All stories by ELISABETH VINCENTELLI on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Yes, and it counts by Elisabeth Vincentelli

What makes "Magic/Bird" work isn't the mystique still attached to its subjects, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, legends though they are. Rather, the joint tale that opened on Broadway last nig…

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Sweet but awkward volley: fault, playwright by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Unlike Broadway's "Magic/Bird," which really is about Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, "Federer Versus Murray" doesn't focus on those two tennis champions. That's a bummer, because Gerda Steven…

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Friday, April 6, 2012

You must love Che by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Last night, "Evita" returned after a 30-year absence from Broadway. The wait was worth it: This is a big, fat, juicy blockbuster of a show. Naturally, everybody's flipping out over the hot n…

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Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Close-knit odd couple go the distance in 'Miles' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

How refreshing that the mismatched leads of "4000 Miles" don't look or act like one of the odd couples we've seen a million times. Vera " the extraordinary Mary Louise Wilson, who was Big Ed…

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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

'Shrew' mastered by a powerful Kate by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" has such a bad rep that this new production's program is full of scholarly quotes that basically say, hey, it's really not as chauvinistic as everybod…

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Take on Judy a real beauty by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Big Broadway performances are polished, sometimes to a fault: They're perfectly enjoyable, but they often lack a certain unpredictable battiness. Not so with Tracie Bennett's tour de force …

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Monday, April 2, 2012

See 'Man' for the women by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The most memorable part of "The Best Man" is the women. Gore Vidal's 1960 chestnut may center on three powerful male politicians, but it's the ladies hovering on the periphery who steal this…

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Saturday, March 31, 2012

Remember the time by Elisabeth Vincentelli

It's tough enough to fill an arena when you have a superstar. What do you do without one? If somebody could come up with a solution, it's Cirque du Soleil, whose latest spectacle, "Michael J…

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Friday, March 30, 2012

Nothing fishy about this sweet 'Pipe Dream' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Watching "Pipe Dream" at City Center, you have to pinch yourself now and then to make sure you're not hallucinating. Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1955 show " presented in concert by Encores! " …

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Striking ensemble is on tap by Elisabeth Vincentelli

As Disney shows go, "Newsies " The Musical" covers all the familiar bases: a wily scamp of a hero matched with a plucky girl, a blustery villain, and a young smarty-pants overcoming every ob…

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Thursday, March 29, 2012

Rocker magicians do the trick by Elisabeth Vincentelli

A magic show is a magic show is a magic show. You've got illusions, mentalist feats and sleights of hand. Animals appear out of thin air. Someone may or may not be cut by a sharp blade. The…

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New songs, but now not the time to hear 'This.' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Back in 2006, the sly little tuner "[title of show]" made a pretty big splash. As quirky as its moniker, this was a selfreferential musical about writing and performing a musical, starring t…

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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Sorry excuse for a play by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The new drama "Regrets," set in 1954 Nevada, looks quite nice: Small wood cabins are huddled onstage, with the desert sky in the back and a cooking fire in the center. You can almost smell t…

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Monday, March 26, 2012

These shows are 'moving' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

You need a lot of bells and whistles to get noticed these days, let alone land a hit. Some shows bank on stars, usually brought in from the screen. Some rely on songs so popular, the audienc…

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Friday, March 23, 2012

Bloody good tale of sibling ribaldry by Elisabeth Vincentelli

If "'Tis Pity She's a Whore" debuted today, John Ford's gory, perverse play would land in a downtown hole and possibly cause a ruckus comparable to past NEA scandals. But "Pity" was publish…

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Praise be for 'Jesus' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

It's hard to pin down Jesus in the 1971 rock musical "Jesus Christ Superstar." Sometimes, co-creators Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice seem to agree with Mary Magdalene, who sings "He's a ma…

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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Fresh, satisfying 'Meal' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The new off-Broadway show "The Big Meal" is high-concept, to say the least. In just 90 minutes, playwright Dan LeFranc tracks Nicole and Sam over several generations " romance, marriage, ten…

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Sunday, March 18, 2012

It's Dublin your pleasure by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The new Broadway musical "Once" doesn't have a swinging chandelier, tap-dancing showgirls or brand-name stars. There's only one set " and it doesn't levitate. The show wins its standing ovat…

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Friday, March 16, 2012

Old 'Maids' roused to action, fantasy and just desserts by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Violence, fantasy, jealousy, dominance and submission, death " Jean Genet's play "The Maids" has it all! Two sisters working as servants for a rich woman engage in elaborate role-playing ga…

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Attention must be paid to age by Elisabeth Vincentelli

An interesting case, that Willy Loman. Cynics would say the title character of Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" is one of the biggest losers to ever grace the stage " yet actors trip ov…

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Thursday, March 8, 2012

'Iliad' doesn't hit a Homer-run by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Chicken or fish? Leno or Conan? Rent or buy? Decisions, decisions. Theatergoers are facing an equally tough choice with "An Iliad," a new one-man show that features two men. Depending on the…

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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Small revival is 'Paint' by numbers by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Don't let the title throw you: This is no epic about Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel. The subject of Tina Howe's play "Painting Churches" is an elderly couple named Fanny and Gardner Chu…

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Monday, March 5, 2012

The life of the party by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Jo sure knows how to play party games. "I am your wife, and I am dying," she snaps at her husband, Sam, during a round of 20 Questions, while their guests look elsewhere. That's one way to p…

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Sunday, March 4, 2012

All signs point to 'Tribes' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

There's so much going on in the new off-Broadway show "Tribes" that it's almost overwhelming: intellect and sentiment, love and cruelty, witty zingers and biting put-downs. But in Nina Raine…

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Thursday, March 1, 2012

'Carrie': blood lite & boring by Elisabeth Vincentelli

There are two ways to bring back a flop. The first is to believe the show was good but badly staged, and to have a visionary set things right. The "Carrie" revival that opened off-Broadway l…

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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Parenthood musical's a bit too Rated G by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Despite what Paula Deen says, there is such a thing as too sweet. But the creators of "Rated P for Parenthood" didn't get the memo, and their musical could send unsuspecting audiences into a…

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You should help yourself to expert 'Assistance' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Fun fact: After graduating from NYU, playwright Leslye Headland ("Bachelorette") briefly worked as Harvey Weinstein's personal assistant. Now, a tyrannical tycoon looms over her blistering n…

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Monday, February 27, 2012

Takes a 'Village' to mar a kid by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The best part of Katori Hall's Broadway debut, "The Mountaintop," was the very end, when the show really took flight. Most of the time, the 30-year-old playwright seemed constricted by her s…

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Fatherly pain in the glass by Elisabeth Vincentelli

'life in this house is intolerable," someone moans in the terrific British family drama "Rutherford & Son," now at the Mint. But while the home's gloomy, Githa Sowerby's 1912 play is a theat…

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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Weak atmosphere eclipses astronomer's tale by Elisabeth Vincentelli

If the skies had looked the way they do in Bertolt Brecht's "Galileo," which just opened at Classic Stage Company, the famous Italian astronomer may never have looked up a telescope. It's as…

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'Early' O'Neill at sea by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Don't let the author's name throw you: Though these "Early Plays" are by Eugene O'Neill, these aren't your grandmother's classics. To begin with, you can't really call the three one-act piec…

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