Archives for May 13, 2010

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:

• La Cage aux Folles * (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here)

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

• Fences * (drama, PG-13/R, adult subject matter, closes July 11, reviewed here)

• God of Carnage (serious comedy, PG-13, adult subject matter, closes June 27, reviewed here)

• Million Dollar Quartet (jukebox musical, G, reviewed here)

• South Pacific (musical, G/PG-13, some sexual content, brilliantly staged but unsuitable for viewers acutely allergic to preachiness, closes Aug. 22, reviewed here)

OFF BROADWAY:

• Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (comedy, G, suitable for bright children, original Broadway production reviewed here)

• 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 Glass Menagerie (drama, G, too dark for children, closes June 13, reviewed here)

• Our Town (drama, G, suitable for mature children, reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON ON BROADWAY:

• A Behanding in Spokane (black comedy, PG-13, violence and adult subject matter, closes June 6, reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON OFF BROADWAY:

• Doctor Knock, or The Triumph of Medicine (satire, G, not easily accessible to children, closes June 6, reviewed here)

• The Temperamentals (drama, PG-13, adult subject matter, closes May 30, reviewed here)

A reader writes:

Loved your book. Found out about your website. Read, with astonishment, your review of Million Dollar Quartet and decided to take my son, who is a thirteen-and-a-half-year-old musician. Saw it last night and loved it. My son came home, whipped out his guitar and played songs from the show for two hours. The concept was so cheesy that I made fun of it, mercilessly, when I heard about it. Never would have gone without reading your review, so…thanks.
P.S. A few months ago my wife and I took our son and daughter to see Our Town, also largely based on your review. Our of the best drama experiences we’ve ever had. Keep those recommendations coming.

I love getting mail like this. It means a lot to me to know that my reviews have caused people to see shows that they wouldn’t otherwise have seen.
I hope I don’t need to add, by the way, that I take that responsibility very seriously indeed. Theater tickets cost a lot these days. I promise never to deliberately waste your money, or to overpraise a show simply because I think it “deserves” to do well. When I rave about a show, it’s for one reason only: because I think it’s good.

“The thirst for powerful sensations takes the upper hand both over fear and over compassion for the grief of others.”
Anton Chekhov, “An Evil Night”