Theatre: Broadway's Best

Set to Music. Second-grade Noel Coward, but super Beatrice Lillie (TIME, Jan. 30).

The White Steed. The author of Shadow and Substance repeats his theme but enriches his story (TIME, Jan. 23).

Outward Bound. Competent revival of Sutton Vane's dramatic story of people who discover they are dead (TIME, Jan. 2).

The Boys from Syracuse. Top-notch Rodgers & Hart musical made from Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors (TIME, Dec. 5).

Rocket to the Moon. Clifford Odets' intense and churning drama about "middleclass love" (TIME, Dec. 5).

Leave It to Me. A good musicomedy starring a great musicomedian, Victor Moore (TIME, Nov. 21).

Abe Lincoln in Illinois. A fervent tribute to Lincoln, at its best when the words are Lincoln's own (TIME, Oct. 24).

Oscar Wilde. An honest biographical play enriched with Robert Morley's superb acting (TIME, Oct. 24).

Kiss the Boys Goodbye. Rollicking farce about a coy Southern belle who outsmarts Broadway's slickest wiseacres (TIME, Oct. 10).

Hellzapoppin. Like life in a nut house at the height of a bombardment (TIME, Oct. 3).