★★★☆☆ Michael Greif directs this don’t-call-it-a-jukebox-musical valentine to New York City
Off-Broadway
Mind Mangler: Makeshift Magician Makes Mischief
★★★☆☆ ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ creators turn their attention to sleight of hand and other illusions
Waiting for Godot: Beckett’s Classic Play Revived and, Spoiler Alert, He Still Doesn’t Arrive
★★★★☆ Michael Shannon and Paul Sparks deliver lived-in chemistry in this sturdy revival of the absurdist masterpiece.
Waiting for Godot: Beckett’s Masterpiece Revived, Worth the Wait
★★★★☆ Arin Arbus directs scrupulously, Michael Shannon, Paul Sparks act at the top of their forms
Danny and the Deep Blue Sea: Stale Pretzels, Cheap Beer, and Dive-Bar Dreams
★★★★☆ Fueled by stale pretzels and cheap beer, volatile strangers form a tenuous connection in John Patrick Shanley’s two-hander
Arcadia: Tom Stoppard’s Heart-Felt Play in Weakened-Heart Revival
★★☆☆☆ Eric Tucker puts Bedlam players, including outstanding Caroline Grogan, through unrewarding paces
The Frogs: They’re Back and Bouncier Than Ever
★★★★☆ Nathan Lane hosted an evanescent revival of his too rarely seen collaboration with Stephen Sondheim.
Pal Joey: At City Center, Purists Are In for a Surprise
★★★☆☆ With additions from the Rodgers & Hart songbook, this updated interpretation is juicy if not entirely cohesive
Sabbath’s Theater: Philip Roth’s Sexually Explicit Novel, Unabashedly Staged
★★★☆☆ John Turturro plays the licentious former puppeteer in this stage adaptation which he co-wrote, also featuring Elizabeth Marvel and Jason Kravits.
Sabbath’s Theater: Philip Roth’s Ribald Novel Now Stage Struck
★★★☆☆ Ariel Levy, John Turturro adapt, Turturro acts with Elizabeth Marvel, Jason Kravitz, Jo Bonney directs