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)
• Gypsy (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here)
• The Little Mermaid * (musical, G, entirely suitable for children, reviewed here)
• South Pacific * (musical, G/PG-13, some sexual content, brilliantly staged but unsuitable for viewers acutely allergic to preachiness, reviewed here)
OFF BROADWAY:
• The Fantasticks (musical, G, suitable for children capable of enjoying a love story, reviewed here)
IN GARRISON, N.Y.:
• Cymbeline/Twelfth Night (Shakespeare, PG-13, playing in alternating repertory through Aug. 31, reviewed here)
CLOSING SOON ON BROADWAY:
• A Chorus Line (musical, PG-13/R, adult subject matter, closes Aug. 17, reviewed here)
CLOSING NEXT WEEK IN SUBURBAN CHICAGO:
• The Lion in Winter (serious comedy, PG-13, adult subject matter, closes Aug. 3, reviewed here)
CLOSING SUNDAY ON BROADWAY:
• Passing Strange (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here)
CLOSING SUNDAY OFF BROADWAY:
• Adding Machine (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter, too musically demanding for youngsters, reviewed here)