/ Dance
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. 45 St., $26.25-$101.25 at 212-239-6200. (Christopher Byrne)
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A Naked Girl on the ApPian Way There are two positive things to take away from this play. The first is that Jill Clayburgh continues to be the same charming and graceful presence who has always lit up a stage, no matter what she’s been given to do. The second is that Matthew Morrison is one of the most versatile and charismatic young actors working today. The rest of the experience would be better off avoiding. Richard Greenberg has written an appallingly superficial and pointless quasi-comedy, which, though newly minted, seems dated in its structure, rhythms, plotting, and stereotypical characters. American Airlines Theater, 227 W. 42nd St. $61.25-$81.25 at 212-719-1300. Through Dec. 4. (Christopher Byrne)
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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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SUPER VISION There’s a quiet, insidious danger out there that threatens everyone, everywhere, every day—electronic identity theft. Hoping to cast an urgent light on the dilemma, The Builders Association, a New York-based theater company, developed “Super Vision,” a multimedia collaboration with the virtual design studio dbox that explores the rise of digital identity, universal connectivity, and their unintended consequences. Although personal data management was originally engineered to help us control our lives, “Super Vision” wonders if technology now is controlling us. BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton St. at Ashland Pl., Brooklyn. Through Dec. 3 7:30 p.m. $20-$55; 718-636-4100. (David Kennerley)
Michal Daniel
PAUL KOLNIK
Courtesy of BAM
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