In case you plan to visit New York City this summer, I can make a few strong personal recommendations.
I love musicals, so my recommendations are all musicals.
Must see:
“My Fair Lady” at Lincoln Center. I saw the original many years ago with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews, and no one can compare to the two of them. However, this is a wonderful revival. The two leads are excellent, the music is sublime, and the staging is wonderful. Norbert Leo Butz plays Eliza Doolittle’s father and sings “Get Me to the Church on Time” in grand style. In fact, that number is an absolute show stopper and worth the price of admission. The attitude, the dancing, the insouciance are over the top.
“Carousel” is a somewhat dark musical, but it is by Rodgers and Hammerstein and the songs are sublime. The choreography is out of this world. The dancers are at the top of their game. You will find yourself singing along with the performers (“We could make believe you love me, only make believe that I love you…”) and “June is busting out all over, all over the meadows and the fields…” The opera star Renee Fleming is an added attraction.
“SpongeBob Squarepants.” Yes, you read that right. It received 12 Tony nominations and we wanted to see why. It is over the top delightful. During the first act, I was wishing we had brought a child because the children in the audience were shrieking with delight. All of us were shrieking with delight in the second act, especially in the tap dance number that was showcased on the Tony Awards, where Squidward tap dances with all four feet. The music and dancing and scenery are delightful. It was a delightful evening, highly recommended.
The show that swooped all the Tony Awards was “The Band’s Visit.” I wish I had seen it before the Tonys because my expectation were too high. I liked it okay, but didn’t remember any of the songs and found the production interesting, but did not leave singing or with my heart soaring, as I did with the other productions.
Also, if you have not yet seen “Wicked,” get tickets at once. It is a great show. So is “The Lion King.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Your recommendations and reviews are spot on and I did see the Band’s visit last February and still don’t understand the Tony Award committee’s love with this show.
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Dr Ravitch,
If you haven’t seen it I’d recommend Dear Evan Hansen (of course there’s hamilton but I liked DEH just as much
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I’ve always found “Carousel” charming. Women really do need to understand that when men slap them, it’s like a kiss, an act of love.
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What??
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It’s part of the plot of the musical. Julie is married to Billy who slaps her. They have a daughter (Louise) but the daughter never knows her father. Unbeknownst to her, he comes down from heaven to talk to her, but when she won’t accept his gift of a stolen star, he slaps her too. Louise tells her mother what happened and that the slap felt like a kiss. Julie says she knows exactly what she’s talking about.
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Yes, that’s too bad, but it’s still a great musical. Since Billy is murdered early on in the play, he wasn’t doing much slapping of anyone. He is clearly a deeply flawed man, but his wife loves him anyway. That’s kind of like real life. Oh, and “My Fair Lady” is classist and sexist, but the music is divine.
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Sponge Bob was amazing! Really loved it. Took our granddaughter and had a great time. Pay the extra to get seats in the front. You will be glad you did.
Just got tickets to the Band’s Visit. Should have checked in with you first…… may not have been the best choice I guess.
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Almost forgot! My all time favorite–the irreverent and zany Book of Mormon.
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I’m truly sorry to see that. That “musical” demeans a minority religion in a nasty way. I am Mormon, and I find the show highly offensive. There is NOTHING funny about the material in the show.
I truly admire you, but I’m sad that you condone the denigration of a group like that.
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TOW, did you see “The Book of Mormon”? I resisted seeing it for a long time because I thought it made fun of Mormons, but I finally broke down and saw it. It’s is very funny, and I did not think it was disrespectful. As a Jew, I’m accustomed to Mel Brooks movies and plays when he laughs at his own religion and mine, so I was not offended. Think of “The Producers,” where the big production number is “Springtime for Hitler.” Let me know if you were offended after seeing it, or offended by the idea of it.
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I have not seen it, but I know the plot pretty intricately. It really does make fun of Mormons, but so subtly that only Mormons may see the dig, and some of the other plot points (on AIDS and attacks on children) are pretty offensive.
And there are quite a few inaccuracies about the Mormon Church anyway.
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I have had a bunch of friends who have seen it, so I know the storyline and details pretty well.
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PS: I don’t mind making fun of Mormons–we have a sense of humor! BUT, Mel Brooks is Jewish, making fun of Jews. The South Park people are NOT Mormon (we prefer to be called LDS, anyway) and so are denigrating a people from outside of the faith. I think that’s the major difference.
Everyone’s mileage may vary. I know a lot of people who love the show.
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Kinky Boots!!
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Yes! And of course Phantom of the Opera is a visual and musical feast!
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Delightful recommendations. Thank you…a kind gesture!
Kay
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I was very surprised how much I liked the Carole King musical, Beautiful. I took my daughter because she likes Melissa Benoist, who also plays Supergirl on TV. She was wonderful and so was the show.
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Thank you for this great list! … we’ll be visiting NYC during fall break. Very much looking forward to our first visit there.
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What??
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Quote of the day: “Well, we are all children of genius, the children of virtue, and feel their inspirations in our happier hours. Is not [everyone] sometimes a radical in politics? [People] are conservatives when they are least vigorous, or when they are most luxurious. They are conservatives after dinner, or before taking their rest; when they are sick or aged; in the morning, or when their intellect or conscience have been aroused;
when they hear music or read poetry they are radicals.”
I love that last line from Ralph Waldo Emerson or Spongebob Squarepants. Can’t recall which. Who doesn’t love both of them?
Happy Birthday, Diane! All of my students and I are children of your genius and your virtue.
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Diane
Happy Birthday!
And a movie suggestion for you and those not so close to Broadway…
“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
Whether you grew up watching Mr. Rogers, watching with your kids, grandkids, nieces and nehpews … it’s a “must see” movie / documentary! What a wonderful gentile man with such strong conviction – and stories of which most are unaware.
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A movie that made me laugh out loud when I was recuperating from knee surgery in 2014 and very down: “We’re the Millers.” Very raunchy. But hilarious.
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Always a Carole King fan, I liked Beautiful. Happy Birthday, Diane!
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I recently saw SCHOOL OF ROCK with music by Andrew Lloyd Weber and thought it was pretty good. It has some good, irreverent messages about education.
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Come From Away….based on the true story of how one community opened their arms with enormous compassion on Sept. 11th. The small town of Gander, Newfoundland offered their homes and hearts to the international passengers from 38 planes that were forced to land on that very awful day. The play is a beautiful reminder of civility, decency and kindness.
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We just caught Wicked in Toledo, and it was wonderful! My lovely wife saw Hamilton with a friend in Chicago last year, and has the bug….which she has now shared w/me!
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Two wonderful shows I forgot to mention:
Hamilton, which might lead you to believe that America has a very bright future aheD.
Hello Dolly! If you can see Bette Midler, fall on your knees and thank whatever God you worship. She is divine.
A tip. You can go to the TDF box office on the day of the show and buy low-cost tickets on the day of the show. They sell I sold seats.
Sometimes you can buy a seat at the box office of the theatre. Same day. I plan ahead, buys weeks in advance. When I saw Hello Dolly with Bette Midler, which I bought six weeks ahead of the performance, the woman in the next seat bought her ticket the same day at the box office.
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