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)
• August: Osage County (drama, R, adult subject matter, reviewed here)
• Avenue Q (musical, R, adult subject matter and one show-stopping scene of puppet-on-puppet sex, reviewed here)
• God of Carnage * (serious comedy, PG-13, adult subject matter, closes July 19, then reopens Sept. 8 and runs through Nov. 15, reviewed here)
• The Little Mermaid * (musical, G, entirely suitable for children, 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 through July 25, reviewed here)
• South Pacific * (musical, G/PG-13, some sexual content, brilliantly staged but unsuitable for viewers acutely allergic to preachiness, reviewed here)
• Waiting for Godot * (drama, PG-13, accessible to intelligent and open-minded adolescents, closes July 12, reviewed here)
OFF BROADWAY:
• Coraline (musical, G, possibly too scary for small children and very problematic for twee-hating adults, reviewed here)
• 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, extended through Aug. 2, reviewed here)
IN CHICAGO:
• The History Boys (drama, PG-13/R, adult subject matter, too intellectually complex for most adolescents, closes Aug. 2, reviewed here)
CLOSING SOON IN WASHINGTON, D.C.:
• Design for Living (comedy, PG-13, adult subject matter, closes June 28, reviewed here)
CLOSING NEXT WEEK IN WASHINGTON, D.C.:
• Arcadia (serious comedy, PG-13, too complicated for children and slow-witted adults, closes June 21, reviewed here)
CLOSING SATURDAY IN STAUNTON, VA.:
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (serious comedy, PG-13, too complicated for children, reviewed here)
CLOSING SUNDAY IN DALLAS:
• Lost in the Stars (musical, PG-13, reviewed here)
CLOSING SUNDAY IN HOUSTON:
• Awake and Sing! (drama, PG-13, reviewed here)
CLOSING SUNDAY ON BROADWAY:
• Exit the King * (disturbingly black comedy, PG-13, reviewed here)
• Joe Turner’s Come and Gone * (drama, PG-13, some adult subject matter, accessible to adolescents with mature attention spans, reviewed here)