★★★★☆ Carmen Cusack goes for broke and nicely gets there in the satirical Ethel Merman showcase
Gatz: Elevator Repair Service’s Penthouse-High Great Gatsby Transfer
★★★★★ Every word of Fitzgerald’s masterwork faithfully read and acted with loving urgency
Eddie and Dave: Amy Staats Salutes Van Halen With a Half-Salute
★★★☆☆ A musical spoof that amuses for a while before becoming a typical rock-band demise tale
Trick or Treat: A Bold Play About Dementia Gets Less and Less Bold
★★☆☆☆ Playwright John Neary presents a Northeastern family in as much distress as the proceedings are
Behind the Sheet: Charly Evon Simpson Smart on Women’s Problems
★★★★☆ How a surgeon in the South uses slave women to solve complicated labor developments
Maestro: Toscanini Conducts Beautiful Music Again
★★★★☆ Eve Wolf’s newest look at a supernal artist, with six musicians added to lend their proficient all
Under the Radar: Hear Word! Naija Women Talk True, Frankenstein
★★★★ A Nigerian all-female troupe proclaim their independence
★★ The Manual Cinema group takes on Shelley
The Girl with the Alkaline Eyes: An Off-Center Gaze at the Future
★★★☆☆ Director/choreographer Chase Brock and scenarist/composer Eric Dietz ponder robots robotically
Swingin’ With the Season: Michael Feinstein’s Wide Holiday Greetings
★★★★★ The top-drawer cabaret entertainer stretches the Christmas/Chanukah song boundaries
Network: Ivo van Hove Brings the 1976 Oscar-Winning Film Glaringly to the Stage
★★★☆☆ Bryan Cranston plays Paddy Chayevsky’s addled newscaster Howard Beale amid all sorts of distracting goings-on