We get it. When it comes to New York theatre, all eyes tend to be on Broadway. But don't let the Main Stem's glittering marquees keep you from catching some of the best shows this place has to offer. All the real theatre girlies know Off-Broadway can be where it's at, even if you're a fan of big, Broadway-style musicals.
Off-Broadway can be edgier and more experimental than Broadway, but not always. It does almost always tend to have less expensive tickets, and with no drop in artistic quality. Broadway is great, but to be truly in the know, it's always good to keep an eye on the Off-Broadway scene.
Let's look at five musicals you can see Off-Broadway this very weekend.
Heathers: The Musical
This stage musical version of the cult classic 1989 film is truly one of the hottest titles in musical theatre, even though it's never played Broadway. Featuring a pop-rock score by Laurence O'Keefe (Legally Blonde) and Kevin Murphy, Heathers tells a deliciously dark—and funny!—story about high school cliques at their worst, following Westerberg High student Veronica Sawyer who befriends the beautiful but cruel Heathers, only to meet a mysterious teen rebel who changes everything. If you're a fan of the movie, you'll love seeing it get the musical treatment. If you haven't seen the movie, don't worry—you don't need to. This musical has become a theatre fan favorite since it originally premiered Off-Broadway in 2014. Now it's back for a revival at New World Stages and such a hit with audiences that it's already extended its run multiple times.
Click here for tickets and information.
Little Shop of Horrors
If you like Heathers' dark, horror-adjacent comedy, you might want to make it a two-show day and head over to see Little Shop of Horrors at the Westside Theatre. This Howard Ashman-Alan Menken musical has been keeping audiences in stitches since the early '80s (You may have seen the 1986 film version starring Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, and Steve Martin). A send-up of '50s and '60s B horror movies, the musical centers on a man-eating plant from outer space hellbent on world domination. It's also genuinely one of the best written musicals out there, which is why it keeps coming back and has become such a favorite. The current Off-Broadway revival boasts Gossip Girl's Thomas Doherty and The Handmaid's Tale's Madeline Brewer right now, too, if you want to see some celebs!
Click here for tickets and information.
44—The Musical
Head downtown to the Daryl Roth Theatre for this musical, one of the scene's newest. Written and directed by Eli Bauman, this satirical musical focuses on former U.S. President Barack Obama, skewering him and many of his contemporaries in the process, along with this country's crazy politics on the whole. Yes, you can take a trip back to before the current era, if you'd like to trade today's horror headlines for those of yesteryear. This one is pretty brand new, but the Off-Broadway run has already extended its originally planned eight-week engagement into 2026 due to audience demand, so you'll be on the cutting edge of the scene if you get to this one!
Click here for tickets and information.
The Seat of Our Pants
Get ready for the end of the world, multiple times, in The Seat of Our Pants, the new Ethan Lipton musical currently running at the Public Theater that is based on Thornton Wilder's classic play The Skin of Our Teeth. The musical follows a New Jersey family as they navigate an Ice Age, a Biblical flood, and a world war—with a score that is equal parts zany and profound. And this epic musical is done using a who's who of Broadway stars, such as Tony winners Ruthie Ann Miles and Shuler Hensley, Tony nominee Micaela Diamond and Damon Daunno and many more. You don't need to know Wilder's play to appreciate this musical. And like 44, even if the subject matter feels a bit too close to home, The Seat of Our Pants will make you feel oddly better about the state of the world and our collective capacity to get through even the worse catastrophes. A timeless reminder for the holiday season. Seat of Our Pants runs until December 7.
Click here for tickets and information.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Can you spell h-i-la-r-i-o-u-s? This musical from Willian Finn and Rachel Sheinkin is truly hysterical, taking you to a middle school spelling bee complete with eccentric child spellers, overzealous comfort counselors, vice principals with anger management issues, and more. There is truly not much in New York theatre as funny as this show, which is currently back for its first-ever NYC revival after bowing on Broadway in 2005 and includes a who's who of today's brightest theatre stars (such as Tony nominees Jasmine Amy Rogers and Justin Cooley, as well as Glee's Kevin McHale).
And if you're an aspiring performer, the show chooses three audience members at each performance to join the cast on stage as guest spellers (and there's even been a celebrity guest at many performances, such as Daniel Radcliffe or Nick Offerman). Don't worry—you don't need to know any lines or songs, or even be good at spelling. Just be sure to get to New World Stages (where the show performs) a little early to sign up if you're interested in making your own Off-Broadway debut!
Click here for tickets and information.
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