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SISTERS OF SWING: (Stoneham Theatre thru May 4.  www.stonehamtheatre.org).  Who would have thought that the Andrews Sisters had a Jewish sibling?  In fact, the famed trio's early manager Lou Levy was known as "the fourth Andrews sister." Levy fell in love with middle sister Maxine and eventually married her despite strong opposition from her apparently anti-Semitic father. Also adding to the group's Jewish connections were their signing by Jewish Decca Records head Jack Kapp and their tremendous 1938 hit "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon," a 1933 Yiddish song, with a new lyric by Saul Chaplin and Sammy Cahn. (As the informative playbill indicates, Holocaust concentration camp inmates secretly sang it.)

This pivotal Jewish impact on the great success of the singing threesome finds ample space in the pleasant and tuneful if not especially incisive area premiere "Sisters of Swing: The Story of the Andrews Sisters at the Stoneham Theatre. Covering the trio's early days on the road, this affectionate musical tribute -written by Beth Gilleland and Bob Beverage and featuring several of their biggest hits- often looks and sounds like a B- movie from the big band era. While this "revue-sical," as director Bobby Cronin calls it, does faithfully chronicle the group's difficult early days and showcase their appeal as a snappy three-part harmony talent, their are stretches of dialogue that suffer from corny exchanges and conventional dialogue.

Still, the role of Jewish material and players at key moments in their early days and the show's well-sung generous sampling from their popular repertoire ( with more Top Ten Hits than the Beatles or Elvis ) do make the show a charming portrait of what may be the most successful female group ever. Director Cronin has effectively turned the Stoneham Theatre stage into "a photo album come to life of the Andrews Sisters" (his apt words for the tribute) with numerous shots and footage of the trio at various performance venues-sometimes photographs with Lou and other times with legendary singers like Bing Crosby. Particularly affecting are act two shots of the untiring trio overseas during World War II entertaining American troops where they were stationed and voluntarily doing the same at military hospitals.

In the war -dominated and stronger second act, Gilleland and Beverage insert a revealing sequence about discrimination towards black G.I.'s. Here the fair-mind Andrews Sisters unrelentingly affirm the right of black solders to sit near the front of their audience and even insist that they be escorted to their seats. Although the trio's action may be little known, clearly they were as supportive of integration and civil rights as they were of Maxine's relationship with and marriage to Lou. An early scene in which the sisters' pianist and Lou try to translate the Yiddish of "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon" and finally look to Sammy Cahn underscores the group's ease all kinds of people and material.
Of course this kind of musical scrapbook depends upon the actresses playing the Andrews and the actor playing Lou. While the story may not always seem compelling, the cast instantly establish a natural tone -both in dialogue and musical numbers-which they sustain throughout in their work together. Laura Degiacomo catches youngest sister and reminiscing narrator Patty's spirit and her vulnerability and sings her character's numerous solos with vibrant delivery-most notably on "I Can Dream, Can't I"

Kerri Jill Garbis has all of oldest sister Laverne's maternal protectiveness for her sisters, and Kimberly Robertson finds all of Maxene's tenderness with Lou and her spunkiness. All three capture the smart harmonies of the Andrews Sisters on such staples as their signature "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B" and the moves and stylings of swing with pizazz. Steve Gagliastro makes a properly energetic and caring Lou, though his other roles vary from an uneven suggestion of Crosby and a sharp evocation of Johnny Carson.

"Sisters of Swing" may not be a breakthrough show, but Cronin's fresh conception and his cast's engaging singing and acting make it an engaging tribute. The subtext about the place of Jews and Jewish material in the Andrews Sisters' early career provides a rich stage complement.

THEIR VOICES WILL BE HEARD: MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE / PIECES: (New Repertory Theatre, Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA).  Can the Israeli-Palestinian conflict achieve balance on the stage? For that matter, should one look for balance at the theater? Admittedly, community leaders and spokespeople on all sides of the political spectrum have been voicing deep concern about New Repertory Theatre's Hub premiere pairing of "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," a play clearly supportive of Palestinian views and "Pieces," a work sensitive to Israeli ones ( so much so that artistic director Rick Lombardo and the company have made available to audience members a critical perspectives booklet entitled "Supporting Voices/Dissenting Voices' that brings them together. After all is said and done, though, the two plays must stand on their own. While neither is truly a work of art, each intriguing monologue has its merits-not least of which are the tour de force performance of Stacy Fischer in "Rachel Corrie" and the exuberant work of Zohar Tirosh in her own autobiographical chronicle "Pieces."

"Rachel Corrie" is clearly the more controversial and arguably more problematic play. Put together by talented English actor-director Alan Rickman ("Sense and Sensibility" among other films) and Guardian editor Katharine Viner from the late title American's journals, this purportedly balanced effort (at least Rickman and Viner described it as such in the playbill for its Off-Broadway run) ultimately seems to see its subject as a martyr who gave her life to protect the home of innocent Palestinians from an Israeli bulldozer (though an Israeli military investigation has cleared the driver) . A careful examination of the just published journals themselves suggests that Corrie was an earnest and somewhat naive activist who may have been manipulated by less than non-violent Palestinians intent on smuggling weapons through tunnels and branding Israel as an Apartheid-espousing nation.

Were Rickman and Viner bent on turning Corrie into a flamboyant dissident who might be anti-Semitic as well as anti-Israel? Curiously they have left out a strong journal observations by Corrie that "the U.S. did not intervene to stop immediately" the "slaughter of Jewish people in Europe" and that America should have "allowed Jewish refugees to come here in greater numbers." At the same time, they have left her references to anti-Israel scholar and writer Noam Chomsky and have decided not to comment-in playbill footnote or in play comment on the fact that Hamas is a terrorist and not merely militant group and that the ISM-International Solidarity Movement- has been linked to direct action against Israel though it claims to be totally non-violent.

Did Corrie know that tunnels were being used to smuggle weapons? Did she know that the ISM -the play only speaks of Internationals- has been connected with less than Gandhian activity? This critic is neither condemning her nor considering her a saint . Surely the real Corrie was as playful in her early years and as free-spirited as gifted Stacy Fischer renders her in her brilliant stagework- under David R. Gammon's sharp direction-whether speaking vividly from under a large comforter or working on her journals and regular lists of things to do while in Palestinian center Rafah.

