Two Lovers

"Two Lovers" (Magnolia) is a downbeat but well-acted domestic drama set in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y.

Joaquin Phoenix plays Leonard, the depressed son of Jewish dry cleaners (Moni Monoshov and Isabella Rossellini). Though in his 30s, he still lives at home and works in the family business. He seems poised to continue in that trade, despite an apparent talent for photography.

In the film's opening scene, we see him trying to commit suicide by jumping into the bay, apparently his second attempt at ending his life. His anguish, we later learn, stems from a wrenching broken-off engagement.

Suddenly not one, but two, women come into his life, and he's torn between them: Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), the emotionally troubled new gentile neighbor for whom he falls at first glance, and Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), the stable young Jewish daughter of his father's business partner, Michael (Bob Ari).

Leonard is infatuated with Michelle, but she considers him only a dear but platonic friend. Their apartment windows face each other, and they communicate with each other like conspiratorial kids. Eventually, she confides that she's having an affair with married Ronald (Elias Koteas) at her office.

She even has Leonard join them for dinner one night so that Leonard can size up her lover firsthand. The dinner is cordial, but when Michelle briefly excuses herself from the table, Ronald confides that she has a drug problem, and entreats Leonard to watch out for her.

Meanwhile, nice girl Sandra professes her love for Leonard and desire to take care of him, a match clearly endorsed by both sets of parents. Leonard, though not blind to Sandra's virtues, continues to obsess over Michelle and, paralleling Sandra's protective concern for him, longs to look after Michelle.

Directed with low-key naturalism by James Gray (who previously worked with Phoenix on "We Own the Night" and "The Yards"), the familiar triangular tale scores for characterization and mood with solid performances all around. If Phoenix follows through on his recent declaration about quitting the movie business, we'll be deprived of one of the best actors around today, as his fine, carefully shaded work here beautifully demonstrates.

Gray and Ric Menello's script treats its characters with compassion and sensitivity. Though Rossellini's character, for instance, might easily have been a domineering, overly protective stereotype -- as it is, she does peer under her son's door, and tries to eavesdrop -- she is shown to be concerned not controlling, and in one crucial scene, just when you think she'll pull the self-pitying mother routine and destroy her son's dreams, she holds back.

Though not exactly gripping, the film is enhanced by well-modulated performances and the exoticism (for some viewers) of the ethnic Brooklyn milieu.

Billy Elliot: The Musical

The 2000 film about a boy in a northern England mining town who, under the tutelage of a tough but empathetic teacher, discovers his talent for ballet against a backdrop of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's standoff with the striking miners in 1984 has come to Broadway from London.

With three talented youngsters alternating the title role (David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish) -- a marathon part involving strong acting, singing and all sorts of dance -- this musical directed, like the film, by Stephen Daldry, with songs by Elton John, is extremely well done, though a few caveats are in order.

Though it features an 11-year-old boy as its central character, this is not a show for young kids. The rough language of the miners and the other characters is a far cry from Disney product.

But all in all, this is a rare musical that works as both drama and spectacle. Haydn Gwynne re-creates her original role in London as the dedicated instructor; Gregory Jbara is Billy's rough-hewn dad who comes to realize the boy deserves a chance for something better, and Carole Shelley plays his dotty but smart-as-a-fox grandma.

Peter Darling's choreography is tremendous, especially the "Solidarity" number where the young ballerinas' moves are brilliantly juxtaposed against the striking miners.

Your interest in the political situation may be nil, and the Northern accents might be a challenge, but for discerning adults not offended by the very strong language, this is as good as it gets. (Imperial Theatre, 240 W. 45th St., (212) 239-6200 or Telecharge.com)

South Pacific

As potent an indictment of racism today as when it premiered in 1949, the classic musical based on James Michener's stories -- touted as its first Broadway revival (conveniently overlooking a lavish 1967 summer run) -- is here given a truly splendid mounting by director Bartlett Sher, this time courtesy of Lincoln Center Theater.

With Brazilian baritone Paulo Szot as French planter Emile DeBeque and Kelli O'Hara as World War II nurse Nellie Forbush, the show is strongly cast and beautifully designed to fill the vast Beaumont stage, yet it feels pin-droppingly intimate when it needs to be.

The opening moments are especially breathtaking, as the stage floor recedes to reveal a 30-piece orchestra below. For all the glories of the score, one is struck by how well the property works as drama; this is truly thanks to Hammerstein and original director Joshua Logan's strong script -- a play with songs.

Plot complications involving past and future interracial marriages are hardly the standard ingredients of musicals, even today. The cast, including Matthew Morrison as Lt. Cable, Danny Burstein as Luther Billis and Loretta Ables Sayre as Bloody Mary, makes the parts their own

(Vivian Beaumont Theater, 150 W. 65th St.; (212) 239-6200 or www.telecharge.com).

In the Heights

"In the Heights" is an anomaly for Broadway: a joyous musical celebrating the Latino spirit, created by the multifaceted Lin-Manuel Miranda who, in addition to writing the music and lyrics, stars as the owner of a New York Washington Heights-area bodega. (Quiara Alegria Hudes wrote the book.)

While the songs -- a varied mix of rap, salsa, hip-hop and yes, traditional Broadway -- sound a little generic on first hearing, and the story line is not exactly riveting, the talented cast and overall verisimilitude of the tightknit neighborhood (helped immeasurably by Anna Louizos' evocative George Washington Bridge-dominated set), are completely persuasive.

