Packed with comparisons of New York to the Midwest, Dead Accounts landed some solid laughs from the New York-based audience but one wonders what tourists will think of the inside jokes. Unfortunately, those are the only aspect of the show that is communicated clearly.

Even the best theater craftspersons can't make something from nothing, but give them at least a smattering of palpable elements to work with and it's startling what wonders they perform.

Some of the answers in Katie Holmes' new Broadway play "Dead Accounts" come at the end of the first act, and it would be remiss to give them away. Or, as the main character himself says, "It's so complicated it's not worth explaining."

At a recent press event for the Broadway show she'll be opening at the end of November, Holmes came across pretty much like any actress just finding her way in rehearsals in a new play.