Author: Ben Lerner

Review of ROB LAKE MAGIC

By Ben Lerner

It was recently announced that Oscar winners Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence will be producing a Miss Piggy film with a script penned by Oh, Mary! Tony winner Cole Escola. For those who can’t wait to see Piggy in action, she’s currently costarring in a Broadway show — but probably not the one you expected.

Miss Piggy and her Muppet friends cameo in Rob Lake Magic, currently playing at the Broadhurst Theatre. The show is what it sounds like: an interactive Vegas-style magic show starring Rob Lake of America’s Got Talent fame. Is the inclusion of the Muppets somewhat random? Definitely. Is it a bad thing? Not at all. If anything, they’re underutilized.

Cole Escola’s script will almost certainly contain raunchy adult humor, but at Rob Lake Magic, the Muppets are as family-friendly as it gets. Lake performs a mix of his famous illusions — not new ones — and includes significant audience participation. There were occasional technological hiccups, but it was clear that magic lovers and child attendees had a ball. And that’s who this production is catered to, rather than a general adult audience or Broadway fans. It’s perfectly enjoyable, if not slightly underwhelming, as a non-magic-obsessed adult, but in many ways it’s a Vegas show on a Broadway stage and operates as such.

Make no mistake: there are plenty of mystifying moments to go around, with several leaving the audience, myself included, dumbfounded. Other tricks employ what seems to be prerecorded video and audio and are less shocking. There are classic illusions like “woman sawed in half” that are not mind-blowing to an adult audience — but again, this is a family show for kids and magic superfans, most of whom seemed to leave amazed.

Even if some illusions run smoother than others, but children under 10 won’t be bothered. Many get to participate, which yields adorable moments. Adults are called to the stage, too, and many of them were no less bewildered. The final trick has a great payoff.

Rob Lake has a good stage presence and grew more comfortable throughout the show, bantering with audience members and leading with self-deprecating humor. These moments land best, compared to the classic Vegas magician moments of bravado. While this is a classic magician trope, the arms-spread-wide pose after the illusion to soak up the glory can come off inauthentic. This is likely because Lake really is a normal, nice, non-egotistical guy with a special talent, though some may come with an expectation of Vegas-level drama. I noticed Lake’s costume — a basic blue sweater on top, leather pants below — almost reflected this interesting mixed persona.

If you love illusions — or have kids who would be excited by them — you’re sure to have a great time full of oohs and ahhs at Rob Lake Magic. If you fit into neither category, it may not be catered to you. It’s playing on Broadway, but it’s certainly more of a “Special Event,” and one that any magic-loving child would adore as a family outing. And while I wish we’d seen more of them, the Muppets are the legendary scene stealers we know and love. As Miss Piggy asks the audience, “It’s good to see moi, isn’t it?” No need to respond — that was rhetorical!

Rob Lake Magic is playing at the Broadhurst Theatre through November 16, 2025. Tickets at www.roblake.com/broadway

Interviews

Beetlejuice’s Vanessa Aurora Sierra Steps Into The Role of Miss Argentina

Post author By Ben Lerner
Post date October 27, 2025
No Comments on Beetlejuice’s Vanessa Aurora Sierra Steps Into The Role of Miss Argentina

By Ben Lerner

Ben Lerner spoke with Vanessa Aurora Sierra, Beetlejuice The Musical’s new Miss Argentina for its current (third!) Broadway engagement. The scene-stealing role performs the popular Act II Netherworld anthem “What I Know Now,” complete with high notes and high kicks. Vanessa is brand new to the cast, fresh from the Broadway production and national tour of A Beautiful Noise, the Neil Diamond musical. Below, she discusses her past and present work onstage, why performing in Latina roles is so important to her, dream roles, and more.

Q: How did you get involved with Beetlejuice for this third Broadway engagement of the show?

Vanessa: I actually was on the national tour of A Beautiful Noise before I found out about joining the Broadway company. I’d been in for Beetlejuice I think 10 times, at least, from like 2021, just over and over again. So this kind of came totally out of the blue — I was in LA on tour and they called me and were like, “Hey, we’re going back to Broadway. Would you want to be a part of that?” And I was just like, “Well yeah, I would!” [laughs]

Q: Before your Broadway debut in A Beautiful Noise and now Beetlejuice, what have your favorite past gigs been?

Vanessa: I worked at Paper Mill [Playhouse], which was like a dream for me, because I’m from New Jersey. So that was like my home theater. That was kind of like my Broadway growing up. It was always, “I want to work at Paper Mill!” I got to do On Your Feet there, which was a dream show. I’ve also worked in Chicago — I love Chicago so much. I did West Side Story at the Marriott Theatre and got to play Anita, which meant a lot to me, because I come from a really proud Puerto Rican family on both sides. Playing Latina roles means a lot to me, so I’m really glad I’ve gotten to do a bunch of that in my career so far.

Q: Oh wow, what was it like to play such an iconic role as Anita?

