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The article reviews the revival of several plays by William Shakespeare in New York City as of July 29, 2018 which include the musicals "Twelfth Night," "Kiss Me, Kate," and "The Frogs."

Why didn't Henry James think of adding some dragon tattoos and poisoned cups of tea? ''Tokio Confidential,'' a new musical by Eric Schorr, has plenty to recommend it, not least a plush, inviting score. But Mr. Schorr, who wrote the music, book and lyrics, does his almost comically lurid story no favors by basing several characters' names on figures in James's naturalistic masterpiece ''The Portrait of a Lady,'' even retaining Isabel Archer's birthplace, Albany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

''SATURN RETURNS'' is the 1998 song cycle that helped cement Adam Guettel's reputation as one of musical theater's most daringly rhapsodic composers. A repurposed version opens Wednesday under its original title, ''Myths and Hymns.'' Like any composer Mr. Guettel won't know until opening night whether the producers -- in this case the Prospect Theater Company -- have pulled it off. Unlike most composers he really won't have the faintest idea until then. ''I'm seeing it for the first time that night,'' he said. In the 14 years since that song cycle made its debut, Mr. Guettel has written one of the period's most admired Broadway musicals (''The Light in the Piazza'') and one of its most lamented what-might-have-beens (an adaptation of the film ''Princess Bride'' that was scuttled after three years of work). Given his revered but limited output -- he burst onto the scene shortly before ''Saturn Returns'' with the Obie Award-winning score to ''Floyd Collins'' -- this revamp has the potential to convince theaters everywhere that ''Myths and Hymns'' is viable as a stage property, essentially augmenting Mr. Guettel's body of performable shows by 50 percent. So why the hands-off attitude? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For much of the 1980s and beyond ''Mama, I Want to Sing'' was a fixture among Harlem audiences, logging more than 2,500 performances. This mom-and-pop gospel musical also yielded a handful of sequels, hybrids and other spinoffs. But with ''Mama, I Want to Sing: The Next Generation,'' which is continuing a Saturdays-only run at the Dempsey Theater, the authors and producers -- Vy Higginsen, who also narrates, and her husband, Ken Wydro, who also directs -- have decided not to fix what, at least judging from audience response, is still in good shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WHEN you write one of the most produced plays of the decade at the age of 30, you can presumably shift your focus to whatever you want. But for David Auburn, who earned that distinction (on the basis of subsequent professional stagings) with his 2000 play, ''Proof,'' a chunk of the last 11 years has been spent doing what others have asked him to. Some of these jobs were no-brainers, like the screenplay for the film version of ''Proof.'' Others had a neat symmetry, like the revision of ''Tick, Tick ... Boom!,'' an autobiographical musical by Jonathan Larson. (Each won the Pulitzer Prize for drama as well as a Tony Award while in his 30s: Larson posthumously in 1996 for ''Rent,'' Mr. Auburn five years later.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the prevalence of musicals providing various voices of God in New York.