★★★☆☆ Scott Bakula, Adriana DeBose, and Judy Kuhn enhance Stephen Schwartz’s underbaked musical
Off-Broadway
Richard II: Michael Urie Plays Shakespeare’s Materialistic, Superficial King
★★★☆☆ Red Bull Theater sets the Bard’s first Henriad play in the decade of decadence
Richard II: This Campy Breed, This England
★★☆☆☆ Michael Urie and entourage double down on facile gimmickry and leave Shakespeare behind
The Burning Cauldron of Fiery Fire: What the Hell Was That All About?
★★★☆☆ Anne Washburn’s absorbing study of collective existence melts into something else at the finish line
44 The Musical: The Obama Years, Satirized with Four-Letter Words
★★☆☆☆ Eli Bauman’s musical mistakes vulgarity for actual entertainment, with a hard-working cast vainly trying
Queens: The American Dream Does Not Live Here
★★★☆☆ Marin Ireland stars in Martyna Majok’s timely play about the cost of being a stranger in a strange land.
Kyoto: Climate Negotiations Made Fun
★★★★★ Stephen Kunken superbly plays the lead role in this thrilling drama about the negotiations behind an historic climate accord
Kyoto: Greenhouse Gassing
★★★☆☆ Stephen Kunken is good as a bad guy in a new Royal Shakespeare drama about special interests and global warming
Messy White Gays: Boys Being Boys, Badly
★★☆☆☆ Expect trashy doings, nonstop name drops, insults, and murder done for fun
Pygmalion: Shaw’s Classic Greek Myth Update Is Classily Resculptured
★★★★☆ David Staller’s Gingold Theatrical Group plays GBS fast, loose, and well, and the strong cast plays along