T/theater

How to Buy Broadway Tickets? Your Questions, Answered

Box-office sales, discount booths, same-day rush: Here’s everything you need to know about nabbing seats to plays and musicals in Manhattan.

Dressing for the Emerald City

To create the costumes for the new “Wicked” movie, the filmmakers turned to a Tony Award winner who already knew his way around Oz.

‘Swept Away’ Review: Lost at Sea, How Far Would You Sink?

A dark musical about a shipwreck and its aftermath, with songs by the Avett Brothers, anchors on Broadway.

‘Tammy Faye’ Musical to Close After Failing to Find Broadway Audience

Well-reviewed in London but poorly received in New York, the musical with an Elton John score will end its run on Dec. 8.

TKTS to Open Booth in Philadelphia, Hoping to Boost Local Theaters

The first domestic TKTS outpost outside New York comes at a time of rising concern about ticket prices and theater economics.

‘Les Misérables’ Returns Home

The most famous French musical has never been popular in Paris. A major new production hopes to change that, reworking it for a contemporary French audience.

Everyone at the Party Sees Your Texts. A New Play Revels in the Chaos.

Neil Patrick Harris, Jane Krakowski, Debra Messing and Constance Wu star in the vulgar and entertaining new work from Robert O’Hara.

Morgan Jenness, 72, Dies; Her Artistic Vision Influenced American Theater

A beloved figure in the theatrical community, she redefined the role of dramaturg, influencing playwrights like David Adjmi and David Henry Hwang.

The ‘Death Becomes Her’ Frenemies Take Their Youth Potion to Broadway

The campy supernatural movie comes to Broadway as a big, bawdy musical starring Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard.

7 Days in the Cultural Life of a Broadway Stage Manager

When he’s not herding performers at “Once Upon a Mattress,” Cody Renard Richard is bowling, catching up with theater friends and, to his surprise, bumping into Beyoncé.

In ‘Elf’ on Broadway, Buddy Lands on the Very, Very Nice List

The musical, starring Grey Henson, has gotten Buddy delightfully, entirely right. But he is trapped inside a creaky adaptation.

Why ‘Tammy Faye’ the Musical Feels Like a Redemption

The televangelist defended gay men during the AIDS crisis. Now she’s getting perhaps the gayest tribute: a Broadway show led by Elton John.

¿Tengo que participar en la ovación de pie si todos lo hacen?

Los espectadores y otros amantes de las artes escénicas se están dando cuenta de que esta práctica parece haberse convertido en la norma, no en la excepción.

Uncovering Gay and Lesbian History in a 1941 ‘Sex Variants’ Study

The Civilians theater group has adapted a study of homosexuality into a work that explores the lives of lesbians and gay men in the early 20th century.

What’s Your ‘Romeo and Juliet’ I.Q.?

Test your knowledge, for never was a quiz of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

Murder as Family Tradition in ‘Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists’

Tiago Rodrigues’s play is intentionally a work of provocation, but it is also stylized to create a helpful distance from events and ideas.

Tammy Faye Was Over-the-Top. This Musical Makes Her Small.

“Tammy Faye,” a bland, tonal mishmash of a show opening on Broadway, seems afraid to lean into what made the televangelist so distinctive.

‘King Lear,’ Faster and Less Furious

Kenneth Branagh’s production of the Shakespeare classic speeds through the material and can’t quite figure out its tone.

In the Slightly Dark ‘Strategic Love Play,’ a Not-Quite-Romance Blooms

In this first-date comedy, Michael Zegen and Heléne Yorke play people who might just be willing to settle for each other.

Broadway Shows Closing Soon: ‘Suffs,’ ‘Stereophonic’ and More

Many Tony Award-winning musicals and starry plays (Robert Downey Jr., anyone?) are wrapping up their runs in January. Catch them while you can.

Big Apple Circus Review: A City Tour, Pizza Rats Included

This year’s show is an underwhelming exercise in nostalgia. But it’s still a joy to be under the big top with acts like the Wheel of Destiny.

Timothy West, Who Portrayed Kings and Prime Ministers, Dies at 90

A staple of British television, he played Churchill three times over a long career. Onstage, he was King Lear, Macbeth and Willy Loman.

Stand-Up, Drama and Spambots: The Creative World Takes On A.I.

Artificial intelligence has become a subject for people in the art and theater worlds who are worried about being replaced by it.

‘Maybe Happy Ending’ Review: For Robots, Is It Love or Just a Hookup?

A supersmart musical about making a connection arrives on Broadway in a joyful, heartbreaking, cutting-edge production.

