"War Horse" at Lincoln Center, an import from London's National Theatre, provides a visually stunning treat for theatergoers in the form of a somewhat cliché WWI-era story about a young man and his horse. The puppetry, music and staging is often simply breathtaking and leads one to forgive the weaknesses in the story and script. The play works beautifully on the thrust stage of Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater, and it is hard to imagine any other theater space being more accommodating to this epic play. I expect "War Horse" will likely win the Tony Award for Best Play, and run for years. Grade: A-
Lynne Nottage's "By The Way, Meet Vera Stark" at off-Broadway's 2nd Stage, has both staging and a script that dazzle with inventiveness and humor. Nottage won a Pulitzer Prize for her last produced play, "Ruined," and the radically different tone and style of "Vera Stark" when compared with "Ruined" leads one to respect and admire Nottage's incredible range. "Vera Stark" focuses on a 1930s era black actress who works as a maid for a famous white actress while seeking her entry into the movie business what becomes of her over the years. It's is funny, smart and very well acted and directed, and particular kudos are in order for the expert cast, led by a true star turn by Sanaa Lathan in the title role. Grade: A-
The South Park duo's (Trey Parker and Matt Stone) new musical "The Book of Mormon" has been getting rave reviews and considerable media attention, resulting in it being THE show to see of the moment. Does it live up to the incredible hype? Not quite, but it is very funny and surprisingly touching at times, and it is staged about as well as possible. The second act is superior to the first, which is usually not the case with satirical musicals. I liked it better than the stylistically similar "The Producers" and "Spamalot," and heck, this one is truly original unlike those other two shows. That alone is worthy of praise. "Mormon" has a virtual lock on the Best Musical Tony, although personally, I would hand that award to the superior "Scottboro Boys" if I were making that call. Grade: B+
The Signature Theatre's revival of Tony Kushner's "Angels in America" provided me with a lifetime theatrical highlight this past fall, so it is with great disappointment that I report that Kushner's new play at the Public, "The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism, With a Key To The Scriptures," (aka, "iHo") is an undramatic, excessively verbose and dull play that features unlikable and unbelievable characters about whom I could not muster any interest. A major disappointment. Grade: D
In Los Angeles, I attended the premiere of Tom Jacobson's new play "House of the Rising Son" at the recently opened Atwater Village Theatre. I loved the new theater, but cannot say the same for the play itself. The play is given a slick production, but I found the plot contrivances and characters silly and inorganic. Grade: C
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