NEW YORK »Broadway ticket prices are soaring, so expect to pay plenty to catch the Tony Award winners and other hot attractions. Over seven days we saw 10 shows and adored nine of ’em.

Cutest number: Neil Patrick Harris in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch."

Best show: "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical," with Jessica Mueller in a true star turn as the composer-turned-reluctant-singer-turned-music-biz icon.

Best oldie newbie: "Les Miserables," minus the turntable staging, but with a Jean Valjean who’s a hunk — even shows pecs and abs as cult followers scream.

Capsule reviews:

» "Beautiful: TheCarole King Musical" at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre: Like "Jersey Boys," the Four Seasons musical, this is a rich, nuanced and beloved tale presented with heart and soul.Blockbusters enhance the score, with bonus enactmentsof The Shirelles, The Righteous Brothers, Neil Sedaka, The Drifters and Little Eva. You’ll feel the earth move!

» "Hedwigand the Angry Inch" at the Belasco: NPH converts a modest rock appetizer into a glittery, punk-rock phenom, playing an East German transvestite trouper who survived a botched sex-change surgery — except for that bothersome inch. Bewigged, high-heeled and costumed in glam outfits, he’s this season’s favorite flavor. We paid $700 for two tickets to a rare 10 p.m. Saturday performance to meet demand. Confession: We had to leave an 8 p.m. show at intermission to make it to "Hedwig."

» Cabaret" at Studio 54: Alan Cumming‘s 1998 Tony-winning turn as the Emcee, re-created here, now has Michelle Williams as Sally Bowles; alas, she took a night off, so Andrea Gross filled in. The relaunch maintains tables and chairs in the orchestra seats to simulate Berlin’s Kit Kat Klub. The romantic liaison between Danny Burstein as Herr Schultz and Linda Emond as Fraulein Schneider still works, and he gifts her with a pineapple. Willkommen to a grand time.

» "Aladdin" at the New Amsterdam: With James Monroe Inglehart as the ingenious and indefatigable Genie, Disney doesn’t need to rub the lamp for crowds. Adam Jacobs as Aladdin has smileage to spare; understudy Lauryn Ciardullo as Jasmine exudes princess grace and charm. The carpet magically flies, but Genie’s "Friend Like Me" is the showstopper. It’s a whole new whirl.

» "A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder" at the Walter Kerr: British class, familial friction and romantic propriety prevail in this madcap operatic romp led by Jefferson Mays, a human chameleon portraying a handful of men and women of rank, style and temperament.

» "Rocky" at the Winter Garden: Sylvester Stallone‘s franchise has a thin script, and the chemistry between Rocky Balboa (an earnest Andy Karl) and his mousey Adrian (understudy Michelle Aravena subbed for Margo Seibert) lacks punch save for Bill Conti‘s "Rocky" theme ("Gonna Fly Now") and the film’s "Eye of the Tiger," which get the crowds cheering. Rocky’s climatic bout with Apollo Creed (Terence Archie) in a ring that rolls off the stage into orchestra seats (sending the first eight rows on stage) brings the fisticuffs up close and personal.

» "Les Miserables" at the Imperial: Ramin Karimloo as Valjean and Will Swenson as Inspector Javert prove "Les Miz" has formidable manpower and voice. The women, notably Eponine (Nikki M. James), pale in comparison, though Keala Settle (with family ties in Hawaii) is suitably crass as Madame Thenardier.

» "If/Then" at the Richard Rodgers: It’s sometimes called the Idina Menzel musical, since the Tony winner (and voice of "Frozen") plays two roles, Liz and Beth, with two lives, two loves, framed by ingenious staging and sets that move vertically and horizontally. Hawaii’s Jason Tam has a secondary role as a doctor, with the cast rendering smart songs from the "Next to Normal" Tony-winning composers.

» "Holler if Ya Hear Me" at the Palace: This hip-hop drama about clashing inner-city gangs features the lyrics of Tupac Shakur. We should’ve passed.

» "Buyer and Cellar" at off-Broadway’s Barrow Street Theatre: A delightful one-man show starring Barrett Foa ("NCIS: Los Angeles"), who works in Barbra Streisand‘s knickknack-filled cellar in Malibu. …

And that’s "Show Biz." …

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Wayne Harada is a veteran entertainment columnist; reach him at 266-0926 or wayneharada@gmail.com; read his Show and Tell Hawaii blog at www.staradvertiser.com.