Now that the strike is over, the Broadway season is in full swing.

Young Frankenstein, the Mel Brooks musical follow-up to The Producers, left critics and many early audiences cool. Most would put it in the disappointment category and, surprisingly, there's no other big new musical to fill the void.

Instead, the action is in the straight plays. Hottest of all is the Steppenwolf (Chicago) import of Tracy Lett's play August: Osage County about an Oklahoma family who must contend with each other (to put the most genteel face on it possible) when the father goes missing.

Then there's the Tom Stoppard play Rock 'n' Roll, starring Brian Cox, Sinead Cusack, and Rufus Sewell, all of whom turn in first-rate performances, in which the Prague spring of 1968 and its two-decade aftermath are central.

From Ireland comes the ensemble piece The Seafarer by Conor McPherson. Set on Christmas Eve, it's a long day's journey into night, but more fun and nearly as haunting.

Finally, don't miss Broadway spitfire Norbert Leo Butz in Mark Twain's long-lost comedy Is He Dead?. The actor, never less than wonderful, is in particularly rare form and high spirits here.