Soul Doctor

The new musical Soul Doctor, about "singing rabbi" Shlomo Carlebach, isn't a good fit for Broadway. Sad that the current off-Broadway economics are so insane, because it could have a healthy run there. Click here for my review.

Einstein

The less said about Einstein, the better. Click here for my pan.

Love's Labour's Lost

Alex Timbers and Michael Friedman's adaptation of Love's Labour's Lost works great a lot of the time, which is more than you can say of many musicals. My review's here.

We're Gonna Die

Finally catching up with Young Jean Lee's song cycle at Lincoln Center. Well worth the delay.

First Date

I loved Zachary Levi, half of the couple going on a First Date on Broadway. It's a great feeling to watch a total stage natural. Click here for my review.

Richard III

Richard III in the park(ing lot) is a trial. More gruesome details in my review here.

Preview of Rubble

I talked to Simpsons writer/producer Mike Reiss as his new play, Rubble, is about to open at the Fringe. Click here for more.

Harbor

Chad Beguelin sets up a mini-clash of civilizations (really mini) in his new Primary Stages play, Harbor. Click here for my review.

Shida

Piling up clichés, solo musical Shida feels like an overwrought after-school special. My review's here.

Dancing on Nails

The show is closing a month earlier than anticipated, so my review of Dancing on Nails comes out the day before the final performance. Oops! Click here for my pan.

Interview with Julie White

If all interviewees were as sharp, as funny as Julie White, my job would be a lot easier. I talked to her as she prepared to join the cast of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike on Broadway. Click here for more.

Murder for Two

The new whodunit musical Murder for Two left me as cold as the victim in a potboiler novel. My review's here.

I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road

Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford's 1978 gets an excellent concert production at City Center, led by the glorious Renée Elise Goldsberry. Click here for my review.

Let It Be

After Rain, another Beatles tribute lands on Broadway with Let It Be. I'm not sure I see the point -- other than making a few $$$ of course. Click here for my review.

The Capables

Jay Stull's new play goes after both hoarders and reality TV, and buckles under the weight. Click here for my review of The Capables.

The Designated Mourner

Wallace Shawn's 1996 play may be among the most overrated of the past 40 years. Click here for my review.

Nobody Loves You

Itamar Moses and Gaby Alter's musical Nobody Loves You hits that sweet spot of goofy and smart. Click here for my review.

Violet

Good news: The Encores! Off-Center concert version of Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley's Violet was terrific (click here for my review). Bad news: It was a one-night-only event.

Bill W. and Dr. Bob

Bioplay about the origins of Alcoholics Anonymous is straightforwardly old-fashioned. Click here for my review.

Forever Tango

The 2013-14 Broadway season begins inauspiciously with the revue Forever Tango. Click here for my review.

The Cradle Will Rock

The new Encores! Off-Center series begins with a production of Marc Blitzstein's cult 1937 musical The Cradle Will Rock. My review's here.

Encores! Off-Center preview

Encores! starts off a new summer series dedicated to lesser-known off-Broadway musicals, and I for one can't wait! Click here for my preview of this season's goodies.

Unlock'd

The new musical Unlock'd doesn't fully embrace satire, as it should -- this is about a woman who gives names to her locks of hair, for god's sake! -- opting instead for collegiate-level humor. My review's here.

The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin

Steven Levenson's new play isn't all that great, but it gives David Morse a nice, juicy part. Click here for my review.

Rantoul and Die

Creating Mike & Molly wasn't enough for Mark Roberts, who also has a stage career. The Amoralists are producing his latest dark comedy, Rantoul and Die. My review's here.

The Two-Character Play

When those two characters are played by Amanda Plummer and Brad Dourif, you just go. My review of this Tennessee Williams oddity is here.

The Explorers Club

Nell Benjamin's new play at MTC II is a hoot. It's always fun to see actors goof around so expertly. My review's here.

The Comedy of Errors

The 2013 season of Shakespeare in the Park starts with The Comedy of Errors with Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Hamish Linklater. I'm not sure Daniel Sullivan is the best director to handle farce… Click here for my review.

