Angry Alan (Studio Seaview)

By Harry Forbes

It’s a treat to watch John Krasinski deliver such a bravura performance in Penelope Skinner’s (mostly) one-man show about Roger, a disaffected former executive whose life has come unglued. He lost his high-ranking job at AT&T (a sore point he won’t let go), his wife left him, he’s estranged from his son, and he’s barely holding on to his current relationship.

Enter Angry Alan, an internet men’s rights guru whose inflammatory, self-proclaimed “manosphere” message proclaims that most men are good and have been unfairly diminished by the so-called gynocracy. Roger is captivated. Alan’s views—logical and irrefutably correct in Roger’s eyes—feel like a mirror to his own. Enthusiastically, he shares Alan’s videos with anyone who will listen.

Krasinski makes Roger’s good-natured, humorous persona so charming that Alan’s increasingly toxic ideology goes down disturbingly easy. Roger comes off as a laid-back, likable guy, which makes his descent all the more unsettling.

When he learns of an Angry Alan conference in Detroit, Roger impulsively pays the steep admission fee—along with a hefty “generous” donation—despite needing the money for his monthly child support payment.

Krasinski is virtuosic as he navigates Roger’s emotional shifts, ultimately revealing the darker undercurrents of his character with fearless precision.

Smartly directed by Sam Gold—his strongest New York work in recent memory, surpassing recent productions like Romeo + Juliet, An Enemy of the People, and Macbeth—the play, first produced in 2018 after development at the Aspen Fringe Festival, delivers a chillingly timely exploration of social media’s corrosive influence. Don Mackay, identified in the program as Skinner’s husband, is credited as co-creator.

The revolving set by dots vividly conjures Roger’s shared home with girlfriend Courtney and later, the Detroit conference venue. Qween Jean’s costumes, Isabella Byrd’s lighting, and Mikaal Sulaiman’s sound design are all top-tier.

The program lists five cameo performers, though four are seen only as projected photographs of people in Roger’s life.

This production also marks the debut of the newly restored former Second Stage space—the lounge area especially spiffy and inviting.

(Studio Seaview, 305 West 43rd Street; studioseaview.com; through Aug. 3)

Photo: Jonny Cournoyer – John Krasinski

Table 17 (MCC Theater)

By Harry Forbes

Former partners Jada (Kara Young) and Dallas (Biko Eisen-Martin) meet at a restaurant for a reunion under the sardonic eye of the supercilious maitre d/waiter River (Michael Rishawn) in Douglas Lyons amusing and ultimately touching comedy.

Smartly and resourcefully directed by Zhailkon Levingston on Jason Sherwood’s chicly adaptable set configured like the Bianca’s eatery at which the action transpires (the first rows of the theater have been replaced by tables for audience members), the play is a solid showcase for three very appealing performances. (A porgram insert, incidentally, is cutely designed as a menu in keeping with the show’s setting.)

Young follows up her brilliant work as Lutiebelle in last season’s “Purlie Victorious” with another bravura performance. Her brash Jada conceals a vulnerable creature hurt by the past events we learn as the evening transpires. She gets the laughs where appropriate but also shows us the touching heartbreak beneath the bravado. Eisen-Martin’s aspiring music producer Dallas matches her sensitivity beautifully, and their scenes together play out with convincing naturalness, by turn awkward, bitter, and tender in their interactions. Rishawn impresses in his multiple roles demonstrating easy versatility as he morphs from campy waiter to Jada’s former coworker and other roles. 

The play is punctuated by several flashbacks which fill in the backstory, as well as brief audience asides where these characters express their inner thoughts a bit reminiscent of O’Neill’s “Strange Interlude.” A pivotal Christmas episode, an airport mixup, and a breakup confrontation are particularly well done.

All the production elements are fine including Devario D. Simmons’ costumes, Ben Stanton’s lighting, and Christopher Darbassie’s clear sound design. 

We’ve seen this general story before, and occasional stretches of dialogue are a tad conventional, but overall, Lyons’ comic voice is distinctive, as was clear with his Broadway debut play, “Chicken and Biscuits,” and there are, in any case, a couple of unexpected twists in the narrative which keep things even more interesting. 

