Approximate running times are in parentheses. Theaters are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of current productions, additional listings, showtimes and ticket information are at nytimes.com/theater. A searchable, critical guide to theater is at nytimes.com/events.
Previews and Openings
‘Airline Highway’ (previews start on Wednesday; opens on April 23) It’s a rare wake in which the honoree is on the guest list, but just try keeping Miss Ruby down. In Lisa D’Amour’s new play, direct from the Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago to the Manhattan Theater Club, a community of outsiders and eccentrics congregates at a New Orleans motel to give this former burlesque queen a “living funeral.” The director Joe Mantello oversees the boozy memorial. Samuel J. Friedman Theater, 261 West 47th Street, 212- 239-6200, manhattantheatreclub.com. (Alexis Soloski)
‘An American in Paris’ (in previews; opens on April 12) The British choreographer Christopher Wheeldon has been learning a foreign language — Broadway — as he directs an adaptation of this 1951 MGM film musical, with songs by Ira and George Gershwin and a new book by Craig Lucas. The dancer Robert Fairchild plays an ex-pat painter, and Leanne Cope, of the Royal Ballet, is the Frenchwoman he pursues. After a run at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the show arrives at the Palace Theater. 1564 Broadway, at 47th Street, 877-250-2929, ticketmaster.com. (Soloski)
‘Buzzer’ (in previews; opens on April 8) Race, class and real estate collide in this new drama from Tracey Scott Wilson (“The Story,” “The Good Negro”), produced by the Public Theater. Jackson (Grantham Coleman), an African-American lawyer, returns with his girlfriend and his prep school pal to the once-squalid neighborhood of his youth. Anne Kauffman directs the gentrification. Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, 212-967-7555, publictheater.org. (Soloski)
‘Cry, Trojans! (Troilus & Cressida)’ (in previews; opens on April 7) A play once considered so scandalous that it went unperformed for centuries, “Troilus and Cressida” centers on a love that blooms and withers in the corrupting atmosphere of the Trojan War. But a little outrage has never bothered the Wooster Group. After developing a version with the Royal Shakespeare Company, it is offering a reworked adaptation, featuring the Wooster Group regulars Scott Shepherd and Kate Valk. St. Ann’s Warehouse, 29 Jay Street, at Plymouth Street, Dumbo, Brooklyn, 866-811-4111, stannswarehouse.org. (Soloski)
‘Doctor Zhivago’ (previews start on Friday; opens on April 21) Revolution, romance and wind-swept steppes will make a Broadway appearance in this musical adaptation of Boris Pasternak’s epic novel. A poet doctor (Tam Mutu) and his spirited lover (Kelli Barrett) traipse through several decades of Russian and Soviet history as they sing Lucy Simon’s score, with lyrics by Michael Korie and Amy Powers. Des McAnuff directs. Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway, between 52nd and 53rd Streets, 212-239-6200, doctorzhivagobroadway.com. (Soloski)
‘Finding Neverland’ (in previews; opens on April 15) Lost boys and girls can make their way to the Lunt-Fontanne Theater, where the producer Harvey Weinstein is spearheading a Broadway adaptation of this 2004 film about Peter Pan’s creator, J.M. Barrie. In this musical, directed by Diane Paulus, Matthew Morrison plays Barrie, and Laura Michelle Kelly is the widow whose boys inspire him. 205 West 46th Street, 877-250-2929, ticketmaster.com. (Soloski)
‘Fun Home’ (previews start on Friday; opens on April 19) Perhaps it’s a risk bringing this wise, modest and profoundly moving musical to Broadway — and not only because of that dance number in which kids bounce in and out of caskets. But this Public Theater show, based on Alison Bechdel’s memoir about coming out while her father, a part-time undertaker, remained closeted, is moving uptown, with much of its original cast in the cortege. Circle in the Square Theater, 1633 Broadway, at 50th Street, 212-239-6200, funhomebroadway.com. (Soloski)
‘Gigi’ (in previews; opens on April 8) Thank heaven for little girls. And bigger ones, too. Vanessa Hudgens, late of “High School Musical” and “Spring Breakers,” stars in the Broadway revival of this Lerner and Loewe show. Based on the novella by Colette, the story centers on a spirited girl groomed for life as a courtesan, and the man who might want her for his mistress — or more. Eric Schaeffer directs, and Heidi Thomas (“Call the Midwife”) has written the book. Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, 877-250-2929, gigionbroadway.com. (Soloski)
‘Hamlet’ (previews start on Friday; opens on April 15) What a piece of work is Peter Sarsgaard. Acclaimed for his indie film performances, he will play the Dane in Classic Stage Company’s revival of Shakespeare’s tragedy — the original Scandi noir. Austin Pendleton directs a cast that includes Stephen Spinella as Polonius, Lisa Joyce as Ophelia, and Harris Yulin as Claudius. Classic Stage Company, 136 East 13th Street, East Village, 866-811-4111, classicstage.org. (Soloski)
‘Hand to God’ (in previews; opens on April 7) Tyrone is a malevolent, potty-mouthed puppet with some serious psychokinetic abilities. But can he turn Robert Askins’s show into a Broadway hit? First seen at the Ensemble Studio Theater and then at MCC, this play draws on the Christian puppetry workshop in which a youthful Mr. Askins once participated. Steven Boyer reprises his roles, playing Tyrone and his hapless puppeteer. Booth Theater, 222 West 45th Street, 212-239-6200, handtogodbroadway.com. (Soloski)
