Romeo and Juliet (Richard Rodgers Theatre)

Photo: Carol Rosegg

By Harry Forbes

Movie heartthrob Orlando Bloom makes an impressive Broadway debut as Shakespeare’s legendary lover, demonstrating an assured mastery of the text, real stage presence, and the ability to offer a detailed characterization.

He has been cast opposite the lovely Condola Rashad who has gone from strength to strength in her prior stage appearances, but alas, on this occasion, falls short both in her interpretation and her command of the text. Audibility is sometimes a problem, too, as words are lost as she rushes the dialogue in conveying Juliet’s youthful ardor.

And so it goes with the rest of the cast in David Leveaux’s often gimmicky production which is never revelatory, and the conceit of having black actors as the Capulets and white ones as their bitter rivals, the Montagues, adds little of substance.

On the plus side, we have Jayne Houdyshell’s accomplished Nurse, Brent Carver’s uncliched take on Friar Lawrence, and Christian Camargo’s verbally dexterous Mercutio. But Chuck Cooper and Roslyn Ruff’s Lord and Lady Capulet are fairly one note caricatures.

The production (designed by Jesse Poleschuck with costumes by Fabio Toblini) is more or less modern dress with Italianate touches but the period is, on the whole, non-specific. Romeo arrives on a motorcycle, and some of the gang fighting is not unlike the skirmishes in “West Side Story.”

I much preferred Michael Grief’s superb Central Park staging in 2007, with Oscar Isaac and Lauren Ambrose in masterful form, with a uniformly excellent supporting cast, while this Cliff Notes version – as someone aptly categorized it after the show, referring to the cut text – feels rushed, perfunctory, and a bit dull, despite such flourishes as Poleschuck’s rows of flame which rise and fall at key moments.

(Richard Rodgers Theatre, 226 West 46th Street, Ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000)

Love’s Labour’s Lost (The Public Theater)

Photo: Joan Marcus

By Harry Forbes

The Public has a winner in this full-out musical version of Shakespeare’s wordy early comedy, which jettisons much of the arcane text, but remains utterly true to the essence of the piece.

Alex Timbers, who adapted the book and directed, and Michael Friedman, who composed the songs, have reunited after their “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” success, but what they have fashioned here is more in the vein of a traditional Broadway musical, one very much in the style of the John Guare-Galt MacDermot “Two Gentlemen of Verona,” which, we’re told, served as a template for this one.

And like “Two Gentlemen,” the score covers myriad genres – from rock to doo wop to Broadway -- which bubble most delightfully throughout the intermission-less 100 minutes.

Reset in a New England town (a beautiful eye-filling set by John Lee Beatty, and spot-on costumes by Jennifer Moeller), the King of Navarre and his three comrades – who have sworn off women for academic pursuits -- have returned for a five-year college reunion, and the Princess of France and her entourage are young women with whom they had perhaps dallied years before.

The transposition works exceedingly well. I particularly enjoyed the Russians of the final act now amusingly transformed into East German performance artists.

The cast is wonderful across the board, excelling in their Shakespearean line readings as much as their musical turns. Daniel Breaker’s Navarre and Colin O’Donnell’s Berowne are outstanding, with top-notch work from Lucas Near-Verbrugghe as Dumain and Bryce Pinkham as Longaville.

The women have less stage time, but Patti Murin as the Princess, Maria Thayer as Rosaline, Audrey Lynn Weston as Katherine, and Kimiko Glenn as Maria all have their opportunities to shine. The part of wench Jaquenetta has been built up and Rebecca Naomi Jones fills it beautifully, stopping the show with her “Love’s a Gun.” Rachel Dratch is very funny as a gender-bending Holofernes, and Jeff Hiller her equally pretentious sidekick Nathaniel.

There’s amusing work from Charlie Pollock as the slow-witted Costard, Andrew Durand as Boyet, Justin Levine as Moth, and Kevin Del Aguila as Dull.

