Snook! Sink! Boop! & More Now on Broadway

Reverend’s Reviews by Rev. Chris Carpenter

Hello, dear readers!  It’s been a while since I last posted and I apologize for the delay.  Numerous issues intervened: extended illness, resignation of the previous blog administrator, northeast US winter, church duties, evil presidential administrations, etc. At any rate, I’m happy to be back AND in the immediate wake of the 2025 Tony Award nominations!

Reverend has been “bingeing” Broadway’s latest offerings over the past month or so, since I live in NYC-adjacent Connecticut and am a member of the GALECA Theatre Wing (galeca.com).  Grrrrlls, we’ve got a lot to write/talk about!

Let’s start with two of this season’s most illustrious yet challenging talents for the alliteration-adverse like myself: Sarah Snook vs. Sadie Sink. These TV/streaming darlings are currently headlining fantastic Broadway plays, and both the actresses and their productions are newly-anointed Tony nominees in multiple categories. But adding to any potential alliterative confusion between the pair is the fact that their respective theaters are directly across 45th Street from each other!

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Now playing at the Music Box through June 29th)

Sarah Snook’s one-woman tour de force interpretation of Oscar Wilde’s classic morality tale. I was not very familiar with Snook (which I learned is pronounced like boo or new, not like look or book) but I became an instant fan after witnessing her Tony-nominated performance. She delectably plays 26 different characters, some of them in the same scene thanks to quick costume changes and/or pre-recorded projections. It is a stunning production, brilliantly conceived by Kip Williams and beautifully designed by Marg Horwell. Catch it while you can!

Reverend’s Rating: A+

John Proctor is the Villain (Now playing at the Booth Theatre)

A live and in person chance to shine for Sadie Sink, Stranger Things’ breakout star. This potent new play by Kimberly Belflower serves as both a critique and modern day translation of Arthur Miller’s theatrical classic, The Crucible. There are no witches to be found here, only a “coven” of high school girls learning to stand up against their male abusers. Sink and her castmates, under the direction of last season’s Tony-winning director Danya Taymor (The Outsiders), are uniformly excellent. Teens and young adults will respond especially well to this.

Reverend’s Rating: A

Boop! The Musical (Now playing at the Broadhurst Theatre)

The most visually inventive and purely enjoyable musical of this season. One doesn’t have to be particularly familiar with Betty Boop, the early-20th century cartoon character, to be wowed by this show’s immense charms. When Betty is transported from her black & white world to ultra-colorful, modern-day NYC, comedic chaos ensues thanks to Bob Martin’s very funny book. Things may get a little too silly at times but kids will eat it up (especially Betty’s adorable dog, Pudgy, who is frequently on stage). A star is born in 25-year old Jasmine Amy Rogers, making her Broadway debut in the title role. She is a charismatic triple-threat and now a deserved Tony Award nominee. The scenery, special effects, costumes and choreography are consistently amazing, and the pop-leaning songs by David Foster and Susan Birkenhead range from serviceable to terrific. I’m surprised Boop! isn’t doing better in terms of attendance although its award nominations may give it a bump. No matter what, I’m hoping it will get a national tour so everyone can check it out.

Reverend’s Rating: A-

Floyd Collins (Now playing at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theatre through June 22nd)

Speaking of early-20th century Americana, Adam Guettel’s and Tina Landau’s 1995 musical inspired by a real-life incident in 1925 is finally making its Broadway debut. It is a unique work that tells the tragic tale of a young man trapped in a Kentucky cavern and the early “media circus” resulting from his plight. The always likable Jeremy Jordan stars as Floyd, and he was in fine voice during the performance I attended. Jordan is also newly Tony-nominated as is this production in the Best Revival of a Musical category. After a strong start, I found some of the staging odd and the show itself overwrought, with a few too many central characters. Still, Guettel’s songs often soar and the finale packs an emotional punch.

