Patrick Ryan

“With its sage script and unshakeable leading turn, ‘Pre-Existing Condition’ offers a vital reminder that healing isn’t linear and pain cannot be neatly qualified.”

“It's a transcendent, glitter-drenched revival that breaks all the rules of what Broadway can be – and in turn, creates something that is utterly extraordinary.”

“An appalling near-disaster that fundamentally misunderstands everything that makes the film so unnervingly devastating.”

“It goes without saying that ‘Bug’ belongs to Coon, whose transfixing tour de force is reason enough to snap up a ticket immediately.”

“It’s a smugly satisfied approach that would be borderline intolerable if it weren’t for the dazzling constellation of stars that is Lea Michele, Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher, whose full-throated commitment to this tuneful slog may convert even the staunchest of ‘Chess’ agnostics.”

“Waiting for Godot‘ is the feel-bad play of the fall, with transfixing performances from Winter and Reeves that help you look past the production's shortcomings. There are few actors whom we'd rather see philosophize about mortality. As Ted once said so eloquently, ’All we are is dust in the wind, dude.”

“It’s never wise to bet against Smart, who ultimately deserves a far better vehicle for her Main Stem comeback.”

“David Yazbek ’s latest curio, which opened April 27 at the Longacre Theatre, is a waggish, walloping, what-in-tarnation musical; the sort of coup that is so sublimely strange and strangely profound, it will revive your faith in Broadway itself.”

“I had read and heard so much negative buzz going into the Broadway show that my expectations were on the floor, which is maybe why it's the biggest surprise of the season for me.”

“‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ aims to be a hard-hitting story about accountability and checks on power, but all that ever comes through is dead air.”

“With a dynamite cast firing on all cylinders, these ‘Glengarry’ leads are ultimately worth the investment.”

“The effect is both staggeringly impressive and exhaustingly relentless.”

“The cast is uniformly excellent.”

“But for a musical that should soar, it most often feels dreadfully earthbound.”

“McDonald’s ‘Rose’s Turn’ feels like a once-in-a-lifetime event; the sort of unequivocal theater magic that you one day tell your grandkids about.”

“It’s the kind of show that’s hardwired to make you cry.”

“But for slightly older audiences, now nursing heartburn more often than heartbreak, you’ll probably just feel exhausted.”

“But despite its very best intentions, the play is frustratingly surface level, rarely delving beyond Hallmark card sentiments about taking the good with the bad.”

“Scherzinger is every bit as stunning and volcanic as you've heard, even if Jamie Lloyd's hollow production doesn't always match her earthshaking talent.”

“Instead, he’s an exhausting person to spend any length of time with, and Downey’s natural charisma can only go so far in offsetting Jacob’s more insufferable qualities.”

“Farrow, in just her third Broadway outing in 50 years, is enchanting from start to finish.”

“Escola’s brilliant lunacy is the real deal.”

“The result is at times hilarious and poignant, but it rarely rises above the level of being just fine.”

“When Alex has a seizure midway through the play, the mounting dread and panicked 911 call are distressingly familiar. So, too, is the purgatory-like state of the hospital waiting room, which is brilliantly conveyed through Ben Stanton’s stark lighting and Lael Jellinek’s deceptively simple scenic design.”

“But the magic is fleeting, and by the final curtain, those in the audience may wish they'd just stayed at home.”

“Strong is astounding as Thomas, resisting easy histrionics even as tensions reach their boiling point.”

“‘Merrily’ is the most top-to-bottom perfect production of them all, from its muscular orchestrations to its vibrant ensemble to its sneakily devastating book by the late George Furth.”

“But with soulless songs that are more obligatory than earned, you can’t escape the feeling that they’re just running down the clock.”

“Unlike Lovett's repugnant meat pies, there's nothing half-baked about this ‘Sweeney Todd,’ which in its stunning final moments, reminds you just how exhilarating live theater can be.”

“Like the film – which starred Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, and earned eight Oscar nominations, including best picture – the stage show follows the doomed love affair between Satine (Karen Olivio), a tuberculosis-stricken cabaret star, and Christian (Aaron Tveit), a wide-eyed Midwesterner who dreams of becoming a world-renowned songwriter.”

“But for Parrotheads, this well-intentioned and unabashedly cheesy romp could be a little slice of paradise.”