Archives for October 23, 2008

Some ghoulish entertainment in preparation for Halloween:
• Elizabeth Bowen’s “The Demon Lover.” Set during the Blitz, the story is one of the spooky stories recommended by James Hynes which I pointed to yesterday and can be found in the excellent Norton Book of Ghost Stories , edited by Brad Leithauser. Very compressed, gorgeous & hair-raising — print it out and read in a crowded place.
• The old Scottish ballad the story is based on.

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)

• Equus (drama, R, nudity and adult subject matter, closes Feb. 8, reviewed here)

• Gypsy (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here)

• The Little Mermaid (musical, G, entirely suitable for children, reviewed here)

• A Man for All Seasons * (drama, G, too intellectually demanding for children of any age, extended through Dec. 14, 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 CLEVELAND:

• Noises Off (farce, PG-13, some mild sexual content, reviewed here)

CLOSING SATURDAY IN CHICAGO:

• R.U.R. (serious comedy, PG-13, adult themes, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY OFF BROADWAY:

• Enter Laughing (musical, PG-13, full of sex jokes, reviewed here)

“When statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties, they lead their country by a short route to chaos.”
Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons