Now that the 2024-25 theater season has begun to wind down and awards are being handed out weekly, let’s take a look at a few of the most nominated Broadway shows to see if they’re worth checking out. The Tonys are on June 8, so you have a chance to get to the theater before the big winners become the impossible ticket.
Open run at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues).
****/***** (four stars out of five)
At the first mention of a new musical about Betty Boop, you get one of two reactions: either “why?” or “who?” The 1930s Max Fleischer cartoons featuring Betty Boop, the cutesy, squeaky voiced, jazz-age flapper, still have a cult following though they have largely fallen into the realm of the unknown. But, somehow, a musical based on the character—which explores her travelling forward in time (moving from two-dimensional black and white to a blast of color, à la The Wizard of Oz) to today’s world—managed to get green-lit all the way to Broadway after its 2023 start in Chicago. The show’s success can be easily credited to its star, Jasmine Amy Rogers, who has garnered a Tony nomination in her Broadway debut—and she stands a fairly good chance of winning. Playing with contemporary tropes like cosplay, Boop! explores the societal changes that have (and have not) taken place in American society in the ninety-odd years since the cartoons debuted: everything from gender wage gaps to political corruption. Bob Martin’s book is simple and straightforward, while David Foster and Susan Birkenhead’s music is enjoyable and catchy. Jerry Mitchell has directed a surprisingly popular show that will likely be a hit on national tours and in high school performances.
Open run at the Belasco Theatre (111 West 44th Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues).
***/***** (three stars out of five)
The plaudits (10 Tony nominations!) and runaway success of Maybe Happy Ending are hard to rationalize. While it’s a pleasant and entertaining musical, despite songs that sound more or less the same, it’s certainly not an artistic achievement worthy of all the accolades. The plot—a meet-cute story about two neighbors (Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen) living in a retirement home for robot servants—is cliché, but with modern touches; and the performances are pleasing, if cloying after a while. But it’s like a benign ride at Disneyland. Nothing to complain about, but nothing to write home about, either. Dane Laffrey’s scenic design is impressive, but doesn’t rescue the musical from its mediocrity.
Pirates! The Penzance Musical (Photo Credit: Joan Marcus)
Pirates! The Penzance Musical.
Through July 27 at the Roundabout’s Todd Haimes Theatre (227 West 42nd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues).
****/***** (four stars out of five)
Contemporary audiences are probably not primed for a straightforward production of the 1879 Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera, The Pirates of Penzance, so Rupert Holmes’ adaptation, Pirates! The Penzance Musical, is a deft compromise: the bones of the story, re-set in New Orleans, with all the crowd favorite numbers left in place (most notably the tongue-twisting, “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General”). Director Scott Ellis keeps the pace and laughs moving, bolstered by superb performances by David Hyde Pierce as the Major General and Ramin Karimloo as the Pirate King. It’s a very different take than the last major Broadway revival (1981) featuring Kevin Kline and Linda Ronstadt, but it’s right for our short attention span era, when anything resembling “opera” would almost certainly ensure failure on Broadway. Most importantly, it delivers a truly fun night out at a show, which is no small feat.
Through November 30 at Circle in the Square Theatre (235 West 50th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue).
****/***** (4 stars out of 5)
Jonathan Groff could probably sing the dictionary and earn himself a Tony nomination. Fortunately, in Just In Time he portrays 60s music icon Bobby Darin in yet another jukebox musical. The genre often fails to impress, but Groff takes this one by the throat and puts on a heckuva show. Supported by a remarkable set (Derek McLane), costumes (Catherine Zuber) and supporting players—notably Erika Henningsen as the tragic Sandra Dee and Gracie Lawrence as powerful Connie Francis—Groff smoothly guides the story of Darin’s rise to superstardom, inevitable crash, and early demise like a Coupe de Ville on the Pacific Coast Highway. It doesn’t hurt that he’s more handsome and charismatic than Darin, and Warren Leight and Isaac Oliver’s book pulls us through a fast-paced, entertaining story that feels more like an amazing night out at the club. Its six Tony nominations are well-deserved.
