An American in Paris By all rights An American in Paris should be an exercise in nostalgia. Based on the 1951 movie musical starring Gene Kelly and featuring such chestnutty Gershwin classics as “I Got Rhythm”, it tells the tale of Jerry Mulligan, an ex-GI who falls in love while trying to make it as an artist in the City of Light. Thanks to playwright Craig Lucas and director-choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, however, the show doesn’t depend on schmaltz for its richness. Lucas’s book excavates each character’s World War II trauma; Wheeldon’s dances isolate and amplify Kelly’s balletic impulse. The result is at once dark and beautiful. Though this Equity touring show is very fine in most ways, it’s not as satisfying as it might be: McGee Maddox is a marvelous dancer, but his Mulligan comes across as callow—somehow untouched by the wartime experiences he describes. (Ryan Steele plays the role at certain performances.) —Tony Adler
In the Wake In Lisa Kron’s play, set in 2000, Ellen (Rose Sengenberger), a smart but slightly aimless intellectual and writer, wants more than she can have. She wants to see Amy (Alison Plott) while staying committed long-term to Danny (Mike Newquist). She wants to register her outrage at the flawed American “system” during dinner gatherings, and to be pleasant and inoffensive at them too. Between bouts of relationship battling and political speechifying, clips from the nonstop news cycle are projected against the back wall of Rachel Rauscher’s plain, domestic set for this production by the Comrades. Bush II defeats Gore. Bush II mutters threats into a megaphone at Ground Zero. Helicopters pull bodies off of rooftops in New Orleans. As each chaotic blip fades to static, it’s clear that some connection is being posited between the footage and the play, but the two run on parallel tracks, never meeting up. Alex Mallory directed. —Max Maller