‘The Vegetarian’ Review: Putting a Nobel Prize Winner’s Work Onstage

After Han Kang won the Prize in Literature last month, a stage version of her novel “The Vegetarian” sold out its run at a struggling Paris theater.

Blowing Louis Armstrong’s Horn Isn’t Enough in ‘A Wonderful World’

The great jazz trumpeter and sandpaper vocalist gets the old jukebox treatment in a new Broadway musical starring James Monroe Iglehart.

Paul Mescal Rides ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ to Brooklyn

The award-winning production will begin performances in February as part of Brooklyn Academy of Music’s next season.

How the Tale of a Brutal Shipwreck Became a Broadway Musical

The Avett Brothers were all ears a decade ago when a determined crew of theater upstarts and veterans came aboard to adapt their maritime album for “Swept Away.”

Everyone Else Is Giving a Standing Ovation. Do I Have To?

Theatergoers and other performing-arts lovers are noticing the practice seems to have become the rule, not the exception.

Why Shakespeare Remains Relevant Today

Readers discuss the production of the Bard’s plays today. Also: Elderly and physically active; investing in youth to reduce crime; political corruption.

Tony Todd, Prolific Actor Best Known for ‘Candyman,’ Dies at 69

Mr. Todd’s decades-long career spanned across mediums and genres, but he was largely associated with a scary figure summoned in front of a mirror.

Overlooked No More: Go-won-go Mohawk, Trailblazing Indigenous Actress

In the 1880s, the only roles for Indigenous performers were laden with negative stereotypes. So Mohawk decided to write her own narratives.

How a Sex-Positive Cuban Lesbian Helped Her Creator Play Herself

In “Give Me Carmelita Tropicana!,” Alina Troyano and her former student Branden Jacobs-Jenkins explore the ways art made by one person can live inside others.

How an Off Broadway Drag Show Choreographer Spends His Sundays

Spencer Liff, who choreographed “Drag: The Musical,” searches for New York’s best Bloody Mary, stops by the theater and tries to find his next great jacket at the flea market.

A New Broadway Musical Asks: Can Robots Fall in Love?

“Maybe Happy Ending” had an initial Korean-language production in Seoul in 2016. Here are five things to know about the show.

Don’t Say ‘Macbeth’ and Other Strange Rituals of the Theater World

Pulling back the curtain on the peculiar customs and enduring superstitions that help define life backstage.

‘Walden’ Review: My Sister! My Twin! My Astronaut!

Emmy Rossum and Zoë Winters star in a new Off Broadway play that’s a climate disaster drama cohabiting with a domestic soap opera.

He’s Getting Raves for a Role He Wasn’t Supposed to Play

Seventeen years after he first appeared in “Yellow Face,” the veteran actor Francis Jue has returned with a nuanced performance as a blustery patriarch.

All Hail the Theater Kid! (We Mean That Sincerely.)

For stars like Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga, showmanship is a virtue. That’s a big change from the days when Anne Hathaway was vilified for her effortful work.

‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ Gets a Folk-Musical Makeover

The decade-spanning story of a man aging in reverse comes to the West End, transformed into a thoughtful fable opening on the English coast.

From Museum Guard to Memoirist, and Now the Play’s His Thing

With Patrick Bringley’s “All the Beauty in the World” now in its 10th printing, he’s debuting in two new roles: playwright and actor.

John Leguizamo Talked Diversity at the Emmys. He Has Ideas for Theater Too.

The actor discusses his new play, “The Other Americans,” feeling underappreciated as a dramatist, and Latino representation.

Hit Play About U.S. Constitution Debuts in Canada. Amended, of Course.

How do you retool “What the Constitution Means to Me” for those unfamiliar with the U.S. Constitution? Consult Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

‘Phantom of the Opera’ Closed on Broadway. Next Year It Will Hit the Road.

The enduring Andrew Lloyd Webber musical will begin a multiyear tour in Baltimore in November 2025.

A Vocally Splendid ‘Ragtime’ Raises the Roof

Joshua Henry stars in an exhilarating gala revival of the 1998 musical about nothing less than the harmony and discord of America.

Two Climate Change Plays Keep the Flames of Hope Alive

“Hothouse,” at Irish Arts Center, fends off despair with loopiness; “In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot,” at Playwrights Horizons, is a fuzzy world lacking depth.

‘Ragtime’ Crushed Brandon Uranowitz’s Dream. Now It’s Healing His Wounds.

Nearly 30 years after being let go from the Broadway-bound show, this Tony Award winner is taking a lead role in a new revival at City Center.