(MCC Theater’s Susan & Ronald Frankel Theater,  511 W 52nd Street; mcctheater.org/tix/; hrough September 29)

Photo by Daniel J Vasquez: (l.-r.) Biko Eisen-Martin, Kara Young

Once Upon a Mattress (Hudson Theatre)

By Harry Forbes

The delights of director Lear deBessonet’s “Once Upon a Mattress” at Encores this past spring remain undimmed in its Broadway transfer. Indeed, in some ways, they’re actually heightened in its Great White Way retooling.

The show is, of course, composer Mary Rodgers’ comic comic spin on Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea.” (The very funny book by lyricist Marshall Barer, Jay Thompson, and Dean Fuller, has been smartly adapted by Amy Sherman-Palladino who penned star Sutton Foster’s TV series “Bunheads.”) 

“Mattress” was famously the show that launched Carol Burnett’s meteoric career back in 1959. A 1996 Broadway revival with Sarah Jessica Parker was, frankly, merely adequate, as its leading lady didn’t play Princess Winnifred as broadly comic as the zany part truly demands.

But here, as at Encores, Foster makes the part gloriously her own and for long stretches, even makes you forget Burnett. She’s wonderfully matched by Michael Urie’s touchingly innocent Prince Dauntless and his impeccable comic timing is a joy throughout. Together, Foster and Urie have ribtickling comic chemistry.

There are some changes in the cast but all the newbies fit their parts as beautifully as their Encores counterparts. Ana Gasteyer is now Queen Aggravain putting obstacles in the path of every eligible maiden for the hand of her son. Daniel Breaker is the jester who serves as the show’s narrator, impressing with his smooth vocals right from the opening number, “Many Moons Ago.” And Will Chase is now the clueless Sir Harry who can’t marry Lady Larken until Dauntless walks down the aisle. 

Larken is once again played most delightfully by the gorgeous voiced and appealing Nikki Renée Daniels, and David Patrick Kelly is back as the mute King Sextimus the Silent endearing throughout largely with skillful pantomime. Brooks Ashmanskas again delights as the Queen's partner-in-scheming Wizard.

Lorin Latarro’s ingenious choreography -- last season on impressive display in “The Who’s Tommy” and “The Heart of Rock and Roll” -- confirms her stature as one of the very best in that field. 

As at Encores, the orchestra is positioned upstage under the assured  baton of Mary-Mitchell Campbell. 

David Zinn’s scenic design and Andrea Hood’s costumes are fractured fairy tale perfect. Kai Harada’s sound design is ideally balanced.

The audience at my performance had a ball and I think it’s a safe bet that you will too. 

(Hudson Theatre, 141 West 44th Street; OnceUponAMattessNYC.com)

Photo by Joan Marcus: l.-r. Michael Urie, Sutton Foster, and cast

N/A (Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater)

By Harry Forbes

Crackling good performances by Holland Taylor and Ana Villafañe as characters “inspired by” Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (the titular “N” and “A”) highlight this taut, witty play by Mario Correa who crafts this two-hander as a confrontation (mostly cordial) between N’s pragmatic decades-long experience in Congress against newbie A’s brash and impatient desire for change.

Tautly directed by Diane Paulus who draws convincing performances from her stars, the 80 minute play holds your interest throughout. The play set in the “recent past” basically charts the time between the Democrats gaining the House of Representatives and then losing it, which is to say, roughly 2018 to 2022 

Taylor already had a triumph portraying a real-life character, late Texas Governor Ann Richards at Lincoln Center’s upstairs space, and she is once again quite brilliant as the first woman Speaker of the House, though "N/A" is not a Lincoln Center Theater production. Similarly, Villafañe j-- who triumphed on Broadway as Gloria Estefan in “On Your Feet” -- scores again, this time as the youngest woman elected to Congress. 

Though A’s abrasiveness at first has the audience more on N’s side, Correa is careful to keep our sympathies nicely balanced between his two well intentioned but vastly different protagonists. So, too, a late-in-play revelation from A generates further sympathy and motivations for her passions.

