This Week on Stage: Abigail Breslin makes Broadway debut in 'The Miracle Worker'

Image Credit: Joan MarcusIt was another busy week on the boards, as a handful of new shows opened. One of the most notable, of course, was Abigail Breslin’s Broadway debut as a young Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker, which EW’s Lisa Schwarzbaum awarded a B–. Schwarzbaum lauded Breslin (at left, with costar Alison Pill) for being “impressively un-actressy in the showcase role.”

Meanwhile, EW’s Thom Geier reviewed A Behanding in Spokane and gave it a B+, calling its star Christopher Walken “the ideal leading man.” Also opening was the meta-theatrical Shakespearean homage, Equivocation, which Melissa Rose Bernardo thought worthy of a C+. Bernardo also saw In the Heights with new star Corbin Bleu, giving it a B+ and saying that Bleu “sings, dances, and raps with ease.”

If you’re looking for some live theater, check out the EW.com Stage hub for up-to-date news and reviews; or consult this handy guide below, which includes links to all of our stage reviews of current shows. (Note: The reviews are typically of the show’s original casts.)

BROADWAY

The Addams Family — Musical; opens 4/8/2010

All About Me — Musical Revue starring Dame Edna and Michael Feinstein; opens 3/18/10

American Idiot — Musical; opens 4/20/2010

A Behanding in Spokane — Comedy starring Christopher Walken; opened 3/4/10; EW grade: B+

Billy Elliot — Musical; opened 11/13/08; EW grade: B+La Cage Aux Folles — Musical Revival starring Kelsey Grammer; opens 4/18/10

Chicago — Musical Revival; opened 11/14/1996; EW grade: A+

Collected Stories – Drama Revival starring Linda Lavin; opens 4/28/10

Come Fly Away — Musical created, choreographed, and directed by Twyla Tharp; opens 3/25/10

ENRON — Drama starring Norbert Leo Butz; opens 4/27/10

Fela! – Musical; opened 11/23/2009; EW grade: B+

Fences — Drama Revival starring Denzel Washington; opens 4/26/10 – 7/11/10

God of Carnage — Comedy starring Jimmy Smits and Christine Lahti; opened 3/22/2009; EW grade: A–

Hair — Musical Revival; opened 3/31/2009; EW grade: A–

In the Heights — Musical; opened 2/14/2009; EW grade: A–

Jersey Boys — Musical; opened 11/7/2005; EW grade: A

Lend Me a Tenor – Comedy Revival starring Anthony LaPaglia, Tony Shalhoub, and Justin Bartha; opens 4/4/10

The Lion King — Musical; opened 11/13/1997; EW grade: A+

Lips Together, Teeth Apart – Drama Revival starring Megan Mullally and Patton Oswalt; opens 4/29/10 – 6/20/10

A Little Night Music — Musical Revival starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury; opened 12/13/09; EW grade: B+

Looped — Drama starring Valerie Harper as Tallulah Bankhead; opens 3/14/10

Love Never Dies — Musical sequel to Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber; opens 11/11/10

Mamma Mia! — Musical; opened 10/18/2001; EW grade: B+

Mary Poppins — Musical; opened 11/16/2009; EW grade: A–

Memphis — Musical; opened 10/19/2009; EW grade: C+

Million Dollar Quartet — Musical; opens 4/11/10

The Miracle Worker — Drama revival starring Abigail Breslin; opened 3/3/10; EW grade: B–

Next Fall – Drama; opens 3/11/10

Next to Normal — Musical; opened 4/19/2009; EW grade: A

The Phantom of the Opera — Musical; opened 1/26/1988

Present Laughter — Comedy Revival starring Victor Garber; opened 1/21/2010 – 3/21/10; EW grade: B–

Promises, Promises — Musical Revival starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth; opens 4/25/10

Race — Drama starring James Spader and Kerry Washington; opened 12/6/2009; EW grade: C

