Thom Geier

“Paranormal Activity will have crept into your bloodstream like some unearthly virus, and you're unlikely to shake that sense of dread anytime soon.”

“The Lost Boys may be the most spectacular surprise of the Broadway season — a visually captivating show that actually improves on its source material with more fleshed-out characters, a more coherent plot, and a hook-filled rock score that deepens our connection to both the players and their plight.”

“Wilson is one of the 20th Century’s most important dramatists and his plays, whenever they are on stage, demand we take notice.”

“Speaking of personality, Evans makes a striking impression as Frank — towering over the cast in his four-inch heels while delivering a performance that is in turns seductive, off-putting, and out of this world.”

“There's not much that's satisfying about the flotsam that's washed up on the shores of the Majestic.”

“The Balusters boasts plenty of curb appeal while delving into the bumptious personalities of a community association in an unnamed city seeking to protect the aesthetics (and resell value) of their historic homes.”

“Schmigadoon! is a show by and for musical mavens — and they should climb any mountain, never walk alone, and rock the boat (without sitting down) to get themselves a seat.”

“Chimoo is a scene-swiping treat who brings an uproarious mix of smug self-satisfaction and reluctant deference to the role.”

“Auburn’s drama remains a sturdily constructed mystery that deepens as it progresses.”

“But this remains a very talky, exposition-heavy narrative that gets fuzzy whenever the spotlight shifts to somebody other than Nick.”

“Titaníque, complete with that Frenchified accent to emphasize the final syllable, is one of the funniest musical comedies in years.”

“And in a career-best performance, Lane shuffle-steps across the stage while his eyes dart around in a state of addled bewilderment.”

“The introduction of ballroom and 'house' culture breathes fresh energy and a human-scaled depth to the material.”

“Gina Gionfriddo’s Becky Shaw, which premiered in 2009 at Second Stage’s Off Broadway space, has burst onto Broadway in a riotously funny, razor-sharp revival from director Trip Cullman that’s less a clash of personalities than of personality disorders.”

“Guirgis’s understandable efforts to turn Frank Pierson’s Oscar-winning screenplay into a visceral theatrical experience repeatedly fall short.”

“He’s horrifying, fascinating, and devastating all at once.”

“How can we not root for Radcliffe as he delivers a tour de force, serotonin-boosting performance that’s as powerful as any drug currently on the market?”

“As Lett’s taut story builds to its tense and graphic denouement, you begin to sense how Bug has emerged as both an acute psychological study of two damaged people inflicting damage on each other and also a parable for our age of heightened, often tribal paranoia.”

“And while this revival may not entirely work as a book musical, it succeeds grandly as a glorified staged concert showcasing some of ABBA’s most infectious music.”

“It's also one of the best new musicals of the year.”

“Ickes and his cast have achieved something truly remarkable, producing a classic that doesn't feel like a revival at all.”

“This ill-timed trudge of a show seems content to watch her eat cake — with a supersize side of McDonald's fries.”

“Metcalf demonstrates why she is one of the finest actors of her generation — delivering a performance that is natural, compelling, and in key moments emotionally raw.”

“Bess Wohl’s latest drama is her most personal — an instant classic of a memory play that focuses on Wohl’s desire to come to terms with a mother she suspects did not fully embrace the feminist ideals of her youth.”

“This is, hands down, one of the best sung productions New Yorkers will hear this year.”

“That allows Punch to not only pack an emotional wallop but conclude on a note of genuine hope.”

“This solid revival might introduce this challenging work to a wider audience.”

“Art is entertaining middlebrow fare, a kind of Gallic update of the urbane comedy of manners that Neil Simon mastered in an earlier era.”

“Mamma Mia! still has the power to connect with audiences in an old-fashioned, almost primal way.”

“The main draw here is Smart, and she does not disappoint.”

“Dead Outlaw unearths the corpse of forgotten history — elevating a twisty little yarn into a bizarro-world elegy to how the American Dream can curdle into violence, cruelty, and casual indifference.”

“Real Women Have Curves tells a simple story with musicality, with humor, with authenticity, and with an embrace of its female characters as fully rounded, three-dimensional individuals.”

“You can't help admiring the way he glistens delivering another high kick or flip into his head voice for a deliciously sustained high note.”

“The action set-pieces, staged with visual flair (and sometimes flares) and a cinematic sense of pacing by director Stephen Daldry and co-director Justin Martin, are truly incredible.”

