If you're a fan of musicals, you should be happy this weekend, whether your preferences are big or small. Let's start with big, or perhaps I should say BIG! The tour of Shrek The Musical at the Aronoff delighted me a lot more than I had expected. It looks great — colorful costumes, dazzling sets — and it has a cast of people who can really sing and dance. The show has a lot of humor that everyone, including kids, can enjoy, and moments when the real musical theater geeks will recognize gently satirical pokes at other hit shows.—- The musical runs at the Aronoff through April 24. For tickets and more info, click here; for my review, head here.
If your tastes run more in the direction of small, off-Broadway pieces, you can't go wrong with [title of show]. Yes, that's really what it's called, a self-referential musical about two guys writing a musical about two guys writing a musical. The cast of four — the two guys have two female singer-actress friends who join them in their endeavor — all have great voices and the piece is an endearing, charming paean to musical theater. It's being offered by New Edgecliff Theater at the Columbia Performance Center, once a church in the East End. I saw this one Thursday night and I think it's going to be a hit for NET. Great fun to watch, the show runs through April 30. For tickets and more info, click here.