“Jerome Robbins is still so much with us ten years after his death that it’s possible to take his achievements for granted–and easy to forget how startling they looked when they were new…”
Archives for May 15, 2008
BOOK
Richard Stark, Dirty Money (Grand Central, $23.99). Flash: Parker’s back. The ruthless burglar you hate to love is out to retrieve, launder, and spend the money he stole and stashed four years ago in Nobody Runs Forever, and–as usual–he’ll do anything to get what he wants. Cold, amoral, and impeccably professional, Parker is Donald E. Westlake’s most memorable and disturbing creation, and the twenty-fourth of his published capers is every bit as satisfying as its predecessors. Mr. Anecdotal Evidence had an instant conversion experience after reading No. 23, Ask the Parrot. What are you waiting for? (TT).
TT: So you want to see a show?
Here’s my list of recommended Broadway, off-Broadway, and out-of-town shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows favorable reviews (if sometimes qualifiedly so) in The Wall Street Journal when they opened. For more information, click on the title.
Warning: Broadway shows marked with an asterisk were sold out, or nearly so, last week.
BROADWAY:
• Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (comedy, G, suitable for bright children, reviewed here)
• August: Osage County (drama, R, adult subject matter, reviewed here)
• Avenue Q (musical, R, adult subject matter and one show-stopping scene of puppet-on-puppet sex, reviewed here)
• Boeing-Boeing (comedy, PG-13, cartoonishly sexy, reviewed here)
• A Chorus Line (musical, PG-13/R, adult subject matter, reviewed here)
• Cry-Baby (musical, PG-13, mildly naughty and very cynical, reviewed here)
• Grease * (musical, PG-13, some sexual content, reviewed here)
• Gypsy (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here)
• In the Heights (musical, PG-13, some sexual content, reviewed here)
• The Little Mermaid * (musical, G, entirely suitable for children, reviewed here)
• Macbeth * (drama, PG-13, unsuitable for children, closes May 24, reviewed here)
• November (comedy, PG-13, profusely spattered with obscene language, reviewed here)
• Passing Strange (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here)
• South Pacific * (musical, G/PG-13, some sexual content, brilliantly staged but unsuitable for viewers acutely allergic to preachiness, reviewed here)
• Sunday in the Park with George (musical, PG-13, too complicated for children, closes June 29, reviewed here)
OFF BROADWAY:
• Adding Machine (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter, too musically demanding for youngsters, closes Aug. 31, reviewed here)
CLOSING SOON OFF BROADWAY:
• From Up Here (drama, PG-13, closes June 8, reviewed here)
CLOSING SUNDAY OFF BROADWAY:
• Endgame (drama, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here)
• The Four of Us (comedy, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here)
CLOSING SUNDAY IN MILLBURN, N.J.:
• Kiss Me, Kate (musical, PG-13, far too sophisticated for children, reviewed here)
TT: Almanac
“A belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.”
Joseph Conrad, Under Western Eyes