Controversy does not diminish real art. Witness the clear anti-Reagan pont of view of Tony Kushner's masterful "Angels in America." By contrast, "Rachel Corrie" as a play rambles repeatedly before the final confrontation with the bulldozer. Fischer's range and skill as an actress are what keep the later going absorbing.

If "Rachel Corrie" wanders, "Pieces" may actually be too well-ordered. Focusing on her two years of Israeli military service, now New York -based Jewish writer-actress Zohar Tirosh smartly performs her own autobiographical one-woman play. Informative and well-structured, her account details the kind of day-to-day basic training with which her American armed forces counterparts could easily identify. Her thoughtful work also includes a sharp contrast between her essentially disappointing relationship with a New York-based boyfriend who unilaterally decides to head west and a much more satisfying one in Israel.
Of course the insightful author-performer gives ample time to very real concerns about security and the on-going danger of suicide bombings by Hamas terrorists from Palestinian areas. Still, Tirosh does acknowledge the existence of Palestinian communities even if she does not really comment on them. Nevertheless, nothing about "Pieces" is inflammatory or demeaning. If there is a weakness in the play, it is the conventional structure , which moves fairly predictably from her pre-training days to her post-army ones.

What makes "Pieces" most worth seeing is Tirosh herself, a skilled and very appealing performer. There are vivid stretches in which the young Israeli recruits both immigrant and Sabra (native-born) are drilled on a variety of tasks and responsibilities. Tirosh does well playing a diversity of soldiers and capturing a variety of accents -especially in the case of their demanding commander.

Initially "Rachel Corrie" was to be paired with a play honoring the memory of Yonatan Netanyahu, one of the heroes of the celebrated Israeli raid on Entebbe to rescue hostages, until his brother Binyamin and the Netanyahu family objected to the inclusion of the former. Clearly the common concern in "Rachel Corrie" and "Pieces"with a learning experience that becomes a klnd of rite of passage for the respective women means that the pairing works as a springboard for discussion.
Will dialogue occur? All sides of the politcal spectrum can only benefit if it ensues. Surely New Repertory Theatre deserves praise for its earnest efforts and any follow-up it pursues to effect a full exchange of ideas. At the same time, Lombardo and his brave company would do well eventually to stage the Netanyahu-centered play on its own and to bring gifted Israeli-American writer-author Iris Bahr and her very fine Off-Broadway one-woman play "Dai (Enough) " (previously reviewed here) to the Arsenal Center.

AVENUE Q: (Colonial Theatre, Boston; open-ended run at John Golden Theatre, NYC. 800-432-7250.)  "Avenue Q" is as much a state of mind as a fictional New York brownstone location.  Embracing tenant solidarity in the manner of "Rent" but without drugs and AIDS and employing adult puppets and themes a la "Crank Yankers," this disarming 2004 Tony Award-winning musical teaches an always-timely lesson about human connection and understanding. Author Jeff Whitty has brought together Jews, non- Jews, straights, gays, immigrants, large hand-handled puppets and friendly monsters in alternately humorous and touching situations and relationships. Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, who collaborated on the original concept, have put together an ingenious score that combines catchy melodies and sharp but surprisingly direct messages about themes as diverse as prejudice, acceptance, dating and the pros and cons of the internet. Under director Jason Moore's smooth guidance, the tour at the Colonial Theatre has as much life as the still-running Broadway original.

Life is truly the operative word for a show with numbers as exuberant as they are insightful. "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" has the brownstone neighbors reminding each other about stereotypes such as Jews having the money, recalling that Jesus was Jewish and reconsidering the virtues of ethnic jokes . Seemingly quirky but instantly catchy, "It Sucks to Be Me" finds such tenants as unemployed 32 year old Jewish would-be stand-up comic Brian and Gary Coleman, once the child star of "Different Strokes" and now the superintendent of the outer borough location of the musical, lamenting their respective fortunes. "If You Were Gay" involves straight puppet Nicky affirming his friendship for and loyalty to his gay but closeted banker puppet roommate Rod. What makes these songs particularly winning is their singular mixture of humor and candor.

This savvy yet rollicking mixture runs all through "Avenue Q." A scene in which Kate Monster waits atop the Empire State Building for struggling college graduate puppet Princeton smartly parodies its famous predecessor in the film "An Affair to Rermember." "Schadenfreude," German for pleasure derived from another's misfortune, cleverly illustrates human foibles. There is even a striking wedding under Chupah between Brian and his Japanese fiancee actually named Christmas Eve. Here the Jewish groom traditionally breaks the glass, and participants wear white kipot with vivid red centers that call to mind the Target logo.

The cast's handling of puppets and human roles proves as smooth as the wedding. Gifted David Benoit moves Nicky, porn-addicted Trekkie Monster and other characters with great spirit and agility. Kelli Sawyer conveys all of Kate's heart and sings her winning solo "There's a Fine,Fine Line" with notable feeling. She does equal justice to femme fatale bar chanteuse Lucy. Robert McClure captures Princeton's resilience and Rod's telling defensiveness.
Cole Porter catches Brian's easy-going nature. New company member Sala Iwamatsu has Christmas Eve's assertiveness as she pushes Brian to find a job and her appealing confidence as a social worker looking for clients. Carla Renata sings with deep resonance as Gary Coleman.

Designer Anna Louizos gives the brownstone the right worn look. Howell Binkley catches the promise and the precariousness of the residents' fortunes in his lighting. Lopez makes the animation design properly amusing and clear -especially as Princeton searches for purpose in his life.

At one point the somewhat discouraged college graduate learns , as a song title goes,"There is Life Outside Your Apartment." There is even more vitality at the Colonial Theatre, namely the tuneful wisdom and high-spirited fun of "Avenue Q."