Red – Drama starring Alfred Molina; opens 4/1/10 – 6/13/10

Rock of Ages — Musical; opened 4/7/2009; EW grade: C+

Sondheim on Sondheim — Musical Revue; opens 4/22/10 – 6/13/10

South Pacific — Musical Revival; opened 4/3/2008; EW grade: A

Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark — Musical starring Alan Cumming and Evan Rachel Wood; opens 2010

Time Stands Still — Drama starring Laura Linney; opened 1/28/2010 – 3/27/10; EW grade: A–

A View From the Bridge – Drama Revival starring Liev Schreiber and Scarlett Johansson; opened 1/24/2010 – 4/4/2010; EW grade: B+

West Side Story — Musical Revival; opened 3/19/2009; EW grade: B

Wicked — Musical; opened 10/30/03; EW grade: B

OFF BROADWAY

Ages of the Moon – Drama starring Stephen Rea; opened 1/27/10 – 3/21/10; EW grade: B–

Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps – Comedy; reopens 3/25/10; EW grade: B+

As You Like It — Comedy; opened 1/26/10 – 3/13/10; EW grade: B–

Avenue Q — Musical; reopened 10/21/2009; EW grade: A

Blue Man Group — Special Performance; opened 11/11/1991

Equivocation — Drama; opened 3/2/10 – 3/28/10; EW grade: C+

The Fantasticks — Musical Revival; opened 6/16/2008; EW grade: B+

A Lie of the Mind — Drama revival directed by Ethan Hawke and starring Keith Carradine and Laurie Metcalf; opened 2/18/10 – 3/20/10; EW grade: A–

Love, Loss, and What I Wore — Drama; opened 10/1/2009; EW grade: B+

Mr. & Mrs. Fitch — Comedy starring John Lithgow and Jennifer Ehle; opened 2/22/10 – 3/21/10; EW grade: B+

The Orphans’ Home Cycle, Part I — Drama; opened 11/20/2009 – 5/8/10; EW grade: A–

The Orphan’s Home Cycle, Part II – Drama; opened 12/17/09 – 5/8/10; EW grade: B+

The Orphan’s Home Cycle, Part III — Drama; opens 1/26/10 – 5/8/10; EW grade: A

The Tempest — Comedy; opened 3/25/10; EW grade: A–

Our Town — Drama Revival; opened 2/26/2009 – 3/14/10; EW grade: A–

The Pride – Drama starring Hugh Dancy and Ben Whishaw; opens 2/16/10 – 3/20/10; EW grade: B

Stomp — Special performance; opened 2/27/1994

ELSEWHERE

The 101 Dalmatians Musical (National tour) — Musical; EW grade: B–

August: Osage County (National tour with Estelle Parsons) — Drama; EW grade: A

Brief Encounter (Minneapolis) — Drama with music; 2/11/10 – 4/2/10; EW grade: A

Dreamgirls (National tour with Syesha Mercado) — Musical; EW grade: B+

The Female of the Species (Los Angeles) — Comedy starring Annette Bening; opened 2/11/10 – 3/14/10; EW grade: C+

Kà (Las Vegas) — Special performance; opened November 2004; EW grade: A–

LOVE (Las Vegas) — Musical revue; opened 8/24/2006; EW grade: A–

Love Never Dies (London) — Musical from Andrew Lloyd Webber; opens 3/9/10

Mary Poppins (National tour) — Musical; EW grade: B

Mystere (Las Vegas) — Special performance; opened 5/25/1993; EW grade: A

The Pee-wee Herman Show (Los Angeles) — Comedy; opened 1/20/10; EW grade: B

O (Las Vegas) — Special performance; opened October 1998; EW grade: A-

The Subject Was Roses (Los Angeles) — Drama; opened 2/21/10; EW grade: B

Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family (National tour) — Drama with music; opened 1/6/10; EW grade: B-

Zumanity (Las Vegas) — Special performance; opened September 2003; EW grade: C

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