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See long-lost shows by Elizabeth Swados and María Irene Fornés, a 'Star Trek' musical parody, free Molière and more
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Adventurous audiences know that some of the biggest theatrical thrills are found on NYC's smallest stages. These shows are also great for theatregoers on a budget. In fact, TDF members can see dozens of Off-Off Broadway productions for as little as $11! Not a TDF member? Consider joining our Go Off-Off and Beyond program, which gives you access to discount tickets to indie theatre, music and dance performances for a one-time fee of five bucks.
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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Soho Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street between Sixth Avenue and Varick Street in Soho
Begins May 3. Closes June 3.
Saturday Night Live alum Dean Edwards stars in this shrewd spoof of Hollywood movies about race. Edwards plays a Black musician being chauffeured by a white man on a tour of the pre-Civil War South. Their journey quickly goes awry in this outrageous comedy that sends up Green Book, 12 Years a Slave, Django Unchained and other self-important prestige pictures.
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The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street between West 3rd and Bleecker Streets in the West Village
Begins May 4. Closes June 4. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase $23 tickets.
Trekkies know that Data has always had questionable taste when it comes to the arts. So is it any wonder he opts to reenact the best Star Trek movie ever as a campy musical? Kirk's fiery nemesis Khan is on the loose and vows to track the aging Captain down. The ensuing trials and Tribble-ations include Vulcan tap dancing, Kirk's long-lost son (portrayed by a William Shatner impersonator), mutant space chickens and countless in-jokes for show tune-loving sci-fi fans.
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The Tank, 312 West 36th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Midtown West
Begins May 5. Closes May 21. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase $12 tickets.
Proof of vaccination and masks are required.
Who do superheroes call when they need help? That's the intriguing premise of this new Company of Fools show about the title character, who's losing control of her powers in the wake of her mentor's suicide. Can her friends help her navigate her grief and trauma before it's too late?
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La MaMa's Ellen Stewart Theatre, 66 East 4th Street between the Bowery and Second Avenue in the East Village
Begins May 5. Closes May 28. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase $21 tickets.
The late, legendary writer-composer-director Elizabeth Swados is best known for her Tony-nominated musical Runaways, but she was incredibly prolific beyond Broadway, working on dozens of eclectic shows. The Beautiful Lady is one that never made it to New York... until now. Obie winner Anne Bogart directs this musical meditation on the power of art and free speech set in an artists' café during the Russian Revolution and featuring the words of influential poets from the era. The impressive cast includes George Abud (The Band's Visit), Ashley Pérez Flanagan (Freestyle Love Supreme) and Andrew Polec (Bat Out of Hell: The Musical).
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New Ohio Theatre, 154 Christopher Street between Greenwich and Washington Streets in the West Village
Begins May 6. Closes May 27. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase $12 tickets.
The artivists of the devised theatre collective TÉA Artistry present their latest politically charged work Being Chaka, which centers on a working-class Black teenager who transfers to a fancy white prep school and grapples with institutional racism in unexpected ways. Initially, he finds solace by escaping to his imagination. But when his dreams start seeping into his reality, he's forced to confront injustice head-on.
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LeFrak Center, 171 East Drive in Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Begins May 6. Closes May 27. FREE but reserving advance tickets is recommended.
Founded in 2018, Molière in the Park mounts free outdoor productions in Prospect Park, mostly by the groundbreaking French playwright. This month, the troupe is doing his classic Tartuffe, but you've never seen this farce in quite this fashion. The company is presenting the English-language premiere of Molière's original script, which was very critical of the Church and promptly banned by the King of France in 1664. Painstakingly reconstructed by a lauded French historian, this Tartuffe stars Broadway's Matthew Rauch as the title hypocrite.
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HERE, 145 Sixth Avenue at Dominick Street in Soho
Begins May 11. Closes May 21.
Veteran downtown dramatist Karen Malpede penned this response to The Trojan Women, inspired by the Greek tragedy as well as everything we went through during the first year of the pandemic: death, unrest and calls for justice. Celebrated Greek theatre actor Lydia Koniordou brings Hecuba to life in a bilingual, multimedia performance that merges past and present, classical and contemporary, for a cross-cultural collaboration commemorating our collective loss.
