TDF Stages

A dozen promising productions, including three rarely revived musicals

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While January's Off-Broadway roundup was filled with new musicals (all of which are still running by the way), February is all about rare revivals. The Tap Dance Kid, A Class Act and A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine are all getting fresh mountings. More into drama? There are exciting new plays at Atlantic Theater Company, The Public Theater and the Vineyard Theatre, which is reopening its doors for the first time in almost two years. For a comprehensive overview of everything bowing beyond Broadway, browse the listings in TDF's Show Finder.

In terms of COVID-19 safety protocols, all of these productions require theatregoers to provide proof of being fully vaccinated with an FDA or WHO authorized vaccine. Masks are also mandatory. Note that some shows are adding additional rules such as proof of a booster shot. While we are doing our best to keep this article up to date, before buying tickets to any event, double-check the COVID-19 rules to avoid disappointment.

If you're a TDF member, be sure to log in to your account to see what we're selling as ticket inventory changes frequently.

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Encores!: The Tap Dance Kid - February 2

New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Midtown West

Begins February 2. Closes February 6. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.

Note: Proof of booster shot required.

Although Henry Krieger and Robert Lorick's musical was nominated for seven Tony Awards and ran almost two years back in the 1980s, The Tap Dance Kid has never enjoyed a major NYC revival... until now. After a two-year hiatus, City Center's invaluable Encores! series resumes with a concert presentation of this exuberant show, with fresh tap sequences by Jared Grimes and direction by Tony winner Kenny Leon. Centering on a 10-year-old Black boy whose tap-dancing aspirations irk some members of his well-to-do family, the production is headlined by Broadway baby Alexander Bello (Caroline, or Change) as the hoofer with a dream and three-time Tony nominee Joshua Henry as his disapproving father.

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Soho Rep: Wolf Play - February 2

Soho Rep, 46 Walker Street between Broadway and Church Street in Soho

Previews begin February 2. Opens February 14. Closes March 20.

Soho Rep has a reputation for presenting mind-blowing plays (see Pulitzer Prize winner Fairview) that haunt audiences long after the curtain falls. Hansol Jung's hard-to-describe Wolf Play seems to fit this trend. A puppet portrays a South Korean boy who is sent to live with an American family. But this meditation on chosen (and unchosen) family seems to have something wilder in mind since the puppeteer is dressed as a wolf. Dustin Wills directs the play, which is coproduced by Ma-Yi Theater Company. Note: Catch the show on the cheap with 99-Cent Sunday performances on February 20, 27 and March 6—tickets are sold in person, first come, first served.

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Atlantic Theater Company: English - February 4

Linda Gross Theater, 336 West 20th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Chelsea

Previews begin February 4. Opens February 22. Closes March 20.

Four adult Iranians are prepping for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and, they hope, a better future in Sanaz Toossi's new play, a coproduction between Atlantic Theater Company and Roundabout Underground. But the maze of word games, listening exercises and show-and-tell sessions begin to take a toll. Knud Adams directs.

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New York Theatre Workshop: On Sugarland - February 5

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

Previews begin February 5. Opens March 3. Closes March 20.

Over the past few years, Obie winner Aleshea Harris has racked up awards and accolades for her bold works such as Is God Is and What to Send Up When It Goes Down. In this genre-defying piece for New York Theatre Workshop, she examines ancestry, family and collective mourning in a Black mobile home community in the South. Whitney White directs an ensemble cast of 14 that includes indie theatre standouts Stephanie Berry and Lizan Mitchell. Raja Feather Kelly, who always seems to be involved with must-see productions, choreographs.

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Theatre for a New Audience: The Merchant of Venice - February 5

Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street

Previews begin February 5. Opens February 15. Closes March 6. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.

One of our greatest classical actors, John Douglas Thompson, is the vindictive moneylender Shylock in director Arin Arbus' new mounting of Shakespeare's perpetually problematic The Merchant of Venice. Coproduced by Theatre for a New Audience and Shakespeare Theatre Company, the show features a strikingly diverse cast, with Arbus exploring the play's depiction of a society that's racist, sexist and classist—not just anti-Semitic.

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Vineyard Theatre: sandblasted - February 6

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

Previews begin February 6. Opens February 27. Closes March 6. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.