Their sparring is lively, and sometimes heated (as in A’s insistence that ICE be abolished with indignation about children in cages) but never descends to nasty hostility. “A battle of ideas” was Correa’s intent, according to a brief program note. And much of their snappy repartee is quite entertaining and often amusing. For the record, Donald Trump is never mentioned by name just pronoun, but clearly held in disdain.

Myung Hee Cho’s ultra simple production design -- a pared down evocation of N’s office -- is artful and attractive, and her costumes are right on target for the real-life models. Mextly Couzin’s ingenious lighting, along with Possible Lisa Renkel’s projections,  brilliantly effects scene changes with a sort of sweeping black out effect that gives the impression of a curtain closing between the play’s several scenes.

(Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center, 150 W. 65th St.; www.NAThePlay.com or by Telecharge.com or 212-239-6200; through August 4 ) 

Photo by Daniel Rader: (l.-r.) Ana Villafañe, Holland Taylor

Lempicka (Longacre Theatre)

By Harry Forbes

I must confess I don’t know enough about Polish Art Deco artist Tamara de Lemprica to parse the fiction from the facts of the “pop-infused” bio-musical which has just opened on Broadway after tryouts at Williamstown Theatre Festival and La Jolla Playhouse. But it’s pretty clear there are heaps and heaps of dramatic license at work. 

In any case, the superficial result is, at best, somewhat akin to the short-lived “Diana: The Musical.” Which is not to say that, like that unfortunate retread of the short life of the Princess of Wales, there isn’t some decent talent on stage and behind the scenes.

As with “Diana,” for instance, the new show’s star, Eden Espinosa delivers a creditable performance, at least within the framework of the script’s broad strokes, morphing from crusty old lady in the opening scene to young woman caught up in the upheaval of the Russian Revolution in 1917, and then moving forward. She delivers dramatically and musically, revealing only occasional strain at the top of her register. 

The show’s book -- by creator Carson Kreitzer and composer Matt Gould --  relates how Lempicka rescues her upper crust husband Tadeusz Lempicki (Andrew Samonsky) from prison during the Revolution by bribing his captors with jewelry and then, when that fails, her virtue. They flee to Paris where she refines her talent for painting, under the tutelage of Futurist Movement founder Emilio Marinettii (a manic George Abud), and the patronage of a Baron (Nathaniel Stampley) and his wife (Beth Leavel), gaining fames for her celebrity portraiture and daring nudes. 

She soon makes the acquaintance of singer Suzy Solidor (Natalie Joy Johnson), and through her, falls under the spell of the prostitute Rafaela (a fictitious composite character played by the charismatic Amber Iman) with whom she commences an affair. Even before they eventually meet, both Tadeusz and Rafaela are aware of each other, but they settle into a comfortable, don't ask, don’t tell, triangular arrangement. 

Lempicka’s precocious daughter Kizette (Zoe Glick), a frequent model for her mother’s portraits, but otherwise neglected, is written and played like a cross between Baby June from “Gypsy” and Patty McCormack in “The Bad Seed.” And curiously, she seems to remain a child over the years.

Against the backdrop of ominous changing times and the impending rise of Fascism, Lempicka becomes emblematic of “the New Woman.” This also includes her enthusiastic patronage of an elaborate lesbian bar run by Suzy. Yet, all of these freedoms are soon to be curtailed by a more intolerant regime, with the now sinister Marinetti its chief proponent here.

Gould’s music makes no attempt at a period sound. It’s mostly hard-driving pop/rock bombast with a few soft ballads in the mix. I did like Iman’s jazzy “Stay,” but otherwise the score is predictably generic. Musicians are openly positioned in the pretty Longacre boxes, but the overall sound palette is a heavily miked artificiality. (Under the helm of Music Supervisor Remy Kurs, Charity Wicks leads the orchestra.) 

Leavel’s eleven o’clock number, as the Baroness confesses she is dying, earns applause, but vocally, she has little else to do. Samonsky’s attractive vocals are a pleasure throughout.

Director Rachel Chavkin does the best she can with the property but “Lempicka” is several notches below her previous triumphs, “Hadestown” and “Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812.” Raja Feather Kelly’s choreography is more Studio 54 than pre-Occupation Paris, but at least it keeps things lively. 

