13 Shows to See Off Broadway in October
A baker’s dozen of promising productions, including two new musicals, a starry comedy and the return of an old favorite
—
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. If you plan to attend with a child under 12 who is too young to be vaccinated, check the show’s website for info on providing a negative COVID-19 test. Masks are also mandatory.
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.
—
Audible Theater: The Fever – October 8
Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane between Sixth Avenue and MacDougal Street in the West Village
Starts October 8. Closes October 24. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Indie film darling Lili Taylor stars in a new production of Wallace Shawn’s one-person play The Fever about a well-to-do American tourist who has a crisis of conscience and health while visiting a war-torn country. The experience leaves her reeling as she interrogates her own complicity in the world’s inequities. Although The Fever may sound ripped from the op-ed pages, Shawn premiered this piece back in 1990, performing it in friends’ living rooms and, eventually, at The Public Theater. The New Group revived it with Shawn in 2007, and the company is co-producing this limited engagement with Audible Theater, who will record Taylor’s performance for a future audio play release. Taylor and Shawn are longtime collaborators on stage, with the actress winning an Obie Award for her devastating performance in the 2004 revival of his play Aunt Dan and Lemon. New Group artistic director, Scott Elliott, helms this harrowing and hallucinatory piece—he directed the 2007 production as well.
—
Signature Theatre Company: Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 – October 12
The Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street between Dyer and Tenth Avenues in Midtown West
Previews October 12. Opens November 1. Closes November 21.
—
Gingold Theatrical Group: Mrs. Warren’s Profession – October 12
Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street between Ninth and Dyer Avenues in Midtown West
Previews October 12. Opens October 27. Closes November 20. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
—
Manhattan Theatre Club: Morning Sun – October 12
MTC Stage I at City Center, 131 West 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Midtown West
Previews begin October 12. Opens November 3. Closes December 19.
Tony-winning dramatist Simon Stephens (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Sea Wall, Heisenberg) is known for writing delicate plays that explore the unique lives of ordinary people. Morning Sun chronicles a trio of such souls over 60 years, as a grandmother, mother and daughter share the same Greenwich Village walk-up and question their choices. Attention must be paid to these ladies, especially since they’re portrayed by three exceptional performers: Blair Brown, Edie Falco and Marin Ireland. Lila Neugebauer directs this Manhattan Theatre Club production.
—
The Public Theater: The Visitor – October 16
The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street near Astor Place in the East Village
Previews October 16. Opens November 4. Closes December 5.
After a pandemic delay, this musical based on the indie movie of the same name finally premieres at The Public Theater. Written by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, the Pulitzer Prize-winning team behind Next to Normal, along with Kwame Kwei-Armah, the show follows a lonely college professor (Tony winner David Hyde Pierce) who finds a sense of purpose helping a pair of undocumented immigrants fight to stay in the U.S. Daniel Sullivan directs this moving tale, which costars Alysha Deslorieux and Jacqueline Antaramian.
—
Fairycakes – October 14
Greenwich House Theatre, 27 Barrow Street near Varick Street in the West Village
Previews October 14. Opens October 24. Closes November 21, 2022. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Written and directed by Tony nominee Douglas Carter Beane (The Little Dog Laughed, The Nance, As Bees in Honey Drown), Fairycakes has a cast so uproarious, you may crack up just from reading their names! Veteran scene-stealers Jackie Hoffman, Ann Harada, Arnie Burton and Julie Halston headline this comedic mash-up of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and old-world fables, with familiar fairy tale characters wreaking havoc in that magical forest. This probably won’t need pixie dust to enchant.
—
– October 15
Asylum NYC, 307 West 26th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Chelsea
Starts October 15. Closes November 7. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
—
The Play That Goes Wrong – October 15
New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Midtown West
Resumes performances October 15. Open run. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
—
Morning’s at Seven – October 20
Theatre at Saint Clement’s, 423 West 46th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in Midtown West
Previews begin October 20. Opens November 15. Closes December 5, 2022 . If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
—
MCC Theater: Nollywood Dreams – October 21
The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space, 511 West 52nd Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in Midtown West
Previews begin October 21. Opens November 11. Closes November 28. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Playwright Jocelyn Bioh is having quite the year. Her exuberant adaptation of Merry Wives of Windsor was a critically acclaimed hit at Shakespeare in the Park. Now she’s returning to MCC Theater, which produced her award-winning School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, with the new comedy Nollywood Dreams. Set in the ’90s in Nigeria’s booming film industry, the play centers on an aspiring actress whose big break comes with lots of drama. Saheem Ali, who directed Merry Wives, helms this feel-good romp about daring to dream big.
—
New York Theatre Workshop: Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord – October 25
New York Theatre Workshop, 79 East 4th Street between Bowery and Second Avenue in the East Village
Previews October 25. Opens November 4. Closes November 21.
This past May, performance artist and activist Kristina Wong presented a virtual edition of this solo satire detailing how she launched a homemade face mask empire during the pandemic. Now she brings this poignant play to New York Theatre Workshop’s stage, sharing how she enlisted friends, family (even her own mother!) and strangers to craft PPE for our under-resourced health care system during a crisis, creating a tight-knit community in the process. A hilarious and heartfelt critique of America’s failings and our reliance on women of color for labor. Chay Yew directs.
—
Trevor: A New Musical – October 25
Stage 42, 422 West 42nd Street at Dyer Avenue
Previews begin October 25. Opens November 10. Closes December 19. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
—
Theatre for a New Audience: Gnit – October 30
Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place in Brooklyn
Previews begin October 30. Opens November 7. Closes November 21. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
After a pandemic delay, Will Eno’s modern-day reinvention of Ibsen’s Peer Gynt bows at Brooklyn’s Theatre for a New Audience. The iconoclastic playwright (Thom Pain (based on nothing), The Realistic Joneses) and his frequent director Oliver Butler team up for this witty, pun-filled play about a coddled young man who goes out into the world hoping for greatness but discovers there are loftier goals.
—
TDF MEMBERS: Go here to browse our latest discounts for dance, theatre and concerts.
RAVEN SNOOK