‘Iowa’ (in previews; opens on April 13) Todd Almond, the composer of the recent “Kansas City Choir Boy,” is turning his attention from city to state. He’s teamed with the playwright Jenny Schwartz and the director Ken Rus Schmoll for this Playwrights Horizons “musical play” in which a woman and her daughter (Karyn Quackenbush and Jill Shackner) cross borders in search of love. Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, 212-279-4200, playwrightshorizons.org. (Soloski)
‘It Shoulda Been You’ (in previews; opens on April 14) Something old, something new, something borrowed and something Broadway: The veteran showman David Hyde Pierce directs this new musical by Barbara Anselmi and Brian Hargrove, with a plot seemingly assembled from every imaginable wedding day catastrophe. The Tony winners Tyne Daly and Harriet Harris star as the bound-to-clash mothers of the bride and groom. Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 West 47th Street, 877-250-2929, itshouldabeenyou.com. (Soloski)
‘The King and I’ (in previews; opens on April 16) Fans of the midcentury musical are most likely to be whistling a happy tune, with Lincoln Center’s revival of this Rodgers and Hammerstein show from 1951. Bartlett Sher directs the luminous Kelli O’Hara as Anna, the British tutor to the children of the King of Siam (Ken Watanabe). Ruthie Ann Miles and Conrad Ricamora, both featured in “Here Lies Love,” also star. Vivian Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, 212-239-6200, lct.org. (Soloski)
‘Living Here: A Map of Songs’ (in previews; opens on Sunday) Yes, these theaters are smaller than average, and there may be quite a line for the single bathroom, but don’t let that deter you from this Foundry Theater show, which will be performed in assorted living rooms throughout the city. The wandering minstrel Gideon Irving will offer songs inspired by his travels amid sofas and side tables. Various locations, 866-811-4111, thefoundrytheatre.org. (Soloski)
‘Living on Love’ (previews start on Wednesday; opens on April 20) Renée Fleming and her luscious, lyric soprano will make their Broadway debuts in Joe DiPietro’s update of Garson Kanin’s “Peccadillo.” Under Kathleen Marshall’s direction, Ms. Fleming plays an opera diva (not exactly a stretch) who is writing her autobiography. But her husband (Douglas Sills) is writing one, too. Anna Chlumsky and Jerry O’Connell play their amanuenses. Longacre Theater, 220 West 48th Street, 212-239-6200, livingonlovebroadway.com. (Soloski)
‘Ludic Proxy’ (previews start on Wednesday; opens on April 12) A noted translator speaks for herself. Aya Ogawa, who has often translated Toshiki Okada’s plays (“Enjoy,” “The Sonic Life of a Giant Tortoise”), gets a premiere of her own, courtesy of the Play Company. She writes and directs a drama that ranges from 1980s Russia to contemporary Japan to a subterranean future. Walkerspace, 46 Walker Street, between Broadway and Church Street, TriBeCa, 866-811-4111, playco.org. (Soloski)
‘Skylight’ (in previews; opens on Thursday) Setups don’t come much simpler than the one in this 1995 David Hare play: three characters, one apartment, one night, maybe some spaghetti. But there are complex emotions operating and complex conflicts, too, as former lovers — portrayed in this Broadway revival by Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan, reprising the roles they played last year in London — come together again. Stephen Daldry directs. John Golden Theater, 252 West 45th Street, 212-239-6200, skylightbwy.com. (Soloski)
‘Something Rotten!’ (in previews; opens on April 22) Drop those quartos and shelve those folios. Meet Nick and Nigel Bottom (Brian d’Arcy James and John Cariani) a pair of playwrights who think they can best the Bard (Christian Borle) — by writing the world’s first musical. Casey Nicholaw (“The Book of Mormon,” “Avenue Q”) directs the Elizabethan proceedings. St. James Theater, 246 West 44th Street, 212-239-6200, rottenbroadway.com. (Soloski)
‘39 Steps’ (previews start on Wednesday; opens on April 13) Alfred Hitchcock: Farceur? Kind of. Patrick Barlow’s madly comic rewrite of John Buchan’s 1915 novel and Hitchcock’s 1935 film forces four actors into nearly 140 roles in less than two hours. In his review in The New York Times, Ben Brantley called the show’s 2008 Broadway run “absurdly enjoyable, gleefully theatrical.” Now the play is being revived Off Broadway, with one original cast member, Arnie Burton, still stepping. Union Square Theater, 100 East 17th Street, Gramercy, 877-250-2929, ticketmaster.com. (Soloski)
‘The Undeniable Sound of Right Now’ (in previews; opens on Thursday) Rock ’n’ roll might be here to stay, but its venues come and go. In this new play from Laura Eason (“Sex With Strangers”), produced by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater and Women’s Project Theater, a club owner works to keep his doors open, even as his daughter marches to a different drum and bass. The director, Kirsten Kelly, keeps the beat. Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place, at 11th Street, Greenwich Village, 866-811-4111, rattlestick.org. (Soloski)
‘The Visit’ (in previews; opens on April 23) Chita Rivera — resplendent in jewels, fur and blood-red lipstick — pays another call on Broadway. She returns in a reimagined version of John Kander and Fred Ebb’s 2001 musical, an adaptation by Terrence McNally of the Friedrich Dürrenmatt play. The story centers on a woman (Ms. Rivera) who returns to the town and the man (Roger Rees) who once rejected her. The director John Doyle oversees the Lyceum Theater sojourn. 149 West 45th Street, 212-239-6200, thevisitmusical.com. (Soloski)
