16 Shows to See Off Broadway This May

Catch Hugh Jackman, a Heated Rivalry musical parody, a stage adaptation of Girl, Interrupted and more

Hugh Jackman up close and personal at Audible Theater. A Heated Rivalry spoof starring two Broadway musical vets. Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok’s adaptation of Girl, Interrupted with songs by Aimee Mann. A high-tech reimagining of Jean Genet’s The Maids. These are just some of the promising productions that begin performances in May. 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, most of our picks for April are still running!

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Dad Don’t Read This – begins May 4

St. Luke’s Theatre, 308 West 46th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Midtown West

Previews begin May 4. Opens May 11. Closes May 24.

Playwright Eliya Smith (Grief Camp at Atlantic Theater Company) has been working with the experimental theatre ensemble The Goat Exchange for years. Now they debut their latest collaboration, Dad Don’t Read This, about a quartet of adolescent girls in suburban Ohio navigating the challenges of growing up at weekly sleepovers. Amalia Yoo, who gave such a powerful performance in Broadway’s feminist teen drama John Proctor is the Villain last season, stars alongside a cast of up-and-comers.

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New York Theatre Workshop: In the Bricks Festival – begins May 4

New York Theatre Workshop, 79 East 4th Street between Bowery and Second Avenue in the East Village

Begins May 4. Closes June 14.

New York Theatre Workshop presents its inaugural In the Bricks Festival featuring four solo shows from a diverse array of playwright-performers running in rep over six weeks. (A recording of a fifth, Alaa Shehada’s The Horse of Jenin, will be screened at Cinema Village.) Previously seen at National Black Theatre, Liza Jessie Peterson’s The Peculiar Patriot chronicles her work with incarcerated individuals. Kathryn Grody, actor, mother and wife to Mandy Patinkin, explores aging artfully in The Unexpected 3RD: A Radical, Rollicking Rumination on the Optimism of Staying Alive. Leslie Ayvazian’s Mention My Beauty is a meditation on activism and Armenian identity. And Chris Grace’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe hit Sardines is a deep dive into finding joy in life when death is inevitable. Check the schedule to see what’s playing when—you can see all four in a row on weekends!

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Signature Theatre Company: Animal Wisdom – begins May 5

The Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street between Dyer and Tenth Avenues in Midtown West

Previews begin May 5. Opens May 19. Closes June 14.

Heather Christian‘s singular solo musical Animal Wisdom about her family’s history of communing with the dead was a smash when it ran at Brooklyn’s Bushwick Starr in 2017. Now Signature Theatre Company presents a new production starring Tony nominee Kenita Miller, who uses her powerhouse pipes to perform Christian’s fiery mix of blues, gospel and folk. Keenan Tyler Oliphant directs. Note: Emma Duncan performs many matiness. If you must see Miller, check the schedule.

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The People Versus Lenny Bruce – begins May 7

Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street between Ninth and Dyer Avenues in Midtown West

Previews begin May 7. Opens May 14. Closes June 28. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.

Lenny Bruce’s landmark 1964 obscenity trial gets the stage treatment in Susan Charlotte’s play, part of a series dramatizing the cases of lawyer and First Amendment champion Marty Garbus. Johnny Anthony portrays the controversial comedian, while Broadway vet Timothy Doyle is Jules Feiffer and Roberta Wallach plays Dorothy Kilgallen, two of the famous witnesses who testified in Bruce’s favor.

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Audible Theater: New Born – begins May 8

Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane between Sixth Avenue and MacDougal Street in the West Village

Begins May 8. Closes June 8.

Last year, Hugh Jackman and Sonia Friedman’s TOGETHER partnered with Audible Theater to present starry, stripped-down plays at affordable prices. This bold endeavor has returned this spring with three productions in rep at the Minetta Lane Theatre, including New Born, Ella Hickson’s trio of monologues performed by Marianna Gailus, Sepideh Moafi from The Pitt and Jackman himself. The disparate tales focus on a swoony tree surgeon, a new mom and a young woman looking for a lost pal. At every performance, 25% of the seats will be sold for just $35 day of show. TDF will also offer complimentary tickets to underserved communities.

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Heartbeat Opera: Vanessa – begins May 12

Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue, entrance on 25th Street between Third and Lexington Avenues in Kips Bay

Begins May 12. Closes May 31. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.

The intrepid Heartbeat Opera is dedicated to making the form accessible and entertaining to all audiences, not just aficionados, by presenting streamlined, English-language adaptations of famous titles. The company’s take on Samuel Barber and Gian Carlo Menotti’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Vanessa was a smash at last summer’s Williamstown Theatre Festival. Now this romantic tragedy about an unwell woman waiting for her lover to return makes its NYC premiere.

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Vineyard Theatre: ||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :|| – begins May 12

Vineyard Theatre, 108 East 15th Street between Irving Place and Union Square East in Union Square

Previews begin May 12. Opens May 28. Closes June 21.

Pulitzer finalist Eisa Davis (Bulrusher, Warriors concept album with Lin-Manuel Miranda) penned this world premiere about four talented teenagers connecting and clashing at a competitive summer music program for girls. Davis also composed the score for this coming-of-age play, directed by Tony winner Pam MacKinnon.

