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Catch a new comedy starring Rhea Perlman, a rare revival of Orpheus Descending, multiple new musicals and more
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Four new productions bow on Broadway in July: the musicals Here Lies Love and Back to the Future, and the comedies The Cottage and The Shark Is Broken. But many more shows are opening beyond Broadway, including a new comedy at Lincoln Center starring Rhea Perlman and Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, a Star Wars musical parody, a rare revival of Tennessee Williams' Orpheus Descending and an immersive drinking musical. These are just some of the promising new Off- and Off-Off-Broadway productions beginning in July. We couldn't include everything, so be sure to browse the listings in TDF's Show Finder to see what else is playing. Remember, many of our Off-Broadway picks for June are still running and there are plenty of summer theatre festivals to check out this month, too.
In terms of COVID-19 safety protocols, masks are optional and proof of vaccination is not required unless otherwise noted. While we are trying to keep this article up to date, be sure to double-check the protocols before purchasing tickets so you arrive prepared.
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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Irish Repertory Theatre, 132 West 22nd Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Chelsea
Previews begin July 1. Opens July 13. Closes August 13.
Tony winner Marie Mullen (The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Music Man) stars in Deirdre Kinahan's The Saviour, about a sexagenarian who gets a new lease on life and love after falling for a mysterious stranger. But when her son arrives and reveals unpleasant secrets, her hard-won happiness is upended. Louise Lowe directs this stage premiere at Irish Rep, a play previously seen online during the shutdown.
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Soho Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street between Sixth Avenue and Varick Street in Soho
Begins July 7. Closes August 12. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
A celebration of the bars that helped NYC get through the darkest days of the pandemic, this Edinburgh Festival Fringe favorite doles out raucous songs and free shots. Created by Jacki Thrapp, it's billed as an "immersive Irish-American musical comedy" as a female bartender and her patrons carouse through the COVID-19 crisis. You may even be enlisted as an inebriated extra! Ages 21 and up only.
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AMT Theater, 354 West 45th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Midtown West
Begins July 7. Closes September 2. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
An hit Off-Broadway pre-pandemic, this musical comedy about two of Star Wars' biggest fans returns just like the Jedi. A show within a show, it centers on two sci-fi geeks hoping to perform their unauthorized Star Wars musical at Comic Con. But first they'll have to battle their incredulous costar, who's not a fan of the franchise. Goofy impressions, rap recaps and other out-of-this-world high jinks ensue.
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the cell, 38 West 23rd Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Chelsea
Previews begin July 8. Opens July 12. Closes July 29.
Another pop-culture comedy, this one inspired by a Spider-Man superfan's all-consuming love of Tobey Maguire. It's 2004 and unappreciated eighth grader Shelby Hinkley lives for the star of the movie series. But when an online fan club fails to satisfy her desires, she decides to kidnap Maguire and woo him in her basement. She soon learns that you should never meet your superheroes.
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Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street in Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Begins July 9. Closes August 6. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Masks are required for Tuesday evening and Sunday matinee performances.
Visionary director Erica Schmidt (Mac Beth) helms this revival of Tennessee Williams' Orpheus Descending at Theatre for a New Audience. In a small dry-goods store in the 1950s deep South, two outcasts connect. Maggie Siff (Sons of Anarchy, Billions) is Lady Torrance, a middle-aged, Italian-born woman slowly dying of loneliness. Pico Alexander is Val, a guitar-playing vagabond who awakens her long-buried passion. Their relationship inflames their conservative community, with tragic results.
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New York Theatre Workshop, 79 East 4th Street between Bowery and Second Avenue in the East Village
Previews begin July 13. Opens July 31. Closes August 20.
Masks are required at the Thursday, July 20 evening performance and both performances on Sunday, August 6.
Award-winning poet and playwright Inua Ellams (Barber Shop Chronicles) penned this new mythology-inspired play about a Nigerian demigod turned basketball star who's barred from the game because of his powers. So he goes on a quest to confront the angry gods and find his rightful place between worlds. Critically acclaimed in London, this New York Theatre Workshop production is directed by Obie winner Taibi Magar.