The dialogue, though rendered with American cadences, excepting Caesar Samayoa’s hilariously loopy Spanish swain Don Armado, is delivered with consistent intelligence.

Timbers’ assured direction captures just the right tone, and there’s some nifty choreography by Danny Mefford. His “Chorus Line” homage (led by Pinkham) is especially clever.

The handsome production – for all its high spirits and intentional goofiness – ends on an appropriately melancholy tone, as it should.

It would be a shame if the show vanished after another week. Perhaps a Broadway transfer is in the offing, even if Shakespeare can be a dicey commercial proposition. But I suspect this might have wider appeal than the teams “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.” In any case, here’s hoping the score at least gets recorded.

(The Delacorte Theater, Central Park, 81st St. & Central Park West or 79th St. & Fifth Ave, free ticket distribution; 212-967-7555 or www.shakespeareinthepark.org; through August 18 only)

First Date (Longacre Theatre)

By Harry Forbes

On the unpromising premise of a blind date unfolding in real time, with all of the action confined to the restaurant where a mismatched couple meet, emerges a most delightful show, and a definite crowd-pleaser.

With a sharp, funny book by Austin Winsberg, amusing songs by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner, and thoroughly engaging performances by leads Zachary Levi and Krysta Rodriguez, the pace never flags for its 95 intermission-less minutes. Though it sounds like one big cliché, Winsburg and the team have found fresh twists and the show plays like a good Neil Simon comedy with songs.

Rodriguez is Casey, no stranger to blind dates, and with an unfortunate penchant for bad boys. Levi is Aaron, new to the whole routine, and still smarting over his breakup with Allison. They’ve been brought together by Casey’s sister’s husband who had a hunch they might click.

Needless to say, things don’t go well, with Aaron putting his foot in his mouth at every opportunity, and Casey giving off an off-putting, abrasive vibe.

Allison, the bar’s waiter and various other characters, past and present, are played by a talented ensemble of five actors (Bryce Ryness, Kristoffer Cusick, Blake Hammond, Sara Chase, and Kate Loprest) who provide running commentary (and advice) in the minds of the protagonists.

Hammond’s hammy waiter, one with songwriting aspirations, is a standout, and Cusick generates laughs for his manic portrayal of Casey’s gay pal constantly calling her with “bailout” messages, in case she should need them, though the humor palls after a while.

Bill Berry directs smartly, bringing out the humor and sentiment of the material.

The show was originally done last year at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle (co-produced by A Contemporary Theatre) where it garnered good reviews and awards.

This is one of those intimate shows that could just have easily been mounted Off-Broadway, but with David Gallo’s snazzy set and projections, it looks just fine on the Longacre stage. I predict a popular afterlife in regional theater and schools.

(Longacre Theatre, 220 W. 48th St., 212-239-6200 or Telecharge.com)

The Comedy of Errors (The Public Theater)

By Harry Forbes

“The Comedy of Errors” may not be in the exalted category of Shakespeare’s later comedies, like “Twelfth Night” or “As You Like It,” but there’s no doubt that, in the right hands – even without the added delights of Rodgers and Hart (they adapted the comedy in their 1930s hit “Boys from Syracuse”) – it can be side-splittingly funny.

And, in the fast-moving, intermission-less production of Daniel Sullivan, it is most definitely in the right hands.

Set in 1940s upstate New York, a poster of Eddie Cantor’s “Roman Scandals” movie plastered on a wall as perhaps a sly nod to the play’s roots in Roman playwright Plautus (set by John Lee Beatty), the story of twin masters and servants separated as infants during a shipwreck updates very neatly indeed.

And though not a musical, there is, in fact, plenty of music of the Swing variety, along with some virtuoso jitterbugging (choreography by Mimi Lieber) during the scene changes.

