Robert Hofler

““The Lost Boys” doesn’t know what it wants to be: a shocker, a tear-jerker or a parody.”

“This “Joe Turner” comes alive instantly with arresting performances that only tighten their grip as the drama intensifies.”

“A mess as major as “Beaches” required not one but two directors, Lonny Price and Matt Cowart.”

“For the record, it is by far the most lavish production of the show ever to play Broadway.”

“Thomas and Rose deliver two completely different performances that make beautiful dissonance.”

““Schmigadoon!” on stage is no “Death Becomes Her.” It is a photo-copy replica of the TV show’s first season, in which two doctors from New York go on a camping trip in the Catskills, only to end up in a musical comprised of songs and plot points from famous shows of the 1940s and ’50s, most specific...”

“Even at the very un-Coward-like length of 90 minutes, this production of “Fallen Angels” under the direction of Scott Ellis takes about half an hour to light any real comic fire in what was once the play’s first act. When it finally does ignite, Rose Byrne’s Jane and Kelli O’Hara’s Julia don’t delig...”

“There’s a big hole in the middle of this “Proof.””

“On stage, he’s a real theater animal and his performance is immeasurably enhanced by a face and body that rivet an audience’s attention for two straight hours.”

“As with his direction of the actors, however, Mantello likes to pour it on gooey.”

“The comedy is so broad under Rupert Goold’s direction that the central drama — will any of these hostages, much less the two bank robbers, come out alive? — is almost beside the point.”

“Lithgow delivers a real feast for theatergoers.”

“Even an actor of Radcliffe’s enormous charisma and charm can’t help but be buried in the deluge of audience participation that’s about to be unleashed.”

“When it was all over, I much preferred watching the actors impersonate machines in Harrison’s sci-fi tale than watching them impersonate human beings.”

“As meet-cutes go, this one turns very problematic in Act 2, if not before.”

“In the end, Ickes’ updating turns the Sophocles classic into a parody.”

“Or maybe they had fallen in love with Kristin Chenoweth, who exudes such charm and charisma that even Jackie’s most appalling statements of white privilege and unbridled capitalism lose some of their shocking edge.”

“Myself, I was happier when “Little Bear Ridge Road” wasn’t pretending to be anything more than a hilarious comedy about yet another dysfunctional family.”

“Her warmth and immediate familiarity is a wonderful way to begin an awesome night in the theater.”

“The story is not so much dramatized as it is told to us in a series of Wikipedia lectures.”

“The resolution here is much too easy and pat.”

“It is not a performance, and Reeves very studied and mannered delivery of his lines is enough to ban the word “staccato” from Webster’s.”

“It doesn't matter that Yasmina Reza wrote stick figures rather than characters for her play 'Art.'”

“On Sunday, it reopened uptown at the Longacre Theatre, where it’s now the weirdest, funniest and saddest show on Broadway.”

““Real Women Have Curves” opened Sunday at the James Theatre, and it’s obvious you’re in good hands under Sergio Trujillo’s expert direction when the show kicks off with not one but two What I Want songs.”

“When Groff is singing and dancing (stunning choreography by Shannon Lewis), “Just in Time” absolutely dazzles.”

“Good will does not always translate into good entertainment.”

“Her stage play is a muddled, pedestrian prequel, set in the 1950s, in which a government experiment-gone-wrong unleashes lots of ill effects.”

“Jordan’s magnificent work here is one for the record books, one of the all-time great musical performances.”

“Ebert delivers this production’s only compelling performance, and when he leaves the stage, I could only wait for his theatrical toxicity to return to give me something to watch.”

“The “Smash” ensemble, led by Hurder and Nielsen, make it better than first-rate.”

“Others are, and this revue does not do them justice.”

“Playing that creep, Erich Bergen singlehandedly turns “Boop!” into something worth watching after nearly two hours of total tedium.”

“There’s no emotional payoff in these two stories traveling in opposite directions.”

