Seat Filler

Cirque du Soleil: Zarkana
There’s something about a powerless magician looking for his lost love in the latest acrobatic spectacle from Cirque du Soleil — a company that employs many limber gay performers across the globe — but this sliver of a plot is just an excuse to showcase eye-popping visuals and heart-stopping stunts that fill Radio City’s cavernous space with beauty and wonder. Look out for the portly funambulists and the lady who floor-juggles.
Radio City Music Hall, through October 8.

Sex Lives of Our Parents
In Michael Mitnick’s whimsical and unfocused comedy, a young woman, rattled by her upcoming wedding, inexplicably begins having visions of very intimate scenes from her secretive mother's past, which includes a surprising same-sex affair. Lisa Emery is simply superb as the mom, but those odd flashbacks aren’t nearly as interesting as the present, which is anchored by Outsourced’s Ben Rappaport as the goofily handsome groom-to-be.
Second Stage Theatre's McGinn/Cazale Theatre, closed July 3.

Next Thing You Know
A watered-down Rent with sitcom-ready Real World rejects, this pleasantly angsty pop musical by Ryan Cunningham and Joshua Salzman explores the quarter-life crises of four 20-somethings, including Waverly, a bartender who originally moved to New York to become an actress. Lauren Blackman is a standout as Waverly’s lesbian friend, Lisa, an aspiring singer-songwriter who wants to move to California because she can’t find a girlfriend.
CAP21 Black Box Theatre, closed June 25.