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Theater Listings for Nov. 22-28

Juno and the Paycock J. Smith-Cameron gives a warm, moving performance as the wife of the ne’er-do-well “Captain” Jack Boyle (the fine Ciaran O’Reilly) in Charlotte Moore’s assured revival of Sean O’Casey’s play about the troubles faced by an impoverished family amid the civil unrest in Dublin of the 1920s. From left, Mr. O’Reilly, Ed Malone, Ms. Smith-Cameron, James Russell and Mary Mallen (2:15). Irish Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212) 727-2737, irishrep.org. (Charles Isherwood)Credit...Ruby Washington/The New York Times

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

‘Analog.Ue’ (previews start on Friday; opens on Dec. 4) Following his story shows “The Interminable Suicide of Gregory Church” and “It’s Always Right Now, Until It’s Later,” the acclaimed British monologuist Daniel Kitson, described by Ben Brantley in The New York Times, as “unconditionally engaged and engaging,” returns to St. Ann’s Warehouse with the premiere of this new piece, which delves into the predigital past of vinyl, VCRs, Super 8, speaker cables and projectors. The cryptic news release for the production promises: “A mess of cables. A mound of electronic junk. A single cassette player. ... And running. Lots and lots of running.” 29 Jay Street, at Plymouth Street, Dumbo, Brooklyn, (718) 254-8779, stannswarehouse.org. (David Rooney)

‘And Away We Go’ (in previews; opens on Sunday) Jack Cummings III directs this new play by Terrence McNally for the Pearl Theater Company. A six-member ensemble, among them the always welcome Donna Lynne Champlin, juggles more than 30 different characters in a time-jumping piece that celebrates classic theater and repertory acting companies. It bounces from ancient Athens to Shakespeare’s Globe, and on to the United States premiere in Miami of “Waiting for Godot.” The Pearl Theater, 555 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 563-9261, pearltheatre.org. (Rooney)

‘Beautiful: The Carole King Musical’ (in previews; opens on Jan. 12) If you have mellow memories of a scratchy needle hitting that vinyl copy of “Tapestry,” chances are you’ll feel the earth move under your feet and the ’70s won’t seem so far away. Tracing the personal and professional life of the Brooklyn girl who rose through the music-industry ranks from songwriter to chart-topping voice of a generation, this Broadway bio-musical is written by Douglas McGrath and directed by Marc Bruni. Jessie Mueller stars as Ms. King, with Jake Epstein as her erstwhile husband and songwriting partner Gerry Goffin. Stephen Sondheim Theater, 124 West 43rd Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Rooney)

‘Chéri’ (in previews; opens on Dec. 8) Martha Clarke’s latest interdisciplinary dance-theater piece is adapted from the classic 1920 novella by Colette, about the son of a courtesan in Belle Époque Paris, forced to end his affair with the older woman responsible for his amorous education. Amy Irving stars alongside the ballet luminaries Herman Cornejo and Alessandra Ferri in this exploration of sensuality, youth and age, with text by Tina Howe. Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street, near 10th Avenue, Clinton, (212) 244-7529, signaturetheatre.org. (Rooney)

‘A Christmas Carol’ (in previews; opens on Monday) In his comedy “Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps,” the British playwright Patrick Barlow brought to life the numerous characters, settings and suspenseful encounters of John Buchan’s novel and Alfred Hitchcock’s film, using just four actors and a load of inventive props. He applies the same irreverent less-is-more method, this time with a cast of five, to the Charles Dickens holiday perennial about the transformation of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge. Joe Calarco directs. Theater at St. Clement’s, 423 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Rooney)

‘The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence’ (in previews; opens on Dec. 9) Given that television and the movies in recent years have coughed up their share of revisionist riffs on Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous sleuth (and his sidekick), it’s time for theater to get in on the Sherlock Holmes act. Leigh Silverman directs Madeleine George’s time-jumping cautionary comedy about the people and gadgets on which we depend, starring John Ellison Conlee, David Costabile and Amanda Quaid. Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200, playwrightshorizons.org. (Rooney)

‘Family Furniture’ (in previews; opens on Sunday) The veteran playwright A. R. Gurney returns to his frequent home at the Flea Theater as well as to the setting of his native Buffalo with this coming-of-age story about a pivotal summer when life changes for the parents and children of the Baldwin clan. Thomas Kail (“In the Heights”) directs a cast that includes Carolyn McCormick, Peter Scolari and Andrew Keenan-Bolger. Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212) 352-3101, theflea.org. (Rooney)

‘How I Learned What I Learned’ (in previews; opens on Sunday) Signature Theater has a long and celebrated association with August Wilson, most recently in its superlative 2012 revival of “The Piano Lesson,” directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson. In this solo show, jointly conceived by Wilson, who died in 2005, and his longtime collaborator Todd Kriegler, who also directs, Mr. Santiago-Hudson steps into the playwright’s shoes to share the personal and professional experiences that shaped his unique theatrical voice. Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 244-7529, signaturetheatre.org. (Rooney)

