★★★★☆ Jesse Berger scrupulously directs Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation, Mark Linn-Baker heading smart cast
Lights Out, Nat King Cole: Keep this Musical’s Lights Shut Off
★★☆☆☆ Colman Domingo and Patricia McGregor, who directs, concoct the beloved singer’s historic tv series not well
Bus Stop: William Inge’s Tony-Nominated Work on a Loving Return Trip
★★★★☆ Jack Cummings III directs the insightful comical, dramatic work about made and missed connections, with grade-A cast
The Black Wolfe Tone: Kwaku Fortune’s Forceful Semi-Autographical Solo Click
★★★★☆ The actor, new to the Manhattan Stage, makes himself known, as does director Nicola Murphy Dubey
Stranger Things—The First Shadow: Stage Version of Series Maybe Not Strange Enough
★★★☆☆ The Duffer Brothers go Broadway, Kate Trefry scripts, Stephen Daldry directs, Louis McCartney leads hard-working cast
Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.: What If Caryl Churchill Returns at Her Near Best
★★★☆☆ The often enigmatic playwright unfurls four one-acts, James MacDonald directing, Deirdre O’Connoll, others acting nicely
All the World’s a Stage: Small Town Musical Grippingly Staged
★★★★☆ Adam Gwon’s new musical is a pleasure, aided by cast and director Jonathan Silverstein
The Swamp Dwellers: Wole Soyinka’s Significant Early Play
★★★★☆ The 1986 Nobel Prize-winner looks closely at Nigeria’s swamp area, with Awoye Timpo directing
Becoming Eve: Transcendent Trans Father-Son, Father-Daughter Play
★★★★☆ Tommy Dorfman is the transitioning Chava in Emil Weinstein’s adaptation of Abby Chava Stein’s memoir
Sondheim’s Old Friends: Something Great Has Come, No Maybe About It
★★★★★ Stephen Sondheim’s brilliance celebrated by Bernadette Peters, Lea Salonga, Matthew Bourne, other swells