‘Wolf Hall, Parts 1 & 2’ (in previews; opens on April 9) Affairs, annulments, incest, ardor, bastardy, treason and lutes. It sounds like the fabric of fiction, but it’s the stuff of history. Mostly. The director Jeremy Herrin and the adapter Mike Poulton bring the Royal Shakespeare Company’s celebrated version of Hilary Mantel’s meticulously researched historical novels “Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up the Bodies” to Broadway. Ben Miles plays the crafty counselor Thomas Cromwell, and Nathaniel Parker is his sovereign. Winter Garden Theater, 1634 Broadway, at 50th Street, 212-239-6200, wolfhallbroadway.com. (Soloski)
Broadway
‘The Audience’ Helen Mirren is Queen Elizabeth II in Peter Morgan’s history-skimming chat show about a monarch and her prime ministers, and she is compulsively watchable as she leapfrogs through the decades of a long royal tenure. The play is a fond, formulaic and most respectful imagining of what happens in private between her majesty and the likes of Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron (2:20). Schoenfeld Theater, 236 West 45th Street, 212-239-6200, theaudiencebroadway.com. (Ben Brantley)
★ ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ Simon Stephens’s adaptation of Mark Haddon’s best-selling novel, about an autistic boy’s coming-of-age, is one of the most fully immersive works ever to wallop Broadway. Be prepared to have all your emotional and sensory buttons pushed. Marianne Elliott (“War Horse”) directs the excellent cast, led by Alex Sharp, and the dazzling technical team (2:25). Ethel Barrymore Theater, 243 West 47th Street, 212-239-6200, curiousonbroadway.com. (Brantley)
‘Fish in the Dark’ Larry David (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”) makes a pret-ty, pret-ty predictable Broadway debut as the writer and star of a show about a neurotic urinal salesman and his contentious family in crisis. Blue language aside, this play, directed by Anna D. Shapiro, feels like a throwback to the mid-1960s when Neil Simon was king of the punch line (2:00). Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street, 212-239-6200, fishinthedark.com. (Brantley)
★ ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ As an “internationally ignored song stylist” of uncertain gender, John Cameron Mitchell brings a new sense of mortal shadows and rue that only deepens a role he created in 1998. His and Stephen Trask’s rock musical about love and loss now feels funnier, darker and more entertaining than ever. Michael Mayer directs, with shrewd, crowd-charming razzmatazz (1:30). Belasco Theater, 111 West 44th Street, 212-239-6200, hedwigbroadway.com. (Brantley)
★ ‘The Heidi Chronicles’ Elisabeth Moss (“Mad Men”) radiates fragile innocence and intelligence in equal measure in this finely wrought revival of Wendy Wasserstein’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a woman navigating the shifting cultural mores from the 1960s through the 1980s. Bryce Pinkham and Jason Biggs co-star as the men in (and mostly out) of Heidi’s life (2:35). Music Box Theater, 239 West 45th Street, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com. (Charles Isherwood)
★ ‘Honeymoon in Vegas’ Andrew Bergman’s screwball musical asks New York to wake up and smell the mai tais. Directed by Gary Griffin, with a swinging score by Jason Robert Brown and a pricelessly deadpan star turn from Tony Danza, this production presents Sin City as a little hip, a little square, a little dangerous, a little kitschy and a lot of fun (2:30). Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, 877-250-2929, honeymoonbroadway.com. (Brantley)
‘It’s Only a Play’ Names drop like hailstones in this revised revival of Terrence McNally’s comedy about the anxious opening night of a Broadway turkey. Celebrity performers (including Matthew Broderick, Stockard Channing and Nathan Lane) sling a lot of mud at other celebrities, sometimes hilariously. Jack O’Brien directs with gusto this fizzy, overlong work that eventually goes flat (2:30). Bernard Jacobs Theater, 242 West 45th Street, 212-239-6200, itsonlyaplay.com. (Brantley)
★ ‘On the Town’ John Rando’s take on this merry mating dance of a musical from 1944, about sailors on shore leave, feels as fresh as first sunlight. With airborne choreography by Joshua Bergasse, the production presents a parallel-universe New York where hectic urban life acquires the grace of a storybook ballet. It’s a bustling, jostling cartoon that floats like a swan (2:35). Lyric Theater, 213 West 42nd Street, 800-982-2787, ticketmaster.com. (Brantley)
★ ‘On the Twentieth Century’ Playing a dueling pair of showbiz megalomaniacs on a train in Scott Ellis’s ripping revival of this 1978 musical, Kristin Chenoweth and Peter Gallagher are surfing the stratosphere, reminding us that when it comes to over-emoting, there’s no people like show people. Other passengers on this blissfully bumpy ride include a hilarious Andy Karl and Mary Louise Wilson (2:30). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, 212-719-1300, roundabouttheatre.org. (Brantley)
Off Broadway
‘Application Pending’ The material is lightweight and full of stereotypes, but Christina Bianco’s performance in this one-woman play is something to see. She portrays the admissions director at an elite Manhattan prep school. She also plays an assortment of pushy parents, school staff members, children and federal investigators, switching rapidly and seamlessly among dozens of voices and expressions. It’s great, if somewhat dumb and familiar, fun (1:30). Westside Theater, 407 West 43rd Street, Clinton, 212-239-6200, applicationpendingplay.com. (Neil Genzlinger)