‘No Man’s Land’/‘Waiting for Godot’ (in previews; opens on Sunday) Familiar to “X-Men” fans as Magneto and Charles Xavier, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart again go head-to-head, this time in a Broadway repertory double bill that also stars Billy Crudup and Shuler Hensley. Harold Pinter’s “No Man’s Land” explores the cryptic connections of four men drifting from present-day reality to memory to fantasy, while Samuel Beckett’s absurdist tragicomedy “Waiting for Godot” observes the agonizing limbo of the eternal vagrants Estragon and Vladimir as they await the arrival of the elusive title figure. Sean Mathias directs both plays. Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Rooney)

‘Regular Singing’ (in previews; opens on Friday) Richard Nelson returns with the concluding chapter in the Apple Family Plays, his probing reflection on American political and domestic life as experienced by a fictional liberal family in Rhinebeck, N.Y. Like the first three works in this lauded series — “That Hopey Changey Thing,” “Sweet and Sad” and “Sorry,” also running in repertory — this installment officially opens on the same significant date on which the events it depicts take place, the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Maryann Plunkett, Jay O. Sanders, Laila Robins, Jon DeVries, Stephen Kunken and Sally Murphy make up the cast, with Mr. Nelson directing the entire marathon. Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555, publictheater.org. (Rooney)

‘Sunset Baby’ (in previews; opens on Friday) Labyrinth Theater Company presents Dominique Morisseau’s three-character play about a former member of the black revolutionary movement, struggling to reconnect with his estranged daughter in Brooklyn. Directed by Kamilah Forbes, it stars John Earl Jelks, known to Broadway audiences for his powerful performances in August Wilson’s “Gem of the Ocean” and “Radio Golf.” Bank Street Theater, 155 Bank Street, West Village, (212) 513-1080, labtheater.org. (Rooney)

‘What’s It All About? Bacharach Reimagined’ (in previews; opens on Dec. 5) New York Theater Workshop has a stellar track record as an incubator for unconventional musical productions, including the landmark “Rent,” the recent Tony winner “Once,” and the jaunty play with musical interludes, “Peter and the Starcatcher.” This tour through the songbook of Burt Bacharach, with lyrics by Hal David and others, aims to reinterpret some of the 20th century’s most enduring pop classics for a new generation. Kyle Riabko, a young actor-musician seen on Broadway in  “Spring Awakening” and “Hair,” undertakes the musical arrangements and conceived the show together with David Lane Seltzer. Direction is by Steven Hoggett, the innovative choreographer whose distinctive movement work has been seen in “Black Watch,” “Once,” “American Idiot” and the current Broadway revival of “The Glass Menagerie.” Mr. Riabko also appears in the cast of seven. New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 279-4200, nytw.org. (Rooney)

Broadway

★ ‘After Midnight’ The stars of this tribute to the Harlem jazz clubs of the 1920s and ’30s are the 16 virtuosic musicians who perform — with verve, style and a good splash of sheer joy — about 25 songs from the period, with a special emphasis on Duke Ellington both as composer and arranger. The dancers and singers are terrific — Fantasia Barrino sings with style, and Adriane Lenox all but steals the show with her two lowdown numbers — but it’s really the Jazz at Lincoln Center All Stars, on the bandstand at the back of the stage, who shine brightest (1:30). Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 West 47th Street, (212) 745-3000, ticketmaster.com. (Charles Isherwood)

‘Annie’ James Lapine’s revival of the singing comic strip from 1977 is merely serviceable. But its smiley-faced mixture of hope and corn scratches an itch in a city recovering from a recession and a hurricane. Theatergoers may occasionally feel the urge both to mist up and throw up. With Anthony Warlow and Faith Prince as Miss Hannigan (2:25). Palace Theater, 1564 Broadway, at 47th Street, (877) 250-2929, ticketmaster.com. (Ben Brantley)

‘Betrayal’ Harold Pinter’s great drama of love and perfidy among the literati has been transformed into a boisterous comedy of infidelity (think “Run for Your Wife” with references to Yeats) in this production, directed by Mike Nichols. The play’s sexual triangle is embodied, with star power (and decibel counts) to spare, by Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Rafe Spall (1:30). Ethel Barrymore Theater, 243 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Brantley)

‘Big Fish’ For a show that celebrates tall tales, this movie-inspired musical about a whopper-spinning dad feels curiously stunted. Directed by Susan Stroman, the production is big on outlandish eye candy but fails to forge a connection between its characters and their fantasies. The super-talented Norbert Leo Butz is the fabulist father, and Bobby Steggert is his judgmental son (2:35). Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, (866) 870-2717, bigfishthemusical.com. (Brantley)

