★★★★☆ Taylor Mac surprises with an Ibsenesque take on a long-ago plague parallel to our own
Beyond
Disney’s Hercules: Olympian Musical Takes the Stage, at Paper Mill
★★★☆☆ Lear deBessonet directs the Alan Menken-David Zippel musical featuring Bradley Gibson, James Monroe Iglehart, Shuler Hensley and Isabelle McCalla
From Connecticut: Christmas in Connecticut, With Tidings of Comfort
★★★☆☆ Musicalization of the 1945 holiday classic is easy to swallow, like a good eggnog
Remembering Michael Feingold
A link to the final columns of the esteemed critic and our beloved colleague
John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey: East Side After Dark
The Café Carlyle back in full swing, with prime entertainment
From Boston: Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard in High-Tech Makeover
★★★☆☆ Ukrainian artist Igor Golyak plays fast and loose with a classic text, to intriguing if mixed results (with Baryshnikov)
From Boston: Joe Turner’s Back, Powerful As Ever
★★★★☆ The renovated Huntington reopens with a full-blooded, full-voiced revival of an August Wilson classic
Guys and Dolls: Frank Loesser’s Musical Fable Is No Gamble
★★★★★ It’s a probable 12 to 7 that you’ll leave this Kennedy Center production on a musical-theater high
From Boston: Sing Street Soars
★★★★★ The power of music to empower, powers a rousing theatrical experience
From Maine: Mr. Holland’s Opus Hits Some Clinkers
★★☆☆☆ A cinematic salute to an inspiring teacher is musicalized into something less than inspiring