THE LIFE: (Boston Conservatory Theatre Ensemble. www.bostonconservatory.edu.)  Leave it to Jacqui Parker in her Boston Conservatory directorial debut and a crack combination of young performing artists and acclaimed professionals to make a challenging Broadway musical like "The Life" sizzle and burn with terrific feeling and real fire. The story about prostitution may be so0mewhat overlong, but the topnotch Cy Coleman music and Ira Gasman lyrics make the lyrical score a fitting descendant to Kern, Gershwin and Coltrane. Parker has fired up the energetic first-rate cast, and choreographer Michelle Chasse has the ensemble and individual dancers kicking high and moving with impressive speed, technique and grace.

Stephanie Umoh makes the most of properly bitter yet unbowed Queen, a regal woman who struggles to escape the addictive clutches of "the life." Her rendition of the clever solo "He's No Good" is a haunting showstopper. Anich D'Jae has all of her good friend Sonja's tenacity and Bud Weber has the kind of resonance and charismatic pull as Jojo that Sam Harris brought to the role on Broadway. Nicholas Ryan Rowe has the right impulsiveness as Fleetwood, Queen's hot-headed man. Keyon Richardson nails the scary bullying of pimp of pimps Memphis.

Add Boston Conservatory to your theater must-list. The company's visceral staging of 'The Life" has all of the vitality and excitement that a feisty multiple Tony Award -winning show deserves. Some day the Conservatory talents setting this rare revival on fire will be shaking New York stages.

THE CLEAN HOUSE: (New Repertory Theatre, The Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown. www.newrep.org.)  Imagine a setting identified as "A metaphysical Connecticut. Or , a house that is not far from the sea and not far from the city." Imagine that the resident husband and wife doctors have hired a young Brazilian woman to clean their home who would rather labor at finding the perfect joke. Creative playwright Sarah Ruhl has done just this in "The Clean House," a thoughtful if often funny Off-Broadway hit that ultimately plays like a combination of fable and folklore, and New Repertory Theatre has turned this Pulitzer Prize finalist into a delightfully messy evening of theater.

The provocative messiness begins right with the opening Portuguese humor delivered with telling body language by cleaning woman Mathilde-played with appealing exuberance by Cristi Miles. Ruhl purposely leaves out the translation of the joke, but theatergoers laugh because the Brazilian would be entertainer builds her gesturing to a crescendo of suggestiveness. While "The Clean House" eventually returns to this terrain by speaking of heaven as "a sea of untranslatable jokes," other foreign language passages-and unusual scenes, for that matter- are clearly explained by Jamie Whoolery's sleek projection design on the handsome grid-like backdrop of Cristina Todesco's set.Deb Sullivan's lighting , often pervaded by dark clouds , provides striking contrast.

In the early going,though, the joke seems to be largely on Mathilde's physician employer Lane herself. Not only does the 27 year old Brazilian not clean the elegant home but also the doctor's housewife sister Virginia makes a "deal" to do that work complete with large blue latex gloves. During her efforts, Virginia observes that a wife who cleans can tell from the evidence of her husband's dirty underwear whether he is being unfaithful. Ironically, in "The Clean House," out of place brightly colored panties in the laundry hint to the dust-obsessed sister that Lane's husband Charles is involved with another woman.

Hint becomes reality at the end of the breezy first act and especially at the start of the touching second. Unabashedly, Charles brings his Argentinian cancer surgery patient and new love Ana to meet Lane. When he explains that she is his "besherte," Yiddish for "destined one," Lane answers revealingly "You're not Jewish." Nevertheless, Ana-who is Jewish- cites a midrash (Hebrew for story with a moral) that speaks of God picking out each person's soul mate at 40 days of life and human beings running around looking for the besherte. Where Ana declares herself innocent according to Jewish law as one who has found her soul mate, the new love obviously messes up Lane's life. Metaphorically unkempt, the action now reflects the disorder as Charles and Ana toss objects from their balcony stage left which end up on the living room rug below. Yet if love is disheveled, human caring is quite clear and clean-particulary as Lane attends to Ana, whose cancer has returned. An epiphany of feeling and forgiveness follows with surprising but beneficial humor to boot.

When this critic first saw Ruhl's play a few seasons ago at Lincoln Center, that epiphany seemed a bit more profound. Even so, New Rep artistic director Rick Lombardo has staged the meta-realistic second act with good attention to the understanding and caring that bond Ana with Virginia, Mathilde and especially Lane. The exceptional cast prove a major factor. Miles wisely understates Mathilde's imaginings about her late parents, reputedly the funniest people of their village. Nancy E. Carroll is very amusing as Virginia, especially as she explains her philosophy of cleaning one moment and cavorts in liberation from dirt at another. Paula Plum , in designer Charles Schoonmaker's medical uniform-like pant suit, nails Lane's early cool demeanor and makes her emotional transformation totally convincing. Will Lyman brings striking directness to Charles' candor about his new love. Best of all is Bobbie Steinbach, who combines grandeur and vulnerability as fragile Ana. Her delineation of Ana's quiet courage and remarkable spirt is heartwrenchingly powerful.

God, Ruhl submits, eats ice cream "when he's tired." New Rep's gleaming "Clean House" comes close to being a divine dessert.

SOME MEN: (SpeakEasy Stage Company, Calderwood Pavilion, Roberts Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts. www.SpeakEasyStage.com).  There are ultimately too many men in "Some Men."  Although Terrence McNally focuses on the nine guests at a contemporary same-sex wedding in this 2007 Off-Broadway play, about 50 very different gay males people the 14 scenes that evoke their lives and those of their predecessors. As in his Tony Award-winning "Love!Valour! Compassion!" the dialogue often possesses great heart and considerable wit, and SpeakEasy Stage Company artistic director Paul Daigneault has taken great care with both in the play's handsome New England premiere. Notwithstanding a staging as luminous as the Waldorf Hotel chandelier at the center of Eric Levenson's vivid sets, though, McNally's affecting play-not as tightly written and touching as "L! V! C!" - proves too busy with secondary stories.

"Some Men" certainly means to make some major statements about the challenges and changes that have confronted gay men like McNally himself (who came to New York in 1956 as a 17 year old) for the better part of the 20th century. Moving back and forth in time, the play returns as far as East Hampton 1922 in its first act and Harlem Renaissance 1932 in its second and reaches 2006 for a group counseling session and 2007 for the arrival of the wedding guests. Under Daigneault's sharp direction, a first-rate cast of some of the Hub's best actors smartly move between the characters and the quickly changing decades. While the non-chronological structure and the sweep and scope of the observations do justice to his intentions, the play itself often does not.

