★★★☆☆ A radiant Lois Smith leads a supple cast in a not-always-fresh look at family dysfunction and mortality.
Our Lady of 121st Street: Spicy Soul Food, Served Warm
★★★★★ Director Phylicia Rashad mines the spiritual curiosity under Stephen Adly Guirgis’s exquisitely crushing dialogue in a stirring revival.
Paradise Blue: Race, Music, and Madness In Detroit
★★★☆☆ The second play in a trilogy by Dominique Morisseau looks at jazz and change in a gentrifying city.
Twelfth Night: An Uneven Feast of Love
★★★☆☆ Maria Aitken’s new staging of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy lacks consistency but offers lovely touches, and all ends well.
Me And My Girl: Class Warfare As Breezy Musical Comedy
★★★★☆ Christian Borle leads an excellent cast in a buoyant concert staging of the British trifle-turned-Broadway hit.
A Brief History of Women: The Fairer Sex Observed, Appreciatively
★★★☆☆ Alan Ayckbourn’s latest play follows a man’s life and times through his relationships with women
Saint Joan: Shaw’s Other Fair Lady, Grounded and Soaring
★★★★☆ Condola Rashad shows us the humanity and humility of Shaw’s historical heroine in Daniel Sullivan’s excellent new production.
Summer: Saluting a Queen, With Hokum and Joy
★★★☆☆ A new jukebox musical, despite predictable shortcomings, has a worthy subject and a winning spirit.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: A Magic Man Tested
★★★★☆ The boy who lived is a troubled father, in a haunting, exhilarating two-part play conceived by J.K. Rowling with top theater artists.
Carousel: A Timeless Ride, Still Bold and Beautiful
★★★★★ Director Jack O’Brien, choreographer Justin Peck and an excellent cast revive this most harrowing and rapturous of musicals.