In the wake of the nominations for this year’s Tony Awards, coming June 7, here are short versions of my reviews of every Broadway show currently playing in New York. The (+) symbol designates those that are recommended.

“& Juliet”: A savvy jukebox musical from London offering a feminist reworking of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” with added bits and songs made famous by Pink, Britney and Kesha, et al. This nonstop party-empowerment show is derivative, overconfident, and fun. At the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, 124 W. 43rd St., New York.

“Aladdin”: Disney’s “Aladdin” is a bit too frenetic, gag-heavy and overly anxious to please — but it has settled in as an entertaining family attraction featuring a diverse cast, a fun genie whose antics will always remain a tribute to Robin Williams, and the requisite magic carpet ride against a backdrop of the glittering lights of a utopian Arabian night. At the New Amsterdam Theatre, 214 W. 42nd St., New York.

+“The Balusters”: David Lindsay-Abaire’s keenly observed new satire about neighborhood preservation groups is kind of a mash-up of Jonathan Spector’s “Eureka Day,” which poked fun at a Montessori-like school board, and Tracy Letts’ “August: Osage County,” which argued that underneath our polite exteriors, we’re capable of the most horrific treatment of our fellow human beings. It’s all a bit schematic and sometimes less than credible, but it succeeds through its funny lines and by making its audience feel superior to this bunch of hypocrites. At the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th St., New York.

“Beaches“: The long-troubled new musical based on the 1988 Garry Marshall tear-jerker starring Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey, has been trying to wash up on Broadway shores for at least a dozen years. “Beaches” makes no formative or stylistic waves, and the re-tooled show feels like everyone involved here just wanted to be finished and done and get out of all of this in one piece, tour and licensing to come. The score is serviceable, with a recurring song called “My Best” (as in friend) as its best new number. Given the paucity of sincere musicals this season, this offers one of the few chances for a good blubber. Maybe enough for a matinee with a bestie? At the Majestic Theatre, 245 W. 44th St., New York.

+“Becky Shaw”: There are two kinds of Gen-X men in Gina Gionfriddo’s visceral black comedy. One type feeds on a woman’s vulnerabilities like an emotional vulture, co-opting the language of intimacy and promising he will “see her” and care for her, all the while needing to keep her in crisis to maintain his own power. The other kind tells the harsh truth to arm her against life’s inevitable horrors. Guess which kind Gionfriddo is arguing is the better option? Add in a knockout central performance from Alden Ehrenreich and you have a sleeper hit. At the Hayes Theater, 240 W. 44th St., New York.

+“The Book of Mormon”: A relic of an era when satirists had more guts, Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s show lampoons the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with the same sharp edge familiar from “South Park.” Go enjoy a wicked musical from before America lost so much of its sense of humor. At the Eugene O’Neill Theatre, 230 W. 49th St., New York.

“Buena Vista Social Club”: This transfer from the Atlantic Theatre Company is based on the great Cuban artists recorded on a Grammy Award-winning 1997 album in Havana at the titular music club, once the go-to, pre-Revolutionary place for hot dance styles like son Cubano, bolero and the venerable social form known as danzón, all as fun to watch on a Broadway stage in 2025 as in a nightclub half a century ago. No narrative surprises here but hot beats, cool tunes and sensual performances abound. At the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, 236 W. 45th St., New York.

+“Cats: The Jellicle Ball”: Well, I never! Has there ever been an old musical title given such a fresh and fancy feast as “Cats: The Jellicle Ball”? The queens of the ballroom extravaganza have moved both costume designer Qween Jean’s fabulous couture and the cats’ quest for immortality up to the main stem with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s righteous blessing. They’ve unleashed quite the Broadway bacchanal, now amped up, tuned up and ready to give queer ballroom fans their summer in the sun. At the same time, this wildly entertaining show is skillfully and inclusively calibrated to offer Mr. and Ms. America a just-edgy-enough experience while sweetly comforting them with every last note of those catchy Lloyd Webber tunes from, gulp, 45 years ago. At the Broadhurst Theatre, 235 W 44th St., New York.

+“Chess”: The sizzlingly sexy new Broadway version of this famously camp 1980s musical stars Lea Michele, Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher and was determined to ditch its decades-long attempts at serious-musical rehab. Rather, it leans into its own retro ridiculousness, cheekily calling itself “our Cold War musical” with eyebrows archly raised, and anachronisms about Donald Trump and RFK Jr. inserted on a whim. Most of us are there for the power ballads with music by the ABBA folks: “Someone Else’s Story,” “Pity the Child,” “Heaven Help My Heart,” and “I Know Him So Well.” At the Imperial Theatre, 249 W. 45th St., New York.