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59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street between Madison and Park Avenues in Midtown East
Previews begin July 13. Opens July 18. Closes August 20.
A gender-swapped musical adaptation of Jane Austen's beloved novel of almost the same name, Prejudice & Pride centers on two underemployed Southern brothers who must marry rich to save their family farm. Fortuitously, an heiress and her wealthy BFF move in next door, but will the dudes get off their high horses so love can bloom? Sam Wright and Nicholas Collett's new folk tuner features 15 banjo songs cowritten by the Missouri-based band Gullywasher.
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14Y Theater, 344 East 14th Street between First and Second Avenues in the East Village
Begins July 14. Closes July 28. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Masks are required.
The Fire This Time Festival founder Kelley Nicole Girod penned this new play about divided neighbors in a Louisiana community who reckon with their shared history and uncertain future on one sweltering summer day. Part of Girod's Louisiana trilogy, This Stretch of Montpelier is directed by Ludovica Villar-Hauser, the founder of Parity Productions.
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Claire Tow Theater at Lincoln Center, 150 West 65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue in Lincoln Square
Previews begin July 15. Opens July 31. Closes August 27.
Rhea Perlman (Cheers) headlines Zarina Shea's new comedy as Patty, a well-to-do Upper West Side woman of a certain age whose meticulously planned life is upended when her artist daughter (Arielle Goldman) becomes addicted to coke. With the help of her stressed-out niece (Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer), Patty must figure out how to embrace the whole mess of life. Margot Bordelon directs this new play, which is presented by Lincoln Center's LCT3.
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2ST Uptown at the McGinn/Cazale Theater, 2162 Broadway between 76th and 77th Streets on the Upper West Side
Previews begin July 18. Opens August 1. Closes August 13.
Developed in a workshop run by Pulitzer finalist Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, TOROS explores the going-nowhere lives of three affluent twenty-something pals who were privileged to grow up all over the world. Now they're languishing in a garage in Madrid, getting drunk, smoking cigarettes, having inane arguments and avoiding anything resembling responsibility or reality. Gaye Taylor Upchurch directs Danny Tejera's new play featuring Tony winner Frank Wood.
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59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street between Madison and Park Avenues in Midtown East
Previews begin July 21. Opens July 25. Closes August 6.
The legendary Negro Ensemble Company presents Charles White's new play about an upper-middle-class Black clan grappling with internalized racism, class anxiety and secrets against the backdrop of Obama's historic 2008 presidential win. With their comfortable lives at risk in a society on the cusp of change, their beloved Long Island vacation home becomes the focus of an intense family battle.
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The Brick, 579 Metropolitan Avenue near Lorimer Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Previews begin July 21. Opens July 29. Closes August 12. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Proof of vaccination and masks are required.
The Wild West gets a kooky musical makeover in Ben Holbrook and Nate Weida's new show about a local theatre troupe helping to take down a gang of gunslingers. Since the town theatre is the largest venue in town, that's where the outlaws are tried. But a law stipulates it must be in song! Expect crooning cowboys and outlaw arias in this tuneful exploration of colonization, masculinity and who owns history.
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Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher Street between Bleecker and Hudson Streets in the West Village
Previews begin July 21. Opens July 30. Closes August 27.
TheaterWorksUSA presents a new musical comedy based on Dav Pilkey's book series for elementary schoolers about a cat and a pollywog trying to teach 21 baby frogs how to make their own comic books. Creators Brad Alexander and Kevin Del Aguila (who's also a Tony-nominated actor) had great success adapting Pilkey's Dog Man for the stage. Here's hoping this new tuner is catnip for young Cat Kid Comic Club fans.
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Soho Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street between Sixth Avenue and Varick Street in Soho
Begins July 23. Closes August 26. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Amie Enriquez's autobiographical solo show chronicles her darkly comedic year-long stint in rehab as she recovered from multiple eating disorders while grappling with some serious family dysfunction. Abbott Elementary's Lauren Weedman directs this Edinburgh Festival Fringe favorite.
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Top image: Rhea Perlman, who's starring in the new comedy Let's Call Her Patty at Lincoln Center Theater.
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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