Before the first song of Adam Gwon's Ordinary Days has ended, you're aware you're in the hands of a talented composer-lyricist with an unusually fine command of craft.

The problem with Adam Gwon's musical Ordinary Days lies in its central conceit of being about ordinary people expressing their ordinary thoughts as they go about their ordinary business on an ordinary day in New York. Neither New York nor the New York theater is especially kind to ordinary people—like the show's two young couples struggling to make meaningful connections in an uncaring city of strangers. For all the technical proficiency of Gwon's work and Marc Bruni's staging, the musical is buried under its own banality.

Ordinary Days, a new chamber musical that opened on Sunday night at the Black Box Theater, captures that moment in youth when doubts begin to cloud hopes for the future.

In his distinguished and, frankly, very moving Broadway directing debut, David Cromer mostly does what he has been doing for years in little theaters all over Chicago. He tackles a tired, second-tier play that …

Let's hear it for the boys! To get a most endearing glimpse into the fumbling rites of passage for guys on the verge of manhood, look to the terrific interactions of Noah Robbins and Santino Fontana in Broadway's handsomely crafted new revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs.

Director David Cromer gives us a sparkling account of Neil Simon's autobiographical tale of growing up Jewish in Brooklyn in the 1930s.

Hats off to the farsighted producers of "The Neil Simon Plays" for taking a risk on their choice of director. While David Cromer's most recent New York hits, Adding Machine and Our Town, mined piercing depths in timeworn texts, they did so in an austere presentational style that seemed a million miles from the warm-hearted humor of Brighton Beach Memoirs. The first installment of a Simon double that continues with Broadway Bound, opening Dec. 10, the revival strikes an exquisite balance between comedy and pathos, its impeccable ensemble landing every laugh while exploring every emotional nuance to build a tremendously moving portrait of family life.

Neil Simon's supposedly autobiographical comedy, Brighton Beach Memoirs is fundamentally feel-good stuff and, as such, intellectually suspect. Yet it is cleverly enough contrived to prove for a hefty majority pleasantly relaxing fare.

Brighton Beach Memoirs was first seen on Broadway in 1983 with Matthew Broderick as Eugene. Now it's returned in an enjoyable revival, which opened Sunday at the Nederlander Theatre.

When I first saw Brighton Beach Memoirs by Neil Simon 26 years ago, it was a comedy with drama. In the current revival, it's a drama with comedy. David Cromer, fresh from his unique, naturalistic off-Broadway staging of Our Town, applies his now trademark directorial magic to the Neil Simon classic. The result is triumphant, as just as it was a huge hit back then, it deserves to be once again.

This revival, directed by David Cromer, clearly tries to ease up on some of the play's aggressive broadness while preserving its raucous, slightly crude spirit. But that broadness, like a persistent jack-in-the…

Under any circumstances, a revival of Simon's portrait of a thoroughly endearing Jewish family in late 1930s Brooklyn, would be a welcome diversion. But the new production that opened Sunday at the Nederlander …

Brighton Beach Memoirs is not as good as it was in 1983. It is even better. Neil Simon's coming-of-age autobiographical comedy is not as heartwarming as it was when the hit starred young Matthew Broderick and ran three years. It's now also a heartbreaker.

Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs is back on Broadway 26 years after its original run in a production that's warm and funny (which was expected) and uninspired (which wasn't).

The only way Brighton Beach Memoirs could be any cozier is if we watched it in pajamas while sipping an egg cream.

In a Broadway revival of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs, two brothers share a world within a world.

Jessica Hecht talks about a family member who inspires her performance in the revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs.

Four former Sex and the City writers have collaborated on a theater project, titled Cedar City Falls, that is a sassy, salty comic soap opera that will unfold in weekly episodes.

There is theatrical life beyond Billy Elliot, God of Carnage, Jersey Boys, and A Steady Rain.

Midyear budget cuts may decimate the budget of the New York State Council on the Arts.

The plot may puzzle you, but this is a superbly acted piece of fantasy theatre from Spain's Golden Age.

In one way or another, director Sean Graney and his company, the Hypocrites, have spent the past couple of seasons exploring what the ancient Greeks called "hubris," and what we might term self-destructive prid…

The Goodspeed Opera House offers a sprightly production of this great musical farce.

Adam Gwon's tuneful musical about four average New Yorkers is modestly engaging.

The evening as a whole, however, takes too few chances to ever completely cohere into anything truly transporting.

This revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs is not very theatrical, certainly not diverting or very involving.

There's something sweet and touching about Simon going back and wrapping the Jerome family's struggles in optimism, courage and boundless love. I just wish that aspect of the play, celebrating the resilience of…

The production makes a strong case for the show's relevance, especially during our current economic recession, but it's hard to believe that it'll make much of a mark again.

"Brighton," which opened Sunday night ("Bound" will follow in a few weeks), won't fully satisfy the director's fans in that he has imposed no new spin on Simon's nostalgic comedy-drama. But the production does …

Crafted by Neil Simon at his bittersweet best, "Brighton Beach Memoirs" returns to Broadway in a lovely new production at the Nederlander Theatre sure to beguile anybody partial to family stories.

Beautifully acted and directed production reminds us how good it is and how much better it seems now after 26 years

This production serves as a thrilling reminder that Simon's always been more than a pure funnyman, and that the pain, loss, and redemption Cromer so gently reveals have always been integral components in the la…

David Cromer directs a beautifully calibrated, superbly acted revival of Neil Simon's 1983 autobiographical play about a struggling Brooklyn family.

Lorraine Bracco, Jill Clayburgh, Hugh Dancy, Claire Danes, Michael Feinstein, Nolan Gerard Funk, Carol Kane, Joan Rivers, and more stars come out for the openings of After Miss Julie and Brighton Beach Memoirs.

Jessica Hecht talks about a family member who inspires her performance in the revival of "Brighton Beach Memoirs."

A funny thing happened to Noah Robbins on the way to college. He got the lead in a Broadway show.

Highlights from the 140+ blogs on the CF Report, with commentary. This week: How to draw young audiences...to your blog.

Prepping to play Mrs. Cole Porter, Holland considers the life behind the songwriting genius.

If the stagehands vote yes, will other unions try to conquer nonunion houses around NYC? Will producers fight back?

Alano Miller and Francois Battiste

The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, including a theatre and museum, offically opened with a gala. Playbill.com takes a walking tour of the party and complex.

In our Q&A of the imagination, discover the history of this theatrical nom de plume - a name seen in many a play's billing over the past 125 years.

Before Frank Rich Interviews Stephen Sondheim

In September 2006, the Saenger Theater was in sorry shape. Damaged by the floodwaters after Hurricane Katrina, the grand building is finally getting renovations.