In Charly Evon Simpson's moving new comedy, two Black women looking to improve themselves fall under the spell of a famous wellness influencer. Summer L. Williams directs this surreal tale of hope and healing, which is coproduced by the Vineyard Theatre and WP Theater.

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Mint Theater Company: The Daughter-in-Law - February 8

New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Midtown West

Previews begin February 8. Opens February 22. Closes March 20. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.

Off Broadway's esteemed Mint Theater Company, which has been unearthing forgotten gems since 1992, returns to in-person performances with a new mounting of D.H. Lawrence's first play, The Daughter-in-Law, which was written in 1913 but went unproduced until 1967, decades after his death. Set during the UK's impending national coal strike of 1912, the drama centers on a young miner and his new wife, and the class and moral conflicts that plague their marriage. Martin Platt directs.

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J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company: A Class Act - February 10

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

Begins February 10. Closes February 20. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.

Edward Kleban won a Tony Award for his lyrics for A Chorus Line but never got back to Broadway before he died. Happily, his talented friend and fan, Lonny Price, co-created, directed and starred in the 2001 Broadway musical A Class Act showcasing Kleban's songs and his moving life story. Two decades later, the J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company, which revives undersung tuners, presents the first professional NYC revival of this heartfelt tribute to a musical master who passed away much too young at age 48.

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The Public Theater: Out of Time - February 15

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

Previews begin February 15. Opens March 1. Closes March 13. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.

Note: Proof of booster shot required.

Visionary director Les Waters (Dana H., The Thin Place) conceived of and helms Out of Time, five new monologues by Asian-American playwrights created specifically for actors over age 60. Coproduced by The Public Theater and Mia Katigbak's lauded National Asian American Theatre Company, the show consists of seasoned solos by Jaclyn Backhaus, Sam Chanse, Mia Chung, Naomi Iizuka and Anna Ouyang Moench performed by Glenn Kubota, Page Leong, Natsuko Ohama, Rita Wolf and Katigbak herself. Note: If you're feeling lucky, try entering the digital lottery to win free tickets to the first preview on Tuesday, February 15. Details are on The Public's site.

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The Public Theater: The Chinese Lady - February 23

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

Previews begin February 23. Opens March 8. Closes April 10.

Note: Proof of booster shot required.

After a critically acclaimed run at Massachusetts' Barrington Stage Company, The Public Theater presents Ma-Yi Theater Company's mounting of The Chinese Lady, inspired by the real-life story of Afong Moy, the first Chinese woman to come to America in the 19th century. Lloyd Suh's play sees our nation through her 16-year-old eyes as she's exoticized and exhibited to gawkers around the country. Ma-Yi artistic director Ralph B. Peña helms the production. Note: If you're feeling lucky, try entering the digital lottery to win free tickets to the first preview on Wednesday, February 23. Details are on The Public's site.

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J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company: A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine - February 24

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

Begins February 24. Closes March 6. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.

J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company is also behind this rare revival of A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, two Broadway musical comedies in one. The first is a celebration of Golden Age movie musicals, with Grauman's Chinese Theatre ushers crooning classic songs from the 1930s as well as new old-fashioned tunes by Frank Lazarus, Jerry Herman and others. Loosely inspired by Anton Chekhov's one-act play The Bear, part II is a Marx Brothers-style farce in which a shady lawyer woos a wealthy widow. Pure escapist fun.

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Irish Repertory Theatre: A Touch of the Poet - February 26

Irish Repertory Theatre, 132 West 22nd Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Chelsea

Previews begin February 26. Opens March 8. Closes April 17.

Note: Proof of booster shot required through March 25.

After a pandemic delay and a digital incarnation, Irish Rep finally presents this in-person production of Eugene O'Neill's A Touch of the Poet starring Tony nominee Robert Cuccioli as Con, an Irish-American inn owner near Boston in 1828, clinging to a gentlemanly past that never was. When his daughter falls for a well-to-do American, Con faces an immigrant identity crisis. Ciarán O'Reilly directs.

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Raven Snook is the Editor of TDF Stages. Follow her at @RavenSnook. Follow TDF at @TDFNYC.

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Top image: Three-time Tony nominee Joshua Henry, who's starring in The Tap Dance Kid at City Center Encores! this month.