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MITU580, 580 Sackett Street between Nevins Street and Third Avenue in Gowanus, Brooklyn
Begins May 11. Closes May 26.
A musical reimagining of the ancient Jewish Golem myth, this world premiere centers on an unhappy woman who, when given a piece of sentient clay, learns how to change herself, her life and her community. Written by Lisa Clair, directed by Shannon Sindelar and co-produced by pioneering female theatre collective New Georges, Willa's Authentic Self is a surreal story about the power of transformation.
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Gallery Players, 199 14th Street between Fourth and Fifth Avenues in Park Slope, Brooklyn
Begins May 11. Closes May 28. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase $15 tickets.
Brooklyn's intrepid Gallery Players revives Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's musical fantasia about presidential assassins—successful and not. Featuring some of the most chilling songs Sondheim ever wrote, this eerily prescient show explores the rage of the politically dissatisfied.
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The Chain Theatre, 312 West 36th between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Midtown West
Begins May 11. Closes May 28. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase $15 tickets.
Masks are required.
Marc Weiner wrote and directs this new drama about two college students who meet at an anti-war protest in 1968 and discover an unexpected connection. A memory play that goes back in time to the Warsaw ghetto in 1942, Hidden explores the healing power of family history.
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122CC, 150 First Avenue at 9th Street in the East Village
Begins May 11. Closes June 3. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase $15 tickets.
Award-winning theatre company Blessed Unrest delves into the abortion debate with Misconceptions, as an expectant mother questions which future to choose. Written by Emmy-nominated dramatist Steve Wangh (a cowriter for The Laramie Project) and developed over 30 years of research, this premiere features the real-life, uncensored thoughts of individuals considering terminating their pregnancies.
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The Connelly Theater, 220 East Fourth Street between Avenues A and B in the East Village
Begins May 16. Closes June 10.
Keelay Gipson wrote and directs this Afro-Surrealist play about a Black family grappling with the death of their patriarch and the generational trauma he left behind. Co-presented by Brooklyn's The Bushwick Starr, demons. is being performed in the East Village.
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Metropolitan Playhouse, 220 East 4th Street between Avenues A and B
Begins May 18. Closes June 4. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase $15 tickets.
The Metropolitan Playhouse shines a spotlight on a handful of its real-life Alphabet City neighbors with Close Up, its 14th collection of verbatim monologues inspired by locals. Subtitled "Three East Village Stories," this edition's subjects are Tunisia-born restaurateur Rafik Bouzgarrou, jazz singer and well-known Frank Sinatra impersonator Nick Drakides and Marcia A. Richard, who penned the memoir M!ss D!agnosed about addiction and recovery.
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La MaMa's The Downstairs, 66 East 4th Street between the Bowery and Second Avenue in the East Village
Begins May 19. Closes June 4. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase $15 tickets.
Late avant-garde legend María Irene Fornés conceived and originally directed Evelyn Brown (A Diary), a two-person dance-theatre piece about the physical and spiritual toll of being a rural household servant in the early 1900s. Not seen on stage in more than four decades, it was carefully reassembled by dramaturg Gwendolyn Alker, so this is a rare chance to see this genre-defying work from one of the 20th century's most inventive theatre artists.
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The Tank, 312 West 36th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Midtown West
Begins May 19. Closes June 10. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase $12 tickets.
Proof of vaccination and masks are required.
A dark comedy about grief, Brace for Impact! focuses on the appropriately named Shiva, a flight attendant who's having trouble doing her job as her mind wanders to her late dad, who's being cremated. As she loses her grip on her responsibilities, an imaginary unkempt clown invades her psyche. Maia Nikiphoroff wrote and performs this musing on mourning.
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TDF MEMBERS: Go here to browse our latest discounts for dance, theatre and concerts.
Top image: The Beautiful Lady, an Elizabeth Swados musical have its New York premiere at La MaMa this month. Photo by Steven Pisano.
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