McNally is certainly too savvy and skillful a writer for "Some Men" to be an embarrassment. Still, the coherence and clarity of his "L!V!C!" and "Master Class," among others, make the uneven results here all the more surprising. A 1975 bathhouse scene, for example, seems mild-mannered in its insights, yet its nudity and frank language (in a play clearly for adults only) are anything but. "Stonewall(1969)" deliberately focuses on the feelings of the Greenwich Village gay bar patrons rather than the scene's title historic protest, heard off-stage. Admittedly, a red-wigged drag queen identified as Roxie (real name Archie) and played with terrific spirit by Will McGarrahan connects with a McNally irony that some people 'break free' from "personal boxes" to "bigger boxes." Evenso, the impact of Stonewall itself as a turning point in the fight for gay rights seems more highlighted in SpeakEasy's informative playbill (which features a 'U. S. Gay History Timeline') than in the under-dramatic first act-closing scene.
By contrast, a tightly written early exchange between a grieving Veteran father and Paul, an American beret soldier in Iraq who loved his son Tommy, speaks volumes about its subject-namely, what it means to love, to care and be 'immediate family'-with touching subtlety. Robert Saoud and Christopher Loftus are compellingly understated respectively as Tommy's Dad and Paul. Even a slightly overlong 2004 Internet scene eventually makes a telling point about emotional cruelty when an instant messenger who identifies himself as Top Dog (a properly callous Loftus) blocks the responses of a sincere but older man in favor of those of a shallow younger one.

The transformation of Top Dog-actually named Michael- is in some ways the key to what is problematic about "Some Men." Where some characters develop through the play, Michael does not appear to change very much. Inexplicably McNally has this formerly insensitive internet buddy eventually committing himself to one man at the wedding without really preparing audience members for this transformation. Yet the same talented writer fully evokes the opening of a closeted husband named Bernie to his inner urges through a series of well-drawn exchanges. Surely the most vividly drawn character in the play, he may even be a spokesman for McNally's own impassioned views about the struggles of gay males. Diego Arciniegas richly captures both the pain and the pleasure of Bernie's life-changing decisions.

Despite this kind of inconsistency in a play that ought to be more compelling, Daigneault and company provide Waldorf-level accomodations. Maurice E. Parent delivers the 1930 favorite "Ten Cents a Dance" with deep resonance and feeling in an eye-opening look at the lyrics of gay writer Lorenz Hart's gem ( including the repeated phrase "a queer romance," for one) . Christopher Michael Brophy brings his trademark care to all of his roles-whether a well-drawn librarian or a variety of under-written characters. Paul Cereghino catches both the singular personality and the pathos of East Hampton socialite David Goodman in a 1922 "Sur La Mer" ("By the Sea") rendezvous with his chauffeur-played with good fire by Ben Lambert- that recalls the class-crossing romance in the E.M. Forster novel "Maurice." Rounding out the crack cast is Andrew Wehling, who provides sharp piano accompaniment through the play. Lighting designer Chris Fournier's exquisite silhouettes add momentousness to pivotal encounters and confrontations.

Quite simply, "Some Men" lacks the kind of epiphany of heart and mind that graced "Love!Valour! Compassion !" In fact, there are passages in Jonathan Tolins' Gay Pride Day-set play "The Last Sunday in June"-also beautifully staged by SpeakEasy- that resonate more fully than stretches of quick banter in McNally's play. Still, it is impossible to write off a production that actually improves upon a lesser work by a major playwright.

To borrow the name of a second act scene, SpeakEasy has "A Long Term Relationship" with Terrence McNally and both- like the spouses in a great marriage- recognizes its uniqueness. Be prepared for "Some Men"'s failings, but see the play for SpeakEasy's memorable staging.

GARY: (Boston Playwrights' Theatre. www.bostonplaywrights.org).  Melinda Lopez's "Gary" lies far from the Indiana of "The Music Man," but her latest play does have trouble.  As her earlier award-winning drama "Sonia Flew" demonstrated, this talented actress-writer has a facility for evoking cultural and emotional tensions and tapping into the discord of family conflicts. Centered on the alternate hope and despair of three Indiana siblings at the end of the '70's, "Gary" appears intent on exploring similar dramatic -and sometimes comic- terrain via the music and diverse rhythms that influence their respective lives. If "Sonia Flew" followed through on its intentions, Lopez' latest effort ultimately seems as unfulfilled as its focal trio.

In the early going, Tommy warns young brother Mark that there is "a lot of bad music out there , bro." Likewise, a great deal of bad blood runs rampant between the siblings. The older brother repeatedly suggests that Mark is gay, while the younger one calls Annie a "slut." Throughout the short play (70 minutes with no intermission) , Annie questions whether Tommy has committed incest with her. At the same time, their cosmetics-selling mother Lenore-whose abusive husband has left her- struggles to keep the family together and conceal family secrets as she might cover the facial challenges of her customers.

There is certainly a lot of energy in the siblings' heated exchanges between themselves and with Lenore. There are also vivid moments in which Lopez contrasts Annie's knowledge about Tommy and her brother's girlfriend Cassie's memories about him. Yet high energy and musical parallels to these moments of genuine fire turn out to be more substitute than substance in a play that lacks the strong development of a "Sonia Flew." Compounding the play's problems in the later going are suspicions that Annie's father or even Mark may have been the actual culprit and not Tommy. Even musical associations with such diverse groups as the Partridge family, Air Supply, the Eagles and Boston generally carry little more insight than name-dropping.

If some scenes catch fire, credit M. Bevin O'Gara's sharp direction and a solid cast. Elise Manning is hauntingly moving as lost and wounded soul Annie. Nael Nacer has the right ambivalence and volatility as rage-ridden Tommy. Karl Baker Olson brings persuasive quirkiness to the role of Mark. Molly Schreiber stands up to Annie as her best friend Cassie and compels as Tommy's trusting love. Adrianne Krstansky combines remarkable strength and deepening despair as Lenore.

