Post Mortem

The prolific A.R. Gurney's new play is an interesting concept poorly executed. In the near future, after our country has become a fascist theology, a professor of theatre and her lovestruck student reconstruct the final, banned play of a long-forgotten author named A.R. Gurney (insert coy inside-joke here). Once the play is returned to its former state and produced, it changes the world, and the nation is back on the right track again. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen with what is a very good plot, but it never came. The fine cast cannot be faulted, though; stage veteran Tina Benko is especially good as the academic in love the theatre's past.

The Agony and The Agony

Since Nicky Silver's new play at the Vineyard is still in development, and technically not open for reviewing, I won't say much about the show. However, with some rewrites and a stronger ending, this often riotously funny modern-day drawing room comedy could be quite a success. The actors, which included Silver himself playing a blocked playwright, are all top-notch. Musical theatre goddess Victoria Clark, as Silver's long-suffering, wannabe leading lady wife, proves herself a comedienne par excellence, and Cheyenne Jackson essays the part of her dimwitted lover to perfection. Thankfully for the audience, there's more ecstasy than agony in this show.

The Coast of Utopia: Shipwreck

Shipwreck, the second installment of Tom Stoppard's Coast of Utopia trilogy, is not as much fun as its predecessor, Voyage, but it is certainly a better made play. Focusing mostly on the life of Alexander Herzen (Brian F. O'Byrne), it chronicles the writing of The Communist Manifesto (Marx is a character), the French Revolution, and the lives of the Russian intelligensia in European exile. O'Byrne is slowly growing into the role of Herzen; he's not quite there yet, but he's certainly not unwatchable, as others have said. As usual, the brilliant Jennifer Ehle shines as his wife, Natalie; she gives a beautifully natural and heartbreaking performance. Watch out for her at Tony time.

Also wonderful is Josh Hamilton as Nicholas Ogarev, the celebrated Russian poet and Herzen's best friend. Hamilton, who was only in one scene of Voyage, proves once again that he is one of the finest stage actors working today. I cannot wait for Salvage, where I hear that Ogarev is the central character.

Ethan Hawke's Bakunin and Billy Crudup's Belinsky both reappear here, and they are still lively and interesting characters. Both of these great actors are, in my opinion, giving the performances of their careers. Amy Irving also does terrific work (and looks twenty years younger) as Ogarev's estranged wife, Maria. After watching two-thirds of this trilogy, I'm wondering if there is anything Stoppard can't do. Please, someone, bring Rock 'N' Roll to these shores at once!

Rags

I'm sad to say that the World AIDS Day concert production of Rags was a dissapointment in almost every respect: the cast (for the most part) seemed underrehearsed and ill-at-ease with the material, the acoustics at the Nokia Theatre were god-awful, and the show was delayed by an hour due to the theatre's inept staff. Carolee Carmello has a gorgeous voice, but she's miscast as Rebecca: this role needs to be sung by a soprano. Eden Espinosa proves that she actually can sing, but she wasn't Jewish enough to play her character convincingly. Michael Rupert (a last minute replacement for Harvey Fierstein) is his usual reliable self, but he could have used a bit more rehearsal time to properly draw a character. And, of course, Gregg Edelman was vanilla. What do you expect?

The positives were Lainie Kazan, wonderfully vamping up the role of Rachel, and Lewis Cleale's impassioned union leader Saul. The best of all, however, was David A. Austin as Bella's boyfriend Ben: this kid has a real future. He sings and dances beautifully, and really acts the hell out of his part. Here's someone who deserves to be a headliner.

How to Save the World and Find True Love in 90 Minutes

To quote a character from the show: "There should be U.N. sanctions against things like this."

No Child...

Writer/performer Nilaja Sun offers an incendiary look at the inner-city public school system with her terrific one-woman show. Ms. Sun, an actual "teaching artist" within the NYC school district, recounts her experiences trying to stage a production of Our Country's Good using the students of a tenth grade class at Malcolm X High in the Bronx. A completely malleable actress, who plays around twenty characters, Sun is reminiscent of Whoopi Goldberg in her prime. You won't regret spending time in her classroom.

The Fantasticks

My friend Patrick hit the nail on the head when he described this new production of The Fantasticks as akin to watching a show in someone's basement. Everything about this production smacks of community theatre: forgettable acting, mediocre voices, and threadbare sets abound. The production's only exceptions are the lovely Sara Jean Ford and Burke Moses, who turns in a dead-on Jerry Orbach impersonation. I'm sure that this style of show was charming 45 years ago, but now it's just stale. I spent the better part of two-and-a-half hours trying to remember the original cast recording.

Dai (Enough)

Iris Bahr's masterful solo show at The Culture Project is everything that Bridge and Tunnel tried to be and wasn't. An incredibly talented writer and actress, Bahr plays at least a dozen characters, all of whom inhabit an Israeli cafe that is about to be bombed. She infuses her personae (which include an American actress doing research for a film role, a wealthy Israeli-American housewife who is openly contemptuous of the country, and a right-wing Christian zealot who believes that Israel must survive so that the rapture prophecy can be fulfilled) with humanity and heartfelt passion, and left this audience member sporting a tear or two. A bonafide must-see.

Torch Song Trilogy

Seth Rudetsky is a personality, that's for sure, but he's definitely not an actor. His performance as Arnold Beckoff, the lovably neurotic drag queen of Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song Trilogy, is entirely forgettable and passionless. There were times when he was delivering his lines so fast that I could barely understand him, and times when it seemed to take him forever to utter one sentence. He simply doesn't have the chops for this marathon role.

Brad Thomason, as his bi-sexual sometimes lover Ed, and Andrea Wollenberg, as Ed's long-suffering wife Laurel, do much better, but neither can save this listless production, which clocks in at an almost unbearable four hours. What was once a galvanizing piece of social criticism, sadly, is now nothing more than a quaint period piece.

The Apple Tree

Roundabout's new staging of Bock and Harnick's unsung masterpiece The Apple Tree does not resonate the way it did at Encores! almost two years ago, but it's still a wonderful evening of theatre. Kristin Chenoweth is beyond wonderful in a trifecta of quirky roles, including Eve (to Brian D'Arcy James' very solid Adam), a barberous princess, and a lowly chimney sweep who dreams of movie stardom. She owns the stage, and honestly, I don't think I've ever heard "I've Got What You Want" or "Feelings" sung better. And who doesn't love Marc Kudisch, deliciously diabolical as The Snake? That man can make anything sound good.