Reviews: Catching Up on Theater, Including an Enjoyable “Laowang,” the Emotional Nostalgia of “Gotta Dance,” Trying to Figure Out the Early Closing of “The Queen of Versailles,” an Affecting Family Drama in “Little Bear Ridge Road,” and “Oedipus” Is Quite the Motherfu--- Shut Yo Mouth!

Gotta Dance (c) Bjorn Bolinder

Theater: Gotta Dance 
At Theatre at St. Jean 

Revues are odd theater beasts. I don’t know why some are wildly successful (Ain’t Misbehavin’, Smokey Joe’s Café) and some don’t catch fire (Dancin’, Lennon). Gotta Dance, the new revue presented by The York Theatre and American Dance Machine, is a retrospective review like Jerome Robbins’ Broadway in which musical numbers from hit Broadway shows or Hollywood films are meticulously recreated and presented as close to the original as possible. As the title promises, most of the numbers, picked by directors Nikki Feirt Atkins and Randy Skinner, are dances from memorable shows/films, but they might not be the most famous. For example, Gotta Dance comes from the great 1952 film Singing in the Rain, but the directors didn’t choose that number (or the iconic title song), but “Moses Supposes” and “Broadway Melody.” Instead of “The Dance at the Gym” from West Side Story, “Magic to Do” from Pippin or “Rich Man’s Frug” from Sweet Charity, we get less splashier numbers like “Cool,” “Manson Trio” and “I’m a Brass Band,” respectively. (I wish they had chosen "The Rhythm of Life" from Sweet Charity, the movie version, which had a groovy happening vibe by Sammy Davis Jr.). But they do have some big hits, including “One” from A Chorus Line, “All I Need Is the Girl” from Gypsy and the most recent show on the roster: the Pas de Deux from Christopher Wheeldon’s An American in Paris. The biggest thrill for me was Susan Stroman’s Contact. I never thought I would ever experience her electrifying “Simply Irresistible” live again, but the minute the woman in the yellow dress appeared, I had goosebumps. Of course, all of this would not be half as enjoyable without a fantastic ensemble of singer/dancers, and each of the 14 members (a mixture of Broadway and ballet talents) get at least one number to shine. Without much introduction beyond the title of the show and the choreographer projected on the back screen, the numbers flow seamlessly. And as a holiday offering, Gotta Dance is perfect to enjoy with friends and family after a day of shopping and sightseeing. 

Film Reviews: “Merrily We Roll Along” Is a Toe-Tapping, Fathom Presentation of the Successful Broadway Revival, “Wake Up Dead Man” Is the Next “Knives Out Mystery” (Full of Catholic Guilt) and “A Private Life” Is Jodie Foster’s New French Film and Her Giddiest in Years

Merrily We Roll Along (c) Sony Pictures Classics

Film:  Merrily We Roll Along 
In Cinemas 

As we wait for Richard Linklater’s film version of the Stephen Sondheim musical, Merrily We Roll Along, with the estimated release date of 2039 (!), we get a fine alternative with the live capture of the hit Broadway revival from 2024. Why is the film adaptation going to take so long to be released? It’s because the action of the film, about the trials and tribulations of a trio of friends, takes place between 1976 to 1957 (oh, right, the story is told backwards in time), and Linklater will be filming the scenes in real time, as he did with his film, Boyhood, so stars Paul Mescal, Ben Platt, and Beanie Feldstein will age before our eyes on screen. Thankfully, the Tony Award-winning revival, has been directed for the screen by the Broadway revival director Maria Friedman, and she has captured what made this production such a success: the actors. Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe (both Tony winners) and Lindsey Mendez (Tony nominated) star as friends with most of the action centering on Frank (Groff), a successful composer turned film director, whose success (and many personal dramas) takes a toll on his former musical collaborator Charley (Radcliffe) and Mary (Medez), a writer who has always been in love with Frank. The funny thing about the musical is that it’s advertised as a story about these three, but a character who has more stage time is Gussie (Krystal Joy Brown), a fame hungry actress who marries Frank for his talent…I mean love. This version really solidifies Gussie’s status as the villain of the piece, getting more motivation than Charley (sullen and rejected) and Mary (drunk and rejected) in George Furth’s script. But Charley does get the showstopping number, “Franklin Shepard, Inc.” which Radcliffe performs with relish, and Medez’s acid line reading in the first scene is her highlight. But it’s all Groff’s show, and he doesn’t shy away from Frank’s selfish tendencies. The songs are all well-sung and will be ear worms for days after you see it. I saw the production off-Broadway but decided to pay my rent instead of seeing it again with Broadway prices. If you missed it as well, this presentation is a perfect (and affordable) way to enjoy this Sondheim show. 

