★★★★☆ ✩ John Douglas Thompson brings a steadfast gaze and spine of steel to the much-maligned Shylock
Off-Broadway
The Merchant of Venice: John Douglas Thompson’s Shylock Takes the Town
★★★★☆ Arin Arbus directs a cast in which some act flashily and some put too much flash in their acting
Black No More: A New Musical About Black Lives Delivers So Much More
★★★★☆ Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and inspired colleagues, under Scott Elliott’s direction, examine today’s racist dilemmas
Black No More: Sometimes More is Less
★★★☆☆ There’s a wealth of talent both on and off stage in this highly ambitious musical inspired by George S. Schuyler’s 1931 Afrofuturist novel.
Space Dogs: Singing the Praises of Man’s Best Friend
★★★☆☆ ✩✩ A two-man metamusical about the space race pays tribute to the power of the dog
Tambo & Bones: American Racism Probed in Ambitious, Faulty Comic Drama
★★★☆☆ Playwright Dave Harris plucks characters from long-repudiated minstrel shows to make his sadly pertinent points
The Tap Dance Kid: Taps 10, Direction 8, Score 5, Book 4
★★★☆☆ Choreographer Jared Grimes brings cheer to the Henry Krieger-Robet Lorick-Charles Blackwell musical, directed by Kenny Leon
The Tap Dance Kid: A Boy and His Tap Shoes
★★★☆☆ Fabulous Feet, and a lot of them, at City Center
Prayer for the French Republic: Old Hatred and Enduring Hope
★★★★★ Joshua Harmon’s latest play movingly, fearlessly explores anti-Semitism, past and present
Prayer for the French Republic: Will Jews Always Have Paris and the Rest of France?
★★★★☆ Playwright Joshua Harmon confronts anti-Semitism, with brilliant cast and strong David Cromer direction