Nicole Serratore

“The play is snappy while still a bit lecturing, frustrating and yet fascinating.”

“It's high-energy theatre that envelops you from all directions.”

“It is funny and messy, and not without its structural flaws. But the questions it asks of Hwang and the audience make it both a rollicking and thought-provoking evening.”

“While Jessica Lange gobbles up the meaty role of Mother and tragic experiences befall the family, the play resolves with eye-rolling sentimentalism.”

“When I saw audience members decked out in their sequins and ready for a night on the town on the dance floor, I felt like maybe the shows messaging was more opaque than I had appreciated.”

“The production’s heavy-handed stylistic symbolism and clinical simplicity guts the humanity of the play.”

“Frustratingly, whatever complexity Sultan's memoir holds translates into oversimplified family squabbles in White's script, and is flattened into diluted comedy by Sher.”

“This is the show that smashes through the wall and never lets you off the hook for a second afterwards.”

“But unless you are on-board with a throwback to 1990s Crystal comedy, it delivers more groans than laughs.”

“But the show remains an uneven one.”

“The resulting production, which boasts a top-notch team chock-a-block with Tony winners, including Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster , is relatively muted, though it has moments of razzle-dazzle stage exuberance and comic appeal.”

“Even though some of the elements feel strained, Van Hove’s production successfully refreshes this classic by treating it as something both monumental and mortal.”

“I’ve never met these ‘working-class’ people in my life.”

“It never quite finds the right mixture of funny and creepy, lurid and light.”

“Despite a rather flavourless score by David Yazbek, the screen-to-stage adaptation of 'Tootsie,' is arguably the funniest new musical on Broadway.”

“Though ambitious, it’s neither funny enough nor tragic enough; it’s also frequently hard to follow.”

“Driver makes it come alive, to the point that Michael Mayer's bright production dims when he's not on stage.”

“Glenda Jackson was great fun, but, really, Lear shouldn't be great fun.”

“Between them, they create a powerful onstage debate that delivers a political punch to the gut.”

“Scott Ellis’ revival of the Cole Porter musical unites the effervescent Kelli O’Hara with the rakish Will Chase for a production that is stronger on romantic longing than it is on musical comedy. While the leads sparkle and Ellis’s production showcases the jazzy score, it’s an otherwise sedate affair...”

“Shepard’s play is symbolic and strange, if also a bit thin.”

“Cullman's production balances playfulness with an increasing sense of tension”

“Still it succeeds as a story of one woman's persistence and survival.”

“Only the ape’s expressive presence rescues it.”

“Though McTeer gives a magnetic, precise performance, the play itself meanders”

“Lee deftly captures the family's rhythms as they oscillate from teasing to concern to argument, breaking the tension with humour and physicality”

“This Lincoln Center production is elegantly wrought but brings necessary contemporary perspective to allow it to be both a product of the past and a work in conversation with the present.”

“Even with this exciting performance from Ridloff, no one in this production has made the case for this play in this moment.”

“Leaving Angels in America, I tingle.”

“Cullman loses control of the production, allowing these performances to skate along on the surface.”

“But dramatically, and as a work of cohesive storytelling, the outwardly sentimental show has little in the way of heft.”

“Despite this gentle exploration of the unexamined lives of ordinary people, I resisted this new musical’s charms.”

“With a revised plot for this Broadway revival, the production by director Julie Taymor unfortunately leans towards flatness and simplicity which dulls the power of the play and muddies the play’s intentions.”

“From this point the play deepens and Kay’s search for happiness becomes increasingly bittersweet.”

“With contrived accents and mannered performances, Terry Kinney’s production of Arthur Miller’s The Price lacks genuine dramatic punch.”

“Her production, which began as an Off-Broadway three-night concert, is a crisp but nuanced interpretation.”

“But when the storytelling gets personal the production sharpens and offers a platform for moving, memorable performances.”

“Allegiance presents many thoughtful ideas and interesting characters but the music and story fail to coalesce into a cohesive, artful endeavor.”

“Twenty-six years on, without that context, the play treads well-worn family drama territory albeit with some laughs along the way.”

“The overly familiar mixed with the utterly uncreative comes together to make this a musical that does more harm than good.”

“In its aftermath, the show leaves you with intellectual whiplash.”

“Each action has a consequence within this family circle and these actors make us feel each tug.”

“Everything from the costuming to the set to the choreography to the direction plays loud, harsh, and cartoonish doing a disservice to the sincere characters and fine work of the actors.”