‘Bad Kreyòl’ Review: Dueling Cultural Identities Make for a Weighty Comedy

Dominique Morisseau’s new play explores the tensions between a Haitian American woman and her Haitian-born cousin.

Broadway Is Singing Louis Armstrong’s Songs. Here Are 6 Classics.

By exploring Armstrong’s offstage struggles and tensions, “A Wonderful World” wants to shatter the image of an entertainer who was far more than just affable.

‘We Live in Cairo’ Falls Short of Being Revolutionary

Egyptians stand up to their government in a play that excels in its design but rings hollow when its subtext and character development are scrutinized.

Mimi Hines, a Replacement Star in ‘Funny Girl,’ Dies at 91

She was best known as half of a comedy team with her husband, Phil Ford, until her hall-filling voice earned her raves in a role made famous by Barbra Streisand.

Anime on Broadway May Be a Perfect Match

“Attack on Titan: The Musical” showed what a crossover between two seemingly different types of fans could look like.

How a Play About A.I. Lured Robert Downey Jr. to Broadway

In “McNeal,” the playwright Ayad Akhtar explores the way artificial intelligence is disrupting the literary world and raising questions about creativity.

5 Things to Do This Weekend

A selection of entertainment highlights this weekend, including the HBO dramedy “Somebody Somewhere.”

Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler Make Puppy Love in the Puppy Pile

The Broadway revival of “Romeo + Juliet” plays to the TikTok crowd. But maybe that’s a good thing.

It Sounded Like Dancing, Drinking and Sex. It Blew People’s Minds.

Critics have come a long way since “Maple Leaf Rag.” Just consider how “Cowboy Carter” rode into town.

‘Back to the Future’ to Close on Broadway, Rerouting DeLorean to Germany

The musical, which opened in London three years ago, is still going strong there and touring North America, while productions are planned in Japan and on a cruise ship.

Delia Ephron’s ‘Left on Tenth’ Treads Lightly

Julianna Margulies and Peter Gallagher star in this quasi romantic comedy adapted from Ephron’s memoir, which went deeper into her illness and grief.

‘Franklinland’ Review: A Founding Father, but Not the Best Dad

Lloyd Suh’s nimble period comedy about Benjamin Franklin examines a timeless struggle: the unmet expectations that divide parents and children.

A Reverse Angle on Arthur Miller in ‘A Woman Among Women’

Julia May Jonas’s compelling play, opening the Bushwick Starr’s new theater, explores how a story written about men looks from the other side.

¿Quién le teme a William Shakespeare?

Lo que hace que el dramaturgo sea controvertido también es lo que lo hace esencial y contemporáneo.

This Theater Was a Haven for Bold Art. Then the Archdiocese Intervened.

The Connelly Theater has suspended operations after its church landlord began more carefully scrutinizing show scripts and its general manager resigned.

A Reluctant Satirist Takes On the Bomb

Armando Iannucci, the mastermind behind “Veep,” has adapted “Dr. Strangelove” for the theater and insists that laughing at nuclear disaster couldn’t be more timely.

On Broadway, a Covid Switcheroo: Marsha Mason in for Mia Farrow

Mason, an associate director of “The Roommate,” which opened on Broadway last week, stepped in as Patti LuPone’s counterpart.

Does a Smash Hit Like ‘Lion King’ Deserve a $3 Million Tax Break?

Broadway is still recovering from the pandemic. A state tax-credit program has helped, but watchdogs say it aids some shows that don’t need a boost.

Audience Snapshot: Four Years After Shutdown, a Mixed Recovery

Covid brought live performance to a halt. Now the audience for pop concerts and sporting events has roared back, while attendance on Broadway and at some major museums is still down.

Is Earlier Better for Theater Start Times?

In an effort to entice audiences back after the pandemic, Britain’s National Theater is testing a 6:30 p.m. curtain.

Off Broadway, a Vital Part of New York Theater, Feels the Squeeze

The small theaters that help make the city a theater capital are cutting back as they struggle to recover from the pandemic.

Luring Theater Audiences Back After Covid

Readers discuss the decline in theater subscribers after the pandemic. Also: Northern Ireland; food allergies; a Covid playmate; anti-China bias.

72 Regional Theaters, One Shared Crisis

Michael Paulson spoke with producers and artistic directors at nonprofit theaters across the country about the crisis their industry is facing.

A Crisis in America’s Theaters Leaves Prestigious Stages Dark

As they struggle to recover after the pandemic, regional theaters are staging fewer shows, giving fewer performances, laying off staff and, in some cases, closing.

In ‘Plays for the Plague Year,’ the Soundtrack of Our Lives

Suzan-Lori Parks wrote one play a day for 13 months during the pandemic. Those stories come to life onstage in the form of monologues, dialogues and songs at Joe’s Pub.

