★★☆☆☆ To quote Paddy Chayefsky’s Oscar-winning screenplay, this Network messes with the primal forces of nature
Broadway
Network: Ivo van Hove Brings the 1976 Oscar-Winning Film Glaringly to the Stage
★★★☆☆ Bryan Cranston plays Paddy Chayevsky’s addled newscaster Howard Beale amid all sorts of distracting goings-on
The Cher Show: Truly Turning Back Time With a Singular Superstar
★★★★☆ It takes three performers to portray the one-and-only Cher in a wildly entertaining jukebox show
The Cher Show: Just as Sassy, Bold and Determined as the Star Herself
★★★★☆ Stephanie J. Block, Teal Wicks and Micaela Diamond play Sonny’s erstwhile partner with the absolutely right style
The Prom: Bringing Red and Blue Together with Song and Dance
★★★☆☆ Broadway actors invade a Midwestern town to help a teenage lesbian, and themselves, in a new musical comedy helmed by Casey Nicholaw
The Prom: Plenty of Showbiz Gagging Over Some Serious Issues
★★☆☆☆ Several Sardi’s caricatures confront serious issues in a slick but kinda crass new musical
The New One: And Papa Makes Three, With Nonstop Laughter
★★★★☆ Stand-up comedian Mike Birbiglia is pulled into fatherhood, with hilarious and heartwarming results
The New One: Public Radio Onstage, Exactly as Exciting as It Sounds
★★☆☆☆ The actor, comedian, and This American Life contributor Mike Birbiglia tells a wry story, for some reason onstage
King Kong: B’way Agape Over Ape
★★☆☆☆ This misguided musical colossus, in New York after repeated rewrites, proves underwhelming
King Kong: The Beast Is Us, with Special Effects
★★☆☆☆ A new, extravagant musical adaptation offers a feminist but emotionally exploitative take on the classic tale