BROADWAY & ME QUICKIES

The Play: Someone Spectacular; six very different people in a grief counseling group struggle to connect when their therapist fails to show up for their weekly session Written by: Doménica Feraud    Directed by: Tatiana Pandiani One good thing:  death is still such a taboo subject that a play dealing head-on with grief can provide solace for people trying to cope with the loss of loved ones  One not-so-great thing: the individual storylines here are too superficial leading to resolutions that are too pat 

The Play: pre-existing condition; Marin Ireland’s searing drama inspired by a domestic abuse incident in her own life One good thing: the gifted actress turns out to be an equally gifted playwright One not-so-good thing: the main character is played by a revolving list of actors so each of them carries and consults the script, which undermines the effect even when the actor is—as she was at my performance—the great Deirdre O’Connell

  The Play: EMPIRE; a musical about the creation of the Empire State Building One good thing: Walt Spangler’s set actually looks like a building under construction in this otherwise muddled musical  One not-so-great thing: Too many clichéd and confusing storylines including the unnecessary framing device of a woman born on the day that the building opened and her family’s involvement with the project 

The Play: Cats: The Jellicle Ball One good thing: It is so clever of this revival to get rid of the slightly-silly dancing felines from the original production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical and replace them with these totally fierce gender-fluid creatures from the world of ballroom culture  One not-so-great thing: It's still “Cats”    

The Play: N/A One good thing:   These series of imagined meetings between two Democratic politicians—the pragmatic Nancy Pelosi (superbly played by Holland Taylor) and the idealistic Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes (the equally superb  Ana Villafañe)— manage to be both laugh-out-loud funny and seriously thought-provoking, especially in this election year One not-so-great thing:   This two-hander may be just preaching to the choir since the people who might benefit most from seeing it are the least likely to see it 

The Play: The Welkin One good thing: Sandra Oh is terrific as an 18th century midwife trying to do the right thing in this cautionary tale about who should control women’s bodies   One not-so-great thing:  The play requires a cast of 13 women, which is a good thing but the too many different acting styles in this production sometimes make it too chaotic to follow

The Play: Follies in Concert One good thing: Getting the chance to hear Norm Lewis and Nikki Renée Daniels hit all the right notes of sorrow and regret in their magnificent performance of Stephen Sondheim’s “Too Many Mornings” One not-so-great thing: The orchestra sometimes played so loudly that it almost drowned out some of the singers