Broadway Reviews

IN THE HEIGHTS

Review by Barbara Mehlman and Geri Manus 9 May 2008"In the Heights," which was transported from a little off-Broadway theater to the big time is soaring with its original cast largely in tact, and you can expect to see it win a bunch of Tonys this season. This exhilarating hit musical has made the precarious transition more effortlessly than the gentrification of the neighborhood it portrays.In a perfect blend of ethnic groups, musical genres, and lovable characters, Lin-Manuel Miranda, its...

Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

There are true stories of people who have not only forgiven the person who murdered their child/parent/fellow parishioner, but meet with the perpetrator, visit, write, and even testify to have that person freed from prison and maintain an ongoing relationship. At the other end of the spectrum is Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Sent away to prison for life on trumped up charges by a Judge who wanted to seduce Sweeney’s beautiful wife, Sweeney is hell-bent on revenge. Somewhere in...

A Tale of Two Cities

A Review by Barbara Mehlman and Geri Manus.It is the not the best of shows; it is not the worst of shows.It is, rather, a "Les Mis" remake, a reunion of Mis-ites (which is not surprising given that the original ran for 6680 performances and probably employed every musical actor in New York at one time or another). It's anthem song is not "One Day More," but "Until Tomorrow." And, "At The End of the Day," as the peasants sing in "Les Mis," the French and English in the new musical "A Tale of Two...

The Drowsy Chaperone

Music & Lyrics by: Lisa Lambert & Greg Morrison Book by: Bob Martin & Don McKellar Directed by: Casey Nicholaw Cast: Danny Burstein, Georgia Engel, Sutton Foster, Edward Hibbert, Troy Britton Johnson, Eddie Korbich, Garth Kravits, Jason Kravits, Beth Leavel, Kecia Lewis-Evans, Bob Martin, Jennifer Smith, Lenny Wolpe, Linda Griffin, Angela Pupello, Joey Sorge and Patrick Wetzel. Synopsis: To chase his blues away, a modern day musical theatre addict known simply as 'Man in Chair'...

The Wedding Singer

Review by Barbara MehlmanMusic by: Matthew Sklar Lyrics by: Chad Beguelin Book by: Tim Herlihy & Chad Beguelin Directed by: John Rando Cast: Stephen Lynch, Laura Benanti, Amy Spanger, Rita Gardner, Richard Blake, Kevin Cahoon, Felicia Finely, Matthew Saldivar. Synopsis: It�s 1985 and rock-star wannabe Robbie Hart is New Jersey's favorite wedding singer. He�s the life of the party - until his own fianc�e leaves him at the altar. Shot through the heart, Robbie makes every wedding as...

Disgraced

Disgraced. I have been thinking about this word ever since I saw this play. If you take it at face value, it means that a person has been removed from grace, or that grace has been removed from their life. But in Ayad Akhtar's play, it appears that grace was never really present.Amir (Hari Dhillon) and his wife Emily (Gretchen Mol) have been living a dream life that looks pretty perfect. He is a of Pakistan heritage, high-powered mergers and acquisitions lawyer who began life as a District...

42nd Street

Songs by Al Dubin & Harry Warren, Book by Michael Stewart & Mark Bramble Choreography by Randy Skinner (recreating original choreography by Skinner and Gower Champion) Directed by Mark BrambleReview by Alan Bird March 200242nd Street is the all time classic Broadway musical based upon the 1933 movie musical of the same name. Set in the time of the great depression it tells the story of Peggy Sawyer a girl from Philadelphia who wants to become �a broad� on Broadway. Her moment arrives when...

Mary Poppins

(Please note, this is a review of the London Production of 'Mary Poppins'. This production is to be re-created on Broadway in the Spring of 2006.)Mary Poppins has finally opened at the Prince Edward Theatre and after all the pomp and excitement that has been generated around this much anticipated Disney and Cameron Macintosh stage version of Pamela Lyndon Travers inscrutable nanny, the show has generated exceptionally high expectations. Even before the curtain rises we are anticipating a...

The Little Mermaid

A Review by Barbara Mehlman and Geri Manus."Look! It's not a lion! It's not a beast! This time, it's a mermaid!" Gliding onto a Broadway stage with movements more suited to a Disney on Ice extravaganza, newcomer Sierra Boggess -- whose big claim to fame was her smashing performance in "Phantom -- The Las Vegas Spectacular" -- captures the hearts of little girls as the beautiful Ariel in this new glitzed-out production of "The Little Mermaid." Problem is, those are the only hearts she...

Miss Saigon

Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg's Miss Saigon has taken its second helicopter ride across the Atlantic from London, and landed right back at the Broadway Theatre, where it first set down in 1991 under heavy enemy fire. The anti-aircraft artillery at that time came not from the Viet Cong, as would befit an epic musical set in the final days of the Vietnam War, but from Actors Equity and the Asian-American community, who objected to the casting of a white actor (Jonathan Pryce) in a...