‘The Bullpen’ Joe Assadourian, who served 12 years in prison for attempted murder, wrote and stars in this very funny one-man show about the characters he met while awaiting his trial (1:05). Playroom Theater, 151 West 46th Street, 212-967-8278, stepinthebullpen.com. (Ken Jaworowski)
‘Churchill’ A chatty, somewhat waggish Winston Churchill expounds on an action-packed career in SoloChicago Theater’s one-man show, adapted and performed by Ronald Keaton. A biography in two acts, this is lecture as entertainment, and not a play that particularly seeks contemporary resonance. In recounting an anecdote-rich life, Mr. Keaton has opted for breadth rather than depth (1:50). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, 212-239-6200, churchilltheplay.com. (Laura Collins-Hughes)
‘Da’ The Irish Rep revives Hugh Leonard’s semi-autobiographical comic drama from 1978, a memory play with a spectral turn. As the writer Charlie (an adept Ciaran O’Reilly) sorts through the effects of his dead adoptive father, he’s bothered by a fright of ghosts. There’s plenty of claptrap here, but less psychologizing and sentimentalizing than you might expect. Fine acting, too (2:00). DR2 Theater, 103 East 15th Street, 212-375-1110, dr2theatre.com. (Soloski)
‘Disenchanted!’ In this musical comedy for grown-ups, Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty lead a fairy-tale-princess revue aimed at upending their popular portrayals as damsels in distress. But this is feminism light, and when the princesses rail against princes who expect them to do all the housework, the show feels like a girls’-night-out retro rebellion for the suburban oppressed (1:40). Westside Theater Upstairs, 407 West 43rd Street, Clinton, 212-239-6200, disenchantedmusical.com. (Laura Collins-Hughes)
‘Fashions for Men’ At the center of this Ferenc Molnar romantic comedy, which came to Broadway in 1922, is a shop owner so tenderhearted and trusting that he has nearly run himself out of business. Molnar’s script offers plenty of opportunities for silliness and fun, but Davis McCallum’s production misses lots of them (2:40). Mint Theater, 311 West 43rd Street, Clinton, 866-811-4111, minttheater.org. (Collins-Hughes)
‘The Feast’ A play to make you feel grateful for leaky faucets and clogged drains, Cory Finley’s plumbing nightmare concerns a toilet that terrorizes a young painter (Ivan Dolido). Legitimate haunting, psychotic break or unsanitary metaphor? Who can say? But once Mr. Finley indulges his bent for the weird, the play turns agreeably scary and original (1:00). The Flea, 41 White Street, between Broadway and Church Street, TriBeCa, 866-811-4111, theflea.org (Soloski)
★ ‘Ghost Quartet’ Spirits rise in all sorts of ways in this rapturous little show by Dave Malloy (“Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812”), a four-person, happily haunted song cycle that has relocated to glamorously creepy digs in Chelsea, with enhanced production values and one of the sexiest crowds in town. “Mash-up” doesn’t begin to describe this show’s breadth of musical styles or narrative sources, which ingeniously reinvent our favorite tales from the crypt (1:30). The McKittrick Hotel, 530 West 27th Street, Chelsea, 866-811-4111, mckittrickhotel.com. (Brantley)
★ ‘Hamilton’ You say you want a revolution? Lin-Manuel Miranda’s vibrant, independent-minded new musical for the masses transfers a thoroughly archived past into an unconditional present tense. Directed by Thomas Kail, this speeding, sung-through, hip-hop portrait of Alexander Hamilton (Mr. Miranda) and his fellow founding fathers exudes the dizzying urgency of being caught up in momentous events as they occur (2:45). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, 212-967-7555, publictheater.org. (Brantley)
‘I’m Looking for Helen Twelvetrees’ David Greenspan wrote and stars in this elliptical (and sometimes frustrating) drama about the disorderly life and career of the title character (Brooke Bloom), a onetime star of early talkies (1:05). Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street, at Pitt Street, Lower East Side, 212-352-3101, abronsartscenter.org. (Isherwood)
★ ‘Into the Woods’ The Fiasco Theater’s truly enchanting production makes the best case ever for Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s twisting revision of fairy tales à la Grimm. By stripping the show of lavish and literal-minded flourishes, the 11-member ensemble brings out this musical’s full emotional and psychological weight, putting the emphasis on the storytelling as a collective and transporting process (2:40). Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theater, 111 West 46th Street, 212-719-1300, roundabouttheatre.org. (Brantley)
‘John & Jen’ In the title roles of Andrew Lippa and Tom Greenwald’s sentimental musical from 1995, Kate Baldwin and Conor Ryan find a beguiling grace in the ungainly process of fast-forward maturation, morphing from toddler to young adulthood. Limpidly directed by Jonathan Silverstein, this time-traveling button-pusher about a fraying family provides a sturdy showcase for two charming stars (1:45). Clurman Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, 212-239-6200, keencompany.org. (Brantley)
★ ‘Josephine and I’ Playing both title characters in this musical bio-drama about the legacy of the international chanteuse Josephine Baker, Cush Jumbo projects a five-alarm charm that threatens to set the room ablaze. Written by Ms. Jumbo and directed by Phyllida Lloyd, this production offers an electric demonstration of that unquantifiable force of hunger, drive and talent called star power (1:40). Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, 212-967-7555, publictheater.org. (Brantley)
