Archives for November 9, 2017

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:
• Dear Evan Hansen (musical, PG-13, all shows sold out last week, reviewed here)
• Hamilton (musical, PG-13, Broadway transfer of off-Broadway production, all shows sold out last week, reviewed here)

OFF BROADWAY:
• The Portuguese Kid (comedy, PG-13, extended through Dec. 10, reviewed here)

CLOSING NEXT WEEK OFF BROADWAY:
• After the Blast (drama, PG-13, closes Nov. 19, reviewed here)
• The Home Place (drama, PG-13, closes Nov. 19, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY IN MADISON, N.J.:
• Shakespeare in Love (historical romcom, PG-13, reviewed here)

“Jesus is said to have never laughed in the Bible, and I think it’s because laughter contains an element of surprise—something about the human condition that you haven’t spotted yet—and Jesus was rarely surprised. I still laugh, but many of the things that would have made me laugh 30 years ago—paradoxes about human nature—wouldn’t make me laugh anymore because I just believe them to be true. They’re not revelations.”

John Cleese, quoted in David Marchese, In Conversation: John Cleese (Vulture, September 12, 2017)