+“Chicago“: This long-lived show celebrating real-life killers of prohibition-era Chicago has been pulling in Broadway suckers since 1996. The real stars here are John Kander and Fred Ebb, who penned a score that drips with melodic aspiration and lyrical cynicism, and Bob Fosse, whose erotically muscular choreography is the perfect match. At the Ambassador Theatre, 219 W. 49th St., New York.

+“Death Becomes Her”: Based on the 1992 Robert Zemeckis movie, “Death Becomes Her” is a silly, campy, go-for-broke show. The aim here appears to have been to create a kind of pseudo-feminist, gayer version of “The Producers,” and while those heights are not scaled, the Mel Brooks-ian template is enthusiastically employed, especially within Julia Mattison and Noel Carey’s patter-heavy ditties and droll lyrics. (Original lead Megan Hilty has been replaced by Betsy Wolfe). At the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 205 W. 46th St., New York.

+“Death of a Salesman”: Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” now back on Broadway in Joe Mantello’s reverent and exquisitely directed fresh staging starring Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf, is one of the saddest American plays ever written. It will sock you anew in the gut. Lane not only captures Willy’s ordinariness and his ubiquity, no small achievement for so famous an actor, but also his optimism, his foundational, near-Trumpian belief in a coming Very Big Deal for either him or his sons. His delusion is central to why this revival is so potent. At the Winter Garden Theatre, 1634 Broadway, New York.

“Dog Day Afternoon”: This adaptive drama from Stephen Adly Guirgis comes with the pedigree of a classic 1975 Sidney Lumet bank heist movie starring Al Pacino. Alas, some good performances notwithstanding, the poorly directed stage version is meandering and mostly disappointing. It’s a strange hodgepodge of styles, operating at cross-purposes. At the August Wilson Theatre, 245 W. 52nd St., New York.

+“Every Brilliant Thing”: Few celebrities would be willing to do what Daniel Radcliffe happily does here as he flits around the delighted audience in this one-man-and-audience play — about a boy who finds out that his mother has attempted to kill herself and then sets out on what turns out to be a lifelong quest to persuade her that life is always worth living. It’s a charming, affirmative and immersive show with the most engaging and generous of stars. At the Hudson Theatre, 141 W 44th St, New York.

+“Fallen Angels”: Notwithstanding their other myriad talents, stars Kelli O’Hara and Rose Byrne are offering quite the masterclass in faux inebriation in Noël Coward’s “Fallen Angels,” being as their pair of romantically adventurous, bourgeois married women spend much of this featherweight 1925 comedy either tipsy, sozzled, or, to use a classless term that Coward would have abhorred, wasted. Not since the glory days of Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley in “Absolutely Fabulous” has there been a funnier pair of women playing drunk. At the Todd Haimes Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St., New York.

+“The Fear of 13”: Lindsey Ferrentino’s docudrama featuring the Hollywood star Adrien Brody in his solid Broadway debut, focuses on an American named Nick Yarris, who was exonerated by newly available DNA evidence from charges of rape and murder before he was scheduled to be killed by the state. But that was only after Yarris had spent 22 years on death row in a Pennsylvania prison. It’s a heavy show in thrall to its source, but most artfully directed by David Cromer. At the James Earl Jones Theatre, 138 W. 48th St., New York.

+“Giant”: Aside from a fabulous central performance from John Lithgow as Roald Dahl, what we have here is, in essence, a furiously verbose debate play revolving around two prescient questions. One is the degree to which criticism of the actions or existence of the State of Israel inevitably slides into antisemitism, a debate that rages on. The other is the extent to which the work of a great artist should be judged, or published, without regard to their personal views. Playwright Mark Rosenblatt takes a leaf from the Peter Morgan playbook of using newsy real-life controversies with direct contemporary applicability to spark balanced drama. At the Music Box Theatre, 239 W. 45th St., New York.

“The Great Gatsby”: This is what many people think of when they ponder a big Broadway night out: a familiar yet glamorous title from the Jazz Age, a star tenor in the title role, songs of passion, obsession and resolve set to string-heavy orchestrations, and a massive Art Deco set cascading off the stage, which has the décor to match. The show is dull and emotionally inert but it’s the best-dressed crowd on Broadway. At the Broadway Theatre, 1681 Broadway, New York.

+“Hadestown”: This dystopian 2019 musical is rooted in the 2010 concept album by Anaïs Mitchell and updates and retells the classic myth of Orpheus and Eurydice via a compellingly theatrical blend of steampunk, “Westworld” and self-aware Bourbon Street sensuality. It’s a thrillingly alarmist show, albeit potentially jarring to those who prefer warmer or more traditional musicals. Mitchell’s music variously evokes gospel, blues, working songs and the ravings of a rabid cult. At the Walter Kerr Theatre, 219 W. 48th St., New York.

