‘The New Girl’ takes over the Irish Rep

'The New Girl in Town' takes on NYC's Irish Repertory Theatre

As Matt, the laughing broth of an Irish boy who falls hard for Anna the first time he meets her, Patrick Cummings is a fully fledged Broadway star who is ready to take this role to 42nd Street. He manages to combine street toughness with an unusual tenderness of heart in a performance that has the power to take your breath away. Cummings provides the emotional center of the show in a star making turn.

As Chris Christopherson, the father who gave Anna away to relatives in Minnesota when her mother died, Cliff Bemis looks believably conscience stricken and eager to find a little redemption. He also provides the show with many of its most memorable departures from O’Neill’s source text.

Singing “Ven I Valse” with his daughter, we have stepped far from the gloom and fog of O’Neill’s play into the sunnier climes of Broadway. The thing is that it works.

New Girl in Town gives the Irish Rep another opportunity to do what we already know they do best. The production fires on all cylinders like the venerable old theatrical magic maker it is again, sending you singing into the New York streets.

New Girl in Town plays at the Irish Repertory Theatre, 132 West 22nd Street, New York, until September 9. Visit www.irishrep.org or call 212- 727-2737 for tickets and showtimes.

​
Nster.com