Elysa Gardner

★★★☆☆ A new rock opera set in 1979-80 New York may move and even thrill you, but offers few insights.

★★★☆☆ A new show from the long-established troupe makes us ponder the power of quiet contemplation and connection.

★★★★☆ Irish Repertory Theatre’s Charlotte Moore refreshes the Lane/Lerner musical while mining its enduring charms

★★★★☆ Jordan Harrison explores the challenges of moving forward in a provocative new play.

★★★☆☆ Joshua Harmon and Idina Menzel look at the search for eternal youth and the bad behavior it can encourage

★★★☆☆ Antoinette Nwandu’s account of doomed black men is powerful and vexing, on different levels.

★★★☆☆ David Byrne draws on an acclaimed book to ponder our animal nature and other big ideas in a theatrical context

★★★☆☆ A radiant Lois Smith leads a supple cast in a not-always-fresh look at family dysfunction and mortality.

★★★★★ Director Phylicia Rashad mines the spiritual curiosity under Stephen Adly Guirgis’s exquisitely crushing dialogue in a stirring revival.

★★★☆☆ The second play in a trilogy by Dominique Morisseau looks at jazz and change in a gentrifying city.