+“Hamilton”: Still a tough ticket, this Lin-Manuel Miranda global cultural phenomenon employs a young, diverse cast to tell the story of Alexander Hamilton, the Founding Father with the portrait on the 10-spot, but also a scrappy immigrant who wrote like he was running out of time. The music is eclectic and often gorgeous, the emotional intensity still capable of blowing all else away. At the Richard Rodgers Theatre, 226 W. 46th St., New York.

+“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”: An epic commitment requiring two tickets and six hours has now been reduced to a more manageable single show. We purists lament the change, which cut much of the subtlety and fun in the text but left all the spectacular theatrical effects. Even in this version, though, Harry Potter fans leave fully satiated. At the Lyric Theatre, 214 W. 43rd St., New York.

+“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”: This searing 1984 work, last seen on Broadway in 2009 and now revived with a spectacular ensemble cast and refreshingly alive direction from Debbie Allen, is about the Great Migration moment when Black Americans were caught in the transition, not just from North to South but from property to personhood. Most everyone is lost in this phenomenal drama from the late American Shakespeare set in a Pittsburgh boarding house in 1911. Only some are looking to be found. At the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 243 W. 47th St., New York.

+“Just in Time”: Far more than just a concert, this biographical exploration of the difficult life and times of pop singer Bobby Darin (“Mack the Knife”) now stars the big-piped Jeremy Jordan. Thanks to a gorgeous Art Deco design, the atmosphere in the theater is glamorous, intimate and old-school Broadway. At the Circle in the Square Theatre, 235 W 50th St., New York.

+“The Lion King”: Julie Taymor’s masterful work is 25 years old but still as fresh as a Serengeti morning. This famed Disney family attraction features stunning puppets, visual tableaux, Elton John songs and African music. It’s deservedly the most successful musical of its era. At the Minskoff Theatre, 200 W. 45th St., New York.

+“The Lost Boys”: The flow of boffo new Broadway musicals has been so anemic this season that there is something apropos about it concluding with “The Lost Boys,” a musical about vampires. A very stylish and expansive musical, with undead gents flying all over the Palace Theatre, replete with a pounding original rock score that certainly cannot be accused of timidity. Act 2 problems aside, it’s certainly an eye-popping tour de force from the designer Dane Laffrey. The score lacks variety but some of the staging from Michael Arden will blow many theatergoers away with its sheer ingenuity, given how this gifted director uses the soaring vertical space. At the Palace Theatre, 160 W. 47th St., New York.

+“Maybe Happy Ending”: Add some falling snow and you’d have a Hallmark movie, but, as written by Will Aronson and Hue Park, this sleeper hit comes with a very arresting twist. We watch highly sophisticated South Korean robots in what turns out to be a very charming, romantic, craftful and slightly unnerving musical about the growing similarity between robots and humans and how we might all one day seek love and worry about our battery life. At the Belasco Theatre, 111 W. 44th St., New York.

“MJ The Musical”: This homage to the King of Pop is set during the creative process for Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” world tour. Although there is little mention of the MJ controversies (the estate prefers it that way), “MJ” offers the chance to hear a slew of iconic Jackson hits and experience his choreographic soul through the simpatico-but-original ideas of Christopher Wheeldon. At the Neil Simon Theatre, 250 W. 52nd St., New York.

+“Moulin Rouge the Musical!”: A decadent live translation of Baz Luhrmann’s widely beloved 2001 movie musical and an intense, anachronistic extravaganza that stuffs cuts of pop anthems (70 songs! 161 composers!) inside a letter-box of gorgeous retro-red velour. This is date-night pastiche with a unifying communal playlist, and an omnisexual dip into a sensual ocean with nervous fellow travelers. At the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, 302 W. 45th St., New York.

“Oh, Mary!”: Cole Escola’s chaotic take on Mary Todd Lincoln casts the former first lady as a wild-eyed wannabe cabaret star marinated in whiskey, paint thinner and self-delusion — and the star of an uproariously anachronistic summer farce that has arrived on the Main Stem from edgier points downtown. It’s a satiric soupçon at just 80 minutes, but the running time packs in as many laughs as any place on Broadway. The cast has changed several times. At the Lyceum Theatre, 149 W. 45th St., New York.

“Operation Mincemeat”: Based on a real-life 1943 ruse concocted by the British intelligence services to clear out thousands of Nazi soldiers from Sicily by making them think the Allied forces were headed to Sardinia instead, “Operation Mincemeat” is self-aware and droll show, a five-character London hit with a very British signature blend of Monty Python and “Goon Show”-like humor, “Billy Elliot”-like music, “Hamilton”-like rhythms and a hip, post-modern staging. Much fun but the original cast is gone. At the John Golden Theatre, 252 W. 45th St., New York.

