BROADWAY & ME QUICKIES

The Play: Titanic  One good thing: The nearly all-star casts (really, big names in even small parts) is terrific and it’s glorious when they join their incredible voices in the show’s many choral anthems One not-so-great thing: There are far too many characters and so it’s hard to feel much for any of them  

The Play: The World According to Micki Grant One good thing: Grant,  who died three years ago at the age of 92, was the  first African-American woman to earn a Tony nomination for writing a musical score and a musical book and she deserves to be celebrated One not-so-great thing:  But this tribute needs less of Grant’s so-so poetry and more of the music that is her true legacy.  

  The Play : Raja Feather Kelly's triptych on black gay love in three different decades One good thing : Nice to see a show about black men that isn't dealing with toxic masculinity One not-so-great thing: Cramming three stories into 90 minutes doesn't leave much time for digging deep into any of them

The Play: Home One good thing: The revival of this 1979 fable about a black everyman whose sense of self is rooted in a small black community still packs an emotional punch One not-so-great thing: The direction often has the actors speeding through the down-home anecdotes that give the show its heart

The Play: What Became of Us One good thing:  Looking at the lives of two siblings—one born in the parents’ native land and the other in the U.S.—is a smart way to frame the more recent immigrant experience in this country One not-so-great thing: But in an attempt to be universal, the play fails to turn its characters into relatable individuals

The Play: All of Me One good thing: Tucked into this sweet romcom between two disabled people is a sharp commentary on how class affects everything in this country  One not-so-great thing: It's hard to come up with a negative because although this may not be a great play, it—and its production—unabashedly aims to please.