The show, directed by Thomas Kail, has been tightened since its off-Broadway run last year. Miranda is the distinctively named Usnavi, who runs his business with his hipster cousin Sonny (the very likable and funny Robin De Jesus), and is in love with Vanessa (Karen Olivo), the beautician in the adjoining shop who yearns to move downtown. Vanessa's flashy gossip-obsessed employer, Daniela (Andrea Burns), provides some delightful comic relief, and endearingly pious co-worker Carla stays the moral course by repeatedly asking "What would Jesus do?"

Meanwhile, there's Nina (Mandy Gonzalez) who's dropped out of Stanford -- unbeknown to her hard-working parents (Priscilla Lopez and Carlos Gomez), who oppose her romance with decent Benny (Christopher Jackson), an apprentice in the family's taxi-dispatch business. Matronly Abuela Claudia (Olga Merediz, who surprises with her powerhouse voice) virtually raised Usnavi, and provides some plot excitement when she wins the lottery. A strong affirmation of family and community imbues the whole enterprise. (Richard Rodgers Theatre, 226 W. 46 St., 212-307-4100 or www.ticketmaster.com)

The 39 Steps

With only the teensiest fraction of the "Young Frankenstein" budget, this British import -- an adaptation of the classic 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film with Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll -- manages to re-create the entire espionage film, replete with varying locales, a complex chase through Scotland, and multitudinous characters, all with a mere four actors and minimalist sets.

The spare but eminently satisfying Olivier Award-winning production has been imported from London (where it is still running) by the enterprising Roundabout Theatre Company.

In the Donat role of Richard Hannay -- a reluctant investigator inadvertently caught up in intrigue with a spy ring, after he's accused of murdering the mysterious damsel in distress to whom he's given shelter -- Charles Edwards gives a dapper characterization. The rest of the cast -- all Americans -- perform with surprising authenticity; they include Jennifer Ferris as a prototypical 1930s heroine, and a couple of other female roles. But most astonishing are Arnie Burton and Cliff Saunders, playing dozens of other roles, switching costumes and accents (and occasionally genders) with consummate ease.

Actress Maria Aitken directs with a sharp satirical eye that matches the work's conceit.

In the process, the original property -- originally a novel by John Buchan -- is gently spoofed, but not (as some purists have sniffed) denigrated. Playwright Patrick Barlow (working from an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon) pays homage to Hitchcock movies, including a cameo appearance by the master, courtesy of a cardboard cutout. The piece successfully walks the line between a ripping espionage tale and a droll satire.

Familiarity with the original book and film (it was remade in 1959 and 1978) is not mandatory. Safely recommendable to teens and up. (American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St.; (212) 719-1300; www.roundabouttheatre.org)

The Little Mermaid

Quality family fare for the kids is in such short supply in any medium that it's a pleasure to be able to welcome the latest screen-to-stage Disney extravaganza on the Great White Way. "The Little Mermaid" is the latest, and one of the best of that company's amazingly successful screen-to-stage adaptations.

Despite some carping from the daily press, we found this a highly enjoyable two and a half hours. And the scores of hyperactive kids -- little girls with "princess" fixations were predominant, of course -- were transfixed once the lights went down.

Given the underwater setting of this very loose adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's bittersweet fairy tale (Disney has supplied a satisfyingly upbeat ending), the big surprise is how stage-worthy it turns out to be, thanks to Doug Wright's deft script.

Following "Xanadu," this is the second major musical of the season where the cast moves about largely on roller skates. The effect -- in opera director Francesca Zambello's colorful production -- often suggests aquatic navigation.

Though wisely there's been no attempt at slavishly copying their animated forebears, the cast is strong across the board: an adorable Sierra Boggess as Ariel, who delivers the big ballad "Part of Your World"; Sherie Rene Scott hilariously over-the-top as the villainous Ursula, the estranged sister of Ariel's father, King Triton; Norm Lewis as that imposing monarch; Sean Palmer as Ariel's human prince Eric; Jonathan Freeman as Grimsby, his guardian; Eddie Korbich as Scuttle the seagull; and Tituss Burgess as her Jamaican-accented crab guardian, Sebastian.

The calypso rhythms of the Alan Menken-Howard Ashman hits "Under the Sea" and "Kiss the Girl" are given fresh staging, among which the new songs with lyrics by Glenn Slater fit seamlessly.

Though things look awfully dodgy for heroine Ariel, who foolishly barters with Ursula to exchange her beautiful voice for human legs, all is set right by the end, with those basic life lessons germane to the best Disney products provided along the way. (Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 205 W. 46th St.; (212) 307-4747; www.DisneyOnBroadway.com)

Mary Poppins

Delightful stage adaptation of the 1964 Walt Disney film about P.L. Travers' resourceful English nanny who, borne aloft by her magical umbrella, becomes governess to young Jane and Michael Banks, setting things right in a dysfunctional family with an autocratic father too busy at his London bank job to appreciate his loving wife and kids.

Distinguished director Sir Richard Eyre directs the London hit -- which features the film's beloved Sherman Brothers songs, like "A Spoonful of Sugar" and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," with some nice new ones by George Stils and Anthony Drewe -- with an intelligence that makes the experience as pleasurable for adults as for the kids.

Ashley Brown is a winning Poppins, less starchy than her London counterpart, and Gavin Lee fills Dick Van Dyke's shoes with charm and pulls off one of the most dazzling effects ever -- dancing up and around the high proscenium arch -- though Poppins herself flying high above the audience's heads will also generate a goosebump or two. Highly recommendable family fare.

(New Amsterdam Theatre, 214 W. 42nd St.; 212-307-4747; www.ticketmaster.com.)