“This image sent shock waves through the Winter Garden like nothing I've ever heard or felt before in a theater. The experience is not to be missed.”

“At times, however, Patrick Marber’s direction doesn’t trust Mamet’s extreme language to do the job and he lets his actors go way over the top in their attacks on each other.”

“As for Snook, her performance goes completely over the top.”

“Gyllenhaal delivers the most engaging Iago I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen some pretty good Iagos: Christopher Plummer with Jones and Daniel Craig with Oyelowo.”

“Nothing kills a laugh faster than seeing actors sweat.”

“A great show has been made only somewhat less wonderful.”

“It’s just one of many reasons why I need, and want, to see “Purpose” again.”

“Getting Jesse up that tree, on the other hand, involves such contortions of character and logic that the whole endeavor is less a flight of fancy, or even derangement, than it is hopelessly contrived.”

“It’s an audacious production and it is also very, very dark.”

“In “Eureka Day,” Shapiro’s actors and Spector’s written words turn the situation into one of the must-see scenes of 2024.”

“The problem is, almost all of the characters are types, if not downright clichés: the parents (cuddly, with blinders on), the Christians (blessed, but bigoted), the drug addicts (irresponsible, but lively), the lesbians (angry and pissed off) and the Jew (also angry and pissed off).”

“Directing the new musical, Christopher Gattelli gleefully embraces the material’s inherent tackiness.”

““Swept Away” is an awesomely different and totally unexpected Broadway musical.”

“We’re expected to find Tammy Faye sympathetic, even though she begs for money from poor people so she can look like a hideously dressed drag queen.”

“Arden brings that intelligence back to Broadway.”

“As presented here, Armstrong is a talented and very amiable man whose only real direction in life is collecting a lot of wives, each of whom gets about 30 minutes on stage.”

“The kids aren’t all right, and if their story is not really a full-blown tragedy anymore, they’re awfully fun to watch.”

““Left on Tenth” captures perfectly the tedium of being in a hospital, for both the patient and the visitor.”

“Putting a video camera(s) on stage and having live actors taped so that their faces can be magnified on big screens has become the most tiresome directorial crutch of this century.”

“An extreme condescension, however, enters into the picture with several of the female actors’ performances thanks to the costumes, by Dede Ayite, which are dreadful.”

“I can hardly think of a more bogus set-up in any play, movie or TV show in recent memory.”

“Having now seen “The Hills of California” on Broadway, where it opened Sunday at the Broadhurst Theatre, I realize Butterworth has written something much more significant and moving.”

“It is too early in the Broadway season to call something the worst.”

“That goal is the play’s big ah-ha moment, and as plot twists goes, it crumbles at a moment’s reflection.”

“Experiencing this comedy with a few hundred more theatergoers takes the laughter from boisterous to atomic and the effect is absolutely radioactive.”

“Another word to describe “Illinoise” is “simple-minded.””

“In its excellence, her work in “Mother Play” recalls what she did on stage as Mary Tyrone in “Long Day’s Journey into Night” in 2016.”

“That not-since-“Carrie” spectacle sums up what goes wrong with the new musical “The Great Gatsby,” with book by Kati Kerrigan and score by composer Jason Howland and lyricist Nathan Tysen.”

“All in all, it’s a very lively and funny comedy.”

“Stoic is not an easy look to convey to an audience, and McAdams’ performance doesn’t really take shape until Mary Jane sets up residence in the hospital.”

“Gordon Greenberg directs and Lorin Latarro choreographs, achieving some kind of immortality with all that bubble wrap. Around the edges of this production are a few inspired performances. Raymond J.”

“Ultimately, the first-rate comedy of the first act turns into the second-rate melodrama of the second act.”

“Because Redmayne isn’t playing a character but rather a symbol of decadence, he presents nothing but a jumble of mannerisms.”

“Adjmi captures that claustrophobia and inability to communicate, making his “Stereophonic” one of the very best plays to open last year Off Broadway and now this season on Broadway.”