Reverend’s Rating: B

Operation Mincemeat (Now playing at the Golden Theatre through February 2026)

This British import is definitely one of the more unusual shows currently running. The musical is based on a true story but considerably infused with a Monty Python-esque sensibility. A crack team of government operatives (including James Bond creator Ian Fleming) develops and executes a plan to oust Hitler’s troops from Sicily during World War II. While most of the story is played for laughs, it features some touching, resonant moments. The strongest is “Dear Bill,” a lovely soliloquy beautifully performed by Tony nominee Jak Malone (he previously won the Olivier for his turn). Operation Mincemeat’s first act is stronger than the second, both dramatically and musically, but it definitely makes for an entertaining afternoon or evening at the theatre!

Reverend’s Rating: B+

Real Women Have Curves (Now playing at the James Earl Jones Theatre)

The newest of this season’s musicals just opened April 27th.  Adapted from Josefina Lopez’s play and 2002 movie of the same name, it depicts a group of Latina immigrant coworkers in a dressmaking shop in Boyle Heights, California circa 1987. One of their daughters is about to graduate from high school and is intent on attending Columbia University in NYC, much to her parents’ disapproval. Though set nearly 30 years ago and developed prior to the current presidential administration, the show is powerfully timely in dealing with immigration issues. While very serious in spots, this is primarily a musical comedy with many funny moments and a vibrant score by Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez. They were both surprise nominees last week for this year’s Best Score Tony. Real Women Have Curves also boasts a delightful, mostly Latina cast. It is a true crowd pleaser, and Latina/Latino theatregoers will no doubt especially appreciate it.

Reverend’s Rating: A-

Reverend's Reviews: 2024 — Another Queer Year for Movies

Happy new year, dear readers! Interestingly, we termed my round-up of the best and worst movies of 2023 “a Queer Year for Movies.” Guess what? 2024 turned out to be even MORE queer. (Queerer?) Heck, a major award-nominated release was even entitled Queer!

Also interesting is the fact that many of this year’s best films feature lead characters who are underdogs, oppressed, and/or members of underrepresented communities who discover their dignity and power. What’s more, there is no shortage of LGBTQ talent in front of and behind the camera.

Without further ado, here is this queer critic’s rundown of the best and worst cinematic offerings of 2024. As is my custom, I sometimes join together movies of equal quality that also share themes, genres or talent.

1. The Brutalist (A24). An excellent, humanist epic about the title style of architecture and a whole lot more. It follows the journey of a Holocaust survivor, his wife and their niece to post-World War 2 USA. Lead actors Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce have never been better. Actor-turned-director Brady Corbet, who memorably played Brian in Gregg Araki’s potent Mysterious Skin (2004), establishes himself here as a master filmmaker. It is 3 ½ hours long but well worth the time, and thankfully includes an intermission.

2. Emilia Pérez (Netflix) and The End (NEON). Two original, deliriously unique movie musicals. The first centers on a trans character (played by trans actress Karla Sofía Gascón) and both the havoc and grace that result from their transition. The second depicts a family, headed by the always great Tilda Swinton, that has survived a global apocalypse in their underground bunker. Did I mention both films are musicals with full-on singing and dancing? Don’t miss them.

3. The Animal Kingdom (Magnet Releasing). I fell in love early last year with this French fantasy-drama. An unknown phenomenon is causing humans to turn into animals, birds and other species. Derogatorily termed “hybrids,” their mistreatment evokes LGBTQ parallels. When his teenage son is afflicted, a father grapples with how best to support him. This is a beautiful, timely parable featuring award-winning special effects.

4. Challengers (Amazon/MGM) and Queer (A24). Filmmaker Luca Guadagnino and writer Justin Kuritzkes created not just one but two of the most provocative movies of the year. Tennis has never appeared as sexy as it does in Challengers thanks to the film’s fluid — and very hot — love triangle, while Daniel Craig (yes, the former James Bond) has never been as boldly sexual as he is in Queer.

5. The Blue Angels (Amazon/MGM), Jim Henson: Idea Man (Disney+) and Let the Canary Sing: Cyndi Lauper (Paramount+). In a strong year for documentaries, these three stood out to me for the unadulterated admiration they have for their subjects even as they remain objective. The Blue Angels, about the elite Navy flying corps, also boasts spectacular cinematography best experienced on the biggest screen you can find.

