Nick Jonas & Rob Bartlett in "How to Succeed...". Photo by Joan Marcus.

What’s that smell in the Broadway air? Dance belt and shattered dreams? Well, yes. But I’m talking about the delightfully floral scent of a theater news potpourri..

• Michael Riedel at the New York Post broke the news this week that Tom Hanks (Bosom Buddies) will make his Broadway debut in a new play by Nora Ephron. He’ll play famed tabloid columnist Mike McAlary in Lucky Guy, January 2013. Sleepless in the Newsroom?

• Movie stars are coming up like weeds, it would seem, because Hanks isn’t the only film favorite coming to the Great White Way—although he is a bit more alive than the other arrival. The New York Times reports that a bio-musical about Chaplin (as in Charlie Chaplin) will begin previews August 10.

• Lay wreathes at two more Broadway theaters this week as the season ending culling continues. The new musical Leap of Faith, with only a single Tony nomination and disappointing sales, will shutter this Sunday, and the teen friendly reboot of How to Succeed… (currently starring Nick Jonas) will cash it’s last (investment recouped) check on May 20 after 473 regular performances. Expect the death toll to increase in the coming weeks.

• 

  Reeve Carney & Rebecca Faulkenberry in "Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark". Photo by Jacob Cohl.

  Turning the proverbial lemons into lemonade (Is there a lemon flower? Have I lost the thread of my organizing theme already?), the producers of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark have cheekily and quite delightfully decided to acknowledge their underrepresentation at the Tony Nominations by celebrating “Tonys”. People named “Tony” or variations thereof will be eligible for free tickets to see the musical at the matinee on Tony Sunday. The rules and regulations are here; there may still be time for a legal name change should you so desire.

• Feeling like a bud vase of theater instead of a whole bouquet? Scrappy Milk Can Theatre Company is offering an evening of seven ten minute plays, The Snap Shot Plays, this weekend at Shetler Studios. The twist: each play was inspired by a local photographer’s work. Sounds interesting and worth a peak.

• Isn’t one supposed to throw roses at a diva? Well, get your dozen ready to toss at your TV because Christine (and her beloved Phantom) are making their way to PBS. A filmed performance of the much-discussed sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies, will be presented in June. As they say, check your local listings.

• In the world of grand laurels, I have once again received the honor of being a guest on the radio show This Show is So Gay to discuss all things Broadway. As usual, I embarrass myself at least twice. How I suffer for my art.

Every first Wednesday of the month, get caught up with what’s on stage with our review round-up. And that vaguely hollow, clinking sound you hear at the end of each segment? That’s me tossing in my two cents. This month, we’ve got two shows that didn’t receive much Tony-nomination love but deserve a serious look…

The Cast of "The Lyons". Photo by Carol Rosegg.

THE LYONS

Tony-nominee Linda Lavin returns to Broadway as one mother of a mother in Nicky Silver’s hilariously acidic family comedy.

“…directed with a pulsing comic rhythm by Mark Brokaw, [the play] draws laughs with the same reliability as, say, The Odd Couple. But with The Lyons, there’s often a gasp within the chuckle.” New York Times

“When you hear them delivered by pros like Dick Latessa and Linda Lavin, it’s comedy nirvana.” New York Post

“Nicky Silver’s caustically funny and emotionally satisfying family comedy is driven by a gem of a performance from Linda Lavin.” Hollywood Reporter

“…delightfully black comedy.” Entertainment Weekly

Mizer’s Two Cents: A victim of an unusually strong season for new plays, The Lyons would be tallying multiple nominations in any other year. See it, not just for Lavin’s justifiably acclaimed comedic master class (she gets laughs from single looks because her character work is so fully realized you can hear the joke she’s thinking in her head), but because the script is a fast-paced, zinger-laced ride that manages to find a bravely humane landing place without going soft. Theatre stalwart Dick Latessa provides delightfully caustic support as a dying patriarch with the mouth of a shock comedian. And Michael Esper, coiled up emotionally and physically, rises to Lavin’s level, slowly and rightfully taking center stage as the real lead of the play. One second act detour has been divisive for audiences (I found it a necessary and illuminating widening of the world) but there’s no question that when The Lyons hits its stride, it roars.

Read more…