“THE COAST OF UTOPIA”: (4 STARS) Tom Stoppard’s thrilling trilogy of 19th-century Russian activists and thinkers, together with their lovers and friends, makes up one of the epic theater pieces of our time. Vivian Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, 50 W. 65th St.; (212) 239-6200. Closes May 13.
“A CHORUS LINE”: (2 ½ STARS) A clean carbon copy of a great original. Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, 236 W. 45th St.; (212) 239-6200.
“COMPANY”: (3 STARS) Exuberant revival of Stephen Sondheim’s musical, staged by John (“Sweeney Todd”) Doyle, using embedded musician/singers. The performances are good, the score wondrous, but it’s still grounded by George Furth’s trivial look at marriage and relationships. Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 243 W. 47th St.; (212) 239-6200.
“CURTAINS”: (2 STARS) The nervy, impeccable David Hyde Pierce as a 1959 utterly stage-struck Boston police detective brought in to solve a backstage murder is by far the best thing in this new musical by John Kander, the late Fred Ebb and Rupert Holmes. But the show – with only an indifferent score – adds up to less than the sum of its creative parts. Al Hirschfeld Theatre, 302 W. 45th St.; (212) 239-6200.
“FROST/NIXON”: (3 ½ STARS) Peter (“The Queen”) Morgan sets up the theatrical prizefight that put Brit TV interviewer David Frost (a superb Michael Sheen) against former President Richard Nixon (a great Frank Langella) in both the background and the foreground of their post-Watergate, post-resignation historic series of TV interviews. Enormous fun and terrific acting. Bernard B. Jacobs Theater, 242 W. 45th St.; (212) 239-6200.
“INHERIT THE WIND”: (3 STARS) Brian Dennehy and Christopher Plummer work wonders on this old war horse of a play based on the 1925 “monkey trial” questioning the legality of teaching Darwinian evolution in Tennessee. The stars provide fantastic entertainment, even if the play is short on intellectual nourishment. Lyceum Theater, 149 W 45th St.; (212) 239-6200.
“JOURNEY’S END”: (3 STARS) A horrifying but somehow romantic view of life in the bloodstained British trenches in Flanders during WWI, with a flawless cast led by young Brit actor Hugh Dancy. Grim but uplifting. Belasco Theatre, 111 W. 44th St.; (212) 239-6200.
“LES MISRABLES”: (3 STARS) If it’s not broken, don’t amend it. The original production team still weaves their magic, although the casting and production have something of a road show feel. Broadhurst Theatre, 235 W. 44th St.; (212) 239-6200.
“A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN”: (3 STARS) A wondrous staging of Eugene O’Neill’s long night’s journey into day in London’s Old Vic Theatre Company’s fiercely dramatic, yet carefully nuanced, staging. Directed by Howard Davies and illuminated by a glistening Eve Best, Colm Meaney and the Old Vic’s own artistic director, Kevin Spacey. Brooks Atkinson Theatre, 256 W. 47th St.; (212) 719-4099.
“THE PIRATE QUEEN”: (1 ½ STARS) The French team of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg, who gave Broadway “Les Miserables,” have reached out to “Riverdance” and missed the boat. This page from Irish history in Elizabethan times soon sinks, despite lively dancing and brave performances. Hilton Theatre, 313 W. 42nd St.; (212) 307-4100.
“PRELUDE TO A KISS”: (3 STARS) Craig Lucas’ strange and oddly moving 1990 romance is being most persuasively revived by the Roundabout Theatre Company. American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St.; (212) 719-1300.
“SPRING AWAKENING”: (4 STARS) Groundbreaking rock musical by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik about youth, hormones and sexual oppression. Fantastic performances. Eugene O’Neill Theatre, 230 W. 49th St.; (212) 239-6200.
“TALK RADIO”: (2 ½ STARS) Liev Schreiber is dazzling even hypnotizing as a 1987 late-night, call-in radio personality, full of the bile of human vanity. But despite the ministrations of director Robert Falls and a fine cast, the wild exaggeration of Eric Bogosian’s yak-fest of a play has sadly dated. Longacre Theatre, 220 W. 48th St.; (212) 239-6200.
“THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING”: (3 STARS) Joan Didion’s best-selling memoir of death and the transfiguration of grief is most notable in its stage version for the imperiously beautiful performance by Vanessa Redgrave, taking both text and audience into a never-never land of acceptance. Booth Theatre, 222 W. 45th St.; (212) 239-6200.