Riccardo Hernández's constantly shifting Eiffel Tower/Art Deco scenic design, augmented by Peter Nigrini’s newsreel footage projection design and Bradley King’s lighting provide visual interest.  Paloma Young’s costumes and Leah Loukas’ hair & wig design conjure the appropriate period look. 

Just based on the subject matter alone, the relatively little-known Lempicka would seem to be a longshot for Broadway success, and yet I should report that the audience at my Saturday night performance was highly enthusiastic throughout. Whether they were cheering the performances or the various triumphs of the show’s heroine -- or both -- I was at a loss to discern.

(Longacre Theatre, 220 West 48th Street; LempickaMusical.com)

Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman: Eden Espinosa

Water for Elephants (Imperial Theatre)

By Harry Forbes

This musical adaptation of Sara Gruen’s 2006 best-selling novel (also the basis for a 2011 film) is a capital example of Broadway showmanship at its best. A catchy score by the Pigpen Theatre Co. collective, lively choreography by Jesse Robb and Shana Carroll, some spectacular acrobatics seamlessly integrated, artful puppetry, and fine performances enhance an absorbing, if familiar, love-triangle narrative. 

Everything holds together beautifully under the masterful direction of Jessica Stone who here has taken on a far more complex endeavor than her last, the relatively small-scale “Kimberly Akimbo.” This is a far bigger, more elaborate show. 

The musical had its premiere at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre where it opened to positive reviews. (In fact, the couple seated next to me had seen it there, and loved it so much they wanted to experience it again. They were not disappointed.)

Rick Elice’s book starts with the elderly protagonist Mr. Jankowski (Gregg Edelman) -- about to go  AWOL from his nursing home -- relating his life story to workers at a circus. He tells how, as young Jacob during the Depression (here played by Grant Gustin), he had joined the (fictional) Bengali Brothers circus as a veterinarian following the devastating death of his parents in a car crash. 

August (Paul Alexander Nolan), the hard-boiled circus owner/ringmaster hires him after learning that he had some training, if not degree, in that field. Jacob soon becomes attracted to August’s wife, the horse trainer and rider Marlena (Isabelle McCalla), though he initially sublimates his feelings. 

After the death of Marlena’s horse from overwork, the circus takes on an elephant as its star attraction. Rosie, as she’s called, is introduced to us very artfully in sections -- a leg, a trunk -- before we finally see its full form (embodied by four puppeteers). The excellent puppet design here (which also includes an orangutan and lion) is the work of Ray Wetmore, JR Goodman, and Camille LaBarre.

But awed reference in the latter-day scenes to a legendary stampede in 1931 clues us in to more trouble ahead. Meanwhile, the growing comradeship among Jacob, Marlena, and August eventually leads to domestic tension when August senses the others’ growing attachment, inevitable given August’s short fuse temper and abusive tendencies. 

It’s good to see Edelman back on Broadway in a major role, in fine vocal and dramatic estate. His character doesn’t drop out when the flashback narrative begins. Gustin is just as good in his Broadway debut, and the two share acting honors. The always reliable Nolan is also splendid, and plays the good/bad duality of his part most skillfully, while McCalla is warmly sympathetic as the conflicted heroine. 

The other circus workers -- tough guy Wade (Wade McCollum), wise-cracking Barbara (Sara Gettelfinger), alcoholic Camel (Stan Brown), and caustic clown Walter (Joe De Paul) -- are each finely characterized, and major assets to the show’s appeal. 

The acrobats are uniformly spectacular. Antoine Boissereau has a particularly fine and poignant sequence on silks as the ailing horse. Elsewhere, the high-flying stunts are beautifully melded with the dramatic action and choreography. The second act opening production number, “Zostań,” being a prime example.

All the circus elements are authentically executed (Shana Carroll is credited with “circus design”). But Takeshi Kata’s set design, David Israel Reynoso’s costumes, Bradley King’s lighting, Walter Trarbach ‘s sound, and David Bengali’s projections all contribute to an eye and ear-filling sensory experience.

Pigpen Theatre Co.’s score, orchestrated by Daryl Waters, Benedict Braxton-Smith and August Eriksmoen, is tuneful and period perfect. Mary-Mitchell Campbell and Benedict Braxton-Smith share music supervision and arrangements credit, and together they’ve created a satisfying earful.  