A Kid Like Jake

Always happy to see Carla Gugino onstage, especially in her first new play. Sure, this slight show isn't on the level of Suddenly, Last Summer or After the Fall, but it's still interesting for both NYC parents or those watching NYC parents with schadenfreude. My review's here.

Roadkill

I actually felt nauseated during Roadkill, and that's not something I often feel during a play. So clearly I had to give it the maximum of four stars! My rave review's here.

Venice

Venice: both the hero of this new musical and the city. Just one of the unnecessarily distracting contrivances in the new musical that just opened at the Public. My review's here.

A Picture of Autumn

I quite liked the Mint's latest excavation job, 1951's A Picture of Autumn. Oh sure, those aging Brits aren't edgy or anything — I'm being sarcastic here! — but the play has its dark side. My review's here.

Reasons to Be Happy

Neil LaBute's sequel to Reasons to Be Pretty finds him in a pensive mode. Well, for a Neil LaBute play. Overall I liked it, but too bad so many jokes poke condescending fun at working-class people. My review's here.

3 Kinds of Exile

How do you give a star rating to a show like John Guare's 3 Kinds of Exile, which is made up of wildly inconsistent one-acts? I erred on the side of generosity because while "Funiage" is embarrassing, "Elzbieta Erased" is simply tremendous. Go here for my review of the whole thing.

Preview of Broadway Bares 23

Every June gypsies take center stage then take it all off in Broadway Bares. The 23rd installment should be a doozy— but then they all are! Click here for my preview.

Annie redux

There's no shame in typecasting: If someone does something well, why not look for variations within that kind of role? That's why casting Jane Lynch as Miss Hannigan in Annie was obvious and inspired at the same time. My review's here.

The Tutors

Erica Lipez's play, The Tutors, shows promise despite some clunky howlers. The shut-in nerd suddenly decides to backpack in China? The toolish straight guy has sex with his male roommate out of the kindness of his art? Errr…no! Click here for my review.

Somewhere Fun

I see Jenny Schwartz's Somewhere Fun as the second half of an absurdist language-centric diptych -- though it's less brilliant than its predecessor, God's Ear. My review's here.

Far from Heaven

Not being a fan of Grey Gardens, I was surprised by how much I loved that same team's score for Far from Heaven. Too bad the production's aesthetics are so awful. My review's here.

The Caucasian Chalk Circle

After The Master Builder, here's another play defeated by fuzzy directing — this time Brecht's parable about the arbitrary follies of totalitarianism. My review's here.

The Weir

Conor McPherson isn't a favorite, but still, The Weir should be more compelling that it is at Irish Rep right now. Click here for my review.

Basilica

Too bad Basilica devolved into soapy suds -- I liked its blue-collar, South Texas setting. My review's here.

Murder Ballad

I'm not entirely sure the new rock musical Murder Ballad needs its gimmicky surround staging — it'd be still good without it — but at least that doesn't hurt it. My review's here.

Preview of Shakespeare in the Park

I talked to three of the actors appearing in this summer's Shakespeare in the Park productions, as well as composer Michael Friedman, who's doing the Love's Labour's Lost musical adaptation with Alex Timbers. Click here for my preview.

Laura Benanti

It's always a pleasure to see Laura Benanti, even if I wished she'd cut a few ballads from her new cabaret show at 54 Below. My review's here.

The Master Builder

There are interesting ideas in Andrei Belgrader's take on The Master Builder at BAM, but mostly they're clumsily executed. My review's here.

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

Dave Malloy and Rachel Chavkin's musical remains enchanting in its new home. Go go go. My review's here.

Colin Quinn Unconstitutional

Amazing what a change of venue can do. I didn't care for Colin Quinn's show on Broadway, but in smaller setting the new one is just fine. My review's here.

Preview of Showgirls — The Musical

Amazing that it took almost 20 years to see an unauthorized musical version of Showgirls. And now it's coming…to a gay club near us. Click here for my preview.

City Council Meeting

As a fan of local democracy, I was looking forward to City Council Meeting. At least the show fails out of too much ambition, instead of not enough of it. My review's here.

A Family for All Occasions

Philip Seymour Hoffman directs Bob Glaudini's latest at the Bank Street Theater. Click here for my review.

