Archives for February 23, 2006

Our Girl and I asked a couple of weeks ago whether you thought it would be a good idea for us to prune “Sites to See,” our blogroll. You responded in the affirmative (overwhelmingly, for the record). We’ve started paring it down, and we’ll continue to do so in the weeks and months to come.

No doubt some good blogs will slip through the cracks along the way. Alas, that’s in the nature of things: there are millions of blogs out there in the ‘sphere, there’s only so much room in the right-hand column, and most of our readers say that “Sites to See” will be more useful to them if it’s trimmed to a manageable length.

Thanks to all who responded.

Here’s my list of recommended Broadway and off-Broadway shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I either gave these shows strongly favorable reviews in The Wall Street Journal when they opened or saw and liked them some time in the past year (or both). For more information, click on the title.

Warning: Broadway shows marked with an asterisk were sold out, or nearly so, last week.

BROADWAY:

– Avenue Q* (musical, R, adult subject matter, strong language, one show-stopping scene of puppet-on-puppet sex, reviewed here)

– Bridge & Tunnel* (solo show, PG, some adult subject matter and strong language, reviewed here, extended through July 9)

– Chicago* (musical, R, adult subject matter, sexual content, fairly strong language)

– Doubt (drama, PG-13, adult subject matter, implicit sexual content, reviewed here)

– The Light in the Piazza (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter and a brief bedroom scene, closes July 2, reviewed here)

– Sweeney Todd* (musical, R, adult situations, strong language, reviewed here)

– The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (musical, PG-13, mostly family-friendly but contains a smattering of strong language and a production number about an unwanted erection, reviewed here)

OFF BROADWAY:

– Abigail’s Party (drama, R, adult subject matter, strong language, reviewed here, closes Apr. 8)

– Slava’s Snowshow (performance art, G, child-friendly, reviewed here)

– The Trip to Bountiful (drama, G, reviewed here, closes Mar. 11)

The animals that look at us like children

in innocence, in perfect innocence!

The innocence that looks at us! Like children

The animals, the simple animals,

have no idea why legs no longer work.

The animals are little children dying,

brash tigers, household pets–all innocence;

the flames that lit their eyes are also dying,

the animals, the simple animals,

die easily; but hard for us, like work!

Gavin Ewarts, “The Dying Animals”