from Murrow’s speech at the 1958 Radio and Television News Directors Association Annual Meeting in which he chided media for abandoning its mission to inform and illuminate the public.

Kudos to atmospheric set designer Scott Peck, costumer Brenda Abbandandolo and Heather Gilbert’s hanging halogen lamps, for their authentic recreation of the vintage CBS broadcast center/offices at Grand Central Terminal.

FYI: You can rent “Good Night and Good Luck” (2005) – with Clooney as Fred Friendly and Oscar-nominated David Strathairn as Murrow – for $3.99 on Amazon Prime Video. Or try for discounted tickets from TKTS, New York Show Tickets, TodayTix, TheaterMania, BroadwayBox & Playbill.

“Good Night and Good Luck” plays at the Winter Garden through June 8.

Susan Granger’s review of “Vanya” (Off-Broadway: Lucille Lortel Theatre)

 

Having been dazzled by Andrew Scott’s riveting performance as the psychopath in TV’s “Ripley” (2024), I was eager to see how he’d handle playing all eight characters in Simon Stephen’s new version of “Vanya,” based on Anton Chekhov’s  “Uncle Vanya” (1897),

Adapting the lengthy Russian classic, Simon Stephens retains Chekhov’s basic unrequited love plot while transporting the now-Anglicized characters into a late 20^th century rural farm house and speaking with Irish accents.

Morose, middle-aged Ivan (sometimes referred to as Vanya) manages his late sister Anna’s property, where he lives with his complaining mother, Elizabeth, and works with his compliant niece Sonia, often toting a red-and-white dishcloth.

Joining them for the summer are Sonia’s film director father, scarf-wearing Alexander, and his much younger, second wife Helena, who compulsively fingers her gold necklace.

They’re often visited by elegant, idealistic Michael, an alcoholic physician, who repeatedly bounces a tennis ball. Lovelorn Sonia adores him but he only has eyes for lovely Helena, as does Ivan/Vanya.

Plus there’s the laborer Liam, known by the cruel nickname Crater, alluding to his suffering from acne in his young, and Maureen, the chain-smoking housekeeper.

Incredibly versatile, 48 year-old Andrew Scott adroitly slips in and out of each character’s voice and distinctive physicality. An absorbing theatrical event – it’s a towering achievement!

Credited as co-creators – along with Simon Stephens – of this production, which premiered in London’s West End  in 2023 – are director Sam Yates and scenic designer Rosanna Vize, whose work is augmented by James Farncombe’s effective lighting.

Performed in one-hour, 40 intermission-free minutes, “Vanya” plays at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher Street, through May 11. Check out Vanyaonstage.com

Susan Granger’s review of “Theatre People” at Westport Country Playhouse

 

Westport Country Playhouse’s Artistic Director Marc Shanahan stages his final season-of-laughter production – “Theatre People” – adapted by Paul Slade Smith, who was inspired by Ferenc Molnar’s 1924 Hungarian farce, “The Play at the Castle.”

Re-imagined in vintage 1948 glamour, it’s actually a play-within-a-play, concocted by married playwrights Charlotte & Arthur Sanders (Isabel Keating & Michael McCormick), who view the Newport mansion they’re currently visiting as a theater setting. That ignites an initial discussion as to which part of James J. Fenton’s elegant bedroom set is the ‘third wall,’ designating the audience.

They’re accompanied by neophyte novelist Oliver Adams (Rodolfo Soto), whose romantic tale they envision as their next Broadway hit. Problem is: timid Oliver hasn’t signed the publishing contract with Simon & Schuster because he’s nervous about how the love-of-his life, singer Margot Ball (Mia Pinero), will react.

Mischievous complications arise when Charlotte, Arthur and Oliver overhear an innuendo-laden conversation between Margot and her lover, dim-witted baritone Victor Pratt (Michael McCorry Rose), in the adjoining bedroom.

Merriment is heightened by the repeated appearances of Olga (Erin Noel Grennan), an outspoken Eastern European maid who is contemptuous of “theatre people.”

While Isabel Keating propels the plot twists and parody inherent in the screwball comedy, arm-flapping Michael McCorry Rose exudes madcap physical humor. Michael McCormick brings superb comedic timing to his exasperation; Rodolfo Soto exudes a shy, innocent earnestness as Mia Pinero plays along.

But it’s Erin Noel Grennan, who steals the show as surly, dour Olga; her husband, playwright Paul Slade Smith, has written her the role of a lifetime.

Adroitly directed by Marc Shanahan, this fast-paced play is the kind of sophisticated, frivolous froth that appeals to audiences seeking amusing, escapist entertainment.

“Theatre People” runs through April 12 at the Westport Country Playhouse.