A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney

In Lucas Hnath's new play, A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney, at Soho Rep, Disney sounds like a combo of Yoda and Gertrude Stein — the better to eat you with. Click here for my review.

Bunty Berman Presents…

A great idea for a musical — backstage on a Bollywood set in the 1950s — that could have used some trimming: That's Bunty Berman Presents…, brought to us by the New Group. My review's here.

On Your Toes

Encores! strikes again with Rodgers and Hart's On Your Toes. We all know Christine Baranski's great, so the real revelation was ABT principal Irina Dvorovenko, hilarious as an overly dramatic Russian ballerina. My review's here.

Old-Fashioned Prostitutes (A True Romance)

Yet another puzzle from Richard Foreman. I have no idea what was going on, so I split the star rating down the middle: two out of four. It could just as easily have been zero or four. My review's here.

Nikolai and the Others

Richard Nelson's latest has a cast of 18 and almost as many ideas and subplots going on. Maybe it would have worked if the show was nine hours rather than two and a half? My review's here.

The Girl I Left Behind Me

Mezzo sings the blues? I think not. But Jessica Walker handles the rest of the material winningly in this charming cabaret show about male impersonators. Click here for my review.

Bull

After Cock, Mike Bartlett gives us Bull. It's also set in the round but this time it's not about desire but hate and humiliation in the workplace. Click here for my review.

The Memory Show

Nothing memorable about this one, though as always Leslie Kritzer is worth seeing. My review of this new musical is here.

Pippin

Stephen Schwartz's hippie-dippy musical Pippin — the one he wrote after the hippie-dippy Godspell — returns to Broadway in a crackling production helmed by Diana Paulus. My rave's here.

I'll Eat You Last — A Chat with Sue Mengers

Bette Midler returns to Broadway 38 years after the Clams on the Half Shell revue. The play's meh, but she's divine as ever. My review's here.

Here Lies Love

A feel-good musical about Imelda Marcos? That's what David Byrne and Fatboy Slim delivered with Here Lies Love. Click here for my review.

The Trip to Bountiful

I was surprised to see that the current production is the first Broadway revival of The Trip to Bountiful — I assumed this play would have been done every 10 years or so. Loved Cuba Gooding Jr., Vanessa Williams and Condola Rashas, Cicely Tyson a bit less so. My review's here.

The Testament of Mary

It's simple: Whenever Fiona Shaw and Deborah Warner collaborate on a show, you've got to see it. My review of The Testament of Mary (on Broadway!) is here.

Macbeth

Second go for Alan Cumming's one-man version of Macbeth, this time on Broadway. The show actually shrunk on me after another viewing. My review's here.

Jekyll & Hyde — The Musical

As a lover of bombastic rock, I was ready to enjoy the revival of Jekyll & Hyde — The Musical. Alack, the production is drab, as if embarrassed by Frank Wildhorn's pomp rather than proud of it. Click here for my review.

Orphans

In an interview, the cast of Orphans — Alec Baldwin, Tom Sturridge, Ben Foster — expressed surprise at the amount of laughter their drama elicits. Mostly it works, though. My review's here.

The Assembled Parties

After Breakfast at Tiffany's and before Far from Heaven, the Richard Greenberg season continues with The Assembled Parties at the Friedman. Click here for my review.

Collapse

After scoring with Bethany and Jackie, Women's Project trips with its last show of the season, Collapse. Two out of three ain't bad though. My review's here.

The Big Knife

I so wanted to love The Big Knife: Odets, nice cast studded with several favorites like a Christmas pudding full of candied fruits. But it is so flat and affectless. My review's here.

The Nance

A look at the end of burlesque and conflicted feelings about one's sexuality, The Nance clearly means a lot to Douglas Carter Beane and Nathan Lane. Maybe that's why it spells things out too much. Still: a good evening at the theater. Click here for my review.

The Call

While it's got problems, Tanya Barfield's The Call — about a white couple who wants to adopt from Africa — is another success for Playwrights Horizons. My review's here.

Motown: The Musical

Bad sound on Broadway is one of my pet peeves, but at least Motown: The Musical delivers in that respect: The PA is a wonder. But beware the fugly sets, bad choreo and laughable book. My review's here.

