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Catch two new musicals, a slew of new plays and the return of Yiddish Fiddler
The US premiere of a forgotten Noël Coward work; a theatrical concert from a Pulitzer Prize winner; plays starring Michael Shannon, Jennifer Westfeldt and Deirdre O'Connell; and the return of Yiddish Fiddler. These are just some of the promising productions opening Off Broadway in November. For a comprehensive overview of theatre in New York City, browse the listings in TDF's Show Finder. And remember, many of our picks for October are still running.
In terms of COVID-19 safety protocols, rules vary by venue. 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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New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Midtown West
Previews begin November 1. Opens November 21. Closes December 10. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Masks are required.
Off Broadway's esteemed Mint Theater Company has been unearthing forgotten gems since 1992, and The Rat Trap sounds particularly intriguing. Written by the legendary Noël Coward when he was just 18 years old, this production marks the play's American premiere, so this is a rare chance to see his early work. This strikingly mature drama centers on a newlywed couple, two up-and-coming writers vowing to support and love each other through all challenges, both professional and personal. They soon discover that marriage is a bumpy ride.
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Vineyard Theatre, 108 East 15th Street between Irving Place and Union Square East in Union Square
Previews begin November 3. Opens November 20. Closes December 18. log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Masks are required.
The last solo thriller by playwright David Cale, the slippery Harry Clarke, was a huge hit for the Vineyard Theatre. So, we have high hopes for Sandra, Cale's latest one-person hair-raiser about a young woman (Marjan Neshat from English and Selling Kabul) obsessed with figuring out what happened to her best friend, who disappeared mysteriously in Mexico. Her journey leads her to dangerous places and a torrid love affair. Tony nominee Leigh Silverman (Violet, Grand Horizons) directs.
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Joe's Pub at The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street near Astor Place in the East Village
Previews begin November 4. Opens November 16. Closes November 27.
Masks are optional but encouraged.
When theatres shut down in March 2020, Suzan-Lori Parks went to work. The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright penned a playlet and/or song every day and the result is Plays for the Plague Year, a three-hour, music-filled fantasia channeling the hope, fear and resilience of our collective lockdown experience. Directed by Niegel Smith (Hir) and performed at The Public Theater's intimate Joe's Pub, the show stars for colored girls... Tony nominee Kenita Miller, Broadway vets Pearl Sun, Greg Keller, Orville Mendoza and Lauren Molina, and a newbie making her stage debut: Suzan-Lori Parks. We can't wait to see her rock the guitar and the house!
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Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue in Lincoln Square
Previews begin November 8. Opens December 4. Closes December 31. log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Masks are required.
Deirdre O'Connell, who won a 2022 Tony Award for her breathtaking performance in Dana H., stars in the New York premiere of Sarah Ruhl's dark comedy about a modern-day descendent of executed Salem witch Rebecca Nurse. Becky's life has been all bad luck. Can she harness her ancestor's powers to have a more enchanted future? Tony winner Rebecca Taichman (Indecent) directs this tale about misogyny, sorcery and an alternative ending to an Arthur Miller classic. Originally scheduled to open at Lincoln Center Theater in October, the production was pushed to November due to COVID.
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Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place between Perry and West 11th Streets in the West Village
Proof of vaccination including booster and masks are required.
Previews begin November 9. Opens November 20. Closes December 11. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Tony nominee Jennifer Westfeldt (Wonderful Town, Kissing Jessica Stein) headlines The Gett, a world premiere from playwright Liba Vaynberg, who also costars. The title refers to a Jewish document of divorce, but this play isn't just about the end of a marriage. It's about one young Jewish woman's journey of self-discovery as she grapples with faith, assimilation, sex and an overbearing mom. Outgoing Rattlestick artistic director Daniella Topol helms the production.
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Irish Repertory Theatre, 132 West 22nd Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Chelsea
Previews begin November 9. Opens November 17. Closes December 18. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Masks are required.
Originally presented as a virtual solo show during the shutdown, Jack Was Kind is getting an in-person premiere at Irish Rep. Written and performed by Tracy Thorne, it's the tale of a powerful man's wife who's so blinded by privilege and comfort, she struggles to acknowledge her own complicity in his horrific behavior. Inspired by a real-life scandal (no spoilers!), this 70-minute monologue is directed by Nicholas A. Cotz.
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New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Midtown West
Begins November 13. Closes January 1, 2023.
Masks are optional but encouraged.
