New York Report

Eclipsed The facts are fascinating; the play is not. In Ireland, young unwed mothers were "signed in" by their families to the Catholic Church, where they were locked away without their babies, without fresh air, sunshine or medical attention for the rest of their lives, doing Ireland’s laundry. The last of the Magdalene Laundries closed, astonishingly, in 1996. Eclipsed, by Patricia Burke Brogan, gives us five young women, each a pitiable victim in her own way (one mad for Elvis, one a blasphemous rebel, one an asthmatic, etc., etc.), plus a fascistic Mother Superior ("on your knees") and a sad novitiate who sees the horror of the situation but is powerless to help and says stuff like, "Are you a God of Love or of Justice?" Because there is no drama but just circumstance, and because there are no characters but only stereotypes, and because there is no tension but only static pathos, a lot of good material goes to waste. The ensemble, under Charlotte Moore’s direction, creates very little sense of the neurotic intimacy imaginable in such a place, and each performance seems easy and formulaic. Brogan is not, it seems, a name to add to the ever-lengthening list of important Irish playwrights. (Irish Repertory Theatre, 132 W. 22nd St., through Dec.19, 212-727-2737.)

Kiss Me Kate Back on Broadway after 51 years, full of life, fun, melody and wit, Cole Porter’s musical comedy is, simply, irresistible. The plot follows a divorced couple, both actors of transcendent ego and combustible temperament, who find themselves paired again in a hokey musical production of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. Their musical is framed by the musical we’re watching, so there are lots of delicious backstage scenes as well as hilarious onstage scenes. Brian Stokes Mitchell (who won every prize on the planet for his performance in Ragtime, which followed his celebrated Kiss of the Spiderwoman) has a gorgeous, warm, apparently effortless baritone; he swaggers through "I’ve Come to Wive It Wealthily in Padua" and melts in "So in Love." His Kate is Marin Mazzie (Ragtime and Passion), a blond soaring soprano willing to clown it up enough to bring down the house in "I Hate Men." And what’s a show-biz musical without an ingenue on the make? Amy Spanger is sexy and adorable in "Always True to You in My Fashion," and the nifty ensemble gives us knockout production numbers like "Too Darn Hot." Ron Holgate as General Harrison Howell provides a wildly funny rendition of "From this Moment On" and the gangsters (Michael Mulheren and Lee Wilkof) put the cherry on top with "Brush Up Your Shakespeare." Exit theater smiling and humming. (Martin Beck Theatre, 302 W. 45th St., open run, 800-432-7250.)

The Price A satisfying revival of Arthur Miller’s 1968 play. Two brothers, Victor, a New York cop, and Walter, a doctor, struggle with each other and their self-deceptions as memories of their father and the Depression emerge during the sale of an attic full of the family’s furniture. Everybody, it turns out, has paid a high price for the past. Bob Dishy is elegant and hilarious as Solomon, the 89-year-old antiques dealer full of life and wisdom. Jeffrey DeMunn transforms himself from Act One’s self-defeated Victor to the passionately self-defending Victor of Act Two in a superb, lean performance, while Harris Yulin does his brother’s fatcat with suave control and Lizbeth Mackay subtly conveys the desperation of a long-angry loyal wife. James Naughton (Ally McBeal’s TV father), two-Tony-winning actor, directs. (Royale Theatre, 242 W. 45th St., open run, 800-432-7250. Some $25 mezzanine seats are available at the box office the day of the performance.)

The Rainmaker Feeling more like a rerun than a revival, this play wants to be Grapes of Wrath but winds up closer to The Beverly Hillbillies. This is a creaky story about a farm family and a drought and a con artist who promises to make it rain for $100. There’s the requisite realist, Lizzie (Jayne Atkinson), seduced by the dreamer Starbuck (Woody Harrelson), and far too many lines like, "For once in your life, get carried away," and "You don’t believe you’re a woman and if you don’t, you’re not." Everybody seems to be remarkably casual about the heat and the dying cattle and the parched land, and the main issue on everybody’s minds — her father, her two grown brothers, and the sheriff and his deputy — seems to be getting Lizzie a husband. Woody Harrelson disappoints in every possible way: He lacks a compelling stage presence; his voice is thin and has no range; where Starbuck should be mesmerizing, he’s just clowning, and where he should be dangerous, he’s just cute. Despite the audible ripple that ran through the audience when he takes off his shirt, he just isn’t sexy enough to be a plausible Starbuck. Scott Ellis directs. (Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 W. 47th St., through Feb. 6, 212-307-4100. $25 standing room tickets available day of performance.)

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