The couples' relationships generate no emotional appeal, and the weighty subjects they throw around tell us little we don't know.

Amid the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, his 2003 musical 'Caroline, or Change' seems even more eerily prescient. “There ain’t no under ground in Louisiana,” run its newly harrowing opening lines. “There is only under water.”

Sondheim killed as Broadway showed a taste for butchery—not to mention molestation. Cherry Jones flew high as a nun, while Ethan Hawke wallowed in self-destruction. Amid revivals and nostalgic musicals, some playwrights proved they could smartly tackle current events. And Doug Hughes directed everything.

Pygmalion shows exactly what the company should be doing. The Ritz, not so much.

Mauritius is a thriller about stamp collecting.

Straight from the sitcom to the stage, the foibles of the working class are suddenly all the rage.

Ian McKellen is the best thing about BAM’s Seagull and King Lear. But a few cuts would’ve helped, too.

Charles Mee’s Iphigenia 2.0 seems to incorporate everything he’s ever heard or read—mostly for the better.

Midsummer in the park is dreamy indeed.

Yeah, the reality-TV kids can sing—but has everyone forgotten how weak a show Grease is to begin with?