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J. Harrison Ghee, who's starring in the new musical Saturday Church at New York Theatre Workshop, which begins performances in August.
Catch three new Broadway shows, two buzzy Off-Broadway musicals and more
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The fall season is getting an early start this August. There are three Broadway shows that begin performances this month, including the buzzy revival of Art starring Bobby Cannavale, James Corden and Neil Patrick Harris and a limited run of the crowd-pleaser Mamma Mia. Beyond Broadway, there's the new LGBTQ+ house musical Saturday Church featuring two Tony winners and an immersive reimagining of The Phantom of the Opera starring Hugh Panaro. These are just some of the promising productions beginning in August. We couldn't include everything, so be sure to browse the listings in TDF's Show Finder to see what else is playing. And remember, many of our picks for July are still running!
If you're a TDF member, log in to your account daily to see what we're selling as ticket inventory changes frequently.
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Masquerade, 218 West 57th Street between Broadway and Seventh Avenue in Midtown West/p>
Previews begin July 31. Opens September 28. Closes February 1, 2026.
Attention Phans: The Phantom of the Opera returns in Masquerade, which transforms the titillating and terrifying tale into an immersive, multi-floor ghost hunt directed by Tony winner Diane Paulus (Jagged Little Pill, Pippin, Hair). While details are intentionally vague (is it the full Andrew Lloyd Webber musical or adapted excerpts? Do you go on your own Sleep No More-style journey or does everyone travel en masse?), that hasn't deterred sales—the first six weeks are completely sold out, even with tickets $200-plus and up to a dozen entry times per day! We do know the impressive cast includes many Phantom alums, including Hugh Panaro, who played the title role, and erstwhile Christine Daaé Kaley Ann Voorhees, plus Broadway vets Raymond J. Lee, Telly Leung, Kyle Scatliffe, Nik Walker and Anna Zavelson. Masks are required and the entire affair is for those 21 and up (with a few 16 and up matinees). Paulus launched her career back in 1999 with the exuberant disco dance experience The Donkey Show so she knows how to throw a party, and she's enlisted some intriguing collaborators including Tony-nominated costume designer Emilio Sosa, Tony-winning scenic designer Scott Pask and circus legend Gypsy Snider. What horrors wait for us in this, the Phantom's opera? We'll find out soon enough.
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The Tank, 312 West 36th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Midtown West
Begins August 2. Closes August 24. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Brazil-born actor-singer-model Darwin Del Fabro inweaves her own experiences with the groundbreaking gender journey of Lili Elbe in this lyrical solo show about identity, as two artists transition almost a century apart. The Tank's artistic director Meghan Finn helms this profoundly personal story of self-acceptance.
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Winter Garden Theatre, 1634 Broadway between 50th and 51st Streets
Previews begin August 2. Opens August 14. Closes February 1, 2026.
Almost a quarter century after it became a Broadway blockbuster, the musical rom-com Mamma Mia returns to the Winter Garden Theatre for a limited run. Set to the hit songs of ABBA, the crowd-pleaser centers on a single mom and her daughter, who's desperate to discover the identity of her father before she weds... but turns out there are three possible dads! This is an extended stop for the touring production, so it's essentially the same show that racked up five Tony nominations in 2002. Feel-good nostalgia and escapism at this fraught moment? Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
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Wild Project, 195 East 3rd Street between Avenues A and B in the East Village
Previews begin August 5. Opens August 10. Closes August 17. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Thirdwing presents The Animals Speak, the final play in Cameron Darwin Bossert's history-inspired trilogy exploring the rise of Disney and how artists, especially women, were treated during its bumpy ascent. It's 1941 and Walt Disney is trying to navigate potential bankruptcy, an animators' strike and the loss of his mother while on a USA-backed goodwill tour of South America with a small group of colleagues. For recently hired artist Mary Blair, the trip proves transformational.
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Nederlander Theatre, 208 West 41st Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues
Previews begin August 5. Opens August 18. Closes September 28. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Insult master Jeff Ross, hilarious host of all those Comedy Central Roasts, comes to Broadway in the funny and reflective Take a Banana for the Ride. In this autobiographical solo show about laughter and loss, Ross shares punch-line-filled portraits of the people who shaped him, including his deceased grandfather and three late, great comedic colleagues: Norm MacDonald, Bob Saget and Gilbert Gottfried. There's also a profanity-laden song and a chance to get roasted!
