First Nighter: Nicky Silver's "This Day Forward" Not All That Forward by David Finkle

Noah is the 40-ish son of Irene and of--spoiler alert? I'm not convinced)--the late Martin. And, boy-oh-boy, is Noah a waspish

First Nighter: Nicky Silver's "This Day Forward" Not All That Forward by David Finkle

One place where loyalty indisputably plays an invaluable part is the theater. Producers, whether commercial or not-for-profit

First Nighter: Nicky Silver's "This Day Forward" Not All That Forward by David Finkle

First Nighter: 'Kingdom Come,' 'Ultimate Beauty Bible' Angrily Go After Women's Issues by David Finkle

I won't hold out for either play being entirely persuasive, but they add substantially to the national discussion of revelations

First Nighter: 'Kingdom Come,' 'Ultimate Beauty Bible' Angrily Go After Women's Issues by David Finkle

In Kingdom Come, Samantha, or Sammy, is an obese young Carson City, Nevada woman for whom it's painful even to get out of

First Nighter: 'Kingdom Come,' 'Ultimate Beauty Bible' Angrily Go After Women's Issues by David Finkle

First Nighter: "Terms of Endearment" Not Endearing on Stage, Gideon Irving Happily Declares "My Name is Gideon," GQ and JQ (W)rap by David Finkle

It's not that either is outright bad (a full Dead Poets Society review can be found elsewhere on The Huffington Post), but

First Nighter: "Terms of Endearment" Not Endearing on Stage, Gideon Irving Happily Declares "My Name is Gideon," GQ and JQ (W)rap by David Finkle

"You must be tolerant of talent," he said, perhaps intuiting the slightly negative reaction I was about to express about

First Nighter: "Terms of Endearment" Not Endearing on Stage, Gideon Irving Happily Declares "My Name is Gideon," GQ and JQ (W)rap by David Finkle

First Nighter: "Party People" Definitely Revolutionary at the Public Theater by David Finkle

To a man and woman, they insist that Malik and Jimmy have rubbed away the raw corners of their not convincingly triumphant

First Nighter: "Party People" Definitely Revolutionary at the Public Theater by David Finkle

Woven into the proceedings rather neatly is a mother-daughter generational divide between then and now, as are any number

First Nighter: "Party People" Definitely Revolutionary at the Public Theater by David Finkle

First Nighter: Monica Piper's Very Funny and Very Real "Not That Jewish" by David Finkle

Yes, she recalls her climb up the comedy ladder. There's the journey to Los Angeles by way of Chicago's Second City and the

First Nighter: Monica Piper's Very Funny and Very Real "Not That Jewish" by David Finkle

After all this time, she has a potent response to the Bronx neighborhood mother who so blithely and with such a narrow mind

First Nighter: Monica Piper's Very Funny and Very Real "Not That Jewish" by David Finkle

First Nighter: Gregory Doran's Sumptuous "King Lear" Production, with Antony Sher, Now on Stateside Screens by David Finkle

There are any number of scholars who will insist that King Lear is Shakespeare's greatest play. (Not Hamlet, in which a child's

First Nighter: Gregory Doran's Sumptuous "King Lear" Production, with Antony Sher, Now on Stateside Screens by David Finkle

Crosby, Stills and Nash may have warned parents to "teach your children well" after spending a few hours with Lear and Gloucester

First Nighter: Gregory Doran's Sumptuous "King Lear" Production, with Antony Sher, Now on Stateside Screens by David Finkle

First Nighter: London Boasts a Great "Ragtime," David Hare's "The Red Barn," Ronald Harwood's "The Dresser," Tom Stoppar by David Finkle

If there's anything off-kilter in Patrick Marber's production, I missed it. What I didn't miss was noticing that the battered

First Nighter: London Boasts a Great "Ragtime," David Hare's "The Red Barn," Ronald Harwood's "The Dresser," Tom Stoppar by David Finkle

Nevertheless, its depiction of the relationship between Sir (Ken Stott, fulfilling every demand of the role) and dresser

First Nighter: London Boasts a Great "Ragtime," David Hare's "The Red Barn," Ronald Harwood's "The Dresser," Tom Stoppar by David Finkle

First Nighter: Kenneth Branagh in John Osborne's "The Entertainer," Kemp Powers's Thrilling "One Night in Miami...," Peter Shaffer by David Finkle

Before the 90-minute play ends, Powers has delivered a subtle lecture on racial intolerance that existed then and still does

First Nighter: Kenneth Branagh in John Osborne's "The Entertainer," Kemp Powers's Thrilling "One Night in Miami...," Peter Shaffer by David Finkle

Branagh starts with a deft tap routine executed in Neil Austin's hazy lighting and augmented by four dancing cuties. Immediately

First Nighter: Kenneth Branagh in John Osborne's "The Entertainer," Kemp Powers's Thrilling "One Night in Miami...," Peter Shaffer by David Finkle

First Nighter: William Finn's "Falsettos" is Back and Bold and Bountiful by David Finkle

A master tunesmith, Finn risks undermining himself in the virtually sung-though enterprise. That occurs when, despite Michael