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July 2, 2009

TT: So you want to see a show?

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:
Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (comedy, G, suitable for bright children, reviewed here)
Avenue Q * (musical, R, adult subject matter and one show-stopping scene of puppet-on-puppet sex, closes Sept. 13, reviewed here)
The Little Mermaid * (musical, G, entirely suitable for children, closes Aug. 30, reviewed here)
Mary Stuart (drama, G, far too long and complicated for children, closes Aug. 16, reviewed here)
The Norman Conquests (three related comedies, PG-13, comprehensively unsuitable for children, playing in repertory and extended through July 26, reviewed here)
South Pacific * (musical, G/PG-13, some sexual content, brilliantly staged but unsuitable for viewers acutely allergic to preachiness, reviewed here)

OFF BROADWAY:
The Fantasticks (musical, G, suitable for children capable of enjoying a love story, reviewed here)
Our Town (drama, G, suitable for mature children, reviewed here)
Ruined (drama, PG-13/R, sexual content and suggestions of extreme violence, closes Sept. 6, reviewed here)

IN CHICAGO:
The History Boys (drama, PG-13/R, adult subject matter, too intellectually complex for most adolescents, extended through Sept. 27, reviewed here)
A Minister's Wife (musical, PG-13, closes Aug. 2, reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON ON BROADWAY:
God of Carnage * (serious comedy, PG-13, adult subject matter, closes July 19, then reopens Sept. 8 and runs through Nov. 15, reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON OFF BROADWAY:
The Rivalry (historical drama, G, too complicated for children, closes July 19, reviewed here)

CLOSING NEXT WEEK ON BROADWAY:
Waiting for Godot * (drama, PG-13, accessible to intelligent and open-minded adolescents, closes July 12, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY IN HARTFORD, CONN.:
Dividing the Estate (black comedy, PG-13, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY OFF BROADWAY:
Coraline (musical, G, possibly too scary for small children and very problematic for twee-hating adults, reviewed here)

Posted July 2, 2009 12:00 AM

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