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Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody – begins May 12

The Club, 530 West 27th Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in Chelsea

Previews begin May 12. Opens May 26. Closes July 6.

Frankly, I’m shocked it took this long for a Heated Rivalry musical parody to hit the showers… I mean stage. That said, I’m also pleasantly surprised by the caliber of talent involved in this musical spoof, which was created by Jonathan Larson Grant recipient Dylan MarcAurele and stars Broadway vets Jay Armstrong Johnson and Jimin Moon as the hockey hunks. If the marketing copy is any indication, this should be a gay old time.

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The Public Theater: Girl, Interrupted – begins May 13

The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street at Astor Place in the East Village

Previews begin May 13. Opens June 4. Closes June 21.

Susanna Kaysen’s harrowing memoir about her 18-month stint in a psychiatric hospital in the 1960s already inspired an acclaimed film and the album Queens of the Summer Hotel by Aimee Mann. Now The Public Theater presents a stage adaptation of Girl, Interrupted written by Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok (Cost of Living, Queens) and featuring songs by Mann. Stereophonic Tony nominee Juliana Canfield stars as Susanna, who bonds with her fellow patients as they try to forge a future in captivity. Jo Bonney directs. If you’re feeling lucky, try entering the digital lottery to win free tickets to the first preview on Wednesday, May 13. Details are on The Public’s site.

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Playwrights Horizons: Jerome – begins May 14

Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street between Ninth and Dyer Avenues in Midtown West

Previews begin May 14. Opens June 2. Closes June 21.

The team behind Playwrights Horizons’ well-received Wet Brain, playwright John J. Caswell Jr. and director Dustin Wills, reunite for this world premiere. At the height of the AIDS crisis, a longtime gay couple has opted for a quiet life in the Arizona desert. But the arrival of a stranger disrupts their domestic solitude. Angels in America Tony winner Stephen Spinella, Tyrone Mitchell Henderson and Ken Barnett star.

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Lincoln Center Theater: A Woman Among Women – begins May 16

Claire Tow Theater at Lincoln Center, 150 West 65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue in Lincoln Square

Previews begin May 16. Opens June 4. Closes June 28.

Two seasons ago, Julia May Jonas’ female-forward riff on Arthur Miller’s All My Sons earned a rave review in The New York Times in Brooklyn. Now the play comes to Lincoln Center in a reimagined production. In A Woman Among Women, Cleo, the founder of a local health center and a hero in the community, throws a backyard celebration. But as friendly folks and family drop by, unearthed secrets chip away at her reputation. Coproduced with New Georges and The Bushwick Starr.

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St. Ann’s Warehouse: The Maids – begins May 17

St. Ann’s Warehouse, 45 Water Street near New Dock Street in Dumbo, Brooklyn

Begins May 17. Closes June 14.

Last season, director-adapter Kip Williams reinvented The Picture of Dorian Gray for our screen- and social media-obsessed age. He does the same with this London import, a high-tech take on Jean Genet’s The Maids about servant sisters engaging in dangerous role-play as they plot the demise of their Madame so they can be free. Yerin Ha, Phia Saban and Lydia Wilson star in this celebrated Donmar Warehouse production.

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Ars Nova: And Then The Rodeo Burned Down – begins May 19

511 West 54th Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in Midtown West

Previews begin May 19. Opens May 31. Closes June 18.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe favorites and newly minted Drama Desk Award winners Xhloe and Natasha bring their latest loopy collaboration to Ars Nova. Highly physical performers known for playing with genre and gender, the comedic twosome turns their attention to the rodeo, as an ambitious clown aims to be promoted to cowboy. But somehow fire is involved. This duo’s shows are always better experienced than explained!

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Small – begins May 20

The Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street between Dyer and Tenth Avenues in Midtown West

Previews begin May 20. Opens May 28. Closes July 25.

Long before Robert Montano made it to Broadway as a dancer, he dreamed of becoming a jockey at Belmont. In his breathtakingly honest solo show, he recounts his unlikely journey from diminutive Puerto Rican/Italian kid on Long Island to the punishing world of professional horse racing to the stages of Times Square. Jessi D. Hill directs this Penguin Rep Theatre production, which returns for an encore engagement after a successful run at 59E59 Theaters in 2023.

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Can I Be Frank? – begins May 21

Soho Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street between Sixth Avenue and Varick Street in Soho

Begins May 21. Closes June 27.

Hot on the heels of winning an Obie Award for this solo show, writer-performer Morgan Bassichis brings back Can I Be Frank? for an encore run. Directed by the very busy Sam Pinkleton, who’s also helming Broadway’s Rocky Horror Show revival, this one-person play serves as a tribute to the late comedian Frank Maya, one of the first openly gay stand-ups on network TV, as well as a search for LGBTQ+ elders in entertainment when so many died of AIDS.

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David Copperfield – begins May 29

59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street between Madison and Park Avenues in Midtown East

Begins May 29. Closes June 28.

The creative team behind last year’s three-actor adaptation of Pride & Prejudice gives Charles Dickens’ semi-autobiographical novel the same stripped-down, amped-up treatment. Imported from London as part of the Brits Off Broadway fest, David Copperfield is the rags-to-riches tale of a poor young man who becomes a literary icon.

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