Best Off-Broadway Shows in New York City

Safety Not Guaranteed, with music and lyrics by Ryan Miller, book by Nick Blaemire, and direction from Lee Sunday Evans, plays at the Harvey Theater at BAM Strong in Brooklyn. Based on the film of the same name, this musical follows a journalist who follows up on a newspaper ad looking for someone willing to go back in time. TheaterMania called it, “heartwarming and laugh-inducing…[it] offers a lively score, six great performances, and a helluva good time.”

Currently running through October 20, 2024.

Is there a discount for Safety Not Guaranteed? $33 rush tickets are available on the TodayTix App.

Ghost of John McCain, with book by Scott Elmegreen, music and lyrics by Drew Fornarola, choreography by Sunny Min-Sook Hitt, and direction from Catie Davis, was conceived by Jason Rose and Grant Woods. This musical plays at the Soho Playhouse and follows John McCain – yes, that John McCain – as he prepares to enter the pearly gates of heaven…only to find himself inside of Trump’s brain instead. He and a “Greek Chorus” of other notables like Hillary Clinton, Roy Cohn, Eva Perón, Kamala Harris, Teddy Roosevelt, Lindsey Graham, Robert Jordan, and Kanye West decide to work against Trump’s insistent desires.

Currently running through November 10, 2024.

Is there a discount for Ghost of John McCain? $30 rush tickets are available on the TodayTix App.

We Live in Cairo, with book, music, and lyrics by The Lazours, choreography and movement direction by Ann Yee, and direction from Taibi Magar, plays at New York Theatre Workshop. Set in Egypt, the musical is based on a true story and follows a group of six students who use art, photography, and music to topple a regime.

Currently running through November 24, 2024.

Is there a discount for We Live in Cairo? $25 tickets are available for people under the age of 25 and over the age of 65 as well as for artists and residents of the East Village and Lower East Side through the CheapTix Rush program. Tickets are available at the box office on the day of the performance, subject to availability.

Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song plays off-Broadway at Theater 555. This newest iteration of the off-Broadway staple sends up all of Broadway theater, including the newest hits like Hell’s Kitchen, The Outsiders, and Stereophonic – no star, producer, or musical is safe in this satirical musical. Created by Gerard Alessandrini, the title gets its name from the recent revival of Merrily We Roll Along. Ben Brantley said in The New York Times, “going to a ‘Forbidden Broadway’ is for me like sitting down and schmoozing with a friend who shares an obsession.”

Currently running through January 5, 2025.

Is there a discount for Forbidden Broadway? $33 rush tickets are available on the TodayTix App.

The Big Gay Jamboree, by Marla Mindelle, Jonathan Parks-Ramage, and Philip Drennen and directed and choreographed by Connor Gallagher, plays at the Orpheum Theatre. Brought to you from the creators of the hit show Titanique and the hit movie Barbie, this musical follows Stacey who, after a drunken night out, wakes up in a whole new musical world. Now she has to figure out how to get home while navigating new friends and a new family who keep bursting into song. Alex Moffat stars opposite Marla Mindelle, who originally starred as Céline Dion in Titanique.

Currently running through January 19, 2025.

Is there a discount for The Big Gay Jamboree? $39 rush tickets are available on the TodayTix App.

Drag: The Musical, with book, music, and lyrics by Tomas Costanza, Justin Andrew Honard, and Ashley Gordon, plays at New World Stages. Two feuding queens – Alexis Gillmore and Miss Kitty – open rival clubs. Which will succeed, which will fail, and which drag superstar will be YOUR favorite? The cast includes Alaska, Lagoona Bloo, Jujubee, Jan Sport, Luxx Noir London, J. Elaine Marcos, Jan Sport, and more. And check out the fab-aret seating options, which include tables and stage-side stools to get you up close to the action!

Currently running through March 30, 2025.

Is there a discount for Drag: The Musical? $44 rush and lottery tickets are available on Rush Telecharge.

Titanique: Une Parodie Musicale retells the story of the Oscar-winning film Titanic using the music of Celine Dion. Written by Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli, and Tye Blue, this musical begins when Celine Dion hijacks a Titanic Museum tour and enchants the audience with her totally wild take, recharting the course of Titanic’s beloved moments and characters with her iconic song catalog. It’s become an off-Broadway sensation, and The Wrap called it, “a hilarious jukebox musical for those who detest them…it’s really funny.”

Currently running through May 4, 2025.

Is there a discount for Titanique? If you book more than 6 weeks in advance, you can get 30% off Telecharge purchases! Use code EARLYBIRD for 30% off standard tickets, EARLYPRF for 30% off Preferred tickets, and EARLYPRM for 30% off Premium Tickets. A limited number of $49 rush tickets are available at the box office on the day of the performance. Limit of two tickets per person.

