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)
• 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 IN CHICAGO:
• Killer Joe (black comedy-drama, X, extreme violence and nudity, closes June 6, reviewed here)
CLOSING SOON ON BROADWAY:
• A Behanding in Spokane (black comedy, PG-13, violence and adult subject matter, closes June 6, reviewed here)
• God of Carnage (serious comedy, PG-13, 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)
CLOSING NEXT WEEK IN CHICAGO:
• The Good Soul of Szechuan (drama, PG-13, adult subject matter, closes May 29, reviewed here)
CLOSING NEXT WEEK OFF BROADWAY:
• The Temperamentals (drama, PG-13, adult subject matter, closes May 30, reviewed here)