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The article reviews the theatrical performance "The Chocolate Show!" hosted by Cookie Conwell at the 47th Street Theater through April 6, 2014 in New York City.

The long title of the play: ''The London Merchant, or the History of George Barnwell.'' The short review: excellent. That's a simple way to sum up this co-production by the Storm Theater and the Blackfriars Repertory Theater. But there's no one word to convey the pleasure of discovering an exciting work when you'd been dreading a musty old relic. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

You may not always belly laugh during ''Iron Curtain,'' but you'll probably smile throughout. A musical comedy that delights in the pun, the groaner and the quick aside, the show is sometimes far from great. But it is consistently good. And that's no small praise. Set in the 1950s, the story follows Murray and Howard, a failed writing team, who are kidnapped and taken to the Soviet Union where they are ordered to fix a Communist propaganda musical. Khrushchev appears, shoe in hand, as do the K.G.B. and others, peppering the dialogue with references to the cold war, Joseph R. McCarthy and Sputnik. Our heroes stay at the Lapov Luxury Hotel and are visited by the sexy Masha Haylukmiyova. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is only one note in ''Two-Man Kidnapping Rule,'' and even that's not well played. A story of three guys who find that their lives get more complicated as they grow older, ''Rule'' makes this less-than-profound discovery in its first 15 minutes then spends the large part of two hours repeating it again and again, and then some more. The play opens as Jack arrives at the New Jersey condominium of his pal Vincent, despairing over a breakup with his unfaithful girlfriend. Soon these two guys in their 20s and Seth, another friend, are driving to Atlantic City, where they will spend much of Act II in a restroom, yelling at one another and debating what to do next. Once that part ends, they're back in the car, arguing still further before calling it a night, with the understanding that life and love sure are problematic after high school. To them it's quite a revelation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

According to the Metropolitan Playhouse ''From Rags to Riches'' has not been revived in New York for more than 100 years. After seeing the play you'll wonder if the last troupe to stage it has yet recovered from the experience. A sprawling tale assembled from dozens of styles, genres and plots, the show is by turns slapdash, bewildering, rousing and ridiculous. It's also more appealing than it has any right to be. ''From Rags to Riches,'' first performed in 1903, was written by the ''Master of Melodrama,'' Charles A. Taylor, who in 1892 had five plays running at once in New York. Parts comedy, drama and thriller, ''Rags'' centers on an impoverished brother and sister who will soon inherit a fortune. They are thwarted by a Snidely Whiplash-type scoundrel, his scheming partner and an opium dealer, and simultaneously pursued by their long-lost parents, who hope to re-establish the family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There's only a shred of plot in ''Noah and the Tower Flower,'' but there's plenty of energy to spare. More often than not, that's enough to carry this bittersweet, 75-minute play. Noah and Natalie, both from housing projects in Dublin, meet in a bar where they have sought refuge from their troubles. Noah has just been released from prison, while Natalie is battling a craving for heroin. These self-described ''tosspots'' (''losers,'' according to the glossary in the program) soon wind up in her apartment, where doubts surface, tenderness emerges and tensions occasionally flare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]