Theater Listings

BASIL TWIST In most cases it’s safe to say that actual people outrank puppets as performers. If, however, the strings are being pulled by the third-generation master puppeteer Basil Twist, all bets are off. His “Dogugaeshi,” seen several years ago at Japan Society, ranks among the most magically charged experiences I’ve ever had in a theater. For others, Mr. Twist’s version of the ballet “Petrushka” fits this bill; luckily for those of us who missed it at its Lincoln Center premiere seven years ago, the institution has brought it back for another limited run, as part of the Stravinsky Onstage series.

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A scene from Basil Twist's "Petrushka."

Stravinsky’s score is performed in the fittingly delicate two-piano version by the Russian identical twins Julia and Irina Elkina; they begin the show with his Sonata for Two Pianos. Normally, of course, the hero, Petrushka, is played by a person; half the fun is in seeing how this dancer morphs into a puppet, albeit one who yearns to experience the richness of human emotion. What’s wondrous about Mr. Twist’s art (and especially poignant, given the subject matter) is to see how marvelously real his Petrushka is, along with his rival, the Moor, and the object of his ardor, the Ballerina (above, with Petrushka).

Even in a fuzzy video recording of a performance, they appear remarkably animated, as Mr. Twist and his team of puppeteers work their spell. But, like all great live art, this “Petrushka” needs to be seen in person to be truly appreciated. Thirteen performances, through April 13, remain at the Clark Studio Theater in the Rose Building. Get your tickets now, and bring children if you’d like. (The show is appropriate for ages 8 and older.) Just be prepared for Mr. Twist’s sophisticated production to ruin future puppet shows for them. (Friday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday at 3 and 7:30 p.m.; Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; 165 West 65th Street, seventh floor, 212-721-6500, lincolncenter.org; .) CLAUDIA LA ROCCO

Approximate running times are in parentheses. Theaters are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of current shows, additional listings, showtimes and tickets: nytimes.com/theater.

Previews and Openings

‘A CATERED AFFAIR’ In previews; opens on April 17. Harvey Fierstein and John Bucchino adapt the marriage-obsessed teleplay and screenplay of this ’50s drama into a new musical. Faith Prince, Tom Wopat and Mr. Fierstein star (1:30). Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200.

‘THE CONVERSATION’ In previews; opens on Thursday. Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 classic about the crumbling conscience of a talented surveillance man for hire gets the theatrical treatment. 29th Street Rep, 212 West 29th Street, Chelsea, (212) 868-4444.

‘THE COUNTRY GIRL’ In previews; opens on April 27. Mike Nichols directs a star-studded revival of Clifford Odets’s backstage drama, featuring Frances McDormand and Morgan Freeman. Jacobs Theater, 242 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200.

‘CRY-BABY’ In previews; opens on April 24. Following in the footsteps of “Hairspray,” this new musical adaptation of a John Waters cult film opens on Broadway. Mark Brokaw directs. Marquis Theater, 1535 Broadway, at 45th Street, (212) 307-4100.

‘FROM UP HERE’ In previews; opens on April 16. The Tony-winning actress Julie White (“The Little Dog Laughed”) stars in Liv Flahive’s new play about a high school senior who has to apologize to the entire school. Manhattan Theater Club at City Center, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212.

‘GOD’S EAR’ Previews start on Wednesday. Opens on April 17. Jenny Schwartz’s experimental drama about a couple coping with the death of a child returns with Christina Kirk again leading the cast (1:30). Vineyard Theater, 108 East 15th Street, (212) 353-0303.

‘THE LITTLE FLOWER OF EAST ORANGE’ In previews; opens on Sunday. Philip Seymour Hoffman directs Stephen Adly-Guirgis’s modern ghost story set in Upper Manhattan (2:30). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555.

‘THE NEW CENTURY’ In previews; opens on April 14. Jayne Houdyshell and Linda Lavin star in these four short plays by the screenwriter and playwright Paul Rudnick (2:20). Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200.

‘SIZWE BANZI IS DEAD’ Performances start on Tuesday. This revival of Athol Fugard’s Apartheid-era classic features the drama’s original stars, John Kani and Winston Ntshona (1:30). Brooklyn Academy of Music Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100.

