★★★☆☆ All the fixings – including some snazzy sets and standout stars – don’t suffice to hoist this musical into the top rank.
The Grapes of Wrath: Ricky Ian Gordon’s Opera Deserves a Real Run
MasterVoices revives their 2010 concert staging of this opera version of the Steinbeck novel
Sally & Tom: The Oddest, Most Emblematic Couple in U.S. History
★★★★★ There’s no way to sugarcoat Thomas Jefferson’s abuse of Sally Hemings, but Suzan-Lori Parks whips up an entertaining gloss.
Lempicka: A Paint-by-Numbers Old-School Musical
★★☆☆☆ Daubed with broad strokes, this sweeping bio-musical proves at once arty and inept.
Grief Hotel: A Bizarre Business Plan That Doubles as a Clever Leitmotif
★★★★☆ “Loss is fast, and grief is slow…. At the grief hotel, you get to stop time.”
Philadelphia, Here I Come: Two Aces Finesse This Spirited Revival of a Modern Classic
★★★★☆ Brian Friel’s early character study – an exercise in ego vs. id – proves surprisingly timely and compelling.
Water for Elephants: A Thrilling Throwback to the Heyday of the Big Top
★★★★☆ This “circus musical” occupies an impressively big tent, probing the power dynamics that affect the human animal.
Brooklyn Laundry: Management Not Responsible for Loss
★★★☆☆ Cecily Strong does her utmost as a spinster (yes, the dated epithet is apt) desperate to find a mate at all costs.
I Love You So Much I Could Die: A Relatable Palliative
★★★☆☆ A shy courage infuses this recessive exercise in responding to emotional trauma.
Hamlet: A Tour de Force That Fails to Lift Off
★★☆☆☆ Eddie Izzard’s formidable talent is spread a bit thin in this daunting abridgment of Shakespeare’s masterwork.