ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA COMEDY MUSIC TV CELEBRITY KIDS MOVIEFONE Michael Giltz Freelance writer and raconteur GET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ Read more Lincoln Center , London Theater , Michael Morpurgo , War Horse , Broadway , Drama , Theater , Entertainment News 2 25 5 4React Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyTheater: War Horse Gallops Onto Broadway WAR HORSE *** out of **** LINCOLN CENTER THEATER A massive critical and commercial hit in the UK (where I saw it first), War Horse comes to Broadway fully intact.</p><p> It's a dazzling theatrical achievement that is sure to move audiences here as much as it has in London, where the children's book it is based on (by belovedauthor Michael Morpurgo ) is considered a classic.</p><p> Let's be clear at the start: War Horse is an ideal introduction to the theater for young people (think of itas The Lion King with a solid story) but it is not children's theater.</p><p> It tells the story of a rough young lad and his love for the horse Joey, but that's really a way in toilluminating the horrors of World War I and war in general.</p><p> Making the bleakness of battle hit homeagain is the real achievement of the show.</p><p> If you would hesitate before showing your child Bambi , then you definitely should not take them to War Horse.</p><p> Get a babysitter and see it yourself.</p><p> Mature kids and teenagers will eat it up, even if they cry at the sight of wounded and dead horses (and people, but thenaudiences often silently watch a hundred men die and then gasp when a horse is caught in barbed wire).</p><p> As in the fine novel, Albert (Seth Numrich) is the son of a ne'er do well farmer (Boris McGiver) in rural England, a man who drinks and gambles away the family money.</p><p> Out of sheer spite against his brother, MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2 9/11 Responders Warned They Will Be Screened For Terrorism Ties (EXCLUSIVE) Jerry Seinfeld, Donald Trump Rip Each Other In Heated Political War Of Words PlayStation Network Could Be Down For Days FOLLOW USBIG NEWS: Celebrities | Britney Spears | LeAnn Rimes | Lindsay Lohan | Smarter Ideas | More...</p><p> PHOTOS: The Funniest People Not On TwitterMiranda Kerr & Orlando Bloom Step Out To 'The The Funniest Someecards For Easter 2011Weekly Roundup of eBay Vintage Clothing Finds News Web Like 276K April 24, 2011 | Log In | Sign Up Get Alerts Like 1 Posted: 04/14/11 11:00 PM ET SHARE THIS STORY Like2 likes.</p><p> Sign Up to see what your friends like.</p><p> Submit this story Get Entertainment Alerts Sign UpPHOTO GALLERIES Like 20K Like 4K FRONT PAGEPOLITICS BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA TECH COMEDY SPORTS STYLE WORLD FOOD LIVING IMPACT EDU LOCALBilly's dad wastes the rent money on a beautiful steed that will be useless for farming.</p><p> Albert ends up befriending and caring for the animal, which soon earns its keep in unexpected ways.</p><p> When the militaryoffers a small fortune for the animal, Billy's dad breaks his word and sells the animal.</p><p> Distraught, Albertruns away and signs up, stumbling from trench to trench and asking everyone he knows if they've seenhis horse Joey.</p><p> The show focuses as much on Joey as Albert.</p><p> Yes, the central character here is a horse, an animal brought fully to life with marvelous puppetry handled by two teams, one for Joey as a foal and one for Joey as an adult.</p><p> I love puppetry and this is some of the best work I've ever seen in a major show.</p><p> Credit goes to Adrian Kohler with Basil Jones for Handspring Puppet Company.</p><p> When the foal snorts into Billy's face, the audience giggles with delight.</p><p> That animal is fully alive.</p><p> Other distinctive moments include the dramatic moment when the foal is replaced onstage by the full-grown war horse that is Joey, not to mention acavalry charge, scenes of horror, battlefields littered with the corpses of men and animals, and animalswhipped and beaten to death as they drag cannons and dying men from one place to another in the ever-present mud.</p><p> We follow Joey from his bonding with Albert to the grim world of the trenches, then over to the German side where he is befriended by a horse lover who just wants to slip away with a widowed French womanand her daughter.</p><p> Will Albert and Joey reunite? The show is so tough-minded you won't be so certainhalfway through as you might be when you walk in.</p><p> Tonally, this production helmed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris is very similar to London, with a few modest changes that make it slightly more obvious and slightly darker.</p><p> The goose, oddly enough isdownplayed.</p><p> I remember it vividly as amusing comic relief, but its role seems reduced.</p><p> I believe -- butcan't be certain -- that certain scenes featuring both the English and French and/or Germans includedmore dialogue in native tongues to mirror the confusion they felt.</p><p> Of course, when the Germans orFrench are alone, they speak English with accents.</p><p> Those accents feel less comfortable for this Americancast than they did in the UK.</p><p> Presumably imitating your neighbors is easier than imitating someone faraway.</p><p> The score by Adrian Sutton is very prominent, almost ever-present, a la a film score.</p><p> It's often stirring but sometimes seems intrusive.</p><p> The very effective folk singing woven throughout (with songs by John Tams)works best at the stirring beginning and end, both of which will send chills up your spine.</p><p> A secondviewing hasn't deepened the show for me, unfortunately, but it's unquestionably solid entertainment withsuperlative technical elements.</p><p> It must be the way the part is written because I found the father a bit overplayed here, just like I did in the UK.</p><p> Otherwise the cast led by the appealing Numrich is solid (with the exception of those accents).But it's the talent that brings Joey to life that is the real star here. (Tpby Sedgwick is the director ofmovement and horse sequences.) No wonder the young and adult Joey get the final bow and the biggestroar of applause.</p><p> THE 2010-2011 THEATER SEASON (ratings on a four star system) Shelterpop: Unplugging Appliances: Do I REALLY Have to Do This? AOL Real Estate: Prince William and Kate to Live in Royal Mansion Noam Chomsky Is the World Too Big to Fail? The Contours of Global Order Ed Martin Daytime Disaster! Did ABC Have to Kill All My Children and One Life to Live? Popeater: Brad and Angelina's Strict Nanny Requirements TV Squad: Maria Menounos Relives Her Paparazzi 'Wardrobe Malfunction' on 'Lopez' (VIDEO) DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5 Sam Waterston Saving Easter Island’s Marine Ecosystems David O.</p><p> Russell FDR Said it All in 1936 -- Who Will Follow in His Steps Today? 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The Horatio Alger Musical ** 1/2 Show Choir ** Tess: The New Musical ** Trav'lin' *** Without You *** 1/2 ***** Thanks for reading.</p><p> Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinionmakers as guests.</p><p> It's available free on iTunes.</p><p> Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.</p><p> Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.</p><p> Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews .</p><p> Note: Michael Giltz was provided with tickets to this show with the understanding that he would bewriting a review.</p><p> Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz More in Entertainment...</p><p> Buy a link here Sponsored Links Trump for President? Do you support Donald for 2012? 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