★★★☆☆ A decade after its first air guitar riff, the hair-metal jukebox musical is back—and it’s still nothin’ but a good time
We’re Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time: David Cale Digs Deep
★★★★☆ The writer-performer flies solo in this musical memoir about his coming of age in Luton, England
Working: A Labor of Love
★★★★☆ The 1978 musical gets a City Center–centered update for the five-performance concert-style revival
Toni Stone: The Woman in a League of Her Own
★★★★☆ Lydia R. Diamond hits one right up the middle with her play about the first female Negro League ballplayer
Julie Madly Deeply: A Drop of Golden Sun
★★★★☆ Sarah-Louise Young’s musical tribute to Julie Andrews is full of heart, enthusiasm, and a totally voluntary singalong
Much Ado About Nothing: A Mostly Giddy Thing
★★★☆☆ We do spy some marks of love in this Shakespeare in the Park production starring Danielle Brooks
Mac Beth: Something Wicked Cool This Way Comes
★★★★☆ Director Erica Schmidt and an all-female cast update Shakespeare’s bloody tragedy for the Instagram age
Enter Laughing The Musical: Let’s Hope You Like Corn
★★★☆☆ The York revives its old-fashioned theater-themed hit in honor of the company’s 50th anniversary
Curse of the Starving Class: A Blessing of a Revival
★★★★☆ Director Terry Kinney finds the perfect brooding poetic despair in Sam Shepard’s late-’70s drama
Tootsie: They’ve Got Big Heels to Fill
★★★★☆ The Sydney Pollack–directed ’80s movie gets a Broadway makeover courtesy of screen-to-stage musical specialist David Yazbek