Hamish Linklater and Jesse Tyler Ferguson double as both sets of twins, the masters Antipholus and servants Dromio, a concept which works brilliantly in their expert performances. The ending – when all the confusion is finally sorted out, and all four characters are traditionally onstage together – is accomplished satisfactorily in a way I won’t spoil.

As Antipholus of Ephesus’ thoroughly confused wife Adriana, Emily Bergl is very funny indeed, and she’s evenly matched by Heidi Schreck as her sister Luciana who mistakenly believes she’s falling in love with her sister’s husband.

Others in the standout cast include De’Adre Aziza as the Courtesan who thinks she’s been deceived by Antipholus and sings a deliciously torchy “Sigh No More” (to music by Greg Pliska); Becky Ann Baker as the Abbess who figures prominently in the play’s denouement, Jonathan Hadary as the piteous father of Antiphlous; and Skipp Sudduth as a Godfather-like Duke.

(The Delacorte Theater in Central Park; through June 30. Tickets to The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park are FREE and are distributed, two per person, at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park on the day of the show.)

Cornelius (Brits Off Broadway)

By Harry Forbes

Kudos to London’s Finborough Theatre for resurrecting this 1935 rarity by J.B. Priestley as part of their “rediscoveries” season, and to 59E59 Theaters for having the further good sense to import it.

The title character is the middle-aged partner of an import form at the height of the Depression. The economy is bad, and salesmen come into the office each day trying to sell wares -- everything from stationery to shaving cream -- that no one really wants. Indeed the firm of Briggs and Murrison is in dire shape itself with creditors demanding payment with increasing ferocity. But the ever cheerful Cornelius is counting on the return of his long-absent partner Murrison (Jamie Newall) after a long journey to straighten things out.

Loyally keeping the office afloat – and David Woodhead’s richly detailed set is a joy to behold, a veritable time capsule -- are the elderly bookkeeper Biddle (Col Farrell), the lonely secretary Miss Porrin (Pandora Colin) romantically pining for Cornelius, frustrated aging office boy Lawrence (David Ellis), and temp typist Judy (Emily Barber) with whom Cornelius becomes infatuated.

Though the first act is largely comprised of lightweight banter, a darker element is introduced towards the act’s conclusion, and the second act, gripping from start to finish, shows Priestley in top form, with a couple of exquisite twists.

Today’s economic situation gives the play added resonance and relevance, underscored by Sam Yates’ direction which is faithful to the period, and deftly brings out all the inherent nuance.

Spiritual matters are frequent Priestley’s themes and Cornelius has a brief speech in the second act where he ruminates about the afterlife and our purpose on earth that would seem to be the true heart of the play.

As the titular character, Alan Cox makes a fascinating protagonist: resolutely upbeat through adversity, sardonically humorous, and just that little bit off center to make him as intriguing a character as Ralph Richardson must have done in the original. His yearning for something greater in life, exemplified by his dream of finding the lost city of the Incas in the Andes, is most touchingly portrayed.

The play is beautifully cast throughout with some very deft double-casting as only the English can do, Particularly impressive in that regard is Beverley Klein as the charlady who opens the play, and then as one of the firm’s creditors, an upper crust busybody.

(59E59 Theaters, 212-279-4200 or www.59e59.org; through 6/30)

Here Lies Love (The Public Theater)

By Harry Forbes

The specter of “Evita” will surely be top of mind to anyone watching this musical based, as it is, on the rise of Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos. The work – already done in concert form and released as a concept album – was conceived by David Byrne, who also did the lyrics and collaborated on the music with Fatboy Slim.

The plot follows virtually the same trajectory as Tim Rice’s book for the earlier show about the notorious Argentine First Lady, following its heroine from beauty pageant queen to courtship, marriage with an up-and-coming politico (here Ferdinand Marcos), immense popularity, and abuse of her position under a glamorous veneer.

Even Byrne’s catchy music frequently carries echoes of Lloyd-Webber ballads and recitatives.

