All in Critic's Pick

REVIEW: An astonishingly re-imagined “West Side Story” for the 21st Century demands to be seen

REVIEW: An astonishingly re-imagined “West Side Story” for the 21st Century demands to be seen

Robert Russo
Review, Broadway, Musical, Critic's Pick

Belgian auteur Ivo van Hove presents a reimagined version of “West Side Story” for the 21st Century; employing his signature style of theatremaking, this production is thrilling and revelatory, breathing new life into a beloved classic with new choreography, precision cuts to the text, new orchestrations, a superb ensemble cast, and groundbreaking use of video and live filmmaking. The result marks a true summit of achievement in theatre-making and a highlight in a lifetime of theatergoing. It demands to be seen.

REVIEW: Jerry Herman’s “Mack and Mabel” at Encores!

REVIEW: Jerry Herman’s “Mack and Mabel” at Encores!

Robert Russo
Review, Concert, Musical, Critic's Pick

After 46 years away from New York, audiences at City Center finally have a chance to see what Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart’s 1974 flop “Mack and Mabel” is all about thanks to a new Encores! production. The result is bittersweet—both thrilling and sad. Jerry Herman’s score shines, alongside performances by Douglas Sills, Alexandra Socha, Lilli Cooper, and a top-notch ensemble, and the atmosphere of old Hollywood is superbly spun. Still, this is not a musical masterpiece, but a beloved curiosity—a good musical that almost works. Perhaps someday, it might.

REVIEW: A sterling revival of “A Soldier’s Play” at Roundabout Theatre Company

REVIEW: A sterling revival of “A Soldier’s Play” at Roundabout Theatre Company

Robert Russo
Review, Broadway, Play, Critic's Pick

Roundabout Theatre Company presents a sterling revival and Broadway debut of Charles Fuller’s 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning “A Soldier’s Play”, a thrilling and tautly constructed military murder mystery set among the segregated barracks of an Army base in 1944 Central Louisiana.  Kenny Leon directs a terrific ensemble, led by David Alan Grier and Blair Underwood, in one of the best productions Roundabout has presented in recent memory.

REVIEW: “The Inheritance”—who are we and who will we become?

REVIEW: “The Inheritance”—who are we and who will we become?

Robert Russo
Review, Broadway, Play, Critic's Pick

Playwright Matthew Lopez’s “The Inheritance” is a an epic, novelistic, and enjoyably consumed two-part, six act, six and half hour long play that is a loose adaptation of E. M. Forster’s “Howards End” set among a contemporary group of gay men living in New York contending with the legacy of AIDS and what it means to be gay today.  Flaws are overcome by the strength of the staging, and the play is humorous, heartbreaking, and deeply memorable.  A must see.

REVIEW: The heartbreak of democracy in “Soft Power”

REVIEW: The heartbreak of democracy in “Soft Power”

Robert Russo
Review, Off-Broadway, Musical, Critic's Pick

“Soft Power”, David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori’s dramaturgically breathtaking new musical-within-a-play, experiments with form while rendering a sort of reverse version of “The King and I”.  The resulting satire of American culture and politics brims with an unpretentious intelligence and an unexpectedly penetrating sense of patriotism.  If democracy will break your heart, “Soft Power” can mend it.  

REVIEW: Confronting Race, Gender, Sex, and History in “Slave Play” on Broadway

REVIEW: Confronting Race, Gender, Sex, and History in “Slave Play” on Broadway

Robert Russo
Review, Broadway, Play, Critic's Pick

Following a sold-out run downtown, Jeremy O. Harris’ “Slave Play” is now on Broadway.  At once hysterical and alarming, this trenchant satire of white fragility, identity politics, racism, psychotherapy, and a certain brand of its crunchy practitioners is a conversation piece to top them all.  Thoughtfully written, constructed, and executed; thought-provoking, relevant, and a herald of what can be, “Slave Play” is a must-see of the season.

REVIEW: Ross Golan’s “The Wrong Man” at MCC Theater

REVIEW: Ross Golan’s “The Wrong Man” at MCC Theater

Robert Russo
Review, Musical, Off-Broadway, Critic's Pick

Joshua Henry stars in “The Wrong Man”, a buoyantly rendered original new noir musical about a man falsely accused of murder that is the brain child of multi-platinum pop music singer, songwriter, and producer Ross Golan.  A narrative song-cycle set in an intimate, concert-like atmosphere, this musical gets rhythmically rote, and suffers for a lack of specificity, but is nevertheless saved by a great score, fluid choreography, and Mr. Henry’s titanic performance.

REVIEW: Confronting the past in “jazz singer”

REVIEW: Confronting the past in “jazz singer”

Robert Russo
Review, Play, Musical, Off-Off-Broadway, Critic's Pick

In “jazz singer” a group of artists grapple with making a piece of theatre about the film “The Jazz Singer” by examining its roots in Jewish mythology, wrestling with its use of blackface, exploring vital themes of assimilation, appropriation, and atonement, and questioning its legacy.  While the piece substantively evinces the feel of a work still in progress, the production design is impeccable and unimpeachable, and its mission is achieved.

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