Little Shop of Horrors has been enjoying a sold-out run at the Westside Theatre. This musical won the 2020 Drama League Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Musical Revival, and is delighting new and old fans alike. The show follows Seymour, a meek, nerdy shopkeeper with a crush on his co-worker Audrey, who is dating a sadistic dentist. Add in a ravenous, man-eating plant who helps Seymour change his fortunes, and you’ve got a recipe for a bloody good time. The New Yorker said, “The show succeeds beautifully, and everyone watching it and performing in it seems to be having a blast.” 

Is there a discount for Little Shop of Horrors? Try your luck at the digital ticket lottery for a chance to get $45 discount tickets.

Dirty Laundry, written by Mathilde Dratwa and directed by Rebecca Martínez, plays at the WP Theater. The play follows the lives of three people after the death of a very important woman in each of their lives. Themes of motherhood, family, infidelity, and grief are present as the characters decide how best to get rid of their literal and metaphorical dirty laundry.

Currently running through October 27, 2024.

Is there a discount for Dirty Laundry? A limited number of $25 general rush tickets are available at the box office 30 minutes before each performance, one ticket per person. WP Theater also offers Choose Your Pricetickets.

Good Bones, written by James Ijames and directed by Saheem Ali, plays at the Public Theater. The play follows Aisha and her husband Travis as they renovate a house in Aisha’s old neighborhood. Earl, the contractor they hire, also grew up in the neighborhood. As they discuss their pasts, conversations about ownership, gentrification, and sacrifice complicate their professional relationship.

Currently running through October 27, 2024.

Is there a discount for Good Bones? $45 rush tickets are available on the TodayTix App. $40 student tickets are available at the box office for each performance with valid student ID, limit 2 tickets per person. Subject to availability, and sold out shows have no student tickets available.

Our Class, written by Tadeusz Słobodzianek and directed by Igor Golyak, with an adaptation by Norman Allen, runs at Classic Stage Company. This award-winning play follows five Jewish and five Catholic classmates. Based on a true story and covering eight decades, these kids grow up together only to have their relationships and lives torn apart by a 1941 pogrom in a Polish village. TheaterMania says, “Excellent performances support Golyak’s vision…Our Class remains powerfully relevant.”

Currently running through November 3, 2024.

Is there a discount for Our Class? A limited number of $30 rush tickets (and $20 student rush tickets) are available at the box office one hour before each performance, subject to availability.

Deep History, written by and starring David Finnigan, plays at the Public Theater. This play intertwines stories about fundamental shifts in history, both on a human and ecological scale. It also follows the escape of David’s best friend from the wildfires that threatened his life in Canberra, Australia in 2019.

Currently running through November 10, 2024

Is there a discount for Deep History? $38 rush tickets are available on the TodayTix App.

In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot, written by Sarah Mantell and directed by Sivan Battat, has its world premiere at Playwrights Horizons in association with Breaking the Binary Theatre. Winner of the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 2023, the play follows a group of queer warehouse workers in a gig economy as the oceans rise following a climate disaster.

Currently running through November 17, 2024.

Is there a discount for In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot? Playwrights Horizons offers $30 tickets through its Young Membership Program (ages 35 and under) and $20 tickets through its Student Membership Program.

The Counter, written by Meghan Kennedy and directed by David Cromer, plays at the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Laura Pels Theatre. Set in a small-town diner, this funny and heartfelt play follows a relationship between a waitress and a regular patron and the revelations that come out when one asks a favor from the other.

Currently running through November 17, 2024.

Is there a discount for The Counter? $30 tickets are available for patrons aged 18 – 40, and $10 tickets are available for high school students aged 14 – 18 through Roundabout’s Hiptix program. $40 rush tickets are available on the TodayTix App.

Fatherland, conceived and directed by Stephen Sachs, plays at New York City Center Stage II and tells the true story of an 18-year-old who turned his father in for participating in the January 6 capitol attack. This piece of verbatim theater uses court transcripts, statements, and evidence, and The New York Times called it, “a finely calibrated, surprisingly affecting new work.”

Currently running through November 23, 2024.

The Beacon, written by Nancy Harris and directed by Marc Atkinson Borrull, plays at the Irish Rep in its North American Premiere. Kate Mulgrew, known for her role as “Red” on the tv show “Orange is the New Black,” stars as Beiv, an artist who moves from Dublin to a remote cottage in West Cork, Ireland. When her son comes to visit with his new wife, he starts asking questions about his father’s death. The Irish Times called it, “absorbing, intelligent and grimly funny.”