‘First Date’ The winning Zachary Levi and Krysta Rodriguez star in this cliché-ridden romantic comedy, with a book by Austin Winsberg and a score by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner. Mr. Levi is the nice Jewish boy who’s had his heart kicked around, Ms. Rodriguez a boho chick with lots of experience. They’re all wrong for each other, right? Sorry, but no prizes will be given for guessing how this familiar story ends (1:30). Longacre Theater, 220 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Isherwood)

★ ‘A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder’ Playing eight different victims of a sweet-faced killer (Bryce Pinkham) in Edwardian England, Jefferson Mays sings, dances, prances and generally makes infectious merriment in this daffy, ingenious new musical. Written with real wit by Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak, the show has been stylishly directed by Darko Tresnjak (2:20). Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Isherwood)

★ ‘The Glass Menagerie’ John Tiffany’s stunning revival of Tennessee Williams’s 1944 family drama promises to be the most revealing revival of a cornerstone classic for many a year. This poetic production paradoxically reveals the brute emotional force in a play often dismissed as wispy and elegiac. The entire cast — Cherry Jones, Zachary Quinto, Celia Keenan-Bolger and Brian J. Smith — is magnificent (2:30). Booth Theater, 222 West 45th Street, (800) 432-7250, telecharge.com. (Brantley)

★ ‘Kinky Boots’ Cyndi Lauper has created a love-and-heat-seeking score that performs like a pop star on Ecstasy. This Harvey Fierstein-scripted tale of lost souls in the shoe business, in which a young factory owner (Stark Sands) teams up with a drag queen (Billy Porter), sometimes turns into a sermon. But it’s hard to resist the audience-hugging charisma of the songs (2:20). Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Brantley)

★ ‘Matilda the Musical’ The most satisfying and subversive musical ever to come out of Britain. Directed by Matthew Warchus, with a book by Dennis Kelly and addictive songs by Tim Minchin, this adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel is an exhilarating tale of empowerment, told from the perspective of that most powerless group, little children (2:35). Shubert Theater, 225 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Brantley)

‘Motown: The Musical’ A dramatically slapdash but musically vibrant joy ride through the glory days of the Detroit music label founded by Berry Gordy. Mr. Gordy’s book is sketchy and obvious — you want to plug your ears whenever the music stops. But the music is, of course, some of the greatest R&B ever recorded, and the performers mostly electric (2:40). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, (877) 250-2929, ticketmaster.com. (Isherwood)

‘A Night With Janis Joplin’ And friends, actually. The hard-living singer of the title, whose greatest hits are performed with impressive emotional ferocity by Mary Bridget Davies, is joined by a quartet of gifted singers giving their own impersonations of the singers who influenced her, from Bessie Smith to Odetta to Nina Simone to Aretha Franklin. But the talky Janis who gives us a docent tour of blues history in this amplified concert, written and directed by Randy Johnson, doesn’t compel the way the ferocious singer does (2:15). Lyceum Theater, 149 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Isherwood)

‘Pippin’ Diane Paulus sends in the acrobats for her exhaustingly energetic revival of Stephen Schwartz and Roger O. Hirson’s 1972 musical starring Patina Miller. As for the 99-pound story at the center of this muscle-bound spectacle — the one about the starry-eyed son of Charlemagne (Matthew James Thomas) — that’s there too, if you look hard (2:35). Music Box Theater, 239 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Brantley)

‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella’ This ultimate and most enduring of makeover stories, via the team who gave us “Oklahoma!,” has been restyled by the director Mark Brokaw and the writer Douglas Carter Beane into a glittery patchwork of snark and sincerity, with a whole lot of fancy ball gowns. Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana are the appealing leading lovers (2:20). Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway, at 53rd Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Brantley)

‘Romeo and Juliet’ The chemistry between Orlando Bloom, in a fine Broadway debut, and Condola Rashad in the title roles of David Leveaux’s production is more aesthetic than erotic. They seem like too-pretty-for-this-world porcelain figurines that you know are doomed to shatter. While this approach more or less works for the first half, the production’s tragedies are woefully unfocused (2:15). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, (800) 745-3000, ticketmaster.com. (Brantley)

‘700 Sundays’ Billy Crystal’s solo show returns to Broadway, with old, reliable jokes, earned sentiment and a heavy dose of nostalgia (2:30). Imperial Theater, 249 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Jason Zinoman)

‘The Snow Geese’ Mary-Louise Parker returns to the stage to portray (a bit self-consciously) a beautiful, World War I-era widow with fractious sons in this lifeless drama by Sharr White. Directed by Daniel Sullivan, and featuring the estimable Victoria Clark and Danny Burstein, this production is a muddle of pastiche parts that never cohere into an original and organic whole (2:05). Samuel J. Friedman Theater, 261 West 47th Street, (212) 399-3050, manhattantheatreclub.com. (Brantley)