6. The People’s Joker (Altered Innocence). Vera Drew caused a commotion with this, her first feature film as a director. A queer, clever, satiric take on Batman’s nemesis and many other DC Comics characters, it angered DC’s leadership to the extent they prohibited Drew from showing the movie publicly. She even had to withdraw it from some 2023 film festivals. Fortunately for all of us, DC relented last year and Drew’s ingenious comedy is now available for all to see!

7. Wicked (Universal) and Nightbitch (Searchlight). Women rule — eventually — in these fantastical works. Director Jon M. Chu not only adapted the long-running Broadway blockbuster Wicked into a blockbuster movie musical, but worked in tributes to the entire cinematic legacy of The Wizard of Oz as well as more story elements from gay writer Gregory Maguire’s original novel. Meanwhile, Amy Adams gives her best performance in years as a neglected wife and mother who learns to defy gravity with the help of a pack of dogs and her newly unleashed inner canine.

8. A Quiet Place: Day One (Paramount) and Tuesday (A24). As some readers know, my “day job” is working with hospice patients. I was therefore caught off guard, pleasantly so, by the terminally-ill protagonists of these two well-made adventures. Lupita Nyong’o’s Samira finds renewed reason to live, with the help of her therapy cat and a traumatized man, as NYC is attacked by aliens in the Quiet Place prequel. In the lovely Tuesday, a dying teenage girl and Death itself, which appears as a magical bird, must prepare her mother (a terrific Julia Louis-Dreyfus) for the inevitable.

9. Anora (NEON). The latest from writer-director Sean Baker (Tangerine, Red Rocket) is currently racking up awards from film festivals and critic groups. It focuses on the title character, an exotic dancer/sex worker who falls for the spoiled son of a Russian oligarch. Though their relationship proves ill-fated, Ani discovers her true strengths in the process. Mikey Madison gives a delightful, star-making performance.

10. Conclave (Focus) and The Critic (Lionsgate). Conniving Catholic cardinals and an equally manipulative theatre critic are the subjects of these more classical yet unexpectedly entertaining movies. An all-star cast including Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini add credibility as their characters participate in the election of a new pope in Conclave, while queer legend Ian McKellen plays the secretly gay, deliciously vicious writer in The Critic.

Honorable mentions in alphabetical order: The Fall Guy, Kinds of Kindness, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Late Night with the Devil, Lover of Men: The Untold Story of Abraham Lincoln, National Anthem and Sing Sing.

At the other end of the cinematic spectrum are these 2024 movies that most made me want my money, time and/or dignity back after enduring them:

1. Under Paris (Netflix). Super-smart great white sharks invade the French capital. Utterly ridiculous, yet it became a streaming hit that is reportedly getting a sequel.

2. The First Omen (20th Century Studios) and Immaculate (NEON). Evil nuns and priests have become an overused cliché in horror movies. These two entries employ them to the worst, most illogical extremes to date. God should smite the filmmakers.

3. Road House (Amazon/MGM). I don’t think anyone was asking for a remake of the 1989 camp classic that starred the late Patrick Swayze as a bouncer with seemingly mystical abilities. Well, we got a remake anyway with Jake Gyllenhaal stepping into the role. It was far from an improvement.

4. Night Swim (Universal). A family moves into a new house which, unbeknownst to them, features a haunted swimming pool as an amenity. While this plot gets points for originality, it quickly starts to tread water.

5. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (Warner Bros). The long-running sci-fi action series has finally run out of gas, as proven by this over-the-top, more-of-the-same prequel.

6. Madame Web (Sony). So bad it soured me on the current Marvel offering, Kraven the Hunter, and I would normally watch yummy Aaron Taylor-Johnson in anything (see honorable mention The Fall Guy above).

7. Civil War (A24). It may yet to prove to be a prescient documentary, but this box office hit seemed like a cash grab in light of our country’s political woes by the otherwise reputable British filmmaker, Alex Garland.

Despite whatever ideas the last movie above in particular might inspire, here’s to a happy, healthy, safe, non-revolutionary (but no promises) 2025 for all of us!

Reviews by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film and stage critic of Movie Dearest and Rage Monthly Magazine.