On The Town, a musical by Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green at the New York City Center Encores! Starring Jessica Lee Goldyn, Tony Yazbeck, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Christian Borle, Andrea Martin and Leslie Kritzer, conducted by Todd Ellison. This is a flat out, incredibly joyous revival of the magically evergreen musical by then 20 somethings Bernstein, Comden and Green (and Jerome Robbins). Dating from 1944, this evocation of war time New York strikes a chord today. What a cast! Leslie Kritzer is a knockout in the Nancy Walker role of Hildy, Tony Yazbeck is superb as Gaby - surely big future Broadway stardom beckons for him - and Jessica Lee Goldyn as Ivy, the Sono Osato role, brims with glowing youthful beauty, vitality, grace and joy in her dancing, singing and acting. It was fun to watch Goldyn grin with pleasure in the talk back in hearing the reminiscenes of the great Sono Osato herself. Todd Ellison conducted Bernstein's masterful score with vigor and the choreography of Robbins was splendidly recreated and augmented by Warren Carlyle. This is one of the very best Encores! revivals. Few performances remain. Do anything to see it. Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test grade A+

Dividing the Estate, a play by Horton Foote at the Booth Theatre. Starring Elizabeth Ashley and Hallie Foote. No, this is not another August Osage County, though perhaps it's possible to say that Dividing the Estate is the best play written by a 90 year old playwright, we can't find any other praise for what we felt was a creaky and tedious comedy drama about dividing up the estate of an old woman. The old woman is played by the legendary Elizabeth Ashley who takes the role and runs with it for all its worth. She's hammy, but at least she has style and wit. The most words come from the mouth of Hallie Foote, the playwright's daughter. Would she be cast, say in August Osage County? Think of Mary Louise Parker's quirkiness and mannerisms without that singular actress's talent and that is Foote, in our estimation. She was not the only poor actress on the stage. In fact, other than Ashley, we felt the only actress to shine in her role was Virginia Kull in her tiny role as Irene (at the very end of the play). The rest ranged from poor to decent. Except for Arthur French who is a Stepin Fetchit caricature in a racist role that has somehow escaped critical censure, the men fared better, we liked Gerald McRaney of Deadwood fame. The set was handsome, though the curtain drop was curiously a mix of superb and bad painting. We didn't feel that Dividing the Estate passed our Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test. C+

Speed-The-Plow, a play by David Mamet at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Starring Jeremy Piven, Raul Esparza, Elisabeth Moss. This crack revival of David Mamet's play about Hollywood heavy hitters is tremendous entertainment, better in fact than the original New York production which had gimmick casting with Madonna. The ebulliant Jeremy Piven is seemingly typecast as Bobby Gould, but in fact, the superficial resemblance to his TV character on Entourage is quickly forgotten as Piven's Gould is, unlike Ari Gold, a tortured, insecure, disloyal, and conflicted studio honcho. Piven is simply brilliant while Raul Esparza is astonishing as Charlie Fox and a Tony nomination is surely in the cards for him. Esparza's Fox is a fully defined character, hungry, desperate even, and willing to go to the mat to fight to get his film project greenlighted. Esparza pulls out all the stops, prowling the stage like an angry wraith, but a ruefully funny one. His rival for Gould's loyalty is played by Elisabeth Moss as an enigmatic secretary who is more than she seems at first. This elicits the inevitable comparison to her role on Mad Men, but they are in fact very different roles. Here Moss is a manipulator, hard, calculating, and clueless. Moss finds depths in this role that were completely beyond the meager abilities of Madonna. The 90 minutes of Speed-The-Plow fly by in the capable hands of this superb trio. Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test Grade. A-

Saturn Returns, a play by Noah Haidle. Lincoln Center Theater at the Mitzi E. Newhouse. Starring Rosie Benton, Robert Eli, John McMartin and James Rebhorn, directed by Nicholas Martin. "Saturn Returns" marked our first play in months after a long hiatus working as an unpaid volunteer in the Obama campaign. We picked a winner in both instances. "Saturn Returns" is a marvelous play, reminiscent in many ways of "Our Town" in its seeming down home simplicity that belies its cosmic truth. That the music often heard is Beethoven's "Pastoral" Symphony #6 is only fitting for this achingly beautiful, melancholy play which unwinds in a lean 75 minutes that seems both an eternity and all too fleeting - like life itself. The direction by Nicholas Martin is pitch perfect and the four actors - three men playing the same character at different stages of life and one woman playing three different characters in those stages - are brilliant. We both loved the work of the lovely Rosie Benton whose voice and well- centered acting reminded us of the young Kate Winslet. John McMartin is a sovereign presence as the older Gustin and James Rebhorn is equally fine as his middle aged self. Robert Eli gives an exceptional performance, tinged with an unconscious wistfulness as the young Gustin - it is he who sets it all in motion. "Saturn Returns" is still in previews, but I can't imagine them changing one word or gesture - it's perfection and is exactly the kind of theater experience that makes any commute (and this was a nasty day) worthwhile. Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test Grade A+