This Week On Stage: It's Tony weekend!

Tony Award Statue

It’s finally here — Broadway’s version of the Super Bowl — and EW’s own Melissa Rose Bernardo and Thom Geier have already firmed up who they think are going to win the big trophies at the Tonys on Sunday evening. It’s one of the most unpredictable years on record, so that, plus fourth time host Neil Patrick Harris (click here for our recent interview with Harris) and the promise of a boatload of show performances should make for one good time. (See below on how you can join us for the Tonys live).

In the land of Off Broadway, however, there are still quite a few new openings this week, including a quite-pregnant and lovely-as-ever Kelli O’Hara returning to the stage for the first time since her Tony-nommed performance in Nice Work If You Can Get It and Glee’s Jane Lynch takes on the Great White Way for the very first time (click on the links below for the full reviews):

Annie Jessica Shaw revisits the Little Orphan’s big musical revival, this time with Ms. Lynch playing the villainous orphanage manager with designs on “Easy Street.” Did Ms. Shaw love you, Miss Hannigan? Not so much. She says, “Lynch, who can be a standout star (see: Glee or any Christopher Guest movie she appears in) feels lost in the role … she never quite hits the notes (literally and figuratively) that her predecessor did.” EW grade: B-

Far From Heaven Ms. O’Hara slips into the role Julianne Moore scored an Oscar nom for in this musical adaptation of Todd Haynes’ 2002 movie homage to Douglas Sirk melodramas. How close to heaven did it get? Adam Markovitz argues not very far: “all the sneaky irony and bitterness of the movie are trimmed away to make space for sweeping melodies and broad-strokes heartbreak — exactly the kind of pat emotionality that the original film mocked in the first place.” EW grade: C+

Good Television Atlantic Theater Company roasts the world of reality television, starring The Other Place’s Zoe Perry — should theater fans tune in? Stephan Lee offers an enthusiastic thumbs-up, saying “like good television, you’re going to want to stick around after the commercial break — or the intermission. … Deserves to be renewed for another season.” EW Grade: A–

The Tutors Second Stage’s uptown summer series highlighting the works of emerging playwrights offers up a Gen Y look at a trio of roomies faced with a non-starter startup and other obstacles. I found it agreeable if flawed, “kind of like Reality Bites for our overmedicated, overachieving times,” adding “the play is more successful at the day-to-day curveballs of its characters’ outer lives than exploring their inner desires.” EW grade: B

Join senior editor Thom Geier and myself as we liveblog the 2103 Tony Awards this Sunday night, beginning on CBS at 8 p.m. ET.

Read more:

2013 Tony Awards: Who Will Win?

First Look: ‘First Date’, starring Zachary Levi

EW Stage Hub

Related Articles