Broadway

★ ‘AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY’ Tracy Letts’s turbocharged tragicomedy about an Oklahoma clan in a state of near-apocalyptic meltdown is the most exciting new American play Broadway has seen in years. Fiercely funny and bitingly sad, it somehow finds fresh sources of insight in that classic staple of the stage, the disintegrating American family. And the cast, from the Steppenwolf Theater Company, is beyond sublime (3:20). Imperial Theater, 249 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Charles Isherwood)

‘CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF’ Anika Noni Rose and Terrence Howard deliciously embody those eternal adversaries, irresistible force and immovable object, as the battling husband and wife in the first act of this otherwise flabby revival of Tennessee Williams’s melodrama. Debbie Allen directs, none too certainly, a cast that also includes James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad (2:45). Broadhurst Theater, 235 West 44th Street, Manhattan; (212) 239-6200. (Ben Brantley)

‘DISNEY’S THE LITTLE MERMAID’ The motto for this charm-free musical blunderbuss, based on the charming 1989 Disney movie, might be “You can’t go broke overestimating the taste of preschoolers.” Francesca Zambello directs an overwhelmed cast (2:20). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley)

‘GREASE’ A limp revival of a musical set in a high school that feels like a musical put on by a high school. Kathleen Marshall directs and choreographs a charisma-free ensemble, whose leads (Max Crumm and Laura Osnes) were cast via reality television (2:15). Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 West 47th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley)

★ ‘GYPSY’ As the dangerously obsessed Momma Rose, Patti Lupone has found her focus. And when Ms. LuPone is truly focused, she’s a laser, she incinerates. Directed by Arthur Laurents, this wallop-packing incarnation of the great musical showbiz fable, also starring the superb Boyd Gaines and Laura Benanti, shines with a magnified, soul-revealing transparency (2:30). St. James, 246 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley)

★ ‘THE HOMECOMING’ A superlative revival of Harold Pinter’s masterpiece of family warfare, directed by Daniel Sullivan, with a cast led by Ian McShane and, in benchmark performances, Eve Best and Raúl Esparza. Four decades after its Broadway debut titillated and outraged American theatergoers, this extraordinary drama continues to unsettle (2:10). Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley)

★ ‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the bubbly Latin pop score for this musical about barrio life, also gives a captivating performance as the owner of a bodega who dispenses good cheer along with cafe con leche. Zesty choreography and a host of lively performers are among its other assets; its fundamental flaw is a vivid streak of sentimentality (2:20). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Isherwood)

‘LEGALLY BLONDE’ This nonstop sugar rush of a musical about a powder puff who finds her inner power broker, based on the 2001 film, approximates the experience of eating a jumbo bag of Gummi Bears in one sitting. Flossing between songs is recommended (2:20). Palace Theater, 1564 Broadway, at 47th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley)

‘THE NEW MEL BROOKS MUSICAL YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN’ This tiring adaptation of Mr. Brooks’s 1974 movie, directed by Susan Stroman and starring an amiable but overwhelmed Roger Bart, never seems to stop screeching at you. This means that: a) it soon wears out its voice, and b) it leaves you with a monster-size headache (2:45). Hilton Theater, 213 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley)

‘NOVEMBER’ David Mamet’s glib, jaunty comedy about a corrupt, unpopular president seeking re-election suggests a “Saturday Night Live” sketch retro-styled as a Sid Caesar comedy sketch. Joe Mantello, in his Neil Simon mode, directs a cast led by Nathan Lane (as the quipping president) and Laurie Metcalf (as his doormat speechwriter) (1:35). Barrymore Theater, 243 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley)

★ ‘PASSING STRANGE’ The rock ’n’ roll autobiography of Stew, a singer-songwriter who grew up in bourgeois black Los Angeles and trekked to Europe to find himself as an artist. The portrait of an artist in search of himself is an old story; Stew’s unique perspective, exuberant music and witty lyrics — and the show’s uniformly delightful cast — give it a vivid new sheen (2:10). Belasco Theater, 111 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood)

★ ‘SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE’ A glorious revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s 1984 musical about art according to Seurat. Making enchanting use of 21st-century technology to convey a 19th-century Pointillist’s point of view, this production also shimmers with a new humanity and clarity. Daniel Buntrock directs a revelatory cast, led by Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell. (2:15). Studio 54, 254 West 54th Street, (212) 719-1300. (Brantley)

★ ‘XANADU’ An improbably entertaining spoof of the majestically awful movie from 1980 about a Greek muse (Olivia Newton-John, roller-skating into oblivion) who inspires a young artist in Venice Beach, Calif., to chase his disco dream. Kerry Butler mimics Ms. Newton-John’s Aussie accent and sports her signature skates-and-leg-warmers look, but also puts her own affectionate stamp on a seriously silly role. The impish playwright Douglas Carter Beane, who wrote the adaptation, also supplies great material for the domineering comic actresses Jackie Hoffman and Mary Testa. Blissfully idiotic, practically sublime (1:30). Helen Hayes Theater, 240 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood)

Off Broadway

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