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April 2: Playwright and actor Kate Hamill, who penned the acclaimed Off-Broadway adaptation of Sense & Sensibility, returns with her contemporary take on Vanity Fair—William Thackeray’s tale of 19th century British society. Hamill also stars in the Pearl Theatre Company production, directed by Eric Tucker. Performances began March 24 prior to an official opening April 2.
April 4: Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker debuts her newest play, The Antipodes, at the Signature Theatre with direction by Lila Neugebauer. Similarly to Baker’s play John, of which very little was revealed prior to beginning performances, the description for The Antipodes reads: “A play about people telling stories about telling stories.” The theatre has already announced two extensions for the new work ahead of its first preview. Performances begin April 4 prior to an April 23 opening.
April 4: The new version of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical opens at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Adapted from Rick Riordan’s popular young adult book, the new musical follows the adventures of an unlikely teenage hero. Performances began March 23; opens April 4.
April 4: A gay couple’s conflicting views of marriage are explored in Michael McKeever’s new play, Daniel’s Husband. The Primary Stages production is playing at the Cherry Lane Theatre with direction by Joe Brancato. Performances began March 22; opens April 4.
April 4: Singer-songwriter Steve Earle makes his New York stage debut in the Soho Rep staging of Richard Maxwell’s Samara. Artistic director Sarah Benson directs the new work, which was commissioned by the adventurous Off-Broadway company. Performances begin April 4 ahead of an April 16 opening at the newly opened Mezzanine Theatre at the A.R.T./New York Theatres.
April 4: The annual festival of British plays, Brits Off Broadway, returns to 59E59 Theaters for its 13th season. This year’s lineup, which showcases nine plays from across the pond, includes comedies from J.B. Priestley and Torben Betts. The festival runs through July 2.
April 5: Tony winner Harvey Fierstein returns to the Off-Broadway stage for the world premiere of Gently Down the Stream, which opens at the Public Theater. In the new play by Martin Sherman, Fierstein plays Beau, a pianist expat living in London at the dawn of the internet dating revolution. The play chronicles his relationship with Rufus, an eccentric young lawyer played by Gabriel Ebert. Performances began March 15; opens April 5.
April 5: Go behind the scenes to one of the most celebrated films of all time in Sara Farrington’s CasablancaBox. The theatrical tribute to the eponymous classic film re-imagines the stories behind the legends, featuring a cast of 17 and an original video score by director Reid Farrington. Performances are at HERE through April 29.
April 6: Ahead of making his Broadway debut in the new Spongebob musical, Ethan Slater is making an appearance Off-Broadway in a very different kind of musical comedy: Baghdaddy. Set in a church basement, the show follows a support group for those who started the war with Iraq. Formerly titled Who’s Your Baghdaddy?, the new musical received critical acclaim when it debuted in New York in 2015, and returns with much of the original cast. Performances begin April 6 ahead of a May 1 opening at St. Luke's Theater.
April 6: Performances kick off for the revival of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s musical Pacific Overtures, directed and designed by Tony-winning artistic director John Doyle. Leading the cast as Reciter is George Takei, who is joined by Karl Josef Co, Marc delaCruz, Steven Eng, Megan Masako Haley, Ann Harada, Kimberly Immanuel, Austin Ku, Kelvin Moon Loh, Orville Mendoza, Marc Oka, and Thom Sesma.
April 9: The world premiere of Zayd Dohrn’s The Profane, about the clashing ideologies of two Muslim families living in New York, opens at Playwright Horizons. Long-standing beliefs and prejudices are forced to the surface in this timely new drama. Performances began March 17 ahead of an April 9 opening.
April 12: Irish Repertory Theatre debuts Larry Kirwan’s Rebel in the Soul. The play recounts the 1951 confrontation over Ireland’s Mother and Child Health Scheme—an incident which subsequently changed Irish life forever. Charlotte Moore directs the world premiere. Performances begin April 12 ahead of an April 18 opening.
April 13: The staff room at an urban high school during a “hard lockdown” is the setting for William Electric Black’s The Faculty Room. The new drama imagines a scenario in which two students are engaged in armed conflict—sending the faculty into a terrifying tailspin. Performances run April 13–30.
Also debuting at the downtown theatre April 13 will be Neil Koenigsberg’s Wink, the story of a homeless LGBTQ teen adrift in Hollywood. The world premiere stars Joshua De Jesus from City Center’s Runaways revival, 2013 Helen Hayes winner Joe Isenberg, Joe Maruzzo (The Cherry Orchard, Henry V), Drama Desk nominee Jose Joaquin Perez, and Nikole Williams. Performances run through April 30 at Theatre for a New City.
April 14: Second Stage’s Tony Kiser theatre transforms into the vast and snowy Antarctic for Q Theatricals’ high-tech musical adventure Ernest Shackleton Loves Me. GrooveLily electro-violinist Valerie Vigoda stars as a single mom, who, struggling to make ends meet as a video game composer, is unexpectedly thrown into an adventure with a famous polar explorer, played by Priscilla Queen of the Desert’s Wade McCollum. The show is written by Memphis playwright and lyricist Joe DiPietro with direction by Obie winner Lisa Peterson, as well as music composed by Brendan Milburn and lyrics by Vigoda. Performances run April 14–May 14.
This list contains only a selection of Off-Broadway productions and is not meant to be a completely comprehensive list. Visit Playbill.com's Off-Broadway listings for more information throughout the season.
