Archives for June 2011

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:

• Anything Goes (musical, G/PG-13, mildly adult subject matter that will be unintelligible to children, closes Jan. 8, reviewed here)

• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (musical, G/PG-13, perfectly fine for children whose parents aren’t actively prudish, reviewed here)

• The Motherf**ker with the Hat (serious comedy, R, adult subject matter, closes July 17, 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)

• Play Dead (theatrical spook show, PG-13, utterly unsuitable for easily frightened children or adults, closes July 24, reviewed here)

IN CHICAGO:

• The Front Page (comedy, PG-13, extended through July 17, reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON OFF BROADWAY:

• A Little Journey (drama, G, closes July 10, reviewed here)

CLOSING NEXT WEEK ON BROADWAY:

• The Importance of Being Earnest (high comedy, G, just possible for very smart children, closes July 3, reviewed here)

CLOSING NEXT WEEK IN CHICAGO:

• Porgy and Bess (operatic musical, PG-13, closes July 3, reviewed here)

CLOSING SATURDAY ON BROADWAY:

• The House of Blue Leaves (serious comedy, PG-13, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY IN WASHINGTON, D.C.:

• Old Times (drama, PG-13, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY IN GLENCOE, ILL.:

• Heartbreak House (serious comedy, PG-13, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY IN WASHINGTON, D.C.:

• Follies (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY ON BROADWAY:

• Born Yesterday (comedy, G/PG-13, reviewed here)

“Q. Do you care about reviews?
“A. Of course you care. I don’t read them, but you don’t really have to–you know what they are with the way people respond. There’s nothing in the world more silent than the telephone the morning after everybody pans your play. It won’t ring from room service; your mother won’t be calling you. If the phone has not rung by 8 in the morning, you’re dead.”
David Mamet (interview, New York Times, May 27, 2011)

“The 100 Greatest Movie Threats of All Time,” compiled by Harry Hanrahan:

(This is the latest in a weekly series of arts-related videos that appear in this space each Wednesday.)

“The thing about men that don’t talk much is that they don’t usually learn much, either.”
Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove

“Occasionally the very youngness of the young moved him to charity–they had no sense of the swiftness of life, nor of its limits. The years would pass like weeks, and loves would pass too, or else grow sour.”
Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove

I’m taking a couple of days off from the blog, the theater, New York, and life itself. (Regular readers won’t need to be told why!) The usual theater-related postings and daily almanac entries will, needless to say, continue uninterrupted, and I’ve also rolled over the Top Five and “Out of the Past” modules of the right-hand column for your delectation. I’ll also post the weekly “Snapshot” video on Wednesday. Otherwise, I’m elsewhere.
See you a little later in the week.

“‘I doubt she’ll want to spend no time in San Antonio,’ Augustus said. ‘That’s where she was before she came here, and women don’t like to go backwards. Most women will never back up an inch their whole lives.'”
Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove