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My Guide To the Best (And Least) Of Broadway This Season

How does a trip to hell sound? Or a visit to another Nether World? Or a deeply disturbing Oklahoma? You’ll also find a mountain of corpses, two media circuses, and mad kings (one of them a Kong) during this very dark/stormy/creepy season on Broadway.

But not all is doom or gloom. Lifting spirits are a pair of sweet lesbian kids, a guy who finds his softer side in heels, a triumphant geek — and Cher.

Welcome to the 2018-19 Broadway season, which ended with the annual mad rush of April openings and exhausted critics. But with so many intriguing offerings, what’s a Connecticut theater lover to do traveling to Manhattan in search of the best of Broadway?

From my perch as a theater critic for Variety, I’ve made an insider’s guide to help find the winning ticket to suit your tastes.

MUSICALS

Ain’t Too Proud at Imperial Theater

Briefly: Jukebox musical that follows the career of The Temptations

Target audience: Those who like songbook shows and a backstage history — without too much angst or ick.

Mission accomplished?: Skillful performances, smooth dance moves and glorious voices make it an appealing though lightweight show whose sole and soulful purpose is: “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me.”

Grade: B

Beetlejuice at Winter Garden Theatre

Briefly: Musical adaptation of the 1988 Tim Burton film which starred Michael Keaton as the demented demon wreaking havoc on the lives of the still-living and newly-dead.

Target audience: Fans of the film. Teens. Giddy goths.

Mission accomplished?: This theme park ride of a show has tons of laughs — some crude, some witty, and all told with manic glee by the inexhaustible Alex Brightman in the title role. The end’s a mess but what the hell.

Grade: B+

Be More Chill at the Lyceum Theater

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