The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene's critically acclaimed production of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish returns for a limited engagement over the holidays. Directed by Tony winner Joel Grey (yup, of Cabaret fame) and featuring Steven Skybell reprising his Lucille Lortel Award-winning turn as pious milkman and loving patriarch Tevye, this is the most moving Fiddler I've ever seen. Don't worry if you don't understand Yiddish: there are English supertitles and, if you're familiar with the show, you may find you don't even need them. It would be a shanda to miss this!
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St Ann's Warehouse, 45 Water Street near New Dock Street in Dumbo, Brooklyn
Previews begin November 16. Opens November 20. Closes December 4. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Masks are required.
Gloria Szymanski, a sexually liberated single mom, was violated in 1965 when recordings of her private sessions with a trio of male psychotherapists were made public without her consent. Playwright Gina Moxley turns that betrayal on its head in this irreverent, over-the-top, punk rock-infused satire and Fringe festival favorite. Liv O'Donoghue portrays Gloria and the playwright herself takes on the three amoral men who used her in this UK import running at Brooklyn's St. Ann's Warehouse.
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Atlantic Theater Company, Linda Gross Theater, 336 West 20th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Chelsea
Previews begin November 17. Opens December 5. Closes January 1, 2023.
Masks are required.
Atlantic Theater commissioned this new epic by Guggenheim fellow Lloyd Suh (The Chinese Lady) that traces one family's journey from rural Taishan in China to California's Wild West in the wake of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Obie Award winner Eric Ting directs.
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Claire Tow Theater at Lincoln Center, 150 West 65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue in Lincoln Square
Previews begin November 19. Opens December 5. Closes December 31.
Masks are required.
Presented by Lincoln Center's LCT3 initiative, which premieres new work by emerging playwrights, Julia May Jonas' Your Own Personal Exegesis is a comedic coming-of-age tale about all the drama going on at a liberal parish, including power plays, epiphanies and forbidden crushes. Annie Tippe (Octet) directs a diverse ensemble cast.
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WP Theater at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre, 2162 Broadway at 76th Street on the Upper West Side
Previews begin November 22. Opens December 5. Closes December 23.
Masks are required.
Page 73 (A Strange Loop) partners with Working Theater on Bleu Beckford-Burrell's new drama about Maxine, a dejected Black woman whose BFF convinces her to run for local office in Far Rockaway, Queens. As Maxine and her team confront prejudice and gentrification on the campaign trail, she realizes there's much more at stake in this race than she knew. Tickets are pay-what-you-can starting at $0 (yup, zero!) in order to make the production accessible to all.
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The York Theatre Company at Theatre at St. Jean's, 150 East 76th Street near Lexington Avenue on the Upper East Side
Previews begin November 22. Opens December 1. Closes December 31.
Masks are required.
The brainchild of director Susan H. Schulman and choreographer Michael Lichtefeld, who oversaw the Broadway productions of Little Women, The Sound of Music and The Secret Garden, this new musical isn't simply a revue of Hoagy Carmichael tunes. It follows six friends over four decades as the music of the American Songbook master underscores their lives. From ragtime, to jazz and blues, to standards, this show celebrates Carmichael's wide-ranging catalog.
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BAM Fisher, 321 Ashland Place between Lafayette Avenue and Hanson Place in Fort Greene
Begins November 29. Closes December 22.
Masks are optional but encouraged.
I was blown away by multimedia artist Andrew Schneider's Obie-winning YOUARENOWHERE, which featured all kinds of high-tech wizardry along with a breathtaking coup de théâtre. So, I'm excited to catch his latest blend of technology, installation and performance: N O W I S W H E N W E A R E (the stars). Spectators enter a pitch-black space and are suddenly dazzled by 5,000 points of light while a narrator waxes on about the cosmos and our place within it. Experiences vary since the lights are programmed to respond to each participant, and you can choose to be guided by Schneider or explore on your own.
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Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street in Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Previews begin December 4 (postponed from November 29 due to COVID). Opens December 16. Closes January 1, 2023. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Masks are required.
Oscar and Tony nominee Michael Shannon leads the cast of Des Moines, a dramedy by Denis Johnson having its New York premiere at Theatre for a New Audience. In a rundown apartment on the outskirts of Des Moines, a motley crew of lost souls gathers for party that's filled with alcohol, karaoke and bombshells. Arin Arbus directs an ensemble that also includes two-time Tony nominee Johanna Day and TV star Arliss Howard.
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Raven Snook is the Editor of TDF Stages. Follow her at @RavenSnook. Follow TDF at @TDFNYC.
TDF MEMBERS: Go here to browse our latest discounts for dance, theatre and concerts.
Top image: Steven Skybell in the 2019 mounting of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, which is having an encore run this fall. Photo by Matthew Murphy.
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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