★ ‘Twelfth Night’/‘Richard III’ In a word, bliss. Mark Rylance demonstrates that he can be just as brilliant in a skirt (as a love-stunned countess) as in trousers (as a psychopathic monarch) in these all-male productions from Shakespeare’s Globe in London, directed by Tim Carroll. These are radiantly illuminating interpretations, and in the case of “Twelfth Night,” a source of pure, tickling joy. (“Twelfth Night”: 2:50; “Richard III”: 2:45.) Belasco Theater, 111 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Brantley)

★ ‘The Winslow Boy’ The Roundabout Theater Company presents a splendid revival of Terence Rattigan’s 1946 drama about a British man (the impeccable Roger Rees) fighting for justice when his son is expelled from a naval academy. Moving, delicately funny and terrifically played by a cast that also includes Charlotte Parry as the boy’s freethinking sister, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as his quietly worried mother and Michael Cumpsty as a family friend (2:40). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, (212) 719-1300, roundabouttheatre.org. (Isherwood)

Off Broadway

★ ‘All That Fall’ Samuel Beckett’s 1957 radio play, staged by Trevor Nunn, transforms the everyday vicissitudes of an Irish country woman’s journey to the local train station into a bleak, profoundly funny odyssey of Homeric struggles. The agreeably disagreeable woman and her husband are memorably embodied, with“wild laughter” and priceless lamentation, by Eileen Atkins and Michael Gambon (1:15). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, Manhattan, (212) 279-4200, 59e59.org. (Brantley)

★ ‘Bad Jews’ The wonderful Tracee Chimo (“Circle Mirror Tranformation,” “Bachelorette”), as well as Philip Ettinger, Molly Ranson and Michael Zegen, have returned for the remounting of this play, which appeared Off Off Broadway last year at Roundabout Underground’s Black Box Theater. Ms. Chimo gives a sensational performance in Joshua Harmon’s work, portraying a smart, funny and seriously abrasive young woman who is embroiled in a dispute with her cousin over who is entitled to a family heirloom (1:40). Laura Pels Theater at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theater, 111 West 46th Street, Manhattan, (212) 719-1300, roundabouttheater.org. (Isherwood)

★ ‘Bayside! The Musical’ Attending this bawdy, ridiculous, unauthorized parody of the harebrained sitcom “Saved by the Bell” is a bit like going to a midnight screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” given the many inside jokes and synchronized audience responses. Audience members know the material so well because half the humor comes from merely reproducing every ludicrous plot twist and trope from the TV show (including Zack’s giant cellphone, Becky the Duck and other allusions that will be familiar to longtime fans). The other half of the humor is just good-old fashioned raunch, usually playing up the horrifying ways to reinterpret a squeaky-clean children’s show (2:00). Theater 80, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village, (212) 388-0388, baysidethemusical.com. (Catherine Rampell)

‘Becoming Dr. Ruth’ While Debra Jo Rupp (“That ’70s Show”) brings warmth and humor to the title role, Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer’s remarkable life deserves a less pedestrian bio-play than this sentimental single-character vehicle, written by Mark St. Germain and directed by Julianne Boyd (1:40). Westside Theater Upstairs, 407 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Rooney)

‘Bill W. and Dr. Bob’ Making the story of the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous 99 percent preachiness-free is quite an accomplishment. Samuel Shem and Janet Surrey’s purpose-driven script, which never forgets the humor of the human experience, goes a long way toward making this a satisfying revival (2:15). SoHo Playhouse, 15 Van Dam Street, South Village, (866) 811-4111, billwanddrbob.com. (Anita Gates)

★ ‘Buyer & Cellar’ Jonathan Tolins has concocted an irresistible one-man play from the most peculiar of fictitious premises — an underemployed Los Angeles actor goes to work in Barbra Streisand’s Malibu, Calif., basement — allowing the playwright to ruminate with delicious wit and perspicacity on the solitude of celebrity, the love-hate attraction between gay men and divas, and the melancholy that lurks beneath narcissism. In the capable hands of the director Stephen Brackett and the wickedly charming actor Michael Urie, this seriously funny slice of absurdist whimsy creates the illusion of a stage filled with multiple people, all of them with their own droll point of view (1:30). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, at Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 868-4444, smarttix.com. (Rooney)

‘Cougar the Musical’ Three older women find themselves attracted to younger men, two against their better judgment. The concept seems made for bus tours, but imagination, appealing numbers with original melodies and theme-transcending jokes lift this show well above the level of “Menopause: The Musical” and its ilk (1:30). Saturdays only. St. Luke’s Theater, 308 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Gates)

‘Cuff Me: The Fifty Shades of Grey Musical Parody’ What can I possibly say that isn’t said by the title of this production? Here’s one thing: It’s not exactly great theater, but I’d still rather see “Cuff Me” than read the novel upon which it’s based (1:30). Actors Temple Theater, 339 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Claudia La Rocco)

