Looking for a show to see? While 23 Broadway shows are currently dark during the stagehands strike--which of course makes the remaining 8 shows still open on Broadway that much harder to find tickets for--the world of Off-Broadway, music and dance offer New York audiences a smorgasbord of live performance options.
If it's musicals you want and you can't score a ticket to Mel Brooks'
Young Frankenstein, a more serious version of the same story, titled simply
Frankenstein, is playing at 37 Arts on 37th Street near 10th Ave. If you're set on musical comedy, there's the long-running boy-band parody
Altar Boyz, at New World Stages on 50th Street between Broadway and 9th Ave. If it's a classic American musical revival you're hankering for,
The Fantasticks is singing and dancing at the Snapple Theatre on Broadway at 50th St. Finally, for a good laugh at Broadway pretensions of all eras,
Forbidden Broadway is hanging its happy hat at the 47th Street Theatre, on 47th between Eighth and Ninth Aves.
Audiences hungry for a meaty drama are in luck Off-Broadway, and they don't even have to travel very far to find it. Edward Albee's
Peter & Jerry is a long-overdue "prequel" to his classic
Zoo Story, starring Bill Pullman, at Second Stage on 43rd St. between 8th and 9th. Ethan Hawke directs
Things We Want, Jonathan Marc Sherman's drama about struggling young men, at the Acorn Theatre on 42nd St. between 8th and 9th Aves. The acclaimed
Dai (Enough) is Iris Bahr's one-woman show, set in a contemporary Tel Aviv deli that's about to be suicide-bombed; that's running at the 47th St. Theatre on 47th between 8th and 9th Avenues. Only slightly farther afield, at City Center on 55th St. between 6th and 7th Aves., is
Pumpgirl, an acclaimed new British import set in rural Ireland.
If that all sounds too heavy for you, there's always
Die Mommie Die!, Charles Busch's murderous, glamourous comedy, at New World Stages on 50th St. between 8th and 9th Aves. Also at New World Stages is the naughty comedy
My First Time, with four actors telling hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking stories of sexual initiation. And the crowd-pleasing
My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish and I'm in Therapy is still running at the Westside Arts Center, 43rd St. between 9th and 10th Aves.
For slightly less traditional live performance experiences, you may have to go further afield.
Jump is a Korean import uniting martial arts, acrobatics and slapstick comedy at the Union Square Theatre on 17th St. between Park Ave. and Irving Pl.
The Big Apple Circus celebrates its 30th year with an extravaganza under the big tent near Lincoln Center, 62nd St. between Columbus and Amsterdam. For dance aficionados, there's a wealth of exciting work on the boards at
Dance New Amsterdam, on Broadway near Chambers St., and at
The Joyce Theatre, at the corner of 8th Ave. and 19th St.
Even in tough times, New York is alive with the live arts.
For complete lists of shows available throughout New York, click and drag the "Show Search" function above.
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