These novice singer-musicians -especially Krstansky on a country western solo - deliver their respective signature numbers with guitar, drum or keyboard with impressive spirit. Here, though, as with the dialogue, the sentiments and aspirations of the characters are never fully developed. Premiere designer Richard Wadsworth Chambers smartly reflects the precarious fortunes of the family in the stark backdrop for the band and the austerity of the characters' surroundings.

Annie tellingly counsels, "Get out of Gary." Theatergoers surprised that Lopez' new play lacks the polished stagecraft of "Sonia Flew," are likely to follow that advice. 

THE MISSIONARY POSITION: (Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Lowell. www.merrimackrep.org).  America is supposed to believe in separation of religion and government, but does that distinction preclude a politics of integrity?  That intriguing dilemma informs both the sense and the scenario of Keith Reddin's provocative new play "The Missionary Position." Is unseen presidential candidate Hal Williams as principled as religious non-payroll consultant Roger believes him to be? Is this 'God squad' Christian intolerant of Jews, Muslims and anyone else who does not share his belief that America is a Christian country and the Founding Fathers intended it to be one (not borne out by history, of course) ? Reddin's tightly written drama (85 minutes in length), sharply staged by Tracy Brigden in its regional premiere at Merrimack Repertory Theatre, eventually answers these questions with both insight and humor.

As topical as today's headlines, "The Missionary Position" finds Roger as deeply involved in Williams' campaign as the candidate himself. In fact, Roger is often unaware of his surroundings as he moves from city to city-so much so that all the hotel rooms seem the same to him. That point is visually established as Gianni Down's spare yet well-detailed set only changes by way of diverse framed landscapes. From moment to moment, Roger seems more and more sanctimonious-in particular as he advises regional campaign director Julia that someone ought to speak to Williams about right hand man Neil's "shadowy morality."

What keeps Reddin's play from being a mere didactic lesson about intolerance is the fact that both Neil and Williams have something illegal to hide. Indeed, Reddin may be stacking the deck by having Julia reveal that she previously drove under the influence and recently has invested unwisely in a questionable money-making scheme. Still, his timely play is savvy enough to give ample time to Roger's vulnerable situation. His own conscience troubles him with regard to the ill health and eventual death of his stepfather and the possibility that he might have not done enough to save him. Pathos also attends his loneliness as the hotel room campaigner recalls Rebecca, the woman he desired but lost in his youth.

Roger turns out to be so emotionally disoriented that he imagines finding her in a towel after showering in his bathroom. At this point the delusional protagonist sees himself discussing the genealogy of the biblical Rebecca-he speaks of Isaac and Jacob among other Jewish ancestors-with her and briefly believing that his married love might now be unattached. Providing humor-both dark and light-hearted- is the presence of a fourth actor-here the versatile Rebecca Harris- who plays not only Rebecca but also the very different maids who clean his hotel rooms.

Arguably the most virtuous characters in the drama are these hardworking relatively poor service workers. Ultimately, a moment of high irony occurs as Roger, who had earlier harassed one of the maids, receives telling reciprocal treatment from a maid who proceeds to call him a "loser." Harris easily delineates the differences between the maids-Southern accent with one, intimidation with another, among others- and makes the imagined Rebecca instantly vivid.

Tony Bingham catches Roger's insistence on moral high-mindedness but also convincingly demonstrates his gradual fall into disillusionment and despair. Tami Dixon has all of Julia's glib but humorous banter as a rich and largely clueless campaigner. Jeffrey Carpenter is properly direct, rough and menacing as Neil.

Robert C. T. Steele provides good humor in the contrast between Julia's very different outfits. Andrew David Ostrowski's subtle lighting makes the surprising appearance of Rebecca properly chimerical.

"The Missionary Position" may stop short of the actual nomination of a candidate, but Reddin's smart play has a lot to endorse -especially in Merrimack Rep's election-worthy staging.

MY FAIR LADY: (National Theatre of Great Britain at the Opera House, Boston. Broadway Across America/Boston.  ). Enchantment pours out of ever scene in the wonderfully fresh and rollicking National Theatre of Great Britain West End production of "My Fair Lady" at the Opera House.The award-winning visiting edition features a "Stomp"-recalling "With a Little Bit of Luck"-in which some ensemble members dance with garbage can lids and others use pot tops percussively. Another memorable moment involves winning and big-voiced Justin Bohon as sloshed suitor Freddy in the reprise of :On the Street Where You Live."

Christopher Cazenove smoothly balances Higgins' ferociousness and final warmth towards his flower girl student. Lisa O'Hare is lyrical as Eliza.She moves very convincingly from a flower girl guttersnipe to an elegant princess-like lady. Walter Charles has all of Colonel Pickering's class and humanity.Tim Jerome has all of the right sparkle whether agonizing humorously about middle class morality or reveling as much as possible before getting married. Marnie Nixon is an understated joy as Henry's very wise mother. Barbara Marineau as Mrs. Pearce speaks with compelling concern about Eliza's future.

Trevor Nunn directs the entire handsome revival with labor of love attentiveness. Gifted choreographer Matthew Bourne (the Broadway "Swan Lake") makes the socialites of the "Ascot " move as strikingly as galloping and cantering horses and keeps the ample townspeople high-stepping and merrymaking equally sharp.

The National Theatre of Great Britain's revival of "My Fair Lady" is so exuberant that exiting theatergoers will want to dance all night.

THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED: (SpeakEasy Stage Company, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts). Imagine a big Hollywood studio pressuring a respected playwright to change the gay Jewish writer hero of his hit drama to one who is merely "shy of women."  In a recent actual situation, Universal Studios tried to do something similar in adapting Douglas Carter Beane's Off-Broadway hit "As Bees in Honey Drown" and selecting Leonardo DiCaprio as their choice for the straight novelist they wanted as the lead character. Eventually, as with the unnamed author in the play, Beane left the project, which still remains in development. If the author eventually satirized this kind of Hollywood disrespect for gays in his 2006 Tony Award-nominated play "The Little Dog Laughed," he also turned it into a sharp statement about the difficulties that attend individuality and creative freedom in America. Now SpeakEasy Stage company has brought the savvy and very clever play to the Calderwood Pavilion's larger Wimberley Theatre-its first staging there-in a powerful and often darkly humorous New England premiere.