““Suffs” entertains because Taub makes her show all about the women, and she makes those women committed but very flawed individuals.”

“In other words, the actors and dancers in this “Wiz” carry the show magnificently, with Kyle Ramar Freeman’s Lion, Phillip Johnson Richardson’s Tin Man and Avery Wilson’s Scarecrow the funniest trio of misfits ever to take us on this trip to Oz.”

“In the end, “Lempicka” takes a potentially fascinating character and turns her into another weepy, boring victim.”

“Some tableaux are breathtaking; others are rather pedestrian, especially when Nigrini’s projections recede and McAnuff’s direction relies on Sarafina Bush’s unimaginative costumes and Lorin Latarro’s equally mundane choreography.”

“Because Gustin and McCalla are stuck playing such colorless characters, it leaves Nolan’s wild and demented August to carry the show.”

“What Ibsen never worried about is anyone calling his play “agitprop,” which is what Herzog and Gold have turned it into.”

“When these two veteran actors are on stage together, “The Notebook” is the moving, unabashed, heartfelt tearjerker it’s needs to be.”

“The only major criticism to level at “Days of Wine and Roses” is that it took Guettel so long to write his third musical, which can easily take its place as one of the few great musicals of this century.”

“The play receives its belated but totally riveting first Broadway production, which opened Monday at Second Stage’s Theater.”

“A star is born under the least likely of circumstances.”

“The mustiness now is downright allergy-inducing.”

““Harmony” doesn’t always serve that memory well.”

“After wrangling with his daughter about cleaning up his house for most of this 100-minute one-act play, Sam undergoes a conversion that is as phony as every word and action that came before it.”

“It manages to waste the talent of not one but two very talented performers.”

“Better yet, I recommend getting a ticket to see this wonderful “Merrily” revival and buy another the following week to enjoy it even more the second time.”

“Even though “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” takes place entirely in the hair salon, as does “Steel Magnolias,” the play is a series of short skits, as is “The Women”; and like that Boothe Luce play, many of those scenes lack a good button.”

“Purlie Victorious” is the funniest show now performing on Broadway, and that includes “The Book of Mormon.”

“Ian Shaw imitates his father’s every grimace and vocal mannerism, delivering one of the most grating performances ever put on stage.”

“Silvestri and Ballard’s original score is so derivative it gives jukebox musicals a good name.”

“Sitting through this forced, unfunny take on British sex comedies of yore, I was reminded of an equally inept exercise in pandering to the tourist trade before that particular play was also run out of town.”

“Alex Timbers' extraordinarily inventive direction of 'Here Lies Love' makes this musical worth seeing.”

“Her delivery of “Toxic” momentarily enlivens an otherwise lackluster second act.”

“His direction exhausts every cliché of stage terror about half an hour into this 100-minute one-act.”

“Revivals have been rare in the intervening years, and this starry one that opened Monday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Harvey Theater makes it clear why.”

“'New York, New York,' under the savvy direction and choreography of Susan Stroman...ultimately delivers its melting-pot message with intelligence, style and, yes, good old-fashioned razzle-dazzle.”

“His coordination of the technical elements is equally arresting.”

“It’s great agit-prop theater, and only time will tell if it has a longer shelf life than Clifford Odets’s play about taxi drivers on strike, first produced in 1935 to great acclaim.”

“Unfortunately, the narrative drive runs out of “The Thanksgiving Play” long before Hernandez’s set attempts to stage an 11 o’clock rescue.”

“The “deaths” certainly look real in “Peter Pan Goes Wrong,” and they invariably provoke more gasps than laughs when the actors are crushed, electrocuted or dropped while performing aerial tricks gone awry.”

“For what it’s worth, all this talk of love in the final scene came as news to me.”

““Fat Ham” is the most fun you’ll have at any play this Broadway season.”

“This constant switching of gears between the songs and the joke-filled dialogue slows down the narrative, making “Shucked” seem a lot longer than its two and twenty minutes with intermission.”