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, closes Jan. 10, reviewed here)
• Fela! * (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here)
• Finian’s Rainbow (musical, G, suitable for children, dramatically inert but musically sumptuous, reviewed here)
• God of Carnage (serious comedy, PG-13, adult subject matter, closes Jan. 3, reviewed here)
• South Pacific (musical, G/PG-13, some sexual content, brilliantly staged but unsuitable for viewers acutely allergic to preachiness, reviewed here)
• Superior Donuts (dark comedy, PG-13, violence, closes Jan. 3, reviewed here)
OFF BROADWAY:
• Avenue Q (musical, R, adult subject matter and one show-stopping scene of puppet-on-puppet sex, reviewed here)
• The Fantasticks (musical, G, suitable for children capable of enjoying a love story, reviewed here)
• The Orphans’ Home Cycle, Part 1 (drama, G/PG-13, too complicated for children, will be performed in rotating repertory with second and third parts of cycle starting on Dec. 3 and Jan. 7 respectively, closes Mar. 27, reviewed here)
• Our Town (drama, G, suitable for mature children, reviewed here)
• The Understudy (farce, PG-13, extended through Jan. 17, reviewed here)
CLOSING SOON OFF BROADWAY:
• The Starry Messenger (drama, PG-13, adult subject matter, extended through Dec. 19, reviewed here)
CLOSING NEXT WEEK OFF BROADWAY:
• My Wonderful Day (farce, PG-13/R, unsuitable for children, closes Dec. 13, reviewed here)
CLOSING SUNDAY OFF BROADWAY:
• The Emperor Jones (drama, PG-13, contains racially sensitive language, reopens Dec. 15 at the Soho Playhouse, reviewed here)
CLOSING SUNDAY IN MILLBURN, N.J..:
• On the Town (musical, PG-13, comic sexual situations, reviewed here)
CLOSING SUNDAY ON BROADWAY:
• Oleanna (drama, PG-13/R, adult subject matter, violence, reviewed here)
• A Steady Rain * (drama, R, totally unsuitable for children, reviewed here)