Steven Suskin

“School Girls is uproarious, affecting, human, and sympathetic, too.”

“Proof, 25 years later, pulls us in and grips us in a manner that might surprise even the author.”

“We watch him, we watch him watch the dog die, and skeptics will be amazed to find within the very first minute that we believe every word of it.”

“Loping into the Longacre at the tail end of this up-and-down season, here’s an iconoclastically anarchic romp that blasts its way through traditional showmaking to create an original new musical that’s adventurous, unconventional, consistently entertaining, and an altogether rip-roarin’ bull’s-eye.”

“But the cavalcade of winning numbers is more than infrequently interrupted by items which do not quite add to the evening’s enjoyment, serving to deplete the showmanship of the whole.”

“Jonas, though, seems to be the wrong actor in the wrong show.”

“Audra is magnificent, everything’s coming up roses.”

“Now comes Tammy Faye, a new, big, loud, high-tech British musical with lots of fury and pumped-up video lavishly applied in a vain effort to create excitement.”

“But when you walk out of a revival thinking how thrilling the play was the last time you saw it—well that’s a problem, isn’t it?”

“Once Upon a Mattress offers laughs galore; flights of melody highlighted by the light-hearted romantic ballad ‘In a Little While,’ that upbeat paean to ‘Normandy,’ and that clarion-blasted swamp-heroine’s lament, ‘Shy’; and is likely to leave a wide grin on the face of happy playgoers.”

“In any event, Vogel’s play and players merit a visit to the Helen Hayes.”

“There’s nothing wrong with this season’s crop of chronically ailing Broadway musicals, it turns out, that can’t be set right by a little talent. Well, make that a lot of talent, or even a whole lot of talent.”

“But with Hell’s Kitchen, Suffs, Water for Elephants, The Outsiders, Cabaret, Lempicka, The Great Gatsby and more lapping at the gate, or at least the ticket wicket, this three-generation Kleenex-clutching weepie might get lost in the awards season rush.”

“But good intentions alone, alas, do not a compelling musical make.”

“All told, it’s a hit, to borrow a title phrase from one of Sondheim most artful ‘concerted’ numbers; a palpable hit, to borrow a phrase the Master borrowed from the Bard.”

“This production at the Music Box well worth a visit.”

“Whatever he’s doing, its mighty funny.”

“As for the 21-year-old Likes, Back to the Future is a case of getting what you deserve: a starring role in a new Broadway musical hit.”

“Here Lies Love remains an impressive and effective experience; but uptown on Broadway, at the over-sized Broadway, the bloom is off the rose of Tacloban (to borrow the title of Imelda’s opening number).”

“The show catches fire for the final half-hour, culminating in a coup de théâtre leading into a smashing rendition of the title song every bit as exciting as you’d find in a prime nitery.”

“The frantic, manic, desperate humor is the same; you might start the affair sitting in your seat thinking 'go ahead, just try to entertain me'... But as with the earlier show, they quickly win you over.”

“Camelot remains as disjointed as before.”

“This new Parade seems likely to finally give Brown the artistic and commercial success he has well earned over the years.”

“Herzog has trimmed the play of excessive dramaturgy without losing Ibsen’s effectiveness, handily getting us out of the theatre in less than two hours instead of what typically approaches three.”

“None of these alterations enhance 1776; what’s more, Page and Paulus push the running time, which in 1969 was a shade over two intermissionless hours, closer to three.”

“But this Salesman seems not to have weathered the three years so well, losing a substantial slice of effectiveness on its journey from the Thames to the Hudson.”

“Like The Ferryman and The Inheritance, Leopoldstadt is brilliant, memorable, and dynamic, warranting an immediate visit to the Longacre.”

“Longhurst’s production, along with the choreography by Ann Yee, is somewhat more earthy and musical-comedy-flashy than George C. Wolfe’s delicately ethereal original.”

“The Lehman Trilogy is a unique stage experience not to be missed.”

“An audience show for a wide audience, Six is a rafter-raising entertainment that’ll get you throwing your proverbial bonnet in the air (but please keep that mask on, for now).”

“With Grand Horizons, she seems to have wanted to step back and try her hand at a traditional, non-challenging, old-fashioned sex comedy.”

“Linney gives an astounding performance, circling the truth (whatever that might be) with a supreme ambivalence.”

“The Inheritance hereby joins that list.”

“All in all, it’s a magical evening from Rapp, Cromer, and the altogether mesmerizing Parker and Hochman.”

“The dialogue is razor sharp and positively laced with laughter—the kind of laughter that comes not merely from ‘funny’ lines but innocent lines that are funny in context.”

“This allows Zeller’s play, like The Father, to succeed on its own terms, sending you out into the night (after eighty-odd minutes with no intermission) talking, thinking, considering and—yes—puzzling over the affair.”

“The present production, thanks to Lloyd and his acting company, demonstrates that after 40 years, Pinter’s examination of truth and deception holds up exceedingly well.”

“Mismatched characters, yes; played here by the mismatched but equally brilliant Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune positively soars.”

“No, they don’t expect us to; they more or less force us to.”

“No; but Tootsie is fast and funny.”

“What is revealed is a facile but overdrawn comedy-drama which is highly entertaining much of the time, with too much of that time spent on wild theatrics and glib characters cracking wise.”

“The Ferryman, now with American actors in 17 of the 22 roles, is every bit as powerful as it was when it opened on Broadway in October and in London in 2017.”

“Good at it then, apparently, and wisely superb at it now.”

“Which is to say that the author not only deserves a Broadway opportunity; he belongs on Broadway, as a visit to Choir Boy makes abundantly clear.”

“This stage Mockingbird is majestically triumphant.”

“He winds up after 85 minutes, leaving this viewer thoroughly and fully enchanted but wanting more.”

“A show without coherent words or music.”

“He doesn't simply offer a barrage of jokes; he plants them, marinates them, and finally allows them to burst forth at his hapless auditors.”

“Astonishing in 1997, and—yes—just as astonishing today.”

“At most moments, though, she is overshadowed by memories of Ms. Roberts.”

“The Band’s Visit is surprising, strange, and unexpectedly most beautiful.”

“The most surprising thing, perhaps, is that after all is said and done, this purposely low-brow, far-from-subtle propaganda statement for sexual equality turns out to be a wittily wicked romp.”

“Wolfe and Washington and a marvelous cast demonstrate that the play is indeed a monumental piece of theater.”

“And they might as well send out the 2018. Best Award for engraving already.”

“Not every concoction in this new musical is 100 percent up to snuff; but most of them are...Pretty damn funny, and what a novel statement is that to make about a contemporary musical comedy...Too many songs that seem like what we just heard. Even so, the score is mostly cheery and spirited...The cast, too, enhances the fun...”

“A season-and-a-half after the playwright’s death, Three Tall Women stands as a riveting, acid-dipped memorial to the both of them.”

“It remains unblinkingly bold and politically provocative in Marianne Elliott’s astounding production, imported from the Theatre to the plebeian Neil Simon on 52nd Street.”

“His two Broadway musicals—the recent revival of Evita and the present opus—suggest that musicals might not be his métier.”

“Watching Peters do it, there was something undeniably different although you couldn’t quite qualify it until she started parading around the ol’ passerelle (or ramp around the orchestra pit, to you).”

“Mark Rylance is unparalleled as an actor.”

“The Children, for all its mystery and topicality, doesn’t begin to rank with the others.”

“So the play, as a whole, is something of a draw.”

“The man knows his audience, and his Latin lesson is a treat.”

“The Band's Visit is unlikely all through; what at times seems story-less and unvarnished suddenly, and by design, blossoms like a desert flower.”

“If it’s an ‘interesting enough’ time you’re looking for.”

“Yes, Metcalf was a wonder; but White brings full value, thank you very much.”

