Capital New York

In Paula Vogel's 'How I Learned to Drive,' Norbert Leo Butz transforms a difficult role

Uncle Peck could easily come across as a monster, but luckily he's played this time around by Norbert Leo Butz, an actor who brings an amiability to every role he plays, from the self-centered novelist in The Last Five Years to the gruff F.B.I. agent in Catch Me If You Can. He also exudes a sense of sadness that's always just below the surface. It's hard to imagine an actor more suited to play Uncle Peck, who is basically a decent man fighting a losing battle against his demons. More

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By Mark Sullivan

Another attempt to 'fix' Sondheim's unsuccessful 1981 musical 'Merrily We Roll Along' fails

Encores! usually tries to present shows that are more or less what audiences heard during their initial runs on Broadway. It seems a shame that instead of letting us experience Sondheim's original score, we get a Merrily that's been tinkered with for 30 years. It's no surprise that the most successful production I've seen, the 2000 version at London's Donmar Warehouse, did the least tinkering. More

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By Mark Sullivan

David Hyde Pierce and Rosie Perez give dimension and hilarity to Molly Smith Metzler's 'Close Up Space'

In the opening scene of Molly Smith Metzler's new play, Close Up Space, David Hyde Pierce is especially funny. As Paul, a longtime editor for a boutique literary firm, he gives his new intern Bailey a withering glance (and nobody does withering glances like Hyde Pierce) when she suggests that rather than taking pen to paper, he might work more "modernly" on a computer. You can imagine the look that made-up word elicits. More

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By Mark Sullivan

A trip back to 1955, for the liberation of the soul, takes an unexpected turn

Playing a bundle of neuroses is the specialty of Marin Ireland, who played a similarly tightly wound character last year in Lisa Kron's In the Wake. But she channels her inner June Cleaver with surprising ease: Her shoulders drop, her posture straightens, and a calm expression spreads over her face. Katha doesn't quite become a Stepford wife, but only because she has chosen for herself to be the perfect housewife. More

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By Mark Sullivan

The non-cynical musical based on a movie: 'Once' transfers effortlessly to stage (as it will to Broadway)

Hansard and Irglová's folk-rock ballads transfer effortlessly to the stage, and Enda Walsh has adapted John Carney's spare and effective screenplay without straying too far the source material. Walsh fleshes out a few of the minor characters, but it’s the Guy and the Girl who remain a little too lightly drawn. Hansard and Irglová's songs do all the heavy lifting—maybe not the worst thing in a musical. More

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By Mark Sullivan

John Hurt's so good in excellent 'Krapp,' his New York debut

As unlikely as it might seem, this production marks Hurt's New York City stage debut. It's long overdue, but audiences couldn't have asked for a better introduction to his work. Hurt first played Krapp in a 1999 production in London, and by now he and the character seem indivisible. And the suitability of the actor for the role matters, as Beckett wrote the play as a monologue for the actor Patrick Magee, who died in 1982. More

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By Mark Sullivan

Scouting tail: Thomas Higgins' psychological thriller about a gay scoutmaster is little more than 'Mean Girls' in khakis

It's not long before Matthew confronts closet-case Scoutmaster Rodney (John Behlmann) during an overnight camping trip. We're supposed to be shocked at how far Matthew is willing to go to get a reaction from a man who seems only slightly older than himself. But since up to this point Rodney's earnestness about the Boy Scouts has been played mostly for laughs, their verbal sparring doesn't have the slightest bit of tension. More

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By Mark Sullivan

An experimental, cross-genre 'yakuza' play misses several marks at once

It's a part of the project in mounting this interpretation of the 1928 popular Japanese yakuza play Kutsukake Tokijiro to turn it into an experimental, genre-hopping work. But entertaining as they are, the slow-motion fight scenes and spirited dance numbers sometimes fight too hard for attention with the story at the center of the play. More

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By Mark Sullivan

LaChiusa's latest, about a Victorian fameball who made it by making it over the Niagara Falls in a barrel, is brilliant

Queen of the Mist is a thrilling work, with pieces for the entire ensemble that swirl around and around, approaching and receding before they burst forth. A lot of the credit goes to Michael Starobin, whose ingenious orchestrations make the six-piece orchestra sound impossibly lush.

But it’s LaChiusa’s numbers for Taylor that are most memorable. "Cradle or Coffin," which she sings while she contemplates what it will be like inside her custom-designed barrel, is as vivid as anything LaChiusa has written. More

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By Mark Sullivan

Re-up of 'Other Desert Cities' is poorer for losing Linda Lavin, but Baitz's play and Mantello's direction pull it off

Silda was a formidable presence when Other Desert Cities opened off-Broadway early this year. Played by Linda Lavin, Silda was more than a match for Polly as they argued about everything from party politics to whether a Pucci blouse was a knock-off. Her tart tongue was one of the play's pleasures.

Judith Light took over when the play opened on Broadway this week, and suddenly Silda's not looking so good. She's a basket case from the moment she walks onstage halfway through the first act—eyes heavily circled, an inch of gray roots visible under her dyed-brown hair. When faced with Polly's icy glare or Brooke's wounded glance, she crumples. More

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By Mark Sullivan