Archives for June 19, 2014

My old friend Anne Kornblut took this snapshot of Mrs. T and me toward the end of last night’s Bradley Prize ceremony. I think it conveys pretty clearly how we were feeling:

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:
• Bullets Over Broadway (musical, PG-13, reviewed here)
• Cabaret (musical, PG-13/R, nearly all performances sold out last week, closes Jan. 4, reviewed here)
• A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (musical, PG-13, virtually all performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• Matilda (musical, G, virtually performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• Les Misérables (musical, G, too long and complicated for young children, most performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• Of Mice and Men (drama, PG-13, nearly all performances sold out last week, closes July 27, reviewed here)
• Once (musical, G/PG-13, reviewed here)
• Rocky (musical, G/PG-13, reviewed here)

OFF BROADWAY:
• The Fantasticks (musical, G, suitable for children capable of enjoying a love story, reviewed here)

IN CHICAGO:
• Juno (musical, PG-13, closes July 27, reviewed here)

IN GLENCOE, ILL.:
• The Dance of Death (drama, PG-13, closes Aug. 3, reviewed here)
• Days Like Today (musical, PG-13, extended through July 27, reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON ON BROADWAY:
• The Cripple of Inishmaan (serious comedy, PG-13, closes July 20, reviewed here)

CLOSING NEXT WEEK OFF BROADWAY:
• Ayckbourn Ensemble (three serious comedies playing in rotating repertory, PG-13, closes June 29, reviewed here)

CLOSING NEXT WEEK ON BROADWAY:
• Casa Valentina (drama, PG-13, closes June 29, reviewed here)

CLOSING SATURDAY IN EAST HADDAM, CONN.:
• Damn Yankees (musical, G, reviewed here)

“In 1703, his Ode on Music was performed at Stationers’ Hall; and he wrote afterwards six cantatas, which were set to music by the greatest master of that time, and seemed intended to oppose or exclude the Italian opera, an exotic and irrational entertainment, which has been always combated, and always has prevailed.”

Samuel Johnson, “Hughes” (in Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets)