English (Roundabout Theatre Company)

By Harry Forbes

I didn’t catch Sanaz Toossi’s 2022 play about four students taking an English proficiency course in Iran when it played the Atlantic (in a co-production with Roundabout). But now, here it is on Broadway under the auspices of Roundabout, after winning the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2023. And a very worthy play it is.

It took several minutes to engage me, as I feared the humor of the piece would have rather too much to do with the stumbling malaprops of the native Farsi speaking students. But as “English” progresses, Toossi’s themes of language and how it impacts one’s sense of national identify and native culture becomes clear and profound. 

Right from the start, you tune into Toossi’s clever device of having the cast speak in unaccented English when they are, in fact, speaking Farsi. But when they attempt their often fractured English, they speak with an accent. We get a sense of their "real" selves through the former.

The time is 2008, and their instructor is Marjan (Marjan Neshat) who has lived in Manchester, England for nine years, before returning to her native Karaj. She insists that only English be spoken in the classroom, but the role is frequently broken by her frustrated pupils.

The students, ostensibly there to prepare for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam, include Elham (Tala Ashe) who, as we soon learn, has already failed that test several times. She resents having to learn English but is determined to work in Australia in the field of gastroenterology. Roya (Pooya Mohseni), older than the others, needs to learn English so she can join her son and grandchild in Canada, and not embarrass her son who, it seems, disdains his Iranian heritage. And Goli (Ava Lalezarzadeh), a cheerful 18 year old who simply believes English will be a useful tool in the future. Her elucidation of Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs” song, her contribution to a “show and tell” exercise, is the play’s comic highpoint. 

Quite different than the rest is the one male student Omid (Hadi Tabbal), whose English is far better than all the others but says he recognizes his shortcomings in the language. He and Marjan bond over their mutual enjoyment of Western rom-coms like “Notting Hill” and “Moonstruck,”  which Marjan screens in her office to learn greater proficiency. Along the way, an unstated affection grows between them. 

In the classroom, tensions build as the female students wonder whether the struggle to learn English is worth it, at the same time they ponder whether they stand to lose more than they gain from immersing themselves in a language so removed from their own. Tellingly, though, Marjan reveals at one point that she likes herself better in English.

All of this is absorbing and thought provoking and Knud Adams directs with great sensitivity. The cast is uniformly excellent.

The action plays out on Marsha Ginsberg’s revolving box set which allows us to see everything from different angles though occasionally the vertical beams that limn the classroom, block our view of the action; ditto some of the furniture. Reza Behjat’s lighting subtly delineates the time of day. And there is a superbly effective use of music (mostly piano) to cover the scene changes which complement the emotional mood of the preceding scene, and balances the plainness of the classroom setting. . Likewise, a swelling symphonic interlude near the end makes the action before and after even more poignant. 

(Todd Haimes Theatre, 227 West 42nd Street; roundabouttheatre.org or 212-719-1300; thrugh March 2)

Gypsy (Majestic Theatre)

By Harry Forbes

It was only a matter of time before Audra McDonald would join the distinguished line of post-Ethel Merman interpreters of that arguably most demanding of leading lady musical roles -- Rose, the ultimate stage mother -- and she is, as you would expect, quite superb. 

Though it scarcely seems so long, it has already been 18 years since the first-rate Patti LuPone revival, so this latest one is not premature. And director George C. Wolfe’s production is a fine one across the board. Intriguingly, the advance publicity made clear that, far from color blind casting, McDonald would be playing Rose pointedly as a black woman, with her children Gypsy and June presumably of mixed race parentage.  I wondered how that would be conveyed apart from the actual casting, or how the conceit might impact the integrity of the original Arthur Laurents’ book. 

But, as it happens, nothing’s been altered in the script, and race doesn’t overtly figure in any of the plot turns, even on a subliminal level. (Rose’s machinations to get her kids booked meets the standard impediments, but race isn’t one of them.) Still,  this is not color blind casting for McDonald indeed plays the role as a scrappy black woman with the pointed vocal inflections of a woman of a certain class and era. And in so doing, she  creates a unique characterization unlike other Roses we’ve seen, and reminding us yet again of what a potent actress she is even apart from her lustrous voice.

Vocally, McDonald’s trained soprano voice might not seem the ideal fit for the belting Rose, and some of her register shifts are a tad disconcerting at first. But, for the most part, she sings in a chest voice, only morphing into purer soprano tones on the highest notes. 

“Rose’s Turn” is delivered with tremendous ferocity earning a deserved ovation, but she also scores delightfully in the lighter moments like “Have an Egg Roll, Mr. Goldstone,” and “Together, Wherever We Go.” 

She’s got strong support from Danny Burstein, brilliant as Herbie, the manager who loves her, and provides the family with a temporary semblance of stability. And Joy Woods, so impressive in last season’s CSC revival of “I Can Get It For You Wholesale,” makes an ideal Gypsy, sweet and awkwardly self-effacing in the early scenes, luscious as the strip tease artist she becomes. 

The three strippers who instruct novice Gypsy with “You Gotta Get a Gimmick” are among the best, and the number, familiar as it may be, comes out freshly minted.  Lesli Margherita, Lili Thomas, and Mylinda Hull wring every ounce of humor out of the number as Tessie Tura, Mazeppa, and Electra. 

And Kevin Csolak is a sensational Tulsa, delivering one of the best versions of “All I Need is the Girl.” Camille A. Brown eschews the sacrosanct Jerome Robbins choreography for her own and her work in this number and throughout is terrific. 

Baby June (Jade Smith at my performance) was surely the most acrobatic within memory, and she morphs neatly into Jordan Tyson’s older June. Tyson’s “If Momma Was Married” duet with Woods is another highpoint. Elsewhere, though I felt both Junes were at times undercut by Wolfe’s exaggerated staging of their numbers.

Andy Einhorn leads his forces in a polished account of score, though I must confess I thought the famous overture was a tad short of pizzazz. On the other hand, audience members at my performance yakked all the way through it, so perhaps the blame lies there. 

Santo Loquasto’s set deftly handles all the scenes from Rose’s father’s Seattle house to the elaborate Minsky set piece of Gypsy’s strip. Toni-Leslie James’ costumes are spot on, and Mia Neal’s hair and wig design, Jules Fisher + Peggy Eisenthauer’s lighting, and Scott Lehrer’s sound are top of the line.

(Majestic Theatre, 245 W 44th Street; GypsyBway.com)

Photo by Julieta Cervantes: (l. - r.) Audra McDonald & Joy Woods