Set in the present in New York City and Los Angeles, "Little Dog" skewers both Hollywood homophobes and the destructive compromises by which controlling,grasping lesbian agent Diane works to persuade her closeted actor client Mitchell Green to sell his soul for a hollow but lucrative film career. Handsome, in-demand Green hires escort Alex with whom he eventually falls in love. For his part, Alex dates a young Westchester county woman named Ellen and claims to be straight. Will Mitchell admit to being gay and declare his love or will he continue to conceal his orientation for the sake of his career?

Where does opportunistic Ellen fit in the scheme of things? Not surprisingly, Diane has a place for her in the Faustian offer she is peddling to Green. Ultimately, only Alex, who is able to confront his own identity , makes the leap to true individuality and real freedom. While the other three -even Diane- enslave themselves to the demands of others, the respective odysseys of all four characters prove both vivid and involving.

As Beane demonstrated in "Bees," he is an artful wordsmith and a playwright talented enough to create unforgettable roles. Such was the case with the enigmatic con artist Alexa Vere de Vere in the earlier play, and so it goes with Diane. Beane has given her wonderfully vitriolic tirades about the people with whom she does business and the power lunches . Probably the finest stretch here is the 10-minute scene that initially served as the the play itself- a telling depiction of the verbal warfare by which Diane reaches a contract that diminishes the work in question and demeans the playwright, identified pointedly as "He Meaning Him."

Paul Melone's directs smartly. Maureen Keiller makes her portrayal of Diane as sharp tongued-sometimes with crisply pronounced Yiddish words- yet vulnerable as her Sylvia in SpeakEasy's revival of "The Women" last year. Her opening speech, one which certainly helped Julie White win the best actress Tony originating the role, smartly balances the agent's venom and vitality. Robert Serrell catches all of Mitchell's self-centeredness along with his ongoing inner struggle between love and career.

Angie Jepson finds Ellen's glib tone and her general callousness. Best of all is Jonathan Orsini in the tricky role of Alex. Not only does he carefully demonstrate Alex's remarkable growth as a human being but he also makes the audience truly care about him.

Eric Levenson conveys the mutability of the quartet's respective fortunes in the carefully articulated areas of his scenic design. Jeff Adelberg evokes the toughness of the screen world in his nuance-rich lighting
Alex seeks integrity in the later going, but SpeakEasy's luminous "The Little Dog Laughed" beams it out from start to finish.

WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND: (CITI Wang Theatre, Boston).  Andrew Lloyd Webber must have been taken with the 1961 Hayley Mills-Alan Bates film "Whistle Down the Wind" and its focus on the innocence of children and their willingness to believe that a forlorn young man--who turns out to be a fugitive convicted murderer-could actually be Jesus in his second coming. Maybe this strange scenario-originally a novel by Mills' own mother - would have worked somewhat in musical form if its composer and his collaborators Patricia Knop and Gale Edwards had kept the setting in Lancashire instead of moving it a small town in Louisiana. With the move to the American South, this overly busy and confused adaptation gives scant attention to the relationship between the children and their father and includes rebels without a cause whose story is never really developed. Worse still, a plot involving racism-especially from bigoted policemen- seems like an addendum to the main story. What makes the weak book and the mixed score all the more disappointing is the presence of two major talents-big-voiced Eric Kunze as The Man and songbird Whitney Bashor as older daughter Swallow. Kunze brings wonderful fullness to his character's vivid solo "So Many Cries" and gives his character a majesty missing from much of the musical. Bashor, who is very convincing and natural as the girl on the threshold of womanhood, sings with the rich tone and confidence of a major talent. They should respectively have the kind of wonderful future in New York that eludes not-ready-for- Broadway "Whistle on the Wind." To borrow a motif from the show , this very flawed musical never had a prayer.

THIRD: (Huntington Theatre Company, Boston University Theatre). Wendy Wasserstein touches a nerve in this witty look at a legendary fictional pioneer professor at a prestigious New England college who possesses tragic dimension. Laurie Jameson's hubris is an over-weaning certainty about her liberal views and the diverse attitudes of others, especially the ideas and work of a somewhat unconventional student wrestler named Woodson Bull III ( called "Third" by his friends). Unlike her cancer-stricken colleague Nancy Gordon, Jameson cannot deal with exceptions and changes to her long-standing assumptions about people and the world. Her single-mindedness leads to an erroneous charge of plagiarism and a confrontation of sorts with Third.  Unfortunately, this timely and thoughtful play never fully establishes its striking "King Lear" associations with three generations-father, daughter Laurie and her own child-and opts for a softer resolution in terms of Jameson's tough-mindedness than Wasserstein's "The Heidi Chrinicles," arguably her best play.Still Maureen Anderman is spirited as Jameson and Graham Hamilton persuasive as Bull III. Best of all is Robin Pearson Rose as tenacious yet open-minded Gordon, clearly Wasserstein's voice here.  Richard Seer directs the solid cast sharply.

ANGELS IN AMERICA: PART I - MILLENIUM APPROACHES; PART II - PERESTROIKA: (Boston Theatre Works, Roberts Theatre, Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts.) The plays of Jewish playwright-prophet Tony Kushner seem blessed with the threshold of revelation. His recent "Homebody Kabul," actually written before 9-11, provides rich insight on not only Afghanistan but also the ongoing conflict between Western and Eastern nations. Now, thanks to an intensely moving revival of his two- play powerhouse "Angels in America"(1992) by the young but highly accomplished small company Boston Theatre Works, local theatergoers have a very timely opportunity to return to Kushner's breathtaking vision of an America-and by extension a world-progression to greater moral and spiritual integrity. While this sweeping epic is subtitled "A Gay Fantasia on National Themes," time has only deepened the work's importance to all people- gay and straight, blacks and whites, Jews and Christians.

