The Glass Menagerie, a play by Tennessee Williams at the Laura Pels Theatre (presented by Roundabout). Starring Judith Ivey, Patch Darragh, Keira Keeley and Michael Mosley. Directed by Gordon Edelstein.
We saw a preview performance on a stormy day (yesterday) of this production which was much praised when it was at the Long Wharf Theatre. Alas, the production still has a whiff of the provincial in it. What must have seemed like a very high quality presentation in New Haven, becomes mundane for Broadway. Unquestionably Judith Ivey, a great actress by any measure, delivers an expert performance, a clinic in acting. But she lacks that special luminous quality that was supposedly part of Laurette Taylor's resume. That Taylor had once been a beloved and beautiful ingenue (her Peg O'My Heart was one of the great hits of the early 20th Century), unlike Ivey who has never been other than a character actor may have been part of the problem. We have never seen an ideal performance of this challenging role - Jessica Tandy failed just as Ivey has. Katherine Hepburn in the television adaptation perhaps has come closest to capturing the faded, but still potent allure of the character. Amanda must, for a brief moment, be prettier and more bewitching than her poor daughter when the "gentleman caller" comes a calling, she should be a faded Southern Belle who briefly recaptures her charm, thus putting her sad daughter into stark relief for lacking those qualities, but Ivey was merely what she is throughout the performance, a pathetic, bullying battle-axe.
The rest of the cast varied. Patch Darragh, of NBC's "Mercy" dominated as Tom Wingfield, he should have a great future on the stage. Keira Keeley was a generic Laura. It didn't help that her most powerful scenes were played in near darkness, a huge mistake by the director and the lighting designer. When the glass unicorn is broken, we hear her, but do not see her. A pity.
A worthy effort, and worth seeing, but not a Glass Menagerie for the ages. Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test Grade. B-

The Miracle Worker, a play by William Gibson at the Circle in the Square. Starring Abigail Breslin, Alison Pill, Elizabeth Franz, Matthew Modine and Jennifer Morrison. Directed by Kate Whoriskey. This first ever Broadway revival of William Gibson's "The Miracle Worker" has been deemed "flat" and "disappointing" by the critics. Perhaps they saw early performances before the production had jelled, perhaps it took nearly a week into the run for everything to come together. Whatever the explanation, we cannot recall a time when the critics got it so very wrong. Because this current revival of "The Miracle Worker" is, in our opinion, a total success, never maudlin, never pandering, giving us one of the most thrilling nights we've spent in a theater. Abigail Breslin is a splendid Helen while Alison Pill is a powerful Annie Sullivan, a career milestone in this remarkable actor's ascendance. Pill has the rare gift of being eloquent while standing perfectly still and silent. Any performance by Pill commands attention. Distinguished players in lesser, but still crucial roles were Matthew Modine as The Captain, Elizabeth Franz as Helen's aunt, and the beautiful Jennifer Morrison of "House" fame as Kate Keller.
The Circle in the Square is a nasty theatrical space and hardly ideal to present this play, but Kate Whoriskey made a minus into a plus by making the action immediate and intimate for the audience. To realize her success, consider that on the evening we went, there was a Girl Scout troop and many younger children in the audience. Yet these children and the adults (so often distracted by cell phones, or nagging coughs) were absolutely silent, one of the best behaved audiences we've been fortunate to be part of. Everyone was riveted on the action. This play still delivers a powerful punch. We walked out dazzled, and thrilled. Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test Grade A+

La Boheme, an opera by Puccini at the Metropolitan Opera House, starring Piotr Beczala and Anna Netrebko. Last night, in a remarkable display of star power, the Metropolitan Opera was packed with eager fans even during one of the worst storms in recent memory. Standing outside in the pouring rain and howling winds were desperate fans wearing placards begging for tickets. The performance inside did not disappoint. Beautiful Anna Netrebko, who started out as a lyric coloratura has bloomed into a full spinto soprano verging on the dramatic. Her big gorgeous voice filled the opera house with ease. Matching her note for note was the splendid tenor Piotr Beczala giving a performance as Rodolfo that brought back memories of Corelli, Carreras and Pavarotti. Making her first appearance this season as Musetta was an old house favorite Ruth Ann Swenson who got a huge ovation for Musetta's Waltz. The rest of the cast was solid. The conducting by Marco Armiliato was routine at best, sometimes the music dragged outright which is a sin in Puccini. Nonetheless, the singers had their way and their way was glorious. Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test Grade B+

Claybourne Park, a play by Bruce Norris at Playwrights Horizons. Directed by Pam MacKinnon, starring Cyrstal A. Dickinson, Brendan Griffin, Damon Gupton, Christina Kirk, Annie Parisse, Jeremy Shamos, Frank Wood.
The best new American play since "August Osage County", and if this off-Broadway production were Tony eligible, it would likely sweep nearly every major category. It is that good.
Start with the masterful direction by Pam MacKinnon of a cast of seven playing multiple parts several of which morph in front of our eyes in a play spanning two separate periods in history in the same house. The play covers many subjects but first and foremost is that of race and tribe, of basic human relations. It's alternately funny, infuriating, sad. So many people trapped.
The performances are basically perfect. Standouts include Christina Kirk alternately hilarious and heartbreaking in her two roles and Frank Wood who creates devastatingly heartbreaking pathos as the despairing Russ. Annie Parisse, so memorable as Becky Shaw last season, gives a virtuoso turn as a deaf Betsy and the ultra liberal Lindsey. Crystal A. Dickinson and Damon Gupton provide pitch-perfect portrayals of two African-American couples, the "help" in 1959 and community activists fifty years later. Brendan Griffin essays three roles with distinction. In a schizophrenic theater season in which there have been so many duds and disappointments punctuated by a few superlative productions, "Claybourne Park" makes history with a truly great production of a brand new American masterpiece. Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test Grade A+