Who today is the bristlingest leading man in American musical theater? When bristle’s what’s wanted: Raúl Esparza, hands down. Which makes him the pitch-perfect choice for the diabolical Big Apple columnist J. J. Hunsecker of Sweet Smell of Success—originally Burt Lancaster, mean as a snake, in the 1957 film noir, then John Lithgow, trying for a Mephistophelean glint in the Broadway tuner of 2002. With music by Marvin (A Chorus Line) Hamlisch, book by John (Six Degrees of Separation) Guare, lyrics by Craig Carnelia (Working), and direction by Nicholas (Miss Saigon) Hytner, the adaptation looked like it couldn’t fail. “A must-see for anyone interested in musical theater,” said Clive Barnes, longtime chief drama critic at The New York Times who was then slumming at the Post. But he was hedging. “Diamond-tough,” he went on to say, “and in most ways just as brilliant.” In most ways, eh? Sweet Smell of Success evaporated after three short months. Now Ted Sperling, ace conductor, occasional whiz director, and champion extraordinaire of any artistic cause he espouses, unstoppers the bottle for another whiff. As we go to press, Lizzy McAlpine has been announced as Susan, the overprotected sister Hunsecker loves too much (a ticket to nowhere for Susan Harrison in the movie, a forgotten steppingstone for Kelli O’Hara on Broadway). Which leaves us on tenterhooks about Hunsecker’s antagonist Sidney Falco, the P.R. flak itching to sell his soul for a few breaks in Hunsecker’s column. Sidney’s avatar in the movie was Tony Curtis, followed on Broadway by Brian d’Arcy James. As those gents could tell whoever comes next, this reptile’s a part to kill for. “I’d hate to take a bite out of you,” Hunsecker snarls at him. “You’re a cookie full of arsenic.” —Matthew Gurewitsch