Does Lestat belong on the Curve? Low expectations from disastrous early buzz might position it as a perfect not-as-bad-as-you’ve-heard candidate—except that a positive backlash would require somebody to genuinely like it. More Curve-worthy is The Lieutenant of Inishmore, which has gotten such good notices that now it can’t be anything but slightly disappointing. Elsewhere, an evil Philip Seymour Hoffman raises hopes for M:I-3, Julia Louis-Dreyfus lands a hit (though if you haven’t seen it yet, don’t get your hopes up), and the so-bad-it’s-good So NoTORIous on VH1 turns out to be so-bad-it’s-bad.

Related:

• Archive: “Theater Features”
• Articles by Adam Sternbergh
• Table of Contents: May 1, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!