‘Disaster!’ Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick lampoon those cheesy 1970s movies in which fistfuls of C-list stars were clobbered by various unnatural acts of nature. Deathlessly awful songs from the same era — “Torn Between Two Lovers,” “Feelings,” “I Am Woman” — are thrown in for good measure (2:05). St. Luke’s Theater, 308 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, disastermusical.com. (Isherwood)

‘Domesticated’ Having dealt with the divisive power of skin color in “Clybourne Park,” Bruce Norris plumbs the abyss between the sexes in this alternately energizing and tedious satire, directed by Anna D. Shapiro. The play, starring a fiery Laurie Metcalf and Jeff Goldblum, percolates with Mr. Norris’s distinctive language of frustration; it also often scores too easily off big targets (1:40). Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Lincoln Center, 150 West 65th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com, lct.org. (Brantley)

★ ‘Fun Home’ This beautiful heartbreaker of a memory musical, adapted from Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir, brilliantly uses the ineffability of music and the artifice of theater to conjure the mysteries of being part of a family. It is splendidly directed by Sam Gold, with a book by Lisa Kron, music by Jeanine Tesori and a superb cast — led by Michael Cerveris as an ever-elusive father (1:45). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555, publictheater.org. (Brantley)

★ ‘Good Person of Szechwan’ Lear DeBessonet’s frisky, funny production of Bertolt Brecht’s fable about the high cost of doing good reveals how purely entertaining the German playwright and theorist’s work can be when it is delivered with invention and a spirit of inquisitive exuberance. The drag performer Taylor Mac gives a wondrously good performance as the prostitute Shen Te, who invents a fictional male cousin to pursue her interests when her charitable instincts trip her up (2:30). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555, publictheater.org. (Isherwood)

★ ‘Grasses of a Thousand Colors’ Wallace Shawn is the star and author of this lyrical, creepy and richly detailed (and, oh yes, pornographic) dreamscape, directed by Andre Gregory. Mr. Shawn plays an ecology-wrecking entrepreneur, and Jennifer Tilly, Julie Hagerty and Emily Cass McDonnell are the women in his life. A dazzling, cautionary fairy tale that is not for the prudish (3:30). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555, publictheater.org. (Brantley)

‘Hamlet’ The Bedlam company presents a four-person, stripped-down production that is modest and sensitive to the sound of the poetry of the play (3:30). Lynn Redgrave Theater at the Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village, (866) 811-4111, theatrebedlam.org. (Zinoman)

‘How to Make Friends and Then Kill Them’ This very dark comedy by Halley Feiffer features gung-ho performances by its three actresses, who portray childhood friends (two of them sisters) who become entangled in an ugly combination of rivalry and co-dependence as they grow to adulthood. Things get pretty unpleasant, and ultimately it seems as if the unpleasantness is the play’s only point (1:30). Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place, Greenwich Village, (866) 811-4111, rattlestick.org. (Neil Genzlinger)

‘It’s Just Sex’ Jeff Gould’s lightweight comedy, a long-running hit in Los Angeles, is about three married couples whose party turns into an evening of spouse-swapping and postcoital navel-gazing (metaphorically). The cast is personable, but the script’s only deep thought is that if women were told they could talk only to one person for the rest of their lives, they would understand why sexual fidelity is so stifling for men (1:30). Actors Temple Theater, 339 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Gates)

★ ‘The Jacksonian’ The humor in Beth Henley’s delectably lurid new play is as black as widow’s weeds. But with a crackerjack cast, directed by Robert Falls, this twisty study in murder, Mississippi style, finds bright fireworks within shades of noir. The top-tier ensemble, which includes Ed Harris and Bill Pullman, goes out on a limb (and hangs there) with unblinking conviction (1:25). Acorn Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Brantley)

★ ‘Juno and the Paycock’ J. Smith-Cameron gives a warm, moving performance as the wife of the ne’er-do-well “Captain” Jack Boyle (the fine Ciaran O’Reilly) in Charlotte Moore’s assured revival of Sean O’Casey’s play about the troubles faced by an impoverished family amid the civil unrest in Dublin of the 1920s (2:15). Irish Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212) 727-2737, irishrep.org. (Isherwood)

‘Lady Day’ The stylish jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater plays Billie Holiday toward the frayed end of her career in this musically rich but dramatically awkward bio-play, set in London in 1954 and written and directed by Stephen Stahl (2:15). Little Shubert Theater, 422 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, ladydaythemusical.com. (Isherwood)

‘Little Miss Sunshine’ William Finn and James Lapine’s new musical is an affable but surprisingly bland adaptation of the popular movie. Hannah Nordberg charms as the would-be pageant winner, and the chorus of her competitors provide some spark in what is generally a spark-free evening (1:45). Second Stage Theater, 305 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212) 246-4422, 2st.com. (Isherwood)

★ ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Julie Taymor’s eye-popping take on Shakespeare’s most enchanted comedy seems to turn the very firmament into a set of silk sheets, equally suitable for sex and sleep. In this auspicious inaugural production for the new Brooklyn headquarters of Theater for a New Audience, Ms. Taymor confirms her reputation as the P. T. Barnum of contemporary stagecraft (2:40). Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place, between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (866) 811-4111, tfana.org. (Brantley)

‘A Mind-Bending Evening of Beckett’ Bob Flanagan, a longtime puppet designer for “Saturday Night Live,” directed this production, which comprises three short plays. One entry presents a Bunraku-style puppet engaged in Sisyphean struggles on a desert island; another is a very short vision of Beckett bleakness; and one concerns two women and a man, all entombed in giant urns and prattling about the man’s dalliances with the others. Together, the three works offer a modest but rewarding (and ingeniously staged) taste of the playwright’s singular worldview (1:10). Irish Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212) 727-2737, irishrep.org. (Andy Webster)

★ ‘Murder for Two’ After a successful run at Second Stage Uptown, this show returns to another Off Broadway space, New World Stages. In this nifty mystery musical comedy by Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair, a virtuosic Jeff Blumenkrantz plays all the suspects, and Brett Ryback the investigating officer. The actors also provide the music, taking turns at the piano, under Scott Schwartz’s fleet direction (1:30). 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Isherwood)

★ ‘Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812’ Dave Malloy’s transporting pop opera dramatizes an emotionally potent slice of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.” Rachel Chavkin directs a superb young cast who bring the loves and losses of 19th-century Russian aristocrats to vibrant, intimate life in a stylish cabaret setting. The production and its tent make the move from the meatpacking district to the theater district for a multiweek run (2:30). Kazino, West 45th Street, near Eighth Avenue, telecharge.com (Isherwood)

★ ‘Nothing to Hide’ The supremely skilled and affable sleight-of-hand specialists Derek DelGaudio and Helder Guimarães dazzle and mystify in an evening of card trickery that elicits delighted gasps from the audience for their intricately conceived stunts. Smoothly directed by self-professed magic nerd Neil Patrick Harris (1:10). Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200, ticketcentral.com. (Isherwood)

‘The Patron Saint of Sea Monsters’ Marlane Meyer’s gothic comedy drama stars Laura Heisler and Rob Campbell as two mismatched lovers in a backwoods town. Unfortunately, Lisa Peterson’s stylish production can’t do much to iron out the play’s rough mixture of tones (2:15). Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200, playwrightshorizons.org. (Isherwood)

‘The Preacher and the Shrink’ Connie (Adria Vitlar), a poet and English professor, shakes her father (Tom Galantich), the senior minister at a local Presbyterian church, after accusing his young colleague of molesting her. Merle Good’s play shows some early promise, but fixates on Connie’s self-absorbed grievances to the exclusion of better material and, in the process, wastes Dee Hoty as the psychiatrist of the title. In the end, the only one fascinated by a narcissist is the narcissist (1:45). Beckett Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, theatrerow.org/thebeckett.htm. (Daniel M. Gold)

★ ‘Saint Joan’ With just four actors playing 24 characters, Bedlam’s wonderfully high-spirited production of Shaw’s 1920 semi-tragedy leads its audience into, out of and all over the space. Eric Tucker’s inventive direction and the four superb performers make it well worth the time. It returns to the stage after a previous run at the Access Theater this year, and will run in repertory with Bedlam’s “Hamlet” (3:00). Lynn Redgrave Theater at the Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village, (866) 811-4111, theatrebedlam.org. (Eric Grode)

★ ‘Small Engine Repair’ The Los Angeles-based playwright and actor John Pollono makes an impressive double-barreled Off Broadway debut in this dark comedy about three lifelong friends convening for a night of partying that turns twisted. It’s raw, funny and well-acted, and tautly directed by Jo Bonney (1:10). Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 352-3101, mcctheater.org. (Isherwood)

‘La Soirée’ The side show meets the big top in this naughty hybrid of burlesque and circus, featuring performers like the comic chanteuse Meow Meow and a waterlogged hunk taking a very gymnastic bath (2:00). Union Square Theater, 100 East 17th Street, (800) 653-8000, ticketmaster.com. (Isherwood)

‘Taking Care of Baby’ Dennis Kelly’s crafty, precisely acted drama purports to be a specimen of “verbatim” theater, to remind us that even documentaries are filled with unreliable narrators. Kristen Bush plays a young woman who may have killed her children, and the invaluable Margaret Colin and Reed Birney offer dubious evidence. Erica Schmidt directs with appropriately confusing clarity (2:10). City Center Stage II, 131 West 55th Street, Manhattan, (212) 581-1212, nycitycenter.org. (Brantley)

