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, closes Jan. 2, reviewed here)
• Million Dollar Quartet (jukebox musical, G, 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)
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)
• She Loves Me (musical, G, suitable for children capable of enjoying a love story, closes Oct. 30, reviewed here)
IN SPRING GREEN, WIS.:
• Major Barbara (serious comedy, G, too complicated for children, closes Oct. 2, reviewed here)
CLOSING SOON IN SAN DIEGO:
• King Lear/The Madness of George III (drama, PG-13, playing in rotating repertory through Sept. 24, reviewed here)
CLOSING SOON IN SPRING GREEN:
• Another Part of the Forest (drama, PG-13, closes Sept. 18, reviewed here)
CLOSING NEXT WEEK OFF BROADWAY:
• Our Town (drama, G, suitable for mature children, closes Sept. 12, reviewed here)
CLOSING SUNDAY IN GARRISON, N.Y.:
• The Taming of the Shrew/Troilus and Cressida (Shakespeare, PG-13, reviewed here)
CLOSING THIS WEEKEND IN LENOX, MASS.:
• Richard III (Shakespeare, PG-13, closes Sunday, reviewed here)
• The Taster (drama, PG-13, adult subject matter, closes Saturday, reviewed here)
• The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare, PG-13, closes Sunday, reviewed here)
CLOSING SATURDAY IN WESTPORT, CONN.:
• I Do! I Do! (musical, G, reviewed here)