Currently running through November 24, 2024.

Is there a discount for The Beacon? Irish Rep’s GreenSeats Young Patron Program offers $25 tickets for anyone under 40! The program is free to join.

Walden, written by Amy Berryman and directed by Whitney White, plays at Second Stage’s Tony Kiser Theater. Emmy Rossum and Zoë Winters star as two sisters who have trained at NASA. Now they must decide whether to leave the planet or stay as Earth is perilously close to collapse due to climate change. Variety called the London production, “an ambitious West End debut that grapples with big ideas.”

Currently running through November 24, 2024.

Is there a discount for Walden? Use promo code 30UNDER30 on the Second Stage website to unlock $30 tickets for audience members under the age of 30. Valid ID must be presented when picking up tickets. $33 rush tickets available on the TodayTix app.

Bad Kreyól, written by Dominique Morisseau and directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene, has its world premiere at the Signature Theatre in a co-production with Manhattan Theatre Club. The play follows Simone, a first generation Haitian American, and her Haitian cousin Gigi, who reconnect at the behest of their dying grandmother. As they navigate their complicated relationship, their differing viewpoints on NGOs, the US, and Haiti come to light.

Currently running through December 1, 2024.

Is there a discount for Bad Kreyol? Get $38 rush tickets on the TodayTix App. The Sig30 membership program offers $30 tickets for people ages 18 to 30.  The Signature Access Membership program offers $40 tickets and applies to people working in education, the public sector, nonprofits, and nonprofit theater workers as well as veterans, public benefit recipients, people with visual, hearing, or physical impairments, and IDNYC cardholders.

Cellino v. Barnes, written by Mike B. Breen and David Rafailedes and directed by Wesley Taylor and Alex Wyse, plays at the Asylum Theatre. This dark comedy has a subject matter that should be familiar to anyone in and around New York through the 2010s. Who doesn’t remember the iconic jingle, numerous billboards, and endless tv commercials? Now see how lawyers Ross Cellino and Steve Barnes first got together, how they made it to the top, and what caused their friendship to falter. It’s a truly fun night out. The Wall Street Journal calls it, “gleefully absurd,” and says, “the writing consistently crackles with absurdist humor.”

Currently running through December 1, 2024.

Is there a discount for Cellino v. Barnes? $38 rush tickets are available on the TodayTix App.

Shit. Meet. Fan., written and directed by Robert O’Hara, plays at MCC Theater and follows a group of friends who get together during an eclipse. They drink, they gossip, and they play a game: their phone are out, their ringers are on, and every message, call, and email must shared aloud. Get ready for some fun. The star-studded cast includes Debra Messing, Constance Wu, Jane Krakowski, and Neil Patrick Harris.

Currently running through December 15, 2024.

Is there a discount for Shit. Meet. Fan.? TodayTix offers $107 cancellation line tickets – check back often as tickets may be released last minute!

Hold Onto Me Darling, written by Kenneth Lonergan and directed by Neil Pepe, plays at the Lucille Lortel Theatre and stars Adam Driver as Strings McCrane, a country music star whose mother has just died. When he moves back to Tennessee to get out of the spotlight, he finds that he can’t quite outrun his fame, or its effects. The New York Times said of the 2016 production, “you’re likely to find yourself hanging on every one of Strings’s self-contradicting, self-dramatizing words. That’s because he is the creation of Kenneth Lonergan, a writer with one of the best ears around for the language of the morally challenged — a term that I would say applies to most of the human race.”

Currently running through December 22, 2024.

Is there a discount for Hold Onto me Darling? $40 lottery tickets and $159 digital cancellation line tickets will be sold on the TodayTix app. The lottery opens at 12am each Sunday for the next week’s performance and closes at 1pm the day prior to each performance.

Another Shot, written by Spike Manton and Harry Teinowitz and directed by Jackson Gay, plays at the Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre. Loosely based on Harry Teinowitz, the play follows a sports radio host who nearly lost everything after being arrested for driving under the influence. By turns funny, dark, and inspiring, this is a story all about second chances, redemption, and finally facing the music.

Currently running through January 4, 2025.

Dungeons & Dragons The Twenty-Sided Tavern plays at Stage 42 and celebrates the 50^th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, an iconic roleplaying game that lets the crowd choose the direction of the story. Get ready to roll for initiative and live your own adventure. And bring your phone – you can directly impact the story by using an app! The New York Times said that the show’s “improv adds a theatrical dimension to the role-playing game…all four actors threw themselves into the ambient silliness. (Families looking for an outing should note that the show is appropriate for kids ages 8 and up.)”

Currently running through April 29, 2025.

Is there a discount for Dungeons & Dragons The Twenty-Sided Tavern? $39 digital lottery tickets are available at Rush Telecharge. Lottery opens at 12am the day before the performance, and winners are drawn at 10am and 3pm.  

Drunk Shakespeare started in 2014 and follows 5 professional actors who meet as members of "The Drunk Shakespeare Society". One of them has at least 5 shots of whiskey and then they overconfidently attempt to perform a major role in a Shakespearean play. As the sober actors try to keep the drunk one in line and on script, things start to get out of hand. No two shows are alike, and drinks flow throughout – so keep the kids at home for this one, audience members need to be at least 21 to enjoy the antics! The New York Times says, “It offers considerably more fun than many Shakespeare productions, worth experiencing not to watch an actor get drunk, but to watch a cast juggle so many balls so adroitly.”

Is there a discount for Drunk Shakespeare? Click “buy tickets” below to see discounts on TodayTix. And if you’re in a group of 9 or more, use promo code GROUPDEAL when purchasing tickets to get 15% off.

The Play That Goes Wrong runs off-Broadway at New World Stages after its successful Broadway run. It’s the opening night of the play The Murder at Haversham Manor, but this acting troupe is about to see things go from bad to worse. From unconscious actors, dropped lines, and downright dangerous set mishaps, can they even get to the end of the play? Come see what The Daily Beast calls, “A Riotous Explosion of Comedy!”

Is there a discount for The Play That Goes Wrong? $35 lottery tickets are available on Rush.Telecharge.

Perfect Crime premiered in 1987 and is the longest running play in Broadway and Off-Broadway history. Perfect Crime is a funny and romantic thriller about a psychiatrist who may have killed her husband…until he suddenly turns up alive. This play follows the psychiatrist and the detective who tries to solve the case, and the many twists and turns will have you guessing until the very end. 

Is there a discount for Perfect Crime? Perfect Crime has student rush discount tickets available on each day of the performance on a first-come, first served basis at the box office.

Blue Man Group has been running since 1991 at the Astor Place Theatre on 434 Lafayette Street in New York City. As three bald and blue men explore our world, together you’ll discover music, laughter and surprises at every turn. Great for families and kids (though children under 3 won’t be admitted). Blue Man Group plays all over North America on a national tour and also globally, but you can see the show in New Yorkwhere it began! 

Is there a discount for Blue Man Group? Special ticket offers, if any, can be found here.

Gazillion Bubble Show has run since 2007 and is a roughly 1-hour long show filled with magic, spectacular laser and lighting effects, and yes, literally gazillions of bubbles. What’s not to like? Great for kids, children under 2 can sit in a parent or guardian’s lap for a reduced price, and they even have birthday party packages available.

Sleep No More has been running since 2011 at the McKittrick Hotel in Chelsea. The companies Emursive and Punchdrunk have created a truly unique experience as they present an immersive and site-specific retelling of Shakespeare’s Macbeth (or if you’re superstitious, “The Scottish Play”). Audiences can move around wherever and whenever they wish, following actors through the many floors of the McKittrick as the story unfolds. You can grab a drink before or after the show at the Manderley Bar or head upstairs for dinner at the Gallow Green Restaurant. Time Out New York calls it “bedazzling and uncanny,” and though you can certainly scour the internet for details, this is a show that is especially delightful if you know as little as possible going in.

Speakeasy Magick: also at the McKittrick Hotel, is hosted by Todd Robbins and features a night of close up magic and prestidigitation. This show features a rotation of New York’s best magicians.

Stalker, presented by Penn & Teller, is an innovative 90-minute magic show by the Swedish duo Peter Brynolf and Jonas Ljung, directed by Eurovision mastermind Edward af Sillén. Get ready for fast-paced entertainment combining street magic, physical mentalism, and social hacking — with a climactic plot twist that you’ll never see coming. In today’s society, no one is hidden. Everyone is being stalked, and everyone has become a stalker. Follow Brynolf & Ljung. They’re already following you. TheaterMania says, “packed audiences delight in acts that gleefully tiptoe along the border between astounding and creepy.”

Currently running through September 1, 2024.

Chamber Magic: Steve Cohen’s dazzling live show, performed weekly in an elegant salon in the Lotte New York Palace hotel, features conjuring, mind-reading, sleight of hand, and an astonishing trick called Think-A-Drink. A celebrity favorite, Cohen baffles guests with magic up close as he recreates parlor entertainment that characterized Manhattan in the early 20th century. BroadwayWorld said, “find out what over a half million people have already discovered…Cohen performs card tricks you won't see anywhere else. He has mastered the art of the classic sleight of hand, mind reading, and conjuring parlor entertainment.”