Spring has sprung on Broadway ‒ and along with it, a whole bunch of new shows to satiate theater fans.
Over the last month and a half, more than a dozen new plays and musicals have opened in New York's theater district, coming in just under the wire before Tony Awards nominations are announced May 5.
Last fall's offerings left much to be desired, with the exceptions of some plays and the thoroughly delightful "Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)." The spring hasn't fared much better, although there are exceptions.
Leave it to "Saturday Night Live" vet Rachel Dratch to completely nail the assignment in "The Rocky Horror Show," an oddly straightjacketed yet visually eye-popping revival of the queer cult classic. We admittedly welled up at least a couple times watching "Every Brilliant Thing," a cavity-inducing one-person show that works entirely because of the infectious likability and enthusiasm of Daniel Radcliffe.
And even among the major disappointments, there were still bright spots: Sara Chase and McKenzie Kurtz are boundlessly charming in the otherwise exhausting "Schmigadoon!", adapted from the one-joke Apple TV comedy series. Samantha Schwartz is a pint-sized cyclone who cheekily bulldozes through the disaster zone that is "Beaches," while the reliably excellent Linda Emond elevates the sour slog of "Becky Shaw" with vicious hilarity.
