New York is the premiere destination for theater in the world; with so many plays and musicals in production at any given time, there’s certainly no shortage of productions to choose from, so why not take the advice of the experts and see one of the
2008 Tony Award-winning shows? Just as New York isn’t wanting for theatrical fare, it’s also rife with awards—the Drama Desk Awards, the Outer Critics Circle Awards, the Innovative Theatre Awards, to name some—so you can take
their word for it as well. You buy tickets for every show featured at NYC.com as well as learn a little bit more about the production’s cast and history, both on and off Broadway. If you just want to see what’s out there right now, check out our
Broadway Tickets Guide or, for more off-the-beaten path fare, see our
Events Calendar.
If you’re coming to New York with your kids, a great way to get them interested in and excited by Broadway is to take them to one of the many fantastic productions put on by
Disney. The current productions of
Mary Poppins,
The Lion King, and
The Little Mermaid all include award-winning songs, brilliant set and costume design by the Disney Imagineers, and the classic stories that your kids already love. And new to Broadway this fall is the musical adaptation of the Oscar Award-winning animated movie
Shrek from Dreamworks, another sure-fire hit for kids, along with the continuing production of the triumphant
Wicked, which offers a special
behind-the-scenes tour that’s perfect for families. For more great Broadway options, check out our selection of
kid-friendly shows. Make sure you get your tickets early, as these shows often sell out. If they do sell out for the dates you want, you can always check our
Sold-Out Ticket Listings.
On the opposite side of the performance spectrum—and certainly not for the young and impressionable—are the growing number of
burlesque shows in New York. The resurgent vaudevillian offshoot is more popular than ever, and a lot of these clubs have taken great care to recreate the atmosphere and style of that by-gone era. There are weekly shows at the
Galapagos Art Space (Mondays),
RiFiFi (Thursdays & Sundays),
The Slipper Room (Fridays & Saturdays), and
The Bowery Poetry Club (Saturdays). To whet your appetite for burlesque, why not take in a performance of the 2008 Tony Award-winning
Gypsy based on the memoir of burlesque legend Gypsy Rose Lee? Or if
cabaret is more your style, well, New York’s
got that covered as well.
The Metropolitan Room at Gotham and
Café Carlyle both come highly recommended from our editors, and for good reason. If that’s not enough, the classic cabaret musical
Chicago is still in full swing on Broadway!
If it’s jazz you’re after, you should check out
Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at the Lincoln Center—where the popular radio program originates—or New York jazz landmarks the
Blue Note and the
Village Vanguard, where such jazz masters as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Thelonious Monk have left their treads upon the stage. There’s always the third iteration of Charlie Parker’s
Birdland Restaurant—now back in Midtown—a swank club with an acoustic design than lends itself as perfectly to jazz as Bird himself did. You can find more great locations for jazz in our
Jazz Listings or subscribe to our
Music RSS feed.
Once you’re overwhelmed with song and dance, head over to one of New York’s many
comedy clubs for a drink and a laugh with the city’s up-and-coming comedians. Most clubs have shows every night, as well as amateur shows (sometimes two) in front of the professional comedians. In the West Village, you can check out the
Comedy Cellar where Dave Chappelle and Jerry Seinfeld have performed, the legendary
Caroline’s in the Theatre District where tons of established acts perform week-long residencies, the retro
Gotham Comedy Club in Chelsea where Lewis Black has performed, and the Upper West Side’s
Stand-Up New York which features a cozy atmosphere and the best laughs in the neighborhood.
