7 Must-See Shows Opening in December That Aren’t Holiday Related
Catch John Mulaney, Jimmy Fallon and Lin-Manuel Miranda in a new comedy, a new immersive spectacle from Third Rail Projects and more
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Pen Pals – begins December 5
Theatre at St. Clement’s, 423 West 46th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in Midtown West
Previews begin December 5. Opens December 11. Closes February 9, 2025. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
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A Guide for the Homesick – begins December 6
DR2 Theatre, 103 East 15th Street between Union Square East and Irving Place near Union Square Park
Previews begin December 6. Opens December 12. Closes February 2, 2025. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Award-winning playwright Ken Urban is having a busy season. In March, his world premiere Danger and Opportunity will be the inaugural production at the new downtown theatre East Village Basement. But first comes A Guide for the Homesick about two queer strangers (McKinley Belcher III and Uly Schlesinger) who meet in a rundown Amsterdam hotel room where they face their shame and fear over betraying their loved ones. Urban is known for his ambitious work, which explores weighty topics in unconventional ways, like victims of torture connecting through nightmares and the impact of 9/11 on millennials with a side of aliens. So we expect this narrative to weave political concerns into its personal drama.
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All In: Comedy About Love – begins December 11
Previews start December 11. Opens December 22. Closes February 16, 2025.
and the final show to bow is this Saturday Night Live pet project. Written by longtime SNL scribe Simon Rich, produced by SNL creator Lorne Michaels and featuring SNL alums John Mulaney, Fred Armisen, Chloe Fineman, Aidy Bryant, Jimmy Fallon and Tim Meadows, this anthology comedy is based on humorous New Yorker stories penned by the playwright about hooking up, breaking up and getting hitched. Alex Timbers directs the play, which stars a rotating cast of cutups, including Hank Azaria, David Cross, Nick Kroll, Andrew Rannells, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Annaleigh Ashford, Richard Kind and Lin-Manuel Miranda!
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True Love Forever – begins December 13
artXnyc, 409 West 14th Street between Ninth Avenue and Washington Street in Chelsea
Begins December 13. Closes December 15.
Third Rail Projects is one of the most innovative immersive theatre troupes around. The company’s interactive and acclaimed Then She Fell, inspired by the life and works of Lewis Carroll, ran in Brooklyn for seven and a half years until it was shuttered by the pandemic, and its other spectacles included a scrumptious Midsummer and a commissioned piece at Lincoln Center. True Love Forever is the troupe’s first NYC show since the shutdown and this three-day engagement is a public workshop of sorts. At each performance, just 65 folks are welcomed into this theatrical indie rock concert where love, desire, passion and heartbreak are all on the set list. Details are purposefully vague—Third Rail’s dazzling shows are better experienced than explained! Can’t make it in December? The show will return February 13 to 15 in the New Year.
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BREAKIN’ NYC – begins December 14
Theater 555, 555 West 42nd Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in Midtown West
Begins December 14. Closes December 30. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Veteran dancer-choreographer Angel Kaba is behind this breakdancing revue, which traces the evolution of the genre from the streets of the Bronx to the international spotlight. Subtitled “A Journey Through the Heartbeat of Hip-Hop,” this high-energy showcase features poppin’, lockin’, beat boxing and freestyle moves performed by a talented troupe of dancers.
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Mindplay – begins December 15
Greenwich House Theater, 27 Barrow Street near Seventh Avenue South in the West Village
Previews begin December 15. Opens January 13, 2025. Closes May 11, 2025. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
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Bashevis’s Demons – begins December 18
154, 154 Christopher Street between Greenwich and Washington Streets in the West Village
Begins December 18. Closes January 5, 2025.
Three evocative tales by Isaac Bashevis Singer, a Yiddish lit luminary, are performed in his glorious, guttural tongue in this production presented by the Congress for Jewish Culture and featuring English subtitles. The Mirror centers on an abandoned wife who steps through a looking glass and finds fame in a demonic realm. In The Last Demon, a Jewish devil watches a far greater evil destroy his community. And Kukeriku finds a rooster contemplating his mortality.
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