“The Outsiders”: The beloved young adult author S.E. Hinton famously penned “The Outsiders” after watching two rival gangs explode at her own Will Rogers School in Tulsa. The resultant musical needed greater expansion of character, a gentler, simpler touch, a better sense of authentic teenage angst and a deeper focus on the heart. But many love this story and will enjoy the talents here and the fresh roots/country score by the Austin-based Jamestown Revival. At the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, 242 W. 45th St., New York.

+“Proof”: Ayo Edebiri (“The Bear”) makes her roaring Broadway debut at the center of a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, perfectly cast and utterly captivating as a formidable intellectual trying to reconcile her own explosive mathematical talents with a deeply felt obligation towards the care of her ailing father, a University of Chicago genius and a tough act to follow. What a great idea from director Thomas Kail to use a mostly Black cast, deepening the play’s themes. At the Booth Theatre, 222 W. 45th St., New York.

+“Ragtime: A musical adaptation of the sprawling E.L. Doctorow epic of churning human collision in and around 1906 New York City, “Ragtime” first swept onto Broadway in 1998. The rolling wheels-of-a-dream metaphor no longer propels the show in this simpler revival from Lear deBessonet; the director makes a conscious effort to eschew the bold statements about America in favor of tightening the focus on the little clutch of individuals whom Doctorow so vividly imagined. But the show is beautifully sung and as emotionally resonant as ever. At the Vivian Beaumont Theater in the Lincoln Center for the Arts, 150 W. 65th St., New York.

“Rocky Horror Show”: Sam Pinkleton’s disappointingly arch revival cannot decide whether it’s paying retro homage to a cult show once ahead of its time or trying to update the experience. “The Rocky Horror Show” became “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” a pulpy late-night staple in flea-pit theaters, building a community of audience interaction wherein attendees scream responses to lines in the movie. So when those superfans walk into this live version of the show, they come prepared. But that throws the actors off and breaks the rules, so no one is fully happy. Only one performer, the excellent Luke Evans, takes the material seriously. At Studio 54, 254 W. 54th St., New York.

“Schmigadoon!”: This sweet satirical soupçon extends Apple TV’s tribute to the optimistic pleasures of the musical to its mother source. The live version starring Alex Brightman and Sara Chase takes the meta to a whole new level, and the show has both its laughs and its golden-age charms. But it hews too closely to the TV show to really excite superfans, and it likely will feel like an extended sketch to many others. At the Nederlander Theatre, 208 W. 41st St., New York.

“Six the Musical”: Just 90 minutes, this small-cast original pop musical is centered on the six wives of Henry VIII who bond in a post-death sisterhood and compete for who actually had the worst time with their bearded pig. Audiences generally ignore the relatively thin gruel and have an empowering blast. At the Lena Horne Theatre, 256 W. 47th St., New York.

+“Titanique”: An entertaining and affectionate 90-minute parody of both James Cameron’s epic 1997 movie and Celine Dion. This jukebox show, long an off-Broadway attraction, with its dead-ringer-for-Celine star Marla Mindelle, now has a Broadway production with more musicians, more recent material, more costume pieces and, gliding into this tawdry affair like Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas sliding into its berth in Port Miami, Jim Parsons. At the St. James Theatre, 246 W. 44th St., New York.

“Stranger Things: The First Shadow”: The Broadway arrival of a (mostly) live “Stranger Things” has to be the peak fusion of TV and theater. Far from a hack job or mere brand exploitation, it has been forged with integrity, especially in the superior first act, before the mega-spectacle gets trapped in one of its bespoke devices: creepy stuff happening during a high school play. That metaphor ended up overwhelming the actual sci-fi action inherent to the piece, but nobody around me seemed to care. At the Marquis Theatre, 210 W. 46th St., New York.

“Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)”: A sweet, slight, Gen Z-friendly musical, “Two Strangers” (penned by Jim Barne and Kit Buchan) is a twee rom-com that could easily be a Hallmark holiday musical, a similarity that the writers clearly anticipated, since their 20-something characters often say things like “if this were a movie, we would …,” usually before doing what characters in a movie would do. Those seeking a big Broadway experience should know this is a two-character show, albeit with a big performance from Sam Tutty. At the Longacre Theatre, 220 W. 48th St., New York.

+“Wicked”: Now more than 20 years old, “Wicked” is one of Broadway’s best-loved (and most costly) attractions. It’s a prequel to “The Wizard of Oz” and focuses on the intense friendship between two witches, one good, one maybe better. The Winnie Holzman book is a witty tour de force, and Steven Schwartz came up with a bevy of emotional numbers, including “Defying Gravity,” one of the great Act 1 closers of all time. At the Gershwin Theatre, 222 W. 51st St., New York.

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