‘Little Children Dream of God’ Jeff Augustin’s fanciful play explores the interlocking lives of a Haitian immigrant in Miami (Carra Patterson), a nursing home worker with 11 children she believes were fathered by God (Deirdre O’Connell) and the kindly landlord (Maurice Jones) of the building they both inhabit (2:00). Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theater, 111 West 46th Street, 212-719-1300, roundabouttheatre.org. (Isherwood)
‘Lonesome Traveler’ The songs in this drive-by history of folk music sound great, but the play suffers from over-familiarity: It mines the genre’s greatest hits and the familiar stories that go along with them, aspiring only to tell the PBS pledge-show crowd what it already knows (2:00). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, 212-279-4200, 59e59.org. (Genzlinger)
★ ‘The Mystery of Love & Sex’ Bathsheba Doran’s perfectly wonderful comedy-drama is a tender and funny exploration of the evolving romantic lives of two generations: Diane Lane and Tony Shalhoub as a middle-aged couple growing apart, and Gayle Rankin and Mamoudou Athie as young adults in search of themselves. Sam Gold directs this delicate charmer with his usual felicity (2:00). Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Lincoln Center, 212-239-6200, lct.org. (Isherwood)
‘Placebo’ In Melissa James Gibson’s slight but diverting new play, a doctoral candidate working on a sexual arousal drug for women (the gifted Carrie Coon) finds herself in crisis when she finds herself drawn to a co-worker (Alex Hurt, excellent) after her boyfriend (the broody William Jackson Harper) kicks her out (1:35). Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, 212-279-4200, playwrightshorizons.org. (Isherwood)
‘Posterity’ Doug Wright (“I Am My Own Wife”) wrote and directed this well-informed but speechy bio-drama about Henrik Ibsen, played with moving gravity by John Noble. Hamish Linklater also shines as the sculptor Gustav Vigeland, but the life-likeness that was among Ibsen’s legacies to modern drama is missing in action (2:10). Linda Gross Theater, 336 West 20th Street, Chelsea, 866-811-4111, atlantictheater.org. (Isherwood)
★ ‘Rap Guide to Religion’ Baba Brinkman’s solo show is like the best TED talk ever, but with musical breaks. He delves into why religious belief exists at all, what needs it fills, what its real effects are, and how Facebook and Uber may save us all (1:30). SoHo Playhouse, 15 Van Dam Street, South Village, 212-691-1555, sohoplayhouse.com. (Anita Gates)
‘Small Mouth Sounds’ Bess Wohl’s enchanting play takes place at a silent spiritual retreat, where six troubled souls — beautifully played by the ensemble cast — try to heal the fissures in their hearts without opening their mouths. Funny, moving, ingenious and directed with delicacy by Rachel Chavkin (1:40). Ars Nova, 511 West 54th Street, Clinton, 212-352-3101, arsnovanyc.com. (Isherwood)
Off Off Broadway
‘Fabulous! The Queen of New Musical Comedies’ This show about two drag queens aboard a cruise ship, pretending to be real women, is a little “Some Like It Hot,” a little “Anything Goes” and a lot of good-natured farce with a goofy innocence (2:30). Times Square Arts Center, 300 West 43rd Street, 800-838-3006 Ext. 1, brownpapertickets.com. (Gates)
‘Five Times in One Night’ A series of sketches with a winking title and a tender heart, Chiara Atik’s play offers sex-focused chats from five couples, all played, with virtuosic timing, by Dylan Dawson and Darcy Fowler. Much of the show is merely cute, but at her best, Ms. Atik combines bright comedy with strong sympathies (1:20). Ensemble Studio Theater, 549 West 52nd Street, 866-811-4111, ensemblestudiotheatre.org. (Soloski)
‘My Son the Waiter: A Jewish Tragedy’ Brad Zimmerman’s solo show about almost three decades of working in restaurants while not becoming a famous actor and his Jewish mother’s shame is low-key, half-familiar, half-mordant and pretty delicious (1:30). Stage 72, 158 West 72nd Street, 212-868-4444, mysonthewaiter.com. (Gates)
‘The Nomad’ A spirit of adventure fuels this lucid, fast-moving dream of a musical, with book and lyrics by Elizabeth Swados and Erin Courtney, composed and directed by Ms. Swados. Marrying Middle Eastern sounds with musical theater tradition, it recounts the vagabond, quicksilver life of Isabelle Eberhardt, a Swiss writer and a romantic who was 27 when she died in Algeria in 1904 (1:00). Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, 866-811-4111, theflea.org. (Collins-Hughes)
‘Remote New York’ This is a remarkably efficient exercise in crowd control from the German arts collective Rimini Protokoll, which assembles a throng of paying participants and then sends them onto the streets, in a meticulously plotted exploration of urban life and their own herd mentality. Using computerized technology, this interactive work gives precise and neutral voice to a city dweller’s darkest thoughts (2:00). Various sites; 888-611-8183, nyuskirball.org. (Brantley)
Extravaganzas
‘Fuerza Bruta: Wayra’ The latest bit of sensory-overload brand extension from the creators of “De la Guarda” is a shiny, ever-shifting kinetic spectacle bent on disorientation. A high-volume, augmented remix of “Fuerzabruta,” this energetic show is rife with not-especially-impressive acrobatics, throbbing music, many-colored lights and high winds from machines set at storm speed (1:20). Daryl Roth Theater, 20 Union Square East, at 15th Street, 212-239-6200, fuerzabrutanyc.com. (Collins-Hughes)
Long-Running Shows
‘Aladdin’ The Disney movie refashioned for the stage, with shtick, sparkles and silliness cutting the syrup (2:20). New Amsterdam Theater, 214 West 42nd Street, 866-870-2717, aladdinthemusical.com.