(Imperial Theatre, 249 W 45th Street; Telecharge.com or 212.239.6200)

Photo by Matthew Murphy: (l.-r.) Paul Alexander Nolan, Isabelle McCalla, and Grant Gustin -

Dead Outlaw (Audible)

By Harry Forbes

For its first half, the new musical co-written by David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna takes the form of a stylized concert telling of the life of a two-bit, would be bank/train robber: one Elmer McCurdy, born 1880 (and played with bravura skill by Andrew Durand, late of “Shucked”). but wait. Before long, Elmer is killed by a posse in a 1911 shoot-out. The unnerving and puzzling effect feels somewhat akin to star Janet Leigh being killed so early in “Psycho.” So where can the show go from here? 

Well, as the title should have tipped us off, the remainder of the show’s 100-minute running time tells the utterly fascinating story of what then happens to poor Elmer’s corpse. This is, you see, a true story, one which came to light when the hanging red-painted body in an amusement park’s horror house was discovered by a TV film crew to be the remains of an actual person, not a mere prop. The corpse had already had a decades-long usage as a sideshow/carnival attraction. The saga has already been recounted In books (one by Mark Svenvold), a stage play, and a BBC documentary.

The book of the musical is written by Itamar Moses whose “The Band’s Visit” (also with Yazbek) won him a Tony Award, but this couldn’t be more different from that show, or, for that matter, his concurrent drama, “The Ally,” playing at the Public Theater. 

The score, filled with hard-driving country tunes, rock, and sweet ballads, is an interesting one. And in addition to Durand’s dynamic performance, the cast is very fine. Jeb Brown is the narrator, though he steps off the bandstand to play a bandit gang leader who, to his later regret, takes the inept Elmer under wing. 

Julia Knitel is lovely as a local girl who falls for Elmer, and could be his salvation were it not for Elmer’s psychological problems and heavy drinking which give him a real Jekyll Hyde dynamic. And she plays all the other female characters too. Trent Saunders has a strong moment as Cherokee Andy Payne, a long-distance champion runner on the newly opened Route 66 in 1928. (McCurdy’s arsenic-preserved mummy was a sideshow attraction during the race.)

Thom Sesma has an outrageous but crowd pleasing number as famed LA County Coroner Thomas Noguchi who pieced together the circumstances of McCurdy’s demise. There is superlative work, too, from Eddie Cooper, Dashiell Eaves, and Ken Marks (as Douglas MacArthur who was actually McCurdy’s superior during his brief army stint).

The whole is fluidly directed by David Cromer with movement direction by Ani Taj. Arnulfo Maldonado’s revolving set (both the bandstand and the set itself turn), atmospherically lit by Heather Gilbert, provides visual variety. And Sarah Laux’s costumes run the gamut from late 19th century to the late 1970s.   

Under Dean Sharenow’s music supervision, Rebekah Bruce conducts (and plays the piano for) the exemplary band which includes Della Penna himself on guitars, lap steel, and banjo, HANK, and Chris Smylie. (Bruce, Della Penna, and HANK double as vocalists, too.

The musical, like all Audible productions, will also be recorded for release at a later date,

(Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane; DeadOutlawMusical.com; through April 7)

Photo by Matthew Murphy (2024): (l-r) Trent Saunders, Andrew Durand, and Eddie Cooper

The Connector (MCC Theater)

By Harry Forbes

Eager beaver Princeton grad Ethan Dobson (Ben Levi Ross) lands a job as a prestigious literary magazine, the titular Connector, after he impresses the longtime editor Conrad O’Brien (Scott Bakula). He quickly befriends assistant copy editor Robin (Hannah Cruz) who becomes something of a girlfriend. 

But she, unlike Ethan, has yet to have one of her stories greenlighted. The story is set in the world of male dominated mid-1990’s journalism on the cusp of a changing media landscape, one in which scrupulous adherence to the facts is pitted against good storytelling. 

Ethan’s first story is an immediate hit with readers, as are his subsequent pieces, and circulation rises. But his winning streak starts to derail when his sensational expose of an embattled New Jersey mayor raises questions of veracity.