Sleeping Rough

This brag doesn't even try to be humble: I'm pretty sure I got the majority of the music references in Kara Manning's Sleeping Rough — sadly, I actually remember Menswear. But references alone do not make a play. Click here for my review.

Matilda

The musical adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel Matilda is finally on Broadway, and it's absolutely enchanting. My rave review's here.

Kafka's Monkey

Kathryn Hunter is sensational in the monologue Kafka's Monkey, which Theatre for a New Audience brought over from the Young Vic. My review's here.

Kinky Boots

Mild praise for Kinky Boots, a musical that aggressively wants to be loved. My review's here.

Good with People

David Harrower's latest chamber piece, Good with People, left me cold. Full review here.

Buyer & Cellar

What would happen if an unemployed actor was hired to work in the shops in Barbra Streisand's basement? Jonathan Tolins answers that question in Buyer & Cellar, the spring's funniest comedy. Click here for my review.

The Last Five Years

Jason Robert Brown's musical The Last Five Years walks the line between clever and too clever. My review of the Second Stage musical, which he directed himself, is here.

Lucky Guy

Considering how much I dislike Nora Ephron's work, I was surprised to enjoy Lucky Guy so much. It's not a good play, but it's a good show. My review's here.

Three Trees

Serious-minded but dull, Pan Asian Rep's Three Trees looks at the relationship between Alberto Giacometti and one of his (male) models. Click here for my review.

A Dream Play

NAATCO tackles Strindberg's A Dream Play. Click here for my review of this epic fail.

Happy Birthday

The TACT company unearths an Anita Loos play from 1946, Happy Birthday, then stops in front of the obstacle. My review of this missed opportunity is here.

It's a Bird…It's a Plane…It's Superman

Encores! brings back Charles Strouse and Lee Adams' goofball musical about the Man of Steel. Goes to show that even a lesser Encores! is great fun. Click here for my review.

Hands on a Hardbody

So much potential in Hands on a Hardbody, so much self-sabotage. Yes, it's the musical in which people try to win a truck by keeping a hand on it at all times opens on Broadway, and it's better than you think it is, but not as good as it could have been. My review's here.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Maybe it's because I don't fetishize either Holly Golightly or Game of Thrones, but I liked Emilia Clarke in the new Breakfast at Tiffany's adaptation. My review's here.

The Mound Builders

Signature's revival of Lanford Wilson's The Mound Builders is the epitome of meh. My review's here.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike redux

Christopher Durang's comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is the rare example of a show that's better after its transfer to Broadway. My review's here.

Detroit '67

Dominique Morisseau's play Detroit '67 overcomes its stereotyped characters to be an appealing show. Full review here.

The Lying Lesson

I suppose there's a point in Craig Lucas' new play, The Lying Lesson, but it's just not all that interesting. My review's here.

The Flick

Annie Baker's latest, The Flick, sees her working on a bigger canvas, but the story still feels small. She's getting a pass, but it's the last one. My review's here.

Trevor

Nick Jones took an oddball premise — showbiz chimp wants to get back in action — and took it to its logical conclusion in the excellent Trevor. Unless they extend it, you've got only a week left to catch the show! My review's here.

Ann

Holland Taylor wrote and starred in her bioplay of Ann Richards, Ann. I prefer the performer to the writer. Full review here.

The North Pool

There's no delicate way to put this: Rajiv Joseph's new play, The North Pool, is embarrassingly bad. More details on this fiasco here.

Jackie

From what I understand, Jackie is the first Elfriede Jelinek play to get a professional production in the US. It was worth the wait. Click here for my review.

Talley's Folly

An old-fashioned romance blooms in Lanford Wilson's Talley's Folly, just revived by the Roundabout with Danny Burstein and Sarah Paulson. My review's here.

Old Hats

Bill Irwin and David Shiner get back together for more inspired clowning in Old Hats at Signature. Me love!

Belleville

Amy Herzog's latest, Belleville, opened yesterday at New York Theatre Workshop. I still think 4000 Miles is her best play to date. Click here for the full review.