Vanessa: It was absolutely unreal. I was still in college — my second semester of senior year! I grew up doing the Paper Mill Summer Conservatory, and I saw someone that I had grown up with in those programs on the email chain. I was like, “Hey girl! I haven’t seen you in almost five years. Are you in this show?” And she said, “Yeah, I’m playing Maria!” I was like, “Well, I’m playing Anita!” Two New Jersey girls. They had no idea we knew each other. They cast us in these roles. We got super close throughout and formed this sisterhood. We got to do the show in the round, too, which I think is such a good way to do the show, because it feels like everything is in this microscope. Because its specifically a Puerto Rican character, it just meant the world to me to have my family in the audience — they lived through that time, so to talk about what their experience and just to feel that pride. I feel that pride today, too, in Beetlejuice. It means so much to bring that representation to the stage.

Q: When they called you on tour for Beetlejuice, did they have you audition yet again?

Vanessa: I had gone in like maybe a year [before], because when I was auditioning for the tour, they kept switching me around. Like, “Do we want you for Lydia? Do we want you for—?” So I was kind of bouncing around a little bit. But they had all these sessions on tape. From like 2021 — so long ago. I had gone in when I was doing Beautiful Noise on Broadway and did the Miss Argentina side and song —so that was it!

Q: How was the rehearsal process when much of the cast was returning?

Vanessa: Jenni Barber, the Delia, and I were kind of like the new girls in town. We had two weeks to learn it. It was funny because her and I were never in the same scenes, so it was kind of like a show-and-tell. I’d do the dance numbers by myself. She’d be watching and cheering from the sides. Then she’d go up and do the scene work and I’d be watching. It was really, really fun. Then we had a week with the full company — kind of a prolonged put-in [rehearsal], I would say. Michael Fatica taught me the show. He’s the associate choreographer and he’s just the best person to learn it from, and I felt super supported.

Q: Had you seen the show — and this role — performed before? If so, how did it inspire you?

Vanessa: Yes, I was able to see the original cast. I think it was pre-pandemic. I’m huge fan of Beetlejuice myself and grew up watching the movie. I remember seeing Leslie Kritzer do [Miss Argentina], and I was just like, “Oh my god. She’s a star.” It was back when she did both Delia and Miss Argentina at the same time, so that was crazy to watch! [Once cast,] I did do the thing where I don’t listen to the cast album and don’t watch videos of people who have done it, because you want to try to find your own way into it. Like, who my Miss Argentina is and how she speaks to me. But still, when I saw Leslie Kritzer do it, I was like, “I have some big shoes to fill.”

Q: If you could swap roles with anyone on Broadway right now, which would it be?

Vanessa: Ooh, that’s a great question. First that’s coming to mind is Little Shop of Horrors. I just saw my friend in it and I love that production. But also, Wicked. Being blue and having paint on my face [as Miss Argentina] has been giving me the Elphaba itch! A lot of my friends at the [Beetlejuice] stage door are like, “I see the green in your ears still!” [laughs] I think I’d have to say Elphaba. Such a dream role.

Beetlejuice is playing at The Palace Theatre through January 3, 2026. Tickets at https://beetlejuicebroadway.com/.

Capsule Reviews

Review of RAGTIME

By Ben Lerner

Ragtime has risen at Lincoln Center. The musical revival, based on E.L. Doctorow’s 1975 historical fiction novel, opened October 16 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater as a transfer of New York City Center’s hit Encores! production from last fall. The cast and direction are largely the same, but unlike City Center, with its huge capacity and sky-high balconies, this Ragtime feels intimate, performed in the round with stadium seating — so everyone can see the performers’ faces. The result is transcendent: a glorious revival of a musical masterpiece that is always timely, but remarkably so in 2025.

Set in NYC suburb New Rochelle during the early twentieth century in the years leading up to World War I, Ragtime blends the stories of real life personalities like Evelyn Nesbit, Emma Goldman, and Harry Houdini with the fictional tales of a wealthy white family, a poor immigrant family, and Coalhouse Walker Jr. and Sarah, a Black pianist and his lover. The stories intertwine over a decade, at times comically and often tragically, tackling racism, classism, xenophobia, and the unrealized American dream.

Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty’s score is breathtaking, spanning genres and gorgeously performed by a 28-piece orchestra. It’s elevated to new heights by the lead performances and large ensemble cast. As Coalhouse, Joshua Henry is a vocal and dramatic tour de force. The sheer power and range of his instrument is otherworldly, and the Tony for Best Actor should be locked. Nichelle Lewis devastates as Sarah, with a wholly different vocal performance from role originator Audra McDonald — Lewis and Henry’s “Wheels of a Dream” is sensational. Caissie Levy, Brandon Uranowitz, and Ben Levi Ross are in top form, giving nuanced and moving performances as Mother, Tateh, and Younger Brother, respectively.

Ragtime opens with a lone child actor on an empty stage. When the full ensemble rises from the back of the stage, it’s a chills-inducing moment — the first of many. And when Sarah’s Friend (the spectacular Allison Blackwell) belts “Till We Reach That Day” at the end of the first act, praying through grief for an America that is truly antiracist and finally free of discrimination, it’s palpable that day has still not been reached. Don’t miss the opportunity to witness this story, with this score, sung by this cast — at the Vivian Beaumont Theater until January 4, 2026. Tickets at: https://www.lct.org/shows/ragtime/