Though that plot twist is a bit of a spoiler, the theme has been widely publicized by the creators and MCC’s program notes which spotlight journalistic scandals such as Stephen Glass’s fabrications at The New Republic, presumably an inspiration for the script.

Jonathan Marc Sherman’s book is quite interesting, particularly when the narrative takes that particular turn. I find it difficult to assess Jason Robert Brown’s rhythm-heaving, electronic score on first hearing but it’s certainly as skillful and accomplished as you’d expect from the talented composer/lyricist who leads the band at each performance.

Several numbers beguile the ear, culminating in the Mideast flavored “Western Wall.” Choreographer Karla Puno Garcia has devised her most elaborate movement for that last lengthy number. Still, I couldn’t help feeling that “The Connector” might be just as compelling as a straight play sans songs. 

The show was conceived and very well directed by Daisy Prince in her third collaboration with Brown, following “The Last Five Years” and “Songs for a New World.”

The leads are all well cast. Ross, who starred in the somewhat thematically related “Dear Evan Hanson” for a couple of years, nails all the aspects of his tricky role, and Cruz makes an equally strong impression as the increasingly discontented Robin while Bakula brings the appropriate gravitas. All sing splendidly.

I did feel the band sometimes drowned out important lyrics, but generally Jon Weston's sound design is admirable.

There’s excellent work by Jessica Molaskey as a persistent fact-checker, and Mylinda Hull as a comically dogged fan letter writer whose correspondence take a more aggressive turn when she begins to discern something seriously amiss in Ethan’s copy. Superlative as well is Daniel Jenkins as the magazine’s lawyer. Max Crumm has a standout number as a Scrabble champion, and Fergie Philippe as a rapping informant. 

Beowulf Borritt’s set -- a sort of checkered pattern dominated by a wall of magazine proofs and piles of manuscripts elsewhere -- and dynamic lighting by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew keep the show visually interesting. And Márion Tálan de la Rosa’s costumes capture the period and ambience.

(MCC Theater’s Newman Mills Theater, 511 W 52nd Street; mcctheater.org; through March 17)

Photo by Joan Marcus: (l.-r.) Scott Bakula and Ben Levi Ross

The Gardens of Anuncia (Lincoln Center Theater)

By Harry Forbes

Composer Michael John LaChiusa honors his frequent collaborator, director/choreographer Graciela Daniele, with a loving portrait of the present day Daniele -- here named Anuncia, and winningly played by Priscilla Lopez -- looking back on her formative years in Peron-era Buenos Aires, where she was raised by her mother, aunt, and salty grandmother. 

These three -- Mami, Tía, and Granmama -- are, as you would expect, beautifully embodied by Eden Espinosa, Andréa Burns, and Mary Testa. We learn that Mami’s husband left her when Anuncia was six, and Grannmama, after early disillusionment, has been separated from her husband for many years, though he does make occasional visits and young Anuncia adores him. But otherwise, Anuncia was raised in an all-female household. 

Mami sees to it that Anuncia is enrolled in ballet class principally because of her daughter’s flat feet, but this sets Anuncia/Graciela on her path to becoming a professional dancer. To earn money for the family, Mami works in a government job in spite of her anti-Peronist political views and the potential danger of her position, a situation that does, in fact, lead to the most dramatic point in the narrative.

Besides the stellar work of the women here, various male roles are taken by Enrique Acevedo and Tally Sessions. The former plays on the grandfather and, briefly, the abusive husband/father, while the latter shines in two whimsical present day sequences wherein Anuncia is visited in her garden by a friendly deer with whom she even dances, and later, the deer’s cynical brother. 

The basic narrative is frankly not dissimilar from other stories we’ve seen of an adolescent blossoming as he/she comes to maturity, but Daniele's particular story is not without interest. Kayln West plays the young Anuncia well even though, as written, certain aspects of the character’s immaturity are exasperating and vexing. 

LaChiusa’s tango-flavored score falls pleasantly on the ear, but it’s difficult to assess the songs, beyond the fact that they are always apt and, of course, bear LaChiusa’s accomplished stamp. And though this is a small scale, almost chamber work, focusing, as it does, on a limited section of Daniele’s truly fascinating life, I found myself wanting a fuller story.