Off Off Broadway

★ ‘The Mutilated’ The performance artist Penny Arcade and the John Waters contract player Mink Stole give big, bold performances in this funky, funny revival of a rarely seen oddity by Tennessee Williams, a black comedy from 1966 about two lonely souls in New Orleans trying to patch the rift in their friendship. Cosmin Chivu directs with flair (1:30). New Ohio Theater, 154 Christopher Street, West Village, (888) 596-1027, newohiotheatre.org. (Isherwood)

★ ‘Then She Fell’ Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s “Alice” books, this transporting immersive theater work occupies a dreamscape where the judgments and classifications of the waking mind are suspended. A guided tour of Wonderland, created by Third Rail Projects, leads its participants through a series of rooms and an interactive evening of dance, poetry, food and drink (2:00). The Kingsland Ward at St. John’s, 195 Maujer Street, near Humboldt Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 374-5196, thenshefell.com. (Brantley)

‘This Is My Office’ The focus shifts from a middle-aged artist’s floundering to a son’s confused mourning in Andy Bragen’s site-specific solo piece, starring David Barlow. But the combination of a sprawling, awkward space and the decision to have audience members don headsets for much of the performance creates a distance that works steadily against it (1:25). Chashama, 210 East 43rd Street, Midtown, (866) 811-4111, playco.org. (Laura Collins-Hughes)

Extravaganzas

‘Big Apple Circus: Luminocity’ The latest edition of Big Apple has a story line that unfolds in a neighborhood that’s already a rip-roaring circus: Times Square. The production assembles various New York types, and the fun is watching them — a hot dog vendor, construction workers, executives — transform into completely different humans, who then do something nearly superhuman. The circus’s one-ring intimacy only amplifies the thrills: when you can see the concentration in an aerialist’s face or count the beads of sweat on the forehead of a tightrope walker, you’re more scared, not less (2:00). Damrosch Park, 62nd Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues, Lincoln Center, (800) 922-3772, bigapplecircus.org. (Laurel Graeber)

‘Radio City Christmas Spectacular’ This song-and-dance extravaganza is back, with its usual mix of old-fashioned sentiment and high-tech wizardry, including a new number, “Snow,” in which nine globes, each containing a huge snowflake, drift out into the theater. If you’re a returning audience member, you might also wish for a new story line, but the show still delivers, thanks to the consummate skill of the Rockettes. Your days this season may not be merry and bright, but these 90 minutes are. Radio City Music Hall, (866) 858-0007, radiocitychristmas.com. (Graeber)

Long-Running Shows

‘Avenue Q’ R-rated puppets give lively life lessons (2:15). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com.

‘The Berenstain Bears Live! In Family Matters, the Musical’ This adaptation of three of Stan and Jan Berenstain’s children’s books is pleasant enough, but the cubs are showing their age. Saturdays and Sundays (:55). 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, (800) 432-7250, telecharge.com.

‘Chicago’ Jazz Age sex, murder and razzle-dazzle (2:25). Ambassador Theater, 219 West 49th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com.

‘En el Tiempo de las Mariposas’ Caridad Svich’s Spanish-language adaptation of Julia Álvarez’s novel (“In the Time of the Butterflies”) about the Mirabal sisters, who opposed the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo and died as a result (2:00). Runs in repertory at Repertorio Español at Gramercy Arts Theater, 138 East 27th Street, (212) 225-9999, repertorio.org/mariposas.

‘The Fantasticks’ Boy meets girl, forever (2:05). Snapple Theater Center, 210 West 50th Street, (800) 745-3000, ticketmaster.com.

‘Fuerza Bruta: Look Up’ A sensory bath aimed at clubgoing college kids in search of cultural diversion (1:05). Daryl Roth Theater, 20 Union Square East, at 15th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com.

‘Jersey Boys’ The biomusical that walks like a man (2:30). August Wilson Theater, 245 West 52nd Street, (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.

‘Love in the Time of Cholera’ Directed by José Zayas and performed by an efficient four-actor crew, Caridad Svich’s adaptation of the Gabriel García Márquez novel is pleasing but lightweight. A production cannot live on romance alone. In Spanish with subtitles (2:00). Runs in repertory at Gramercy Arts Theater, 138 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 889-2850, repertorio.org.

‘Mamma Mia!’ The jukebox musical set to the disco throb of Abba (2:20). Broadhurst Theater, 235 West 44th Street, (800) 432-7259, telecharge.com.

‘Newsies’ Extra! Extra! enthusiasm (2:20). Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, (866) 870-2717, newsiesthemusical.com.

‘Once’ Almost love, in a singing Dublin (2:15). Bernard B. Jacobs Theater, 242 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com.

‘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.

‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ This production, about the boy who became Peter Pan, is an enchanted anatomy of the urge to defy gravity (2:10). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.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.

