The top Broadway and off broadway musicals in NYC: complete A-Z list

This thrilling reconception of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical not only rescues Cats from the oversize junkyard but lifts it to unexpected heights. Directors Zhailon Levingston and PAC’s Bill Rauch embrace the musical’s inherent strangeness by absorbing it into queerness: The show’s secret ball for cats is now a ballroom runway competition of the kind recently visited by TV’s Pose and Legendary. This concept—let’s call it Paris Is Purring—is ideal for the musical’s revue-like structure, and the show’s wispy plot is clearer than it has ever been. The fur truly flies.—Adam Feldman

The pride of the New York skyline, the Empire State Building, is the subject of Caroline Sherman and Robert Hull's original musical, which looks at the archetypical skyscraper in three different time periods: the 1920s, when it was conceived; the Great Depression, when it was built; and the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976. Tony-winning actress Cady Huffman directs a cast of 20 in the world premiere. 

TIME OUT DISCOUNT TICKET OFFER:

EMPIRE: THE MUSICAL
A New Musical About a True Building

Save up to $30 on select tickets!

Promotional description: Dream Big. Build Higher. Experience the soaring heights of EMPIRE, the elevated new musical that celebrates the world’s most iconic building: the Empire State Building. Told through the lens of three generations of dreamers and doers spanning New York City in the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and the Bicentennial Year of 1976, this original story shines new light on one of history’s greatest feats of will and desire. With a desperate city pinning its hopes on this seemingly impossible project, only skyscraper-high levels of grit and determination can keep it climbing. Discover the dramatic tales of derring-do through spectacular choreography, foot-tapping music, and colorful, timeless characters. Take the thrilling ride to the sky with the brave Mohawk Skywalkers, industrialist visionaries, and can-do immigrants, all of whom had the guts to go up when everyone else was down. Witness the extraordinary resilience and optimism that built a landmark that still inspires today. 

THREE WAYS TO BUY TICKETS:
1. Online: Click here to buy tickets through Telecharge
2. By phone: Call 212-947-8844 and mention code: EMTONY30
3. In person: Print this offer and bring it to the New World Stages box office (340 W 50th St between Eighth and Ninths Aves)

Performance schedule: Monday at 7pm; Wednesday at 2pm and 8pm; Thursday at 7pm; Friday at 8pm; Saturday at 2pm and 8pm; Sunday at 3pm.

Running time: 2hrs 30mins. One intermission.

Discounts apply to $69 and $89 tiers. Blackout dates may apply. All prices include a $2 facility fee. Normal service charges apply to phone & internet orders. Offer subject to availability. Limit of eight tickets per order. Offer may be revoked or modified at any time without notice.

The prolific Bob and Tobly McSmith, who specialize in silly musicals based on nostalgia objects like Saved by the Bell and Beverly Hills 90210, take a shot at America's favorite six 1990s white people. Assaf Gleizner, who wrote music for the McSmiths' The Office! A Musical Parody, is there for them like he's been there before, and Ryan David Barto directs.

Andrew Barth Feldman, Sarah Hyland and James Carpinello currently star in the latest revival of this dark, tuneful and utterly winsome 1982 horror-camp musical about a flesh-eating plant who makes dreams come true for a lowly flower-shop worker. Composer Alan Menken and librettist Howard Ashman wrap a sordid tale of capitalist temptation and moral decay in layers of sweetness, humor, wit and camp. Michael Mayer directs the feeding frenzy in this deeply satisfying revival.

The boys are back in town! Five nice-looking men take it all off and vocalize in this collage of musical vignettes on gay themes, revamped since its 1999 debut with new jokes and more up-to-date references. Although sex is central to most of the numbers, the goofy nudism has no erotic charge (and when the show tries to be serious, it's sometimes hard to watch). After a hiatus of several years, NBS has returned to NYC at a new venue in 2023.

Having already created goofy musical spoofs of shows including Saved by the Bell and Beverly Hills 90210, Bob and Tobly McSmith—joined again by composer Assaf Gleizner, who wrote the score for Friends! The Musical Parody—take on yet another TV institution. Donald Garverick directs a cast led by Caleigh Lozito, in male drag, as paper tiger Michael Scott.

Company XIV's seductive adult take on Alice in Wonderland is a singular sexcess: a transporting fusion of haute burlesque, circus, dance and song. Impresario Austin McCormick has assembled an array of alluring and highly skilled artists, who look smashing in Zane Pihlstrom's lace-and-crystal-encrusted costumes. With its soundtrack of pop songs, attractive ensemble cast and immersive aesthetics—plus chocolate and specialty cocktails—Queen of Hearts feels like Moulin Rouge! for actual bohemians. Hell, it even has a cancan.—Raven Snook

A hip Italian-American Upper West Sider strikes unexpected sparks with her knish-making Orthodox Jewish neighbor in this musical romcom by Cary Gitter and Neil Berg. Joe Brancato directs the NYC debut for Penguin Rep—which also premiered Gitter's nonmusical version of the same show in early 2020. Lauren Singerman and Max Wolkowitz lead the cast of five.

Nora Burns, of the tight-knit comedy troupe Unitard, blends Greenwich Village with Our Town in an original musical set in New York City in 1979. Adam Pivirotto directs a diverse cast of ten, and Robin Carrigan choreographs the feverish moves. After buzzy short runs in the past two years, the show returns for an encores at SoHo Playhouse, where it plays in rep with Burns's memoir David's Friend.