BROADWAY & ME QUICKIES

The Play: Angry Alan; a sly satire about one middle-aged white guy’s descent into the most toxic and self-pitying parts of the manosphere  Written by: Penelope Skinner, created with Dan Mackay        Directed by: Sam Gold One good thing: John Krasinski puts his nice-guy image to good use in an awards-worthy performance that mines the show’s many comedic moments, almost creates empathy for a man who considers himself a loser and then just as effectively unleashes the resentful rage that can come when such men see themselves as victims of society  One not-so-great thing: I suppose there’s the danger that some viewers may not get the satire and walk away feeling “seen” but this is a really smart and entertaining show so my only real complaint is why the New York Times which makes almost every other show it reviews a “Critics Pick” somehow chose not to do so for this one    

The Play: Call Me Izzy; a one-person show about a rural woman who tries to use her gift as a naturally-talented poet to escape her life as a longtime battered wife Written by: Jamie Wax        Directed by: Sarna Lapine One good thing: Jean Smart, who’s won all kinds of awards for her TV work especially in the HBO series “Hacks”, makes an equally praiseworthy return to the New York stage for the first time in 25 years One not-so-great thing:  The play seems somewhat gratuitous since it offers no fresh insights about domestic abuse and its ending is particularly unsatisfying    

The Play : The Imaginary Invalid, a trimmed-down version of the 17th century French farce about a hypochondriac whose obsession with his health blinds him to all the machinations that are going on around him Written by: Moliere      Adapted by: Jeffrey Hatcher        Directed by: Jesse Berger One good thing: The cast includes some of the funniest theatrical clowns in the business, including Mark-Linn Baker, Arnie Burton and Stephanie Styles One not-so-great thing: The pacing is sluggish, which can be the kiss of death for a farce      

The Play: Bowl EP, a surrealistic fantasia about two skateboarders who skate, get high, spin raps and fall in love while wrestling with society’s ideas about who they should be Written and Directed by: Nazareth Hassan         One good thing: Transforming the entire theater into a skating bowl is impressive One not-so-great thing: A different director might have been more helpful to the playwright, providing fresh eyes that could have made the staging less clunky and fresh ears that could have helped modulate a pivotal monologue that is so long and so loud that it’s hard to appreciate all that's being said. 

The Play: Goddess; an overly complicated but still very enjoyable musical fable about an African deity who rejects the destiny set by her demanding mother and instead comes to earth where she finds refuge in an exuberant Afro-Jazz nightclub in Mombasa and falls for a mortal who is also uneasy with the path his parents have groomed him to follow  Music and Lyrics by: Michael Thurber        Book by: Saheem Ai; with additional book material by James Ijames              Directed by: Saheem Ali One good thing:  Everyone in this show's high-spirited cast is terrific but the real standout is Amber Iman who finally gets the star-making role she deserves, allowing her to showcase her truly divine voice and commanding stage presence One not-so-great thing: The book is a crazy quilt patched together with bits from disparate shows, ranging from Hadestown to The Little Mermaid and stuffed with far too many characters 

The Play : The Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes; a sly two-hander about the power dynamics at work in a series of sexual encounters between a middle-aged college professor and his 19-year-old-student  Written by: Hannah Moscovitch        Directed by: Ian Rickman One good thing: Hugh Jackman knows just how to use the charisma that has made him a star on the big screen to charm—alright seduce if you like—the audience while still making it clear how comfortable he is on a small stage One not-so-great thing: Playing a cipher is a challenge for any actor but it may be too much so for Ella Beatty, a striking young Juilliard grad who seems unable to even hint at what may be going on beneath the surface of her character    

The Play:   Bus Stop, the National Asian American Theatre Company’s maybe too entertaining revival of the 1955 dramedy about a motley group of lonely souls stranded in a roadside diner during a snowstorm Written by:  William Inge         Directed by:  Jack Cummings III One good thing:  Although unavoidably haunted by some earlier performances (Kim Stanley and Elaine Stritch in the original Broadway production; and Marilyn Monroe, Eileen Heckart and Hope Lange in the movie) this production's female cast members Midori Francis, Cindy Cheung and Delphi Borich find ways to put their own distinctive spins on the desperate hunger for something more in life that so defines Inge’s work One not-so-great thing:    The direction is slightly off; t oo much of the action in this “in-the-round” production faces just one part of the audience and leaning into the comedy so heavily undermines the play’s essential pathos