‘Avenue Q’ R-rated puppets give lively life lessons (2:15). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com.
‘Bayside! The Musical’ A bawdy parody of the harebrained sitcom “Saved by the Bell” (2:00). Theater 80, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village, 212-388-0388, baysidethemusical.com.
‘Beautiful: The Carole King Musical’ Becoming Carole King, song by song by song (2:25). Stephen Sondheim Theater, 124 West 43rd Street, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com.
‘The Berenstain Bears Live! In Family Matters, the Musical’ An adaptation of three of Stan and Jan Berenstain’s children’s books (:55). Saturdays and Sundays at Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater, 5 West 63rd Street, 866-811-4111, berenstainbearslive.com.
‘Black Angels Over Tuskegee’ The tear-jerker story of these trailblazing African-American pilots (2:30). (Saturdays only.) Actors Temple Theater, 339 West 47th Street, Clinton, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com.
Blue Man Group Conceptual art as entertainment (1:45). Astor Place Theater, 434 Lafayette Street, East Village, 800-258-3626, ticketmaster.com.
‘The Book of Mormon’ Singing, dancing, R-rated missionaries proselytize for the American musical (2:15). Eugene O’Neill Theater, 230 West 49th Street, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com.
‘Chicago’ Jazz Age sex, murder and razzle-dazzle (2:25). Ambassador Theater, 219 West 49th Street, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com.
‘The Fantasticks’ Boy meets girl, forever (2:05). Snapple Theater Center, 210 West 50th Street, 800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com.
‘50 Shades! The Musical’ More satire, songs and bedroom peccadilloes than you can shake a sex toy at (1:30). Elektra Theater, 300 West 43rd Street, Clinton, 212-352-3101, 50shadesthemusical.com.
‘A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder’ A feast of murder, music and merriment in Edwardian England (2:20). Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com.
‘iLuminate’ Technology dazzles in this dance-and-light spectacle (:55). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, 212-239-6200, iluminate.com.
‘Jersey Boys’ The biomusical that walks like a man (2:30). August Wilson Theater, 245 West 52nd Street, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com.
‘Kinky Boots’ These boots are made for dancin’ — and stompin’ out bigotry (2:20). Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, Clinton, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com.
‘The Lion King’ Disney’s call of the wild (2:45). Minskoff Theater, 200 West 45th Street, 800-870-2717, ticketmaster.com.
‘Mamma Mia!’ The jukebox musical set to the disco throb of Abba (2:20). Broadhurst Theater, 235 West 44th Street, 212-639-6200, telecharge.com.
‘Matilda the Musical’ The children’s revolution, per Roald Dahl (2:35). Shubert Theater, 225 West 44th Street, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com.
‘Les Misérables’ The celebrated musical about the that hard-luck bread-stealer is back — again (2:50). Imperial Theater, 249 West 45th Street, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com. (Isherwood)
‘Perfect Crime’ The murder mystery that has been investigated since 1987 (1:30). Snapple Theater Center, 210 West 50th Street, 800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com.
‘The Phantom of the Opera’ Who was that masked man anyway (2:30)? Majestic Theater, 247 West 44th Street, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com.
‘Queen of the Night’ An ultra-lavish immersive theater piece with cocktails, a meal and a circus-style show (2:45). Diamond Horseshoe at the Paramount Hotel, 235 West 46th Street, 866-811-4111, queenofthenightnyc.com.
‘Sex Tips for Straight Women From a Gay Man’ Part bachelorette party at Chippendales, part embarrassing midnight show in Pigalle (1:20). Fridays and Saturdays at 777 Theater, 777 Eighth Avenue, at 47th Street, 888-841-4111, sextipsplay.com.
‘Sistas: The Musical’ Black women reflect on their lives, with songs (1:30). (Saturdays and Sundays.) St. Luke’s Theater, 308 West 46th Street, Clinton, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com.