“Now, precisely how you’re likely to feel about The Terms of My Surrender kind of depends, as they say.”

“Vogel—only now receiving her first Broadway opportunity, twenty years after her Pulitzer—has rescued God of Vengeance from the stacks of a research library; and brought both Asch’s play and her own. with that very special rain scene, to vibrant life.”

“Oslo is quite an achievement, and quite a play, and quite an evening of high-stakes theatricality.”

“All told, That Goes Wrong goes uproariously right.”

“It is that spirit, precisely, that Sankoff and Hein and associates have put on the stage; and that’s what makes this awkward and unlikely musical work so effectively.”

“Sunday reveals her as a full-fledged musical comedy star, thank you very much.”

“That said, the cast and the production make this Jitney a must-see for those who appreciate the voice of August Wilson.”

“Her presence in The Present makes it an instant event on Broadway; but the play and production are more than worthy, thank you very much.”

“As for In Transit here and now, the use of a cappella is hardly enough to float the show; but without the a cappella distinction, would anyone today have bothered to bring this musical to Broadway?”

“Too many of the songs are inconsequential, which serves to dilute those ingratiating, low-brow, mob-infused charms which won audiences over in the first (and second) place.”

“Without the pair engaging in a dastardly battle of wits on a taut tightrope, the play restlessly drags on through almost three hours.”

“Oh, Hello is not a play, exactly; it is more of a personal appearance by the Messrs. Faizon & St. Greegland, who blithely refer to themselves as "the orange pekoe teabag staining the countertop of American culture" and who "were recipients of a 1997 restraining order keeping us 100 feet at all times away from America's greatest actor, Mr.”

“But the overall effect is dampened, as if everything but that firecracker number was staged with soggy powder.”

“Not much to look at; rather, a stage picture that is decidedly not worth a thousand words.”

“This is an ambitious saga, and one which in other hands might likely be doomed to the 'good intentions' department.”

“This is a welcome opportunity to see the play, and the chance to see a top-flight performance by Jessica Lange.”

“Wholesome, moral winsomeness will never go out of style, presumably; but a rousing musical it does not make, at least in the case of Tuck Everlasting.”

“Langella outdoes himself, making this a theatrical feat to experience and to feel.”

“Blackbird leaves us feeling unsettled, which seems clearly the intention.”

“For everyone else, though, this ‘disaster’ of a musical might well leave you with a sinking feeling.”

“If Mr. Greenberg was attempting to give us something with socio-politico-historical import--like the aforementioned Other Desert Cities, for instance, or Anthony Giardina's City of Conversation--he has not convincingly done so.”

“And Danny Burstein is right up there with the best of the Tevyes.”

“If China Doll has its weaknesses--and it has--it also has Al Pacino.”

“It's smart and sad and fun barely legal:A history play whose future is regal.”

“When the decidedly minor ‘Beguine’ in the second act literally stops Dames at Sea in its tracks, you know that something is off kilter.”

“Today's Spring Awakening is a worthy production of the show, but that's it.”

“Something Rotten! is a very funny show indeed, and should please audiences although one wonders how non-theatre savvy houses will respond to all those musical comedy jokes.”

“Fun Home is the best Broadway musical in years.”

“This 'King and I' is excellent...The production has the epic sweep that the authors intended...Sher and his leading players also investigate undercurrents of romance and physical attraction which were not evident in the original production...Sparks fly.”

“Weaknesses still remain, led by the contrived story and a decidedly non-rousing score, but what was well-nigh intolerable in New Jersey is now... well, tolerable.”

“This is a smashingly good production of what might be David Hare's finest play, with two of the season's most striking performances from Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan.”

“An audience with Helen Mirren makes a fine night's entertainment, but not--in this case--a compelling dramatic event.”

“Art it ain't; Fish in the Dark isn't O'Neill, or even O. Neil Simon. But it's funny, and it's boffo.”

“All that busy work, and Hugh does look impressive in the kitchen; but Butterworth's eighty-five minute play doesn't make for a tasty meal.”