The show was originally developed and produced at the Old Globe. For the record, this is the fifth collaboration between LaChiusa and Daniele at Lincoln Center Theater, following "Hello Again" (1994), "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" (1995), "Marie Christine" (1999), and "Bernarda Alba" (2006).

This is not primarily a dancing show, though West has some balletic moments, and Espinoza has a bracing tango number. But, in the authoritative hands of director/choreographer Daniele (and co-choreographer Alex Sanchez) the overall staging is very fluid

Michael Starobin’s orchestrations under the musical direction of  Deborah Abramson put LaChiusa’s score in the best light. And Mark Wendland’s simple but evocative settings, Toni-Leslie James’ period costumes, the  lighting by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, and Drew Levy’s tasteful sound design are all state-of-the-art.

(Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater in Lincoln Center Theater, 150 West 65th Street; Telecharge.com; through December 31)

Photo by Julieta Cervantes: (l.-r.) Eden Espinosa, Kalyn West, Mary Testa and Andréa Burns.

Monty Python’s Spamalot (St. James Theatre)

By Harry Forbes

On the face of it, one might think it rather too soon for a return of Eric Idle and John Du Pre’s musical version of the 1975 film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” But then you remember that the original Tony Award-winning Best Musical production was indeed nearly 20 years ago. That fondly-recalled 2005 premiere production with Tim Curry, Hank Araiza, David Hyde Pierce, and Christian Borle, directed by Mike Nichols no less, might have seemed hard to match.

But I’m happy to report that the current mounting, sharply directed and choreographed by Josh Rhodes, lives up to all the felicities of the original. The script seems to be only mildly tweaked with a few contemporary references, and I count that as a good thing. Even though times have changed, and not all the gags seem as fresh as before, they generally hold up just fine. 

The basic narrative, as you may recall, involves King Arthur (versatile James Monroe Iglehart) and his trusty companion Patsy (Christopher Fitzgerald), and knights Sir Robin (Michael Urie), Sir Lancelot (Taran Killam), Sir Dennis Galahad (Nik Walker) on a comical quest to find the Holy Grail. But the show develops into a multi-faceted spoof of Broadway musicals and all manner of popular entertainment. 

This fine 2023 cast gets into the Monty Python spirit with nearly the same authenticity as the original crew who were perhaps more organically steeped in the Python ethos.  And those showstopping songs still delight and tickle the funny bone. The outrageous “You Won’t Succeed on Broadway”-- as the lyric goes “if you haven’t any Jews” -- is a stitch in Urie’s expertly comedic hands, and Rhodes’ choreography with its homage to “Fiddler on the Roof” -- is highly inventive. The infectious music hall earworm “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” charmingly delivered by the delightful Fitzgerald, which opens the second act, is embraced by the audience like an old friend. Fitzgerald has some other pearly moments as he dejectedly hears King Arthur bemoans “I’m All Alone,” with nary a nod to steadfast Patsy.

Adding significantly to the fun is Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer as the Lady of the Lake who helps King Arthur on his quest. Her character is comically fashioned as an over-the-top Vegas lounge singer with every vocal cliche in the book. Sara Ramirez was great in 2005, but Kritzer makes the part her own.

Her first act duet with Walker, “The Song That Goes Like This” wherein they wring every ounce of humor out of the overwrought Broadway ballad prototype, and her second act “Diva’s Lament,” wherein she bemoans her suddenly diminished role, stops the show again. Ethan Slater, so delightful in “Spongebob Squarepants” several seasons back, again proves his comic chops in an impressive variety of roles including the narrating Historian, Not Dead Fred, and the lovelorn Prince Herbert. HIs scenes with Killam’s excellent Lancelot, who suddenly discovers his queerness, are another highlight.

Production values are all first rate, including Paul Tate DePoo III’s sets and projections, Jen Caprio’s costumes, Cory Pattak’s lighting, Kai Harada and Haley Parcher’s sound, and Tom Watson’s hair and wigs. Music Director John Bell conducts 

The audience at my performance had a rollicking good time, and if you see it, I think you’ll happily follow the show’s exhortation to “Find Your Grail.”