What makes “Here Lies Love” really special is the brilliance of the environmental staging of Alex Timbers (“Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson”), and Annie-B Parson’s witty choreography. The audience stands throughout the 90-minute show, watching the action on multiple moving stages, around which they are gently guided by a discreet tech crew. The LuEsther Hall space is flanked by two traditional stages at either end, and three moving platforms that are moved throughout the evening to form different configurations.

With a pulsating dance beat (homage to Imelda’s love of discos) alternating with some very pretty ballads, there are photographic and video projections (Peter Nigrini), both archival and in-the-moment, as Imelda and Ferdinand come off the stage and move throughout the crowd: their public.

Generous use of stage fog and Justin Townsend’s beautiful pink and blue lighting predominates creating a truly immersive, but never off-putting, atmosphere. Clint Ramos’ costumes, too, are a continual source of pleasure.

Ruthie Ann Miles is terrific as Imelda aging from eager young girl to hardened middle-age, and there’s strong work from Jose Llana as Ferdinand Marcos, Melody Butiu as her childhood friend Estrella, and Conrad Ricamora as Ninoy Aquino.

The sound is on the loud side (earplugs might not be out of line for some), but M.L. Dogg and Cody Spencer’s work in that department is exemplary.

(The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St, 212-967-7555 or www.publictheater.org; through June 30)

Pippin (Music Box Theatre)

By Harry Forbes

This is a superbly imaginative remounting of Stephen Schwartz’s 1972 hit about the son of Charlemagne and his quest for fulfillment through war, sex, and then ordinary life.

The show, memorably stylized by Bob Fosse back in the day, has been given a marvelous facelift by Diane Paulus, who performed similar wizardry with “Hair” for the Public Theater in 2009.

With the help of Scott Pask (sets), Kenneth Posner (lighting) and Dominique Lemieux (costumes), she has given the show a circus backdrop. But those with an aversion to circus motifs needn’t worry. The effects never overpower the narrative. When things turn serious, as they do on a few occasions, the acrobatics give way to the story-telling.

The production started life at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University. The cast has been imported intact, and they are all superb.

Ben Vereen’s original role of the Leading Player – both narrator and Pippin’s conscience – has had a gender change, and Patina Miller, late of “Sister Act,” is a virtuoso charmer throughout. With her million dollar smile and lithe figure, she’s both a dexterous dancer (and, when she needs to be, acrobat) and powerhouse singer. She’s a delight, even when her character takes on much darker tones near the end of the show.

Real-life husband and wife Terrence Mann (looking like Donald Sutherland with his flowing white hair and beard) and Charlotte d’Amboise (a knockout dancer, as ever) are perfectly cast as King Charles and his scheming second wife Fastrada.

Everyone who saw the original remembers Irene Ryan’s surprising showstopper “No Time at All,” but Andrea Martin, though not the stereotypical “old lady” that Ryan played, goes her several steps further in her version which gets the biggest hand of the evening, and even a standing ovation.

Erik Altemus is amusing as Fastrada’s preening, ambitious son. And Rachel Bay Jones is very special as Catherine, the sad widow who takes in Pippin when he has hit rock bottom.

As Pippin, Brit Matthew James Thomas is utterly appealing as a tousled hero, singing beautifully and conveying the requisite innocence and disillusionment.

Chet Walker’s choreography “in the style of Bob Fosse,” pays just the right sort of homage to his progenitor, and the strutting section of “Glory,” that formed the basis for the TV commercial that is credited with making the original such a hit, is most delightfully recreated here.

Beyond Paulus’s brilliant vision, the “circus creations” of Gypsy Snider and her Montreal-based Les 7 doigts de la main are most artistically done, and the true acrobats are blended pretty seamlessly with the Broadway gypsies.

Roger O. Hirson’s book and Schwartz’s score (in Larry Hochman’s orchestrations), hold up very well indeed. The cast album should be a treat.

(Music Box Theatre, 239 W. 45th St., www.telecharge.com/pippin, or 212-239-6200)