As Presenters Cut Back on Streams, Some Disabled Arts Lovers Feel Left Out

When shuttered venues embraced streaming during the pandemic, the arts became more accessible. With live performance back, and streams dwindling, many feel forgotten.

‘Covid Vortex Anxiety Opera’ Review: Gloom, Zoom and a New Bloom

The veteran performance artist Karen Finley leads the audience through the troubles that plagued New York City at the peak of the pandemic.

Obie Awards Honor ‘English’ as Best New Play

A ceremony for the awards, celebrating work Off and Off Off Broadway, will be held Monday, but organizers decided to announce the winners in advance.

Broadway Bounces Back With ‘Best Week Since the Before Times’

Broadway shows grossed $51.9 million during the holiday week, the most since 2019, and “The Lion King” set a record for the most earned by any show in a single week.

‘Broadway Rising’ Review: Surviving the Pandemic

Stakeholders including Patti LuPone and Lynn Nottage share their real-time reactions to New York theater’s shutdown and reopening in Amy Rice’s documentary.

Onstage, It’s Finally Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Again

After one holiday season lost to the pandemic and another curtailed by Omicron, seasonal staples including “The Nutcracker,” “A Christmas Carol” and “Messiah” are back in force.

Lynn Nottage’s ‘Clyde’s’ Is the Most-Staged Play in America

An annual survey, suspended during the pandemic, resumes and finds theaters nationally doing fewer shows and torn between escapism and ambition.

Did Fauci Lead America Astray on Covid?

Responses to an essay that criticized Anthony Fauci’s handling of the pandemic. Also: Migrants as props; abortion rights; David Milch; theater’s lessons.

To Mask, or Not to Mask: Theaters and Concert Halls Face a Dilemma

Some audience members are turned off by mask mandates. Others won’t attend indoor performances without them. Arts presenters are taking different approaches this season.

‘It’s My Tradition Too’: A Town’s Centuries-Old Passion Play Evolves

After a two-year pandemic delay, villagers in the German town of Oberammergau are once again re-enacting the story of Jesus’s life and death, with some changes.

On Broadway, One Show Decides to Keep Masks. No, It’s Not ‘Phantom.’

“American Buffalo,” at Circle in the Square, is sticking with masking till it closes, July 10, citing the “proximity of the audience to the actors” and “the staging in the round.”

You Don’t Want to Wear a Mask? Do It for Hugh Jackman

Beginning in July, Broadway will no longer require audiences to mask up. Actors and theater workers aren’t loving the idea.

You Don’t Want to Wear a Mask? Do It for Hugh Jackman.

Beginning in July, Broadway will no longer require audiences to mask up. Actors and theater workers aren’t loving the idea.

Broadway Will Drop Mask Mandate Beginning July 1

Most theaters stopped requiring proof of vaccination this spring. Now they are going “mask optional.”

‘A Strange Loop’ Wins Best Musical as Tonys Celebrate Broadway’s Return

“The Lehman Trilogy” won best play, “Company” won best musical revival and “Take Me Out” won best revival of a play at the 75th Tony Awards.

‘Come From Away’ to Close, the Latest Broadway Show to End Run

The musical, which opened in 2017, is the third to announce a closing in two days, as many shows struggle in a pandemic-softened marketplace.

Broadway theaters will continue requiring patrons to wear masks at least through June 30.

The decision comes at a time when New York City has declared a “high Covid alert.”

The Twisting Trail to the Tonys: ‘Can You Believe That We’re Here?’

At times it felt like a game of survival. But during a Broadway season unlike any other, productions showed their resourcefulness while learning how to live with Covid.

‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ to Close on Broadway, After Reopening

The musical, which shuttered temporarily in January as the Omicron variant spread, has struggled with the slow return of tourists to the theater.

Your Monday Evening Briefing

Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day.

Most Broadway theaters have ended vaccination checks as coronavirus cases are rising.

Most of Broadway Ends Vaccine Checks as Cases Rise in New York

While for-profit theater owners and operators agreed to stop checking proof of vaccination this week, several nonprofit Broadway theaters continue to require it.

Manhattan Springs Back to Life

Broadway enthusiasts, art aficionados and food lovers will find new offerings in and around Times Square and in neighborhoods below 42nd Street, heralding the promise of a vibrant recovery.

‘For Colored Girls’ to Close on Broadway, Reflecting Tough Season

The revival, directed by Camille A. Brown, received strong reviews but struggled to attract audiences and overcome challenges posed by Covid.