Best Shows of the Second Half of the 2023-2024 Season

By Joseph Cervelli

Here are what I consider the best shows I have seen from January through April of this year. 

As in the "First Half Column" which was posted on January 2, the shows are listed in no particular order. I also included shows I felt should be listed as honorable mention.

"Doubt"

This is the third version of John Patrick Shanley's superb play that I have seen. Each was great in its own way although there was a kind of similarity in the both the original version and the film in the portrayal of the popular priest who takes a special interest in the first Black student entering a fictional parochial school in the Bronx in 1964. His less than conservative ideas of dealing with students are at odds with the very strict nun who is the head of the school. She also has suspicious feelings about his "friendship" with the twelve year old boy. Amy Ryan is terrific as the nun while Liev Schreiber plays the role differently than his predecessors. The original Brian F. O'Byrne and Philip Seymour Hoffman from the film portrayed the priest in a more genteel manner. Schreiber is rougher in demeanor so when he starts to cry (don't recall this from the past two versions) it is deeply affecting and out of character which does not mean that this the is  the best version but quite a nice variation.     

"Teeth"

While most definitely not for everyone "Teeth" based on the frightening film deals with a young woman's vagina having teeth and pity the man who decides to go too far without her permission.  The show if you go along for the ride is a wildly funny and thoughtful though it does go a bit "off the rails" near the end. The score by Michael R. Jackson ("A Strange Loop") is certainly his best. The music is catchy and the lyrics quite smart. Alyse Alan Louis gives  a memorable performance as the woman with this terrible problem or maybe not so terrible by the conclusion.    

"The Who's Tommy"

I loved the original musical "Tommy" which I saw back in 1993 about a deaf, "dumb," and blind boy who eventually becomes a pinball wizard and has a cult following. This new version is every bit as good if not even better. It feels more compact and even though directed again by Des McAnuff he seems more assured of the material and has the show moving faster. As good as Michael Cerveris was in the original he is matched by the dynamic Ali Luis Bourzgui. And please let the immensely talented choreographer Lorin Latarro finally get her dues at award time.

"The Connector"

Composer Jason Robert Brown's score again shines in this engaging tale  (book by Jonathan Marc Sherman) of two journalists in the late 1990's. One of them is definitely not what he purports to be. Moving at a steady speed thanks to  Daisy Prince's direction and Brown's score which  always fits the storyline my hope is that it will return to either off Broadway in a larger theater or even head onto Broadway.     

"Oh, Mary!"

Riotously funny, I laughed myself silly for the entire length of this show written by and starring Cole Escola as Mary Todd Lincoln who wants nothing more than to be an actress or if not that a cabaret performer. Escola is helped immensely by Conrad Ricamora who portrays a closeted Abe Lincoln. From beginning to end it is a laugh riot. It will be arriving on Broadway (I wish it well!) at the Lyceum Theater.  

 

"Dead Outlaw"

One of the most ingenious shows to arrive this past season. This true musical is  both extremely funny and very touching thanks to an unforgettable performance by Andrew Durand who was wonderful in the short lived "Shucked."  With music and lyrics by David Yazbek ("The Band's Visit" among others) and Erik Della Pena and a book by the always excellent Itamar Moses this tale about an outlaw who is killed and becomes mummified (no kidding!) you will never lose interest.   

"Suffs"

Bravo to Shaina Taub who made huge improvements in her faulty off Broadway production  which is most definitely not the same show as then. So much has changed in this story and for the better in this show about the American suffrage movement. The cast has grown more into their roles and the staging by Leigh Silverman is now exciting and touching. Both not found in the past production.  

"The Outsiders"

Based on the famous and well received novel by S. E Hinton and made into a cult film this exciting new musical tells about two rival groups--one the Greasers and the other from the "right side of the tracks" called the Socs who are the wealthy ones. What makes the show really work well besides the enticing score and great performances is the exciting direction by Danya Taymor. The staging of the rumble scene in the rain is quite simply unforgettable. 

"Patriots"

Michael Stuhlbarg is superb as Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky who helps bring Putin (an equally brilliant Will Keen) to power only to find out what this dictator is all about. What makes the show work so well is not only the top notch direction by Rupert Goold's direction but how playwright Peter Morgan slowly shows that Berezovsky is out for himself. The sets and projections make this whirlwind production definitely one to be seen. 

"Harmony"

While not perfect, this musical that Barry Manilow and book and lyricist Bruce Sussman have been working on for decades finally had a short-lived life on Broadway. It is  a beautifully told true story of the Comedian Harmonists who became famous in Germany just before WWII. As always, Chip Zien is the consummate performer who really delved into his character with deep sincerity. 

"The Mother Play"

Paula Vogel's ("How I Learned to Drive") "Mother Play A Play in Five Evictions" based on her own mother is an exceptionally moving and upsetting new work with a bravura performance by Jessica Lange. I have always admired Lange yet here she really takes the role to another level. She is ably abetted by Celia Keenan-Bolger and Jim Parsons. 

"An Enemy of the People"

While I never could get into the popular series "Succession" I may have to go back and catch it again for Jeremy Strong who in this Ibsen play gives a forceful performance as a doctor discovering the spa in a European town filled with bacteria. He wants it closed down but the townspeople refuse because tourists won't come and the town will suffer greatly. The play itself is thrillingly alive and Strong gives it that special something.

Honorable Mention

"The Apiary" was a thoughtful play about the rapid decline of the bee population and the consequences it can cause. What a few lab assistants come up with as a remedy is troubling to say the least. "The Great Gatsby" is not a great musical but a huge improvement over the Paper Mill Playhouse Production. The sets and costumes are dazzling and now as it should have been at Paper Mill, Nick Carraway becomes the central figure. I was a bit disappointed in Jeremy Jordan's performance as the elusive Gatsby. Seemed too pretentious and yet have admired him in previous shows. "Water For Elephants" has a fine second act, though the first was like attending a performance of Cirque de Soleil.  While "Jaja's African Hair Braiding"was entertaining what struck me more were indeed the hair and wig designs by Nikita Mathis and  David Zinn's colorful set design along with Dede Ayite's equally inventive costumes. While I have never seen a stage production that matches the memorable film "The Night of the Iguana" and that includes the recent one at Signature, I was taken with the actor portraying the upstanding New Englander Hannah Jelkes. While Jean Lichty is not on the level of the late Deborah Kerr, she is quite memorable. As for the rather silly "The Heart of Rock and Roll," Lorin Latarro's choreography is the best thing about it. 

PHOTOS

"Doubt"--Joan Marcus

"Teeth"--Chelcie Parry

"The Who's Tommy"--Michael Murphy/Evan Zimmerman

"The Connector"--Joan Marcus

"Oh, Mary!"--Emilio Madrid

"Dead Outlaw"--Matthew Murphy

"Suffs"--Joan Marcus

"The Outsiders"--Matthew Murphy

"Patriots"--Matthew Murphy

"Harmony"--Julieta Cervantes

"The Mother Play"--Joan Marcus

"An Enemy of the People"--Emilio Madrid