Sweet Smell of Success, about the sleazy side of Big Apple celebrity journalism, was too dark for the New York critics when it opened on Broadway just weeks after 9/11, despite a brilliant and challenging jazz-influenced score by Marvin Hamlisch. Circle Theatre now gives this wrongly condemned, edgy work—based on the 1950s film noir of the same name—a deserved fresh look. The story: a young, hungry press agent gets in over his head with a powerful, controlling gossip columnist. John Guare’s adaptation provides a slightly happier ending than the film, but not by much. Circle’s intimate production of Sweet Smell of Success runs through June 25; 7300 W. Madison (Forest Park); (708) 771-0700; $24.