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Now Showing:
THIRD Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein’s new play is a portrait of a woman at a crossroads in her life. College professor Laurie Jameson’s orderly life as wife, mother, daughter, and educator, is thrown into disarray after she accuses a student of plagiarism. The cast includes Dianne Wiest as Jameson, Amy Aquino as her best friend, Charles Durning as her father, Gaby Hoffmann as her daughter, and Jason Ritter as her student. Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center. $70 and $75 at 212-239-6200 or lct.org. Through Dec. 18.
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Recently noted:
DRUMSTRUCK The charming and engaging company’s delightfully orchestrated pieces inspire one to hear and marvel at the complexity and beauty of the sounds being made. But don’t look too deep. “Drumstruck” is disappointing, and at some points disquieting, insisting on educating in a manner simplistic and condescending. Dodger Stages, 340 W. 50th St. $61-$66 at 212-239-6200. (Christopher Byrne)
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FRAN’S BED This uncommonly boring play by the usually adept James Lapine involves Fran falling into a coma, a plastic mannequin representing her comatose body while her spirit—Mia Farrow—floats around. Fran’s utter self-absorption has allowed her to be unfaithful to her husband, wretched to her children, and to generally make life miserable for those around her. What follows, as the family gathers, is a dysfunctional “Blithe Spirit.” Playwright’s Horizons, 416 W. 42nd St. $60 at 212-279-4200. Through Dec. 18. (Christopher Byrne)
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IN MY LIFE This new musical is a bubblegum play list in search of an organizing philosophy. Music, lyric, and book writer Joseph Brooks, has, in effect, written the same song about 20 times in different styles, all in major keys with parallel chords, and tossed them onto the stage at the Music Box with a lot of stuff going on around them. The only way to appreciate this is as a kind of demented parlor game as the audience tries to wrest a coherent narrative from the mishmash. Music Box Theatre, 239 W. 45th St., $26.25-$101.25 at 212-239-6200. (Christopher Byrne)
ODD COUPLE Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick give command performances in this classic comedy. Expect no surprises as the stars fight it out as two co-habitating, very different characters, the anal-retentive versus the common slob. It is charming though—particularly in the performances by Brad Garrett as Murray the Cop, Lee Wilkof as Vinnie, and Olivia d’Abo and Jessica Stone as the Pigeon sisters. Brooks Atkinson Theatre 256 W. 47th St. $60-$100 at 212-307-4100. (Christopher Byrne)
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RFK It was, Jack Holmes said, “a standard agent’s question.” This was 10 or so years ago. “This agent said, ‘Who do you remind people of?’ and I hemmed and hawed and then she said, ‘Well, you remind me of Robert Kennedy.’ I said, ‘That’s strange, I’m thinking of writing a play about him.’ As soon as I said it I walked out of her office, walked down the street, and said to myself, ‘Yeah, I’m going to do that.’” Written and performed solo by Jack Holmes, directed by Larry Moss. Culture Project, 45 Bleecker St. $30-$55 at 212-307-4100. (Jerry Tallmer)
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SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE I heard something most unusual as I left Michael John LaChiusa’s stunning new musical, “See What I Wanna See” at the Public recently. People were actually humming snatches of the songs. Had this been “Spamalot” or “Jersey Boys,” I would have expected it. Heck, audience members sing along at both those shows. But LaChiusa? Whose complex harmonies and unconventional song structure seem intentionally designed to defy toe-tapping? Yep. The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St. Through Dec. 4. $60 at 212-239-6200. (Christopher Byrne)
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SWEENEY TODD Rich in storytelling, gripping in intellectual scope, and performed by a superlative cast, this quintessential 20th century musical, with book by Hugh Wheeler and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, has been reconceived for today’s world. Intimate, gripping, and more darkly disturbing than previous productions, it is political theater of the first order in the guise of a seat-edge storytelling experience. Elementally human in its insistence upon the power of story and character as the prime motivators of theater, the lead roles have never been so fully explored, so provocatively rendered. The Eugene O’Neill Theater. $35-$100 at 212-239-6200. (Christopher Byrne)
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MR. MARMALDADE Michael C. Hall lives where Tribeca touches on Chinatown, and had never heard of Noah Haidle until he opened a script by him on a flight from Los Angeles. Noah Haidle, playwright, lives in Washington Heights, and had never seen the “Six Feet Under” television series that brought Michael C. Hall’s talent and sensitivity untold numbers of fans. Mamie Gummer is an actress who had probably heard of both of those people. The play that brings all three of them together begins with a four-year-old girl in a pink tutu, playing house with a well-dressed grown man who is a figment of her imagination and whom she will marry. His name is Mr. Marmalade, he carries a briefcase, and he’s always in a rush. Laura Pels Theater, 111 W 46th St. Through Jan. 29. $51.25-$61.25; 212-719-1300. (Jerry Tallmer)
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