(St. James Theatre, 246 West 44th Street; SpamalotTheMusical.com; phone)

Photo by  Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman: (L to R) Michael Urie, Nik Walker, James Monroe Iglehart, Christopher Fitzgerald, Jimmy Smagula, Taran Killam

I Can Get It For You Wholesale (Classic Stage Company)

By Harry Forbes

Like many today, I know this musical adaptation of Jerome Weidman’s 1937 novel primarily from the 1962 cast album which features Barbra Streisand’s breakout role as harried secretary Miss Marmelstein. 

I did see a 1991 revival at the American Jewish Theatre, a production rather strangely ignored in CSC’s otherwise comprehensive timeline of the property from novel onwards, including a 1951 film with Susan Hayward, in a bit of gender swapping, as the protagonist. The Off-Broadway revival was good, as I recall, but I can’t say I remember much about it. And, in any case, the current mounting -- adapted by the playwright’s son, John Weidman, and cannily directed by Trip Cullman -- bears all the classy hallmarks of a major revival, one that I believe is every bit as worthy of a Broadway transfer as such recent shows as, say, “Harmony” and “Kimberly Akimbo.”  

Harold Rome’s score -- which always struck me as nothing special on the album -- comes through much more definitively here. Numbers that register as merely serviceable on the cast album come to vibrant life.

Against the backdrop of the Jewish milieu of the 1930s garment district, the story charts the ruthless rise of shipping clerk Harry Bogen (spectacularly embodied by Santino Fontana) who connives his way to dubious success, first by, as a strikebreaker, creating a delivery company during a major work stoppage, to creating his own dress company, Apex Modes, Inc., with the help of gullible partners, dress designer Meyer Bushkin (Adam Chanler-Berat) and seasoned salesman Teddy Asch (Greg Hildreth), all the while supported by his loving mother (Judy Kuhn) and selfless girlfriend (Rebecca Naomi Jones). 

The role of Harry, originated by Elliot Gould, plays to all of Fontana’s strengths as both solid dramatic actor and one of our top musical theater performers. His vocals are powerful, and he plays Harry’s ruthless charm to the hilt. He never sidesteps the reprehensible aspects of the character, a real bastard who makes other Broadway antiheroes like “Pal Joey” look like saints by comparison. The others are uniformly superb, including the great Kuhn in Lillian Roth’s original role. She’s the very picture of motherly devotion, and her voice is as lustrous as ever. 

Jones is lovely and believable as the devoted Ruthie, and all her numbers are standouts including her angry delivery of “On My Way to Love” with Fontana. Joy Woods plays Harry’s sultry showgirl mistress with requisite glamor and sex appeal. 

Julia Lester -- so memorable as Little Red Ridinghood in last season’s “Into the Woods” revival -- socks over her “Miss Marmelstein” number with showstopping charisma and avoids all the familiar Streisand inflections of the song to make it her very own. 

As Harry’s duped partners, Hildreth and Chanler-Berat are outstanding, and beyond the more serious aspects of their roles, each have some delightfully light musical moments: Hildreth, in duet with Woods, on “What’s In It For Me?” and Chanler-Berat on “Have I Told You Lately?” with the marvelously empathetic Sarah Steele as Meyer’s supportive wife. Also outstanding are Adam Grupper as factory manager Pulvermacher and Eddie Cooper as Harry’s original business partner Tootsie.

Cullman uses the CSC space with great dexterity and his staging has real dramatic momentum, seamlessly integrated with Ellenore Scott’s balletic choreography featuring some hora-inspired moves to match Rome’s Jewish inflected score, weaving among the versatile table motif of Mark Wendland’s scenic design. Ann Hould-Ward’s costumes are period perfect. 

Music Director Jacinth Greywoode’s chamber orchestrations and David Chase’s arrangements of the score are highly satisfying, and I didn’t miss the lusher Broadway charts one bit. 

(CSC, 136 East 13 Street; 212-677-4210 or classicstage.org; through December 17)

Photos by Julieta Cervantes:

Top: (l.-r.) Rebecca Naomi Jones and Santino Fontana 

Below: Julia Lester