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:
• Annie (musical, G, closing Jan. 5, reviewed here)
• A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (musical, PG-13, reviewed here)
• Macbeth (Shakespeare, PG-13, closes Jan. 12, reviewed here)
• Matilda (musical, G, reviewed here)
• Once (musical, G/PG-13, reviewed here)
• Twelfth Night (Shakespeare, G/PG-13, closes Feb. 1, 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)
• Fun Home (musical, PG-13, unsuitable for children, closes Dec. 29, reviewed here)
• Hamlet/Saint Joan (drama, G/PG-13, remounting of off-Broadway production, performed in rotating repertory, closes Feb. 2, original production reviewed here)
• Juno and the Paycock (drama, G/PG-13, far too dark for children, newly extended through Jan. 26, reviewed here)
IN SARASOTA, FLA.:
• Show Boat (musical, G, remounting of Goodspeed Musicals production, suitable for bright children, closes Dec. 29, original production reviewed here)
CLOSING NEXT WEEK OFF BROADWAY:
• Good Person of Szechwan (play, PG-13, closes Dec. 8, reviewed here)
CLOSING SUNDAY ON BROADWAY:
• The Winslow Boy (drama, G, too complicated for children, reviewed here)