The Emperor Jones, a play by Eugene O'Neill at the Irish Repertory Theatre, starring John Douglas Thompson. Though the play is expanded time wise by the introduction of a lot of African style puppetry (when will these Julie Taymor inspired stagings become a cliche?), the play rises and falls on the performance of John Douglas Thompson. He does his best, he rants and rages, he shows fear, contrition. He's a bad guy who succumbs to fear and to witchcraft. It's a fine performance but not even Paul Robeson could make The Emperor Jones a repertory staple and neither does Thompson because despite all the gimmickry of the staging, it's a very thin piece. It belongs on a program with something else to balance it. All eight of the members of our theater group had expected this to be something special because of the rave reviews this production has received. Certainly this is a historic play as it launched the career of the man who is arguably America's greatest playright. But this is no Long Days Journey into Night, and by itself, we all felt it's not worth a commute, although if you have eighty mintues to spare and you live nearby, you could do worse. Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test Grade C+

Finian's Rainbow, a musical by Burton Lane at the St. James Theatre. Starring Kate Baldwin, Cheyenne Jackson, Jim Norton, Alina Faye, Christopher Fitzgerald. Directed and choreographed by Warren Carylisle, conducted by Rob Berman. Based largely on the enchanting Encores! production of March 2009 which we gave an A, this joyous mounting of Finian's Rainbow at the St. James is actually better, perfect in fact. I can't imagine improving one aspect, one cast member, one costume. This is as good as it gets in revival land. Everyone in the cast seems as if their role was created for them. In the role made immortal by Ella Logan, Kate Baldwin equals her, maybe even surpasses her with her radiant beauty (she looks like a young Maureen O'Hara) and her exquisite vocals. Watching Baldwin command the stage, she's a performer whose time is now, who has reached her youthful prime to become one of the most treasurable of Broadway divas. She has sizzling chemistry with the marvelous Cheyenne Jackson. (The two of them reminded me of how Kelli O'Hara and Harry Connick Jr, connected in Pajama Game.) Jim Norton is a definitive Finian, Christopher Fitzgerald is a spry and charming Og, while beautiful Alina Faye dazzles in her dance numbers, particularly the Harmonica number with Guy Davis. What was a miraculous achievement in the Encores! production has blossomed into greatness. This is a revival of a classic musical to equal the seminal South Pacific revival at Lincoln Center, and in doing so, becomes one of those rare revivals that may actually equal or surpass the original production. Likely it will win several Tonys - I can't imagine anyone topping the performances by Baldwin, Jackson and Norton this season. Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test Grade A+

Girl Crazy, a musical by George and Ira Gershwin. New York City Center Encores! Starring Ana Gasteyer and Wayne Knight, directed by Jerry Zaks. Jerry Zaks puts on a colorful show so this Girl Crazy not only sounded good, but it looks very good. The costumes are dazzling, the dancing was good, the show girls beautiful, and the orchestral playing led by Rob Fisher was just "fine and dandy" (to use the title of a hit musical of the same year, 1930, by George Gershwin's mistress Kay Swift, a work that cries out for Encores! treatment.) Sassy Gasteyer is game in the part Merman created while funnyman Wayne Knight probably gives the most complete performance in a role conceived for Bert Lahr (but created by Willie Howard). The chance to see this all time classic is not to be missed. Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test Grade. B-

The Understudy, a play by Theresa Rebeck at Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre, starring Julie White. Because we've enjoyed several Theresa Rebeck plays such as "The Scene," "Waters Edge" and "Maritius" we had hoped that "The Understudy" would be better than the reviews. And it probably was. Playing a mercifully short 110 minutes, there was much to enjoy in this three hander, and the marvelous Julie White gives it her considerable all. But this was thin stuff, and it seemed longer than it was. Not a bad evening in the theater, but not worth a commute of any kind. Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test Grade C+

In The Next Room or The Vibrator Play, a play by Sarah Ruhl, at the Lyceum Theatre. Starring Laura Benanti, Michael Cerveris, Maria Dizzia, Wendy Rich Stetson, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, and Chandler Williams; Directed by Les Waters. We caught Sarah Ruhl's new play while it's still in previews and probably there will be changes and the actors, all new to their roles except for Maria Dizzia, will settle into their characters. As it is, this appears to be perhaps Ruhl's most mature work, every bit as challenging as her previous plays, but more witty, and profoundly understanding of the human condition. It's also the first play we've seen from Ruhl, a playwright we'll follow to the ends of the earth (or at least to New Haven), that is erotically charged. The set up is clever, opening like an Ibsen play, in perfect period sets and costumes c.1880, as we see how a Doctor, played by the excellent Michael Cerveris, is treating his mostly female patients for "hysteria" using the newfangled electronic vibrator. The female patient played superbly by Maria Dizzia (creator of Ruhl's Eurydice) reacts to the vibrator in ways that are both predictable and surprising, while the Doctor's frustrated wife played with giddy nervousness by a stunningly beautiful Laura Benanti is burning with curiosity to know what's going on in the office. Many subplots, including an unexpected turn by an artist hilariously played by Leo Irving, ensue. The play appears to be mostly unchanged from its first incarnation in Berkeley, but it may undergo more changes by the opening. We plan to catch this sparkling and provocative play later in the run, but as it is, this handsomely mounted production full of choice lines worthy of Austen like "What men do not observe because their intellect prevents them from seeing..." from perhaps the most original young playwright in America is a must see. A particular pleasure is hearing Benanti's exquisite voice, apparently unmiked, singing two melancholy songs. Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test Grade: B+