Lupita Nyong’o, Adam Lambert et al on Stage. Judi Dench on Page. Colman Domingo in Prison. Wicked on Video. The Presidential Race: Dramatic AND Theatrical. Stageworthy News

“I look at the world for what I hope it’s going to be, a wonderful world – especially with what’s happened this week,”

That was James Monroe Iglehart at this weekend’s BroadwayCon First Look concert, paraphrasing Louis Armstrong’s philosophy before singing the title song of the forthcoming Broadway musical about Armstrong, “A Wonderful World.” But Iglehart’s parenthetical remark reflected not just his personal view but the widespread reaction to the dramatic events of the past week.

And it’s not just the past week that’s been full of drama: In just a month, we’ve watched: a disastrous debate, an assassination attempt, the selection of a…vivid…vice presidential candidate, the sudden dropping out of the race by a President who had just said that only the Lord Almighty could convince him to do so, the surge of enthusiasm and memes around an unprecedented candidate.

The current political moment is not just dramatic. It’s the essence of theater. How else to explain how Kamara Harris’ laugh has become a campaign issue?! (“Kamala Harris’s Laugh Is a Campaign Issue. Our Comedy Critic Weighs in.” an essay full of insights — “laughter is inherently social….Try to recall the last time you laughed alone.” — and quotes from Shakespeare.)

And then there are the avalanche of essays by pundit after pundit offering Harris advice – about what “narrative” or “story” she should present. (Sample headlines: “Harris must seize control of her own narrative,”“How Harris can change the narrative to beat Trump.” “Kamala Harris Should Tell Her Family’s Story.”) Theater is storytelling. And that, we now learn, is what politics is too.

The Week in Theater Reviews

Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays The Rent

It was “Macbeth” that drew Judi Dench to the theater, after she overheard her older brother in a school production recite the line from the play: “What bloody man is that?” and she thought: “My God – swearing! If this is Shakespeare, this is for me.”

That cheeky attitude has persisted throughout her career as one of Great Britain’s greatest living actors, judging from “Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays The Rent” …a kind of hybrid of memoir, critical analysis, sturdy reference work, loose textbook on acting, and a random collection of the wit and wisdom of a smart woman with a dry and bawdy sense of humor

The Week in New York Theater News

Broadway Poll: Your Five Favorite Fall 2024 Shows

“Oh, Mary,” originally scheduled as a limited run through Sept. 15, will run through Nov. 10 at the Lyceum Theatre.

Adam Lambert to play Emcee opposite Auli’i Cravalho as Sally Bowles in Cabaret on Broadway, September 16 – March 30

Joining the already heavily starry cast of the Encores Ragtime, October 30 to November 10: Shaina Taub as Emma Goldman, as well as Colin Donnell (The Shark is Broken) as Father, Ben Levi Ross (Dear Evan Hansen) as Younger Brother, and Joy Woods(The Notebook) as Sarah.

When the newly renovated Delacorte Theater in Central Park reopens a year from now, its first production will be “Twelfth Night” featuring a cast that includes Peter Dinklage, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Lupita Nyong’o, and Sandra Oh.

In the meantime, the Public Theater announced a new play written by James Ijames, the Pulitzer winner of “Fat Ham” – “Good Bones,” September 19 – October 13. The play features a heated debate between Aisha (Susan Kelechi Watson), who is renovating an old house in the blighted neighborhood in which she grew up, and the young contractor she hired to do the work, Earl (Khris Davis), who also grew up in the area, but doesn’t see it as blighted.