Archives for July 26, 2012

I changed my travel plans early this afternoon after looking at the forecast for New York and its environs. Instead of trying to fly back on schedule, I opted to hole up in a Minneapolis airport hotel and spend the evening working on an essay for Commentary about Neil Simon, with frequent breaks to visit the whirlpool.
So far, so good–and I’m soooo glad that I’m not sitting on that plane right now. Or in that departure lounge. Now all I have to do is get back to New York in time to catch a Friday-afternoon train to Cold Spring, there to meet Mrs. T and see Romeo and Juliet at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival that night.
So what if it’s a horrifically long day? Better that than flying through the even more horrific alternative….

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.

BROADWAY:

• The Best Man (drama, PG-13, closes Sept. 9, reviewed here)

• Evita (musical, PG-13, reviewed here)

• Once (musical, G/PG-13, all performances sold out last week, 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)

• Tribes (drama, PG-13, closes Jan. 6, reviewed here)

IN CHICAGO:

• Freud’s Last Session (drama, PG-13, restaging of off-Broadway production, closes Sept. 2, reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON IN CHICAGO:

• A Little Night Music (musical, PG-13, closes Aug. 12, reviewed here)

CLOSING NEXT WEEK ON BROADWAY:

• Anything Goes (musical, G/PG-13, mildly adult subject matter that will be unintelligible to children, closes Aug. 5, reviewed here)

“Martyrdom by pinpricks can be very painful.”
Rumer Godden, In This House of Brede