‘Rock of Ages’ Big hair, thrashing guitars and inspired humor fuel this jukebox musical (2:25). Helen Hayes Theater, 240 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.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.

‘Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark’ Web surfing with music (2:45). Foxwoods Theater, 213 West 42nd Street, (800) 745-3000, spidermanonbroadway.marvel.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.

‘Wicked’ Oz revisited (2:45). Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street, (800) 745-3000, ticketmaster.com.

Last Chance

‘Ballerina Swan’ (closes on Sunday) Allegra Kent’s children’s book is brought to charming, if rather unnuanced life in this 50-minute production for young audiences. And watching those young viewers dance during the show is a very sweet highlight (:50). Theater 3, 311 West 43rd Street, third floor, Clinton, (212) 573-8791, makingbookssing.org. (La Rocco)

‘Cloven Tongues’ (closes on Saturday) This earnest play finds a priest and a social worker trying to draw a damaged woman out of her shell (1:55). The Wild Project, 195 East Third Street, East Village, (866) 811-4111, cloven-tongues.com. (Ken Jaworowski)

‘Fix Me, Jesus’ (closes on Sunday) The hardship that has set off Annabell’s latest panic attack probably seems petty: She is at Neiman Marcus, and she cannot find the perfect dress. But as this play explains again and again, her histrionics are but a manifestation of a lifetime of accumulated anxieties and emotional traumas, as evidenced by the family flashbacks that wander, unwanted, into Annabell’s dressing room. Helen Sneed’s script has some rough edges, but Sam Pinkleton’s direction is lively and resourceful (1:35). Abingdon Theater Arts Complex’s Dorothy Strelsin Theater, 312 West 36th Street, Manhattan, (866) 811-4111, abingdontheatre.org. (Rampell)

‘In the Wine Time’ (closes on Sunday) Coarse language, loose women, good-for-nothing men and rampant alcoholism are all dragging down Derby Street, the proverbial skid row of an unnamed northern American industrial city. So, unfortunately, is terrible direction. This affecting, 1968 play by Ed Bullins, a leader of the Black Arts Movement, deserves much better treatment than the train wreck delivered by this revival (1:55). Castillo Theater, 543 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 941-1234, castillo.org. (Rampell)

‘The Landing’ (closes on Sunday) This three-part chamber musical, by Greg Pierce and the fabled composer John Kander, brings to mind the shivery fantasy short stories of John Collier and Ray Bradbury. The deft, four-member cast of this elegantly slender and deceptively simple production, directed by Walter Bobbie, includes a quietly terrific David Hyde Pierce, whose roles include a tough-talking brick (1:40). Vineyard Theater, 108 East 15th Street Street, Manhattan, (212) 353-0303, vineyardtheatre.org. (Brantley)

‘The Last Saint on Sugar Hill’ (closes on Sunday) Keith Josef Adkins’s drama about a cold-blooded landlord, his two sons and the gentrification of Harlem has flaws, but the plot is flush with well-timed revelations. The homeless man is an impressively original character, and the dialogue is exquisitely profane (1:40). National Black Theater, 2031 Fifth Avenue, near 125th Street, East Harlem, (212) 722-3800, nationalblacktheatre.org. (Gates)

‘Marie Antoinette’ (closes on Sunday) This latest work from the adventurous David Adjmi, a polarizing playwright who specializes in sounding the depths of shallowness, feels less like a portrait than a contemporary annotation of the life of France’s most notorious queen. But Marin Ireland brings variety and commitment to the title role of this austere production, directed by Rebecca Taichman (1:30). Soho Rep, 46 Walker Street, TriBeCa, (212) 352-3101, sohorep.org. (Brantley)

★ ‘The Norwegians’ (closes on Sunday) There is every chance that C. Denby Swanson wrote this odd, dark, profane comedy — about really sweet Scandinavian hit men in Minnesota and the young women who hire them — after falling asleep during “Fargo.” But this low-budget guilty pleasure, which was a hit this spring and returns with the original cast, delivers solid laughs while making fun (in mostly nice ways) of various ethnicities and American states. And one actress demonstrates how good Mary-Louise Parker might be as a stand-up comic (1:30). Drilling Company Theater, 236 West 78th Street, Manhattan, (212) 868-4444, smarttix.com. (Gates)

★ ‘Year of the Rooster’ (closes on Sunday) This startling dark comedy by a young playwright named Eric Dufault is about cockfighting, and it features a rooster marvelously played by Bobby Moreno. But it is also about much more: dominating, winning, dreaming, despairing. The cast is spot on, and the cockfight scene that ends Act I is memorable and a little scary. Ensemble Studio Theater, 549 West 52nd Street, Clinton, (866) 811-4111, ensemblestudiotheatre.org. (Genzlinger)

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section C, Page 17 of the New York edition with the headline: The Listings. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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