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)
• 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)
• Our Town (drama, G, suitable for mature children, reviewed here)
IN ASHLAND, ORE.:
• Hamlet (Shakespeare, PG-13, closes Oct. 30, reviewed here)
• Ruined (drama, PG-13/R, violence and adult subject matter, closes Oct. 31, reviewed here)
IN CHICAGO:
• The Farnsworth Invention (drama, G, too complicated for children, closes July 24, reviewed here)
• Killer Joe (black comedy-drama, X, extreme violence and nudity, closes July 18, reviewed here)
IN GLENCOE, ILL.:
• A Streetcar Named Desire (drama, PG-13, adult subject matter, extended through Aug. 8, reviewed here)
CLOSING SOON ON BROADWAY:
• Fences * (drama, PG-13/R, adult subject matter, closes July 11, reviewed here)
CLOSING NEXT WEEK IN EAST HADDAM, CONN.:
• Annie Get Your Gun (musical, G, child-friendly, closes July 3, reviewed here)
CLOSING NEXT WEEK IN PHILADELPHIA:
• Sunday in the Park with George (musical, PG-13, far too complex for children, closes July 4, reviewed here)
CLOSING SUNDAY OFF BROADWAY:
• That Face (drama, PG-13, not suitable for children, reviewed here)