The best New York shows to watch this summer

His appearances on Broadway and Off have grown rarer in recent years, but English triple threat Jim Dale will always be remembered for his swaggering bravura turn in the title role of Barnum (which won him the 1980 Tony). The old dog teaches us a few new tricks in this autobiographical variety show made of stories, songs and fancy footwork.

Kenneth Branagh staked his claim on London’s stages 30 years ago, but he’s never trod the American boards. Now the seasoned thespian brings his critically acclaimed take on Shakespeare’s tyrant to the lofty environs of Park Avenue Armory. Wear your slicker: The production is supposed to be intensely physical—drenched in blood, sweat and pouring rain.

Ayad Akhtar won the Pulitzer Prize last year with Disgraced, a dramedy that probed the sensitive area of East-West relations, but the Arab-American writer is hardly done with culture clashes. His new piece is about a Pakistani-American writer trying to please her traditional family.

Broadway is no stranger to rap (In the Heights), but this is the first time a bona fide rapper's songbook has been turned into a jukebox musical. Woven around songs by Tupac Shakur (1971–1996), the show tells a story of family, revenge and inner-city grit. The top-flight cast include Christopher Jackson, Saul Williams and the glorious Tonya Pinkins.

This is the late composer-lyricist Jonathan Larson’s other musical, which remained unstaged until a posthumous production in 2002. Now the sweetly melancholy tuner about a New York artist nervously eyeing his 30th birthday returns Off Broadway, starring the wonderful Lin-Manuel Miranda and Karen Olivo.

They made adorable lovers four summers ago in The Merchant of Venice; now Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater return to Central Park and cannot stand each other. The two star as cutely quarreling Beatrice and Benedick in Jack O'Brien’s outdoor production of Shakespeare’s rom-com.

A revival of this classic drama by Jean Genet, the French master of perversity and power struggles, would normally not equal box-office gold—but this Sydney Theatre Company import stars the incomparable Oscar winner. The film phenom plays a domestic servant who pines for the luxe life—and just might make her dreams come true if she knocks off her wealthy employer.