“Cats: The Jellicle Ball” cast dances during curtain call on Broadway
The critically acclaimed Broadway revival “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” is a bold reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s feline musical sensation.
Spring has sprung on Broadway ‒ and along with it, a whole bunch of new shows to satiate theater fans.
Over the last month and a half, more than a dozen new plays and musicals have opened in New York’s theater district, coming in just under the wire before Tony Awards nominations are announced May 5.
Last fall’s offerings left much to be desired, with the exceptions of some plays and the thoroughly delightful “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).” The spring hasn’t fared much better, although there are exceptions.
Leave it to “Saturday Night Live” vet Rachel Dratch to completely nail the assignment in “The Rocky Horror Show,” an oddly straightjacketed yet visually eye-popping revival of the queer cult classic. We admittedly welled up at least a couple times watching “Every Brilliant Thing,” a cavity-inducing one-person show that works entirely because of the infectious likability and enthusiasm of Daniel Radcliffe.
And even among the major disappointments, there were still bright spots: Sara Chase and McKenzie Kurtz are boundlessly charming in the otherwise exhausting “Schmigadoon!”, adapted from the one-joke Apple TV comedy series. Samantha Schwartz is a pint-sized cyclone who cheekily bulldozes through the disaster zone that is “Beaches,” while the reliably excellent Linda Emond elevates the sour slog of “Becky Shaw” with vicious hilarity.
Nonetheless, if you’re planning a trip to New York in the coming months, here are the five shows that we’d wholeheartedly recommend:
5. ‘The Balusters’
In recent years, there has been no shortage of new shows skewering liberal hypocrisy and unchecked privilege. But few do it better than playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, who throws a stick of dynamite into an affluent neighborhood association meeting, where a squabble over stop signs slowly descends into “Lord of the Flies”-style chaos. It’s a biting satire that leaves no one person unscathed, with plenty of genuinely startling twists and a top-to-bottom fantastic ensemble led by the endearing Marylouise Burke and compelling Anika Noni Rose, whose naive newcomer is not all that she appears to be.
Now playing at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 W. 47th St.) through June 7.
4. ‘Titanique’
We’ve had the great pleasure of seeing “Titanique” in all of its New York iterations, from the basement of a Gristedes grocery store to its slightly larger digs in Union Square. We feared this deeply silly “Titanic” parody might drown in a Broadway house, but remarkably, the show is sharper and funnier than it’s ever been. Set to a decibel-busting catalog of Celine Dion favorites, the laugh-a-minute musical imagines if Dion herself was a passenger on the Ship of Dreams. The cast is blissfully bonkers, from the brilliantly unhinged Marla Mindelle to the game-for-anything Melissa Barrera, making a dazzling Broadway debut as Rose. But Jim Parsons and Layton Williams all but run away with the evening, finding diabolical laughs as Rose’s helicopter mom and a Tina Turner-esque iceberg.
Now playing at the St. James Theatre (246 W. 44th St.) through Sept. 20.
3. ‘Fallen Angels’
Rose Byrne and Kelli O’Hara are heaven-sent in this divine and delirious revival of Noël Coward’s sneakily groundbreaking 1925 play, about a pair of high-society housewives who hatch a plot to hook up with their former lover (Mark Consuelos). We’ve all known for years that Byrne is a comedic genius (“Spy,” anyone?), and here, she whips out a Rolodex of side-splitting expressions and zesty one-liners. But to our wonderful surprise, O’Hara is equally adept at slapstick hijinks, as the lustful ladies get sufficiently sozzled awaiting their mysterious beau.
Now playing at the Todd Haimes Theatre (227 W. 42nd St.) through June 7.
2. ‘Death of a Salesman’
At the risk of sounding excessively hyperbolic, Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf give two of the most stunning performances you’ll ever see on a Broadway stage. In Joe Mantello’s staggering new production of Arthur Miller’s 1949 American tragedy, self-deluded everyman Willy Loman (Lane) gets lost in the funhouse mirror of his life, haunted by the squandered potential of both him and his son, Biff (the revelatory Christopher Abbott). Lane harrowingly captures the paralyzing fear of being ordinary, while Metcalf will overwhelm you with the sheer emotion of her performance as Willy’s fiercely loyal wife, Linda. We genuinely can’t remember the last time we were left so completely speechless by a piece of theater.
Now playing at the Winter Garden Theatre (1634 Broadway) through Aug. 9.
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1. ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’
Is there any other (Jellicle) choice? The absolutely undeniable must-see show of the summer is “The Jellicle Ball,” which takes a glitter-dusted sledgehammer to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1982 mega-musical and transplants it to Harlem’s queer ballroom scene. The greatest revivals are the ones that make you totally rethink a show you always thought you knew, and here, co-directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch unearth astonishing new layers of “Cats,” telling an unexpectedly stirring story of survival and found family. The entire cast is off-the-charts phenomenal, and the mind-blowing choreography by Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons is the very best to hit the Main Stem in years.
It’s ecstatic, sexy and outrageously fun – it’s heaven on earth for anyone who loves Broadway.
Now playing at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 W. 44th St.).
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Honorable mentions:
- “Giant,” the most provocative show on Broadway right now, starring a tremendous John Lithgow as beloved children’s author and volatile antisemite Roald Dahl.
- “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” a slow-burn revival of August Wilson’s enormously affecting play, featuring breathtaking turns from Nimene Sierra Wureh and Abigail Onwunali.
- “Proof,” an engrossing family drama about grief and mathematics, anchored by the never-better Ayo Edebiri and always astounding Kara Young.
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