‘Sleep No More’ A movable, murderous feast at Hotel Macbeth (2:00). The McKittrick Hotel, 530 West 27th Street, Chelsea, 866-811-4111, sleepnomorenyc.com.
‘Stomp’ And the beat goes on (and on), with percussion unlimited (1:30). Orpheum Theater, 126 Second Avenue, at Eighth Street, East Village, 800-982-2787, ticketmaster.com.
‘Then She Fell’ Go ask Alice (2:00). The Kingsland Ward at St. John’s, 195 Maujer Street, near Humboldt Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 718-374-5196, thenshefell.com.
‘Wicked’ Oz revisited (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street, 800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com.
Last Chance
★ ‘The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey’ (closes on Saturday) In James Lecesne’s thoroughly enchanting solo show, the friends of a happily flamboyant 14-year-old New Jersey boy turn to the police after he disappears. With great heart and humor, Mr. Lecesne portrays more than a dozen characters in this sweet, sad, Dickensian show (1:20). Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie Street, Lower East Side, 866-811-4111, dixonplace.org. (Isherwood)
★ ‘Abundance’ (closes on Saturday) A small tragedy in a comic key, Beth Henley’s unconventional Western about a pair of mail-order brides gets a satisfying revival, directed by Jenn Thompson for the Actors Company Theater. Peopled with resilient oddballs mangled by life, this is the sort of production that makes you realize how much you’ve missed a playwright’s voice (2:10). Beckett Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, 212-239-6200, tactnyc.org. (Collins-Hughes)
★ ‘Brooklynite’ (closes on Sunday) An asteroid creates a squad of Brooklyn superheroes in this goofily endearing musical with a perky pop score by Peter Lerman and a Brooklyn-gag-filled book by Mr. Lerman and the director, Michael Mayer (2:00). Vineyard Theater, 108 East 15th Street, 212-353-0303, vineyardtheatre.org. (Isherwood)
‘Brothers From the Bottom’ (closes on Sunday) Jackie Alexander’s Billie Holiday Theater play about family and gentrification is set in post-Katrina New Orleans. But it hits home, too, as the brothers Trey (Wendell Franklin) and Chris (Wendell Pierce, predictably terrific) argue the fate of their neighborhood. There are structural problems, but Mr. Alexander is kindhearted and evenhanded and the acting stays way above the flood line throughout (2:15). Brooklyn Music School Playhouse, 126 Saint Felix Street, near Lafayette Avenue, Fort Greene, 718-636-0918, thebillieholiday.org. (Soloski)
‘Cabaret’ (closes on Sunday) Only a decade after it closed, Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall’s popular, audience-teasing reincarnation of this classic musical feels as if it never left us. Alan Cumming seems to be having the time of his life reprising the creepy, tragic M.C. The welcome new surprise is the bracing survivalist’s grit that Sienna Miller brings to the desperate Sally Bowles (2:30). Studio 54, 254 West 54th Street, 212-719-1300, roundabouttheatre.org. (Brantley)
★ ‘The Evening’ (closes on Saturday) In this uncommon elegy for lives lost (which means all lives, ever), Richard Maxwell makes good on his representation as the great American experimental auteur of his generation. Written partly in response to the death of his father, “The Evening” uses the classic losers-in-a-bar drama to take inventory of choices for dealing with life in the face of its inevitable extinction (1:05). The Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, 212-255-5793, Ext. 11, thekitchen.org. (Brantley)
★ ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ (closes on Sunday) A charming alternative to “It’s a Wonderful Life” as a seasonal catharsis for those who get weepy in the winter, Duncan Macmillan’s monologue of a play, performed by Jonny Donahoe, describes a boy trying to come up with reasons to live for his suicidal mother. Directed by George Perrin, this ingenious production offers sentimentality without shame (1:00). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, at Seventh Avenue South, West Village, 212-868-4444, barrowstreettheatre.com. (Brantley)
‘Everything You Touch’ (closes on Sunday) The work of the playwright Sheila Callaghan is not exactly prêt-à-porter, but her newest play is pretty wearable, at least by the end. This comedy-drama, directed by Jessica Kubzansky, hurtles between the mid-1970s and the present, from Victor (Christian Coulson), a skinny and self-destructive couturier, to Jess (Miriam Silverman), a fashion-allergic, burrito-obsessed tech goddess (1:30). Cherry Lane Theater, 38 Commerce Street, West Village, 866-811-4111, rattlestick.org. (Soloski)
‘A Happy End’ (closes on Sunday) Iddo Netanyahu’s contrived drama, set in early 1930s Berlin, centers on Mark and Leah Erdmann (Curzon Dobell and Carmit Levité), a cosmopolitan Jewish couple who shrug off the dire portents. The danger facing the Erdmanns could hardly be more severe, but in Alex Dmitriev’s somewhat stagy production, you know it rather than feel it (1:30). June Havoc Theater, 312 West 36th Street, 866-811-4111, abingdontheatre.org. (Soloski)
‘Hunter Gatherers’ (closes on Saturday) This dark comedy by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb looks in on a dinner featuring four old friends and a recently slaughtered lamb. It seems as if it’s probably a pretty funny mix of reality and absurdity, but the production by Playhouse Creatures Theater Company doesn’t find a way to alternate between those two and get the most out of the script (1:30). Duo Theater, 62 East Fourth Street, second floor, East Village, 212-868-4444, smarttix.com. (Genzlinger)