“The splashy and wonderfully sung revival of composer-lyricist Adam Guettel and writer-director Tina Landau’s 1996 musical Floyd Collins is an elegiac look at a uniquely American tragedy”

“Kimberly Belflower’s new drama is a modern-day, post-#MeToo gloss on Arthur Miller’s The Crucible that pulses with the spirit of young women who are coming into their power and vulnerability at a tricky time.”

“So much talent and so much promising raw material is squandered in the service of a story whose dark humor turns caustic and distasteful.”

“It’s a delight to hear even a few dozen of them, produced so artfully in a production that doesn’t stint on visual showmanship.”

“Whether in trousers or a skirt, she show’s enough versatility to cement her status as a major new Broadway talent.”

“It’s a treat to have The Last Five Years on Broadway after all these years, but it’s hard to escape the feeling that the show could do better than this.”

“All too often, the stage version feels like a noble but unnecessary repeat.”

“But while the energy never flags, there’s a gnawing sense that something is missing here.”

“Operation Mincemeat isn’t just an exercise in turning history into a glorified pop concert, à la Six , or spoofing real events with the broad strokes o...”

“English is an absorbing snapshot of people in transition, seeking reinvention and self-improvement while worrying if they will shed too much of what makes them themselves.”

“But there’s a gap between being game and being entertaining — especially at inflated Broadway prices.”

“Gray projects the self-assurance and forbearance of a woman who’s accustomed to being the only nonwhite person in a room, while Hecht nails the solipsism of a card-carrying liberal who desperately wants to be an ally without shedding an ounce of her privilege.”

“All too often here, though, we’re stuck in an in-between world that neither quite grounded in comedy or tragedy.”

“Despite all this effort, Swept Away hasn’t found a rationale for telling its nightmarish story.”

“Elf's most impressive special effect is Henson, who manages to make you forget Ferrell's portrayal and forge a new path that feels like a stocking-perfect fit for a whole new generation of fans.”

“But it’s just like this overblown, condescending, and misguided show to place its heroine on a literal pedestal while also ridiculing her and her beliefs.”

“Maybe Happy Ending is a beguiling show whose power sneaks up on you unawares, suggesting a technological future where human virtues may survive even the possible supremacy of machines.”

“A Wonderful World doesn’t offer a very deep understanding of Louis Armstrong and what made him a legend, but less can still be Satchmo.”

“What’s more problematic is that Gold doesn’t appear to have any unifying approach to the play aside from creating moments that might play well on TikTok or Instagram Reels.”

“Instead of testing this young couple’s relationship, though, the hospital-set final sections of the play merely test our patience.”

“The overall effect of Lloyd’s Sunset Boulevard is a very Hollywood one — a remake that’s so focused on flashy surfaces and fan service that it loses a bit of its heart and soul along the way.”

“And this is a thoughtful, well-crafted production that captures that spirit, and nudges it forward a bit for an American public that Thornton Wilder could never have envisioned.”

“The trouble is that Downey is stuck in a stylish but underdeveloped play that too often spins its wheels in a muddled exploration of creating art in the age of artificial intelligence and deepfakes.”

“The actress mesmerizes both as Veronica and, in the final scene, as a very ’70s Californified Joan — who does indeed return to her childhood home with trepidation as well as soul-bearing honesty.”

“You will no doubt see where the tea-towel-thin plot is going long before the characters do”

“This production proves just how sturdy an entertainment Once Upon a Mattress remains — many of the biggest laughs are now 65 years old, and show no need for retirement. This is just good, old-fashioned fun.”

“'Job' is a crackerjack battle of the generations”

“Even his mobbed-up business partner, Meyer Wolfsheim, regards him as a dispensable pretty boy.”

“As a result, Mother Play presents a blinkered portrait of an interesting but flawed heroine.”

“Carell and Harper are easily the best part of director Lila Neugebauer’s mostly lethargic production, bringing a kinetic energy to the proceedings even when their characters are describing their boredom or listlessness.”

“Mary Jane is unfussy naturalism that sneaks up on you with a pregnant power.”

“It’s hard to fault the seamless way that his carefully constructed script explores how an artistic triumph can emerge from a toxic mix of talent, interpersonal drama, easy access to drugs and alcohol, and the quest for fame.”