Indeed, "Angels" looks more prescient than ever. Part one, "Millenium Approaches," begins in 1985 with a New York rabbi named Isidor Chemelwitz eulogizing a Sarah Ironson as one of many shtetl-bred voyagers to a new life in America, where immigration now stands as a political issue as well as a phenomenon of change. Part two, "Perestroika," opens in 1986 with Aleksii Antedilluvianovich Prelapsarianov, billed as the world's oldest living Bolshevik, challenging his contemporaries to show him "the words that will reorder the world"-words that may be just as elusive in the age of terrorism, Chinese economic expansion and ever-growing militancy in the Islamic world. The play's Mormon Pitt family takes on importance in the plays as does a fellow religionist today as a presidential candidate. Even Jewish Republican McCarthy-era inquisitor Roy Cohn, denying his own gayness vehemently, calls to mind the recent similar actions of Idaho Senator Craig.

Whether audiences view Kushner's brilliant embrace of humanity as "fabulous creatures, each and every one" as a secular or religious take on the American experiment, its roots and sources are often richly Jewish. Prior Walter, the AIDS-stricken boyfriend of Ironson's grandson Louis and arguably the protagonist of the fantasia, alternately recalls biblical Jonah and Jacob as he tries to flee from prophecy at some moments and wrestles with one of the Angel of the Continental Principality of America at others. When hospitalized and finally disbarred Cohn dies from AIDS, Ironson-at the prodding of black gay nurse Belize-recites a fractured Kaddish ( he admits to not having a bar mitzvah) only to be curiously guided through the correct text of the memorial prayer by the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg, whom the notorious lawyer helped convict for spying.

Most of all, a large steel-paged book identified as the "Aleph Glyph" takes on the position of a holy book for the Great Work of change and transformation to which Prior-and all citizens of America and the world -are called. Of course, the Aleph itself stands out as the first letter of the Ten Commandments , the first letter of some of God's names and a Hebrew letter associated with amulets. While Kushner provocatively speaks of a divinity absconding from the university, he clearly also means to celebrate the ability of human beings like Prior,Louis, Mother Hannah Pitt and Belize to embrace life and make decisions unlike choice-less angels-a very traditional Jewish distinction.

As with all well -staged great theater, the specific and universal messages speak variously to different theatergoers. Yet the plays' heartfelt affirmation of human diversity and striving is unquestionable and stunningly evoked in a BTW triumph for talented co-directors Jason Southerland and Nancy Curran Willis. Kushner's stage directions advise no blackouts,rather rapid scene shifts and actor assistance with props, and the pacing and movement of the two plays ( which can be seen on one day with a break for lunch or in repertory) are gratiftyingly smooth. The only reservation here is the technical handling of the initial and dominant angel- played with good conviction if not enough intimidation by Elizabeth Aspenlieder. Even Kushner admits that its incredibly hard to make the angel's flying work, though some sort of wing evocation would be preferable to what resemble gates often used as safeguards in homes with young children. Also , the angel ladder could do with aleph adornment and a more mystical look (as the playwright suggests).

There is very little to quibble with about the first-rate cast. Recent Boston University graduate Tyler Reilly is commandingly vulnerable and valiant as Prior, especially as he struggles with the prophecy and later wrestles with an angel. Richard McElvain catches the music-like rhythm of clout-obsessed Cohn on the telephone and most of his meanness and forcefulness in the face of looming death in his hospital scenes. New York University masters degree recipient Bree Elrod sharply evokes the flowering of Hannah's daughter- in- law as she determines to explore her own future without her previously closeted court clerk husband Joe.

Sean Hopkins's wisely balanced performance as Joe catches the pathos as well as the volatile emotions that govern his changing life. Christopher Webb does well with Louis' odyssey to being a real mensch and caring for Prior. Maurice Parent is properly flamboyant and perceptive as Belize. Suzanne Nitter -called on for as many different roles as anyone in the cast ( all do well with the character switches called for by Kushner) brings good inflection to the Rabbi ( always played by an actress) and Rosenberg.

Nathan Leigh's sound design gives the right momentousness to the arrival of the initial angel and to the play's Arctic changes which anticipate recent global warming developments. John Malinowski's lighting incisively alternates between ominous muting and shadow on the one hand and ethereal radiance on the other.Laura C. McPherson's sets have most of the striking starkness that the plays demand-though the evocation of ruin could be more vivid in "Perestroika."
"Angels in America" continues to amaze and provoke with its poetic and poignant look at the changes- sexual, social and political- of the Reagan 80's. BTW's largely soaring staging-a company triumph no less-demonstrates that singular modern-day Jewish visionary Kushner has a lot to say about the transformations and movements that mark the Bush years as well.

Prior observes in his final touching speech- superbly delivered by Reilly- that "The world only spins forward." So it goes with the trail-blazing Boston Theatre Works' very involving "Angels."

MONTY PYTHON'S SPAMALOT: (BroadwayAcrossAmerica Tour, The Opera House, Boston; Providence Performing Arts Center).  Monty Python fans expect a musical "lovingly ripped off from the motion picture 'Monty Pyrhon and the Holy Grail'" to be silly ,even outrageous.The tour at the Opera House made the most of trademark zany jokes and routines, galloping knights and high-kicking ensembles. What may surprise audience members about the 2005 Tony Award winner "Monty Python's Spamalot" is the true highlight of the show, namely a splashy, engaging number named "You Won't Succeed on Broadway" in which King Arthur learns that Jews bring that elusive success. This seemingly offensive but actually praiseworthy ensemble ranges from a Hava Nagila tap sequence to a "Fiddler on the Roof"- derived nine-person bottle- balancing feat with five armor-covered knights even wearing Chassidic hats.  James Beaman proves winning as the number's featured knight Sir Robin. Jeff Dumas captures the great spirit of Arthur's secret Jewish assistant Patsy, and Patrick Heusinger delivers as a gay Sir Lancelot. Michael Siberry is merely effective as the king, but Esther Stillwell is commanding as the Lady of the Lake.  "Spamalot" will not be outrageous enough for Monty Python fanatics, but there is enough processed hilarity in this smorgasboard of silliness to delight theatergoers looking for an escape from more serious fare.

