TWO MEN OF FLORENCE | The Huntington Theatre Company presents the American premiere of historian and JFK speechwriter Richard N. Goodwin's lavish if talky depiction of the 17th-century clash-of-the-Tuscans smackdown between "Father of Modern Science" Galileo Galilei and Pope Urban VIII over whether the Earth stood still. Trouble is, Goodwin remains a speechwriter rather than a dramatist, and Two Men of Florence, despite the whirling turntable that is part of Francis O'Connor's glimmering planetarium-inspired production design, remains about as static as the pope claims Earth is. The plus-size staging is beautiful to look at, though, with Jay O. Sanders an enthused and burly Mr. Wizard of a Galileo to Edward Herrmann's tall, gliding, science-prone cardinal-who-would-be-pope. | Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave, Boston | 617.266.0800 | Through April 5 | Curtain 7:30 pm Wed-Thurs | 8 pm Fri | 2 + 8 pm Sat | 2 + 7 pm Sun | $20-$82.50; $5 senior, military discount; $25 patrons 35 and younger; $20 back-row balcony; $15 student rush, two hours before curtain, with ID
VOX LUMIERE – THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME | A "radical new brand of theatrical performance" piggybacks on Victor Hugo in this combination of "a kickin' rock concert, a classic silent film, and the live drama of musical theater." The brainchild of composer and songwriter Kevin Saunders Hayes, the show is built on the 1923 film that stars Lon Chaney as Quasimodo and also features eight singers/dancers, a band, new music, multimedia, a light show, and young singers from both Youth Pro Musica and the Handel and Haydn Society Youth Chorus. | Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont St, Boston | 800.233.3123 | Through March 29 | Curtain 8 pm Fri-Sat | 3 pm Sun | $45-$65
INDEFINITELY
BLUE MAN GROUP | The Drama Desk Award–winning trio of cobalt-painted bald pates begin their delightful and deafening evening of anti–performance art beating drums that are also deep buckets of paint, so that sprays of color jump from the instruments like breaking surf, and end by engulfing the spectators in tangles of toilet paper. | Charles Playhouse, 74 Warrenton St, Boston | 617.931.ARTS | Indefinitely | Curtain 8 pm Mon [April 20] | 8 pm Tues [April 21, 28] | 8 pm Wed | 2 pm [April 16, 30] + 5 pm [April 23] + 8 pm Thurs | 4 pm [April 24] + 7 pm + 10 pm Fri | 2 pm + 5 pm + 8 pm Sat | 1 pm [no April 12] + 4 pm Sun | $48-$62; $30 student rush
A NIGHT AT THE ROCK OPERA | Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra, a Boston-based group "committed to bringing the best of classic rock to life for those who've never had a chance to hear it LIVE in 3-D," reprises its evening-long orgy of the Who, David Bowie, the Beatles, and Queen — and threatens to throw some Led Zeppelin into the mix. | Stuart St Playhouse, 200 Stuart St, Boston | 800.447.7400 | Indefinitely | Curtain 7:30 pm Sat | $39.50
SHEAR MADNESS | The dramatis personae of the audience-participation whodunit (which is now the longest-running non-musical in American theater history, having run 29 years in Boston) continue to comb Newbury Street for the murderer of a classical pianist who lived over the unisex hair salon where the show is set. | Charles Playhouse Stage II, 74 Warrenton St, Boston | 617.426.5225 | Indefinitely | Curtain 8 pm Tues-Fri | 6 + 9 pm Sat | 3 + 7 pm Sun | $42; $31.50 with AAA discount; half-price college-student rush, one ticket per college ID, at the box office, one hour prior to curtain