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Soho Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street between Sixth Avenue and Varick Street in Soho
Previews begin August 6. Opens August 9. Closes August 31. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Celebrated stand-up and Shrinking scribe Bill Posley recounts his tour in Iraq in the autobiographical solo show The Day I Accidentally Went to War. A comedy about serious subjects, Posley shares how an unstable upbringing led him to seek stability in the National Guard, never anticipating he would deploy. Darkly entertaining and insightful, this acclaimed Fringe hit is directed by Emmy winner Bente Engelstoft ( The Ellen DeGeneres Show).
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Paradise Factory, 64 East 4th Street between Bowery and Second Avenue in the East Village
Previews begin August 15. Opens August 17. Closes September 6.
Up-and-coming dramatist Sophie McIntosh (macbitches, which got a rave in The New York Times) explores volatile issues such as suicide and sexual abuse in her new play Road Kills, about two disparate folks cleaning up highways in Wisconsin while engaging in some difficult conversations. Family, faith and trauma set them on a collision course in this drama directed by Nina Goodheart.
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Waterfront Barge Museum, 290 Conover Street at Pier 44 in Red Hook, Brooklyn
Begins August 6. Closes August 31.
Jason Landon Marcus and Chas LiBretto's new pirate musical recounts the ill-fated love story of Black Sam Bellamy and Mary Hallet on an actual ship: the Waterfront Barge Museum. Inspired by real events and a bit of legend, this rollicking show blends sea shanties and roots rock for a rocky romance on the high seas.
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The Mansion at Hudson Yards, 508 West 37th Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in Hudson Years
Previews begin August 19. Opens September 9. Closes Closes October 12.
Bridgerton star Luke Newton is Alexander McQueen in Darrah Cloud's new multimedia bio play that uses 1,000 square feet of LED screens to conjure a fierce fashion event. Chronicling the late designer's life and times, this immersive experience is a decade in the making and includes a display of McQueen's iconic creations. Tony nominee Emily Skinner plays the designer's beloved mother.
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The Flea, 20 Thomas Street between Broadway and Church Street in Tribeca
Begins August 26. Closes September 27.
Obie winner Jennifer Kidwell, whose acclaimed Underground Railroad Game haunts me to this day, wrote, directs and performs in we come to collect: a flirtation, with capitalism, a world premiere that aims to eviscerate our economic system... or at least take it down a notch or two. Developed with the artistic collective the blackening, this genre-defying world premiere fuses stand-up, performance art and variety to make its political points. ASL artist Brandon Kazen-Maddox costars.
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New York Theatre Workshop, 79 East 4th Street between Bowery and Second Avenue in the East Village
Previews begin August 27. Opens September 19. Closes October 24.
Based on Damon Cardasis' indie film of the same name, this new musical centers on Ulysses, a NYC teen from a devoutly religious family who finds their identity, community and salvation at Saturday Church, a program for LGBTQ+ youth. The catchy house tracks were written by nine-time Grammy nominee Sia and Honey Dijon (you can listen to a few songs on YouTube), and Cardasis and Pulitzer Prize winner James Ijames (Fat Ham) penned the lyrics and book. Whitney White directs a cast that includes Tony winners J. Harrison Ghee and Joaquina Kalukango in this life-affirming celebration of faith and fabulousness.
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Music Box Theatre, 239 West 45th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues
Previews begin August 28. Opens September 16. Closes December 21.
Bobby Cannavale and Tony winners James Corden and Neil Patrick Harris star in a Broadway revival of Yasmina Reza's hit play about an overpriced painting that disrupts a longtime three-way friendship. Scott Ellis directs this wickedly funny comedy exploring how art—and affection—are in the eye of the beholder.
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The Shed, 545 West 30th Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in Hudson Yards
Previews begin August 30. Opens September 10. Closes September 28.
André Holland and Alani iLongwe headline in this revival of Tarell Alvin McCraney's poignant play about two very different brothers whose bond is threatened by the arrival of charming but shady friend (Malcolm Mays). Best known for his Oscar-winning Moonlight, McCraney codirects with Bijan Sheibani.
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Raven Snook is the Editor of TDF Stages. Follow her on Facebook at @Raven.Snook. Follow TDF on Facebook at @TDFNYC.
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