2 PIANOS 4 HANDS: (Presented with Marquis Entertainment at Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Lowell). Real-life would-be concert pianists Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt chronicle their own respective career and learning challenges in the autobiographical play "2 Pianos 4 Hands." Their individual and shared experiences here range from reflections on dreams and disappointments to specifics about practice, competitions and ordeals with a diversity of instructors. Tom Frey as Dykstra and Richard Carsey as Greenblatt play an eclectic repertoire- from Bach ,Mozart and Chopin to "My Funny Valentine and "My Way." Greenblatt, who actually directed the production at Merrimack Repertory Theatre, even tells how he chanted "Baruch atah a-do-nai"( the start of a Hebrew blessing, invoked to bring good luck to his play) no less when tested and drilled by teacher Sister Loyola. Eventually, both musicians accept the frank if seemingly cruel judgments of the conservatory experts who examine them and settle for teaching positions rather than unsuccessful concert careers.  If the play is not fully satisfying, so it goes for the performers. While Carsey and especially Frey-a standout in a Schubert impromptu-play with sensitivity and care, the former needs to vary his expressions and body language more as the two not only portray the friend-pianists but also play the very different teachers that alternately challenge and appraise their respective talents. Frey is delightful as maverick pianist and rock star Jerry Lee Lewis. Although the play proves a crowd-pleaser, the depiction of grueling practice and performance could be even more striking and incisive.  A closing Bach encore while satisfying ought to be more stunning, and so should "2 Piano 4 Hands."

Check Out Jules' Best of Theatre 2007!
Check Out Jules' Worst of Theatre 2007!

THE NUTCRACKER: (40th Anniversary of Boston Ballet edition with alternating casts, The Opera House). Through the years, Clara, the heroine of the now 40 year old Boston Ballet version of the Tchaikovsky- scored "Nutcracker," has become a maturing adolescent. Once more of a simply dream-struck child, she has danced en pointe in recent years with both the Nutcracker Prince and sorcerer Drosselmeier, its mysterious creator- a development in keeping these days with the demanding training and fresh choreography of company artistic director Mikko Nissinen. As with all Claras of late-including talented Lauren Herfindahl ( seen by this critic) , the engaging character gains insight about romance from the Sugar Plum Fairy and her attentive partner the Cavalier-the latter role also danced by the Nutcracker dancer. At the performance in question, Roman Rykine skillfully summarized the battle of the Toy Soldiers and the Mice before the Sugar Plum and later joined her gracefully as the Cavalier. His turns were fairly wide, and his leaps effective. Larissa Ponomarenko, always pure poetry as the Sugar Plum, proved a particularly regal and enchanting conjuror here-especially in her turns and expressive hand movement. The standouts in the crowd-pleasing second act Kingdom of Sweets were enigmatic Lia Cirio and muscular,high- lifting Sabi Varga in Arabian. Melanie Atkins had some moments of radiance as the Dew Drop. Romi Beppu and Varga, though, needed to be less wintry a pairing as Snow Queen and King.

LA BOHEME: (Boston Lyric Opera, Shubert Theatre). "La Boheme," as with any true operatic gem ( "Rigoletto" and "Don Giovanni," among others) , demands a great performance. Although Timothy Ocel stages this Puccini masterwork with fresh ideas about ensemble scenes( and notable gusto when toy vendor Parpignol appears) and a good appreciation of the still-appealing banter between poet Rodolfo and his equally poor but spirited friends and Ari Pelto conducts effectively, the supporting roles of painter Marcello and his love grisette Musetta are the standouts when the lead parts , the heroic writer and his seamstress love Mimi should be the dazzling pair. Derek Taylor should bring as much fire to his acting as to his arias, and Alyson Cambridge-who catches all of her character's sweetness - needs sharper phrasing in her delivery. Timothy Mix sings with striking resonance, and Kimwana Doner is electrifying as Musetta. BLO audiences can dream of a "Boheme" that soars past the current solid one to true greatness.

THE THREE MUSKETEERS: (North Shore Music Theatre, Beverly, MA). Cardinal Richelieu seems to prowl the wings and the rear of this visually smart but dramatically uneven musical. Composer Stiles, lyricist Paul Leigh and author Peter Raby may be thinking of taking this ambitious effort to New York, but if so, Richelieu will need to demonstrate as much clout here as a character and a presence as he does in the Dumas novel. Kate Baldwin has her moments as Milady, but the first act ought to give the title swashbucklers stronger respective raisons d'etre. Aaron Tveit has appeal as D'Artagnan, amnd Jenny Fellner has some fire as Constance. Mick Bleyer is forceful as opposing swordsman Rochefort, but the musical inexplicably fails to give this significant adversary a signature number. Lez Brotherston provides sparkle with his inspired costumes, though director Francis Matthews does not seem to be demanding enough evocation of Paris from the double threat's sets, even given that this is theater in the round. Dennis Callahan should be calling for as much panache in his choreography as Bryce Birmingham delivers in his fight direction. One musketeer song chimes in "Count Me In," but a lot more needs to be done before New York audiences -or any others ,for that matter- rally around that sentiment.

FIGARO: (American Repertory Theatre in association with Theatre de la Jeune Leune and the Loeb Drama Center, Cambridge, MA). Somehow this blend of Beaumarchais and Mozart turned out smoother and more insightful than the "Don Juan Giovanni" collaboration with which it runs in repertory. Steven Epp is magnificent as Fig, especially at a moment of truth in which he looks at life-particularly his own- with brutal candor. Bradley Greenwald has the right imperiousness as Count Almaviva.

MY FAIR LADY: (Fiddlehead Theatre, Norwood, MA). If you see Bridget Beirne and Brendan McNab paired in a musical, call it a must-see.That was the case with their astonishing work in SpeakEasy Stage Company's haunting revival of "Parade." Now they mesh brilliantly in Fiddlehead Theatre's often loverly "My Fair Lady." McNab catches Higgins' light-hearted condescension and ultimate feeling and caring, while Beirne beautifully captures the transformation of Eliza Doolittle from a sometimes fearful, sometimes beleaguered Cockney flower girl to an unequivocal lady and independent spirit. David Krinitt smartly underplays as Pickering. Nathan Troupe, engaging as Freddy, richly delivers "On the Street Where You Live." The one weak performance is Dan Kelly's strangely under-played Alfred. Kelly often seems to be going through the motions in this stellar character role-especially in his musical numbers. Wendy Hall effectively choreographs the townspeople numbers. For the most part, director Stacey Stephens has really done it.