★ ‘The Lion’ (closes on Sunday) The engaging singer-songwriter Benjamin Scheuer is the sole performer in this autobiographical show, which focuses on his complicated relationship with his father, who inspired his love of music but also left more troubling legacies. Mr. Scheuer’s winning personality and lively, well-turned folk-pop songs brighten the often dark story of his turbulent life (1:10). Lynn Redgrave Theater at Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, near Lafayette Street, East Village, 866-811-4111, cultureproject.org. (Isherwood)
‘The Liquid Plain’ (closes on Sunday) Two runaway slaves (well played by Kristolyn Lloyd and Ito Aghayere) dream of sailing to Africa in this ambitious but static drama from Naomi Wallace (2:15). Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street, Clinton, 212-244-7529, signaturetheatre.org. (Isherwood)
★ ‘Lives of the Saints’ (closes on Friday) David Ives, a master of the tricky short-play form, offers up a wonderfully various half-dozen in his latest collection. Ranging from thoroughly goofy to stealthily moving, they are performed by a stellar cast: Arnie Burton, Carson Elrod, Rick Holmes, Kelly Hutchinson and Liv Rooth, under the canny direction of John Rando (2:00). The Duke on 42nd Street, 229 West 42nd Street, 646-223-3010, primarystages.org. (Isherwood)
‘Long Story Short’ (closes on Sunday) This two-character, single-set, 90-minute musical by the husband-and-wife composers Brendan Milburn and Valerie Vigoda follows Charles (Bryce Ryness) and Hope (Pearl Sun) from first date to death. (Maybe.) But it takes too many dramatic shortcuts along the way. Despite likable performances and efficient direction by Kent Nicholson, the couple never feel fully alive. (1:30). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, 212-279-4200, 59e59.org. (Soloski)
★ ‘The Nether’ (closes on Sunday) Jennifer Haley’s very cunning and equally creepy play about alternative lives is set in a future around the corner, when the lines between real and virtual have gone dangerously soft. Directed by Anne Kauffman, with an excellent cast that includes Frank Wood and Peter Friedman, this tautly knotted 80-minute drama is as smart as it is disturbing (1:20). Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street, West Village, 866-811-4111, mcctheater.org. (Brantley)
‘Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe’ (closes on Sunday) Exquisitely stylish and excessively bleak, the new musical by Jonathan Christenson takes the sad facts of Poe’s life and makes them gloomier still. The text, largely sung-through, has a storybook feel. The recorded music borrows from the creepier side of cabaret. But this is a more morose affair. Sepulchral, really. It begins upon a midnight dreary and never lets up (2:20). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, 212-239-6200, nevermoreshow.com. (Soloski)
★ ‘An Octoroon’ (closes on Sunday) Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s coruscating comedy of unresolved history, adapted from Dion Boucicault’s 19th-century melodrama about interracial love in the Old South, may turn out to be this decade’s most eloquent theatrical statement on race in America. Directed by Sarah Benson in a style that perfectly matches its mutating content, this exhilarating play is propelled by a wondrously fizzy self-consciousness (2:20). Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place, between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, 866-811-4111, tfana.org. (Brantley)
‘Rocket to the Moon’ (closes on Saturday) In Clifford Odets’s 1938 play, a middle-aged dentist and confirmed milquetoast (Ned Eisenberg) dreams of a less soul-sucking life yet lacks the courage to try to build one. But in this Peccadillo Theater Company revival, a beautifully nuanced performance by Katie McClellan shifts the center of gravity to the dentist’s tenacious young secretary, who is also his extramarital love interest (2:20). Theater at St. Clement’s, 423 West 46th Street, Clinton, 212-352-3101, thepeccadillo.com. (Collins-Hughes)
‘Running Away From the One With the Knife’ (closes on Saturday) Sarah (Juliana Francis-Kelly) likes to clean, to organize, to control. But she can’t control her volatile sister, Christina (the playwright Kate Benson), who has made several attempts at suicide. There’s a strange sameness that settles over Aaron Landsman’s play, directed by Mallory Catlett. Even the death, when it finally comes, feels oddly flat (1:10). Chocolate Factory, 5-49 49th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, 212-352-3101, chocolatefactorytheater.org. (Soloski)
‘The Tallest Tree in the Forest’ (closes on Sunday) Daniel Beaty wrote and stars in this engrossing solo show (with nearly 40 characters) about the extraordinary achievement of Paul Robeson, the great African-American actor and activist. Moises Kaufman directs (2:00). Harvey Theater, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, 718-636-4100, bam.org. (Isherwood)
‘The World of Extreme Happiness’ (closes on Sunday) Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig’s play depicts the grim odyssey of a young woman in contemporary China. Jennifer Lim plays the ironically named Sunny, who moves from the country to the city, where she toils in a factory scrubbing toilets. It’s a good primer on the pathologies of Chinese culture, but has some blunt narrative edges (1:35). City Center Stage I, 131 West 55th Street, 212-581-1212, nycitycenter.org. (Isherwood)