“This show delivers on the promise of its seemingly generic title — there’s plenty of heart as well as rock and roll — and it’s performed with energy, intelligence, and an absolute commitment to entertain.”

“Patriots is political drama at its most urgent, as relevant as today’s headlines, with a psychological complexity and a dark humor that make it crackling entertainment.”

“What sets Hell’s Kitchen apart from other recent jukebox musicals is that it doesn’t sound like Broadway — in the best possible way.”

“That’s a fitting message — progress comes only through perseverance — for a remarkable musical that educates and entertains.”

“But there’s no disguising that this is a messy show with a talented but ultimately too enigmatic character at its center.”

“The fascinating but flawed Broadway revival also boasts star turns for two Emmy-winning actors, Jeremy Strong and Michael Imperioli.”

“But this is an off-putting exercise on both a narrative and a musical level — one that may leaving you pining for less wine and many more roses.”

“Prayer for the French Republic combines the virtues of family drama, history lesson and the spark of the best Sunday-morning political panel shows.”

“There’s no denying how powerful, and how powerfully entertaining, this play is.”

“These are throwaway bits of physical comedy, but in the hands of a master like DeVito they are hilarious moments to be treasured, hoarded and not tossed away at any cost.”

“For now, though, Swenson & Co. offer a reasonable facsimile of Diamond in the flesh for fans to soak up.”

“Like the genre it celebrates, “KPOP” works best when you let yourself get caught up in the sensation of the music and the precision dance moves — and try not to think too deeply.”

“When you’re in the good company of Birbiglia, after all, it feels perfectly normal to laugh in the face of death.”

“Both actors display an impressive physicality, commanding attention in long dialog-free scenes and circling each other in the cramped bed-sit like wary prizefighters on the senior circuit.”

“All that talent is put to very good use in this pencil-sharp, fast-paced production — whose high points are many and often beanstalk-high.”

“Director Jerry Zaks’ production is a throwback in just about every sense, for good and for bad.”

“Theater seems to be single-handedly attempting to revive the boulevard comedy on Broadway. There was a time when the Great White Way was dominated by such middlebrow, mass-appeal fare, with the late, great Neil Simon as the chief avatar of the genre.”

“It’s a searing performance from an actor best known for his work in comedies like “In Living Color” and “The Carmichael Show.””

“Lucy does too. But more importantly, she has a luminously open heart.”

“The LBJ that emerges in “The Great Society” is less a portrait of the man, and more of a sketch.”

“The accumulation of contradictions is both unsettling and emotionally devastating.”

“McNally’s hopeful and heartfelt dramedy still carries a message for audiences who have grown perhaps even more jaded about love than those of three decades ago.”

“Chavkin, her production team and cast are working at the top of their form — and they go a long way to masking some of the show’s shortcomings.”

“Even the title song, usually imbued with the sunny, can-do optimism of the war era, becomes in this revelatory production less an anthem of pride than of stubborn defiance.”

“But Gold’s listless production keeps dragging just when it should be gaining momentum.”

“Again and again, she manages to explore the politics of constitutional rights through the lens of the personal.”

“Where Sorkin succeeds is in getting us to rethink an American classic without any fussiness or archness. Director Bartlett Sher, who's best known for his Tony-winning work on big musicals like 'South Pacific' and 'My Fair Lady,' strikes the right balance between the epic and the intimate.”

“Maybe because he’s able to laugh at the situation — and make everyone else laugh, too.”

“"Director Kenny Leon keeps the action taut during the 90-minute running time, perhaps too taut. There isn’t much breathing room in the production...This is the rare show that would benefit from a longer running time, from more scenes exploring the characters in greater depth...”

“Peters & Co. are providing a good lesson in the fine art of roasting — and serving up — a chestnut.”

“Like that moment of show-and-tell, the not-inconsiderable pleasures of “Stories by Heart” are entirely too slight for a Broadway house, like a championship Scrabble game held in Madison Square Garden.”

“Taylor is the rare actor who seems to shrug off her charisma while never actually letting it go.”

“For much of its two-hour running time, “That Goes Wrong” offers a hilarious tribute to the spirit of the theater and the mantra that the show must go on — served up with a thick slice of ham.”

“Under Jonathan Kent’s direction, Byrne and Lange handle those sharp changes in tone adeptly to create a mesmerizing dance of death.”