The Interested Bystander’s Oscar Predictions: November 2025

Nouvelle Vague (c) Netflix

Before the critics’ groups start handing out their awards in December, here are some unbiased thoughts on who might get the Oscar nominations in January. The Oscars shortlist for a lot of the technical categories in mid-December will give us clues as well. I’ve seen the majority of the films being touted and here are my thoughts as of this Thanksgiving weekend. This month’s highlight category is the newest one for Best Casting. 

Enjoy. 

Film Review: Get Thee to the Cinema for “Hamnet” as well as Other Films For Friendsgiving Weekend: “Wicked: For Good,” “Jay Kelly,” “Eternity” and “Sauna”

Hamnet (c) Focus Features

Film: Hamnet 
In Cinemas 

Even since Hamnet premiered at this year’s Telluride Film Festival, Oscar buzz has followed the film leading up to this week’s opening. Based on the acclaimed novel by Maggie O’Farrell and unflinchingly directed by Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao (Nomadland), Hamnet turns out to the third of a trilogy of 2025 films that focuses on the unbearable being of motherhood, with Jessie Buckley joining Jennifer Lawrence in Die My Love and Rose Byrne in If I had Legs, I Would Kick You. Buckley plays Agnes, wife of William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and the mother of their children. Agnes, whom people around town call a forest witch (and yes, we do get to hear some of the opening dialogue of Macbeth), is deeply connected to nature, so she’s not surprised when she gets pregnant so soon after the birth of their first daughter Susanna (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) as she’s always had a vision of her two children at her deathbed. But during the birth of their son Hamnet, it turns out she/s carrying twins and although baby Judith at first seems to be stillborn, she does survive. As this film and the book is named after Hamnet (played with maturity beyond his years by Jacobi Jupe) and not Judith (Olivia Lynes), one can gather that when Judith is struck down by the plague, things may not happen as Agnes thinks. 

Theater Reviews: The 5-hour “Initiative” at the Public Theater Is Laudable and Ambitious, and We Must Thank Broadway’s “Chess” for the Music

Initiative (c) Joan Marcus

Theater: Initiative 
At the Public Theater 

Coastal Podunk, California is the title of a novel being written by a character in Else Went’s five-hour, three-act play, Initiative, at the Public Theater. So, it should be no surprise that the writer is an overachieving high school outsider named Riley (Greg Cuellar) at the start of the current millennium, with no other outlet to channel his artistic sensibility in the seaside California town he lives in. Went’s play takes place during the whole high school experience of Riley and his small “bande a part,” which gave me pause (Netflix is littered with so many subpar high school shows), but the first act put me at ease as they give us realistic, honest and, more importantly, funny interactions between them. Clara (Olivia Rose Barresi), Riley’s best friend, has been home schooled for the last three years but she has convinced her parents to let her attend high school with him. Later, they are joined by introvert Em (Christopher Dylan White) and boisterous Tony (Jamie Sanders), a pair of mismatched childhood friends, as well as Em’s homoflexible neighbor Kendall (Andrea Lopez Alvarez) and Ty (Harrison Densmore), a transfer student. Between just trying to survive and stay unnoticed in high school and the usual teenage angst (X likes Y who actually likes Z, and so on and so on), they decide to form a Dungeons and Dragons crew, with Riley, using his artistic skills, as Dungeon Master. Not unlike the teens of Stranger Things, a lot of their personal problems are paralleled in the fantasy world of action (including the titled move) and inaction. And like most adventures, there’s a shadow character. In this case, it’s Lo (Carson Higgins), a high school jock who has chaotic interactions with most of the other kids — he’s Em’s overprotective but distant older brother, has a crush on an open-hearted Clara and he’s Riley’s former best friend after things soured during a summer camp sexual experimentation goes wrong.