Complete A-Z list of Broadway musicals and Off Broadway musicals in NYC

Tariq Trotter, better known as the Roots' Black Thought, teams up with screenwriter John Ridley (12 Years a Slave) for a musical adaptation of George S. Schuyler’s satirical 1931 novel about a machine that turns Black people white. Brandon Victor Dixon—the charismatic Judas of the 2018 TV Jesus Christ Superstar—leads a talent-packed cast that also includes Lillias White, Ephraim Sykes, Tamika Lawrence, Jennifer Damiano, Tracy Shayne, Walter Bobbie, Theo Stockman and Trotter himself; Scott Elliot directs the New Group's world premiere, which is choreographed by Bill T. Jones.

National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene and New York City Opera present tje world premiere of an opera with music by Ricky Ian Gordon (whose Intimate Apparel also premieres this month) and a libretto by Michael Korie (whose Flying Over Sunset just closed). Adapted from Giorgio Bassani’s 1962 novel—which was also the basic of a 1970 film that is considered Vittorio De Sica’s final masterwork—the piece depics an aristocratic Jewish-Italian family in denial about the rise of anti-Semitic fascism around it in the 1930s. James Lowe conducts the production, which is directed and choreographed by Richard Stafford; the cast includes Rachel Blaustein, Brian James Myer, Mary Phillips, Stephen Powell and Victor Starsky.

Taylor Mac is a Fabergé radical—beautiful, ridiculous and full of hidden tricks—who pilots audiences through fantastical journeys, guided by the compass of his magnetic individuality. The latest is a jazz musical, with a libretto by Mac and music by Matt Ray, that expands the final hours of Socrates's life into a queer, transhistorical "ritual celebration" that explores questions of virtue. Max leads a cast of nine, directed by Niegel Smith and choreographed by Chanon Judson; the explosively imaginative Machine Dazzle designs the sets and costumes. 

Lynn Nottage's heartbreaking 2003 drama, about a black seamstress in turn-of-the-20th-century New York and her pen-pal suitor in Panama, gets expanded into a chamber opera with music by Ricky Ian Gordon and a libretto by Nottage herself. Lincoln Center Theater resident director Bartlett Sher (South Pacific) directs, and Dianne McIntyre choreographs; the central role of Esther is played by classical soprano Kearstin Piper Brown (or Chabrelle Williams at the Wednesday and Saturday matinees).

Musical theater does right by the jukebox with this behind-the-music tale, presenting the Four Seasons’ energetic 1960s tunes (including “Walk Like a Man” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry”) as they were meant to be performed. After an 11-year run on Broadway, the show has returned for a scaled-down open-ended run at New World Stages.—Adam Feldman

Conrad Ricamora, Tammy Blanchard and Christian Borle 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.—Adam Feldman

Actor-musicians Van Hughes (Spring Awakening) and Nick Blaemire (Godspell) star in their own original musical two-hander about the relationship between canine Russian cosmonaut Laika and the scientist who trained her to be shot into orbit—and to her death—in 1957. The sharp-minded downtown director Emily Heyman (Beardo) oversees the mission for MCC Theater.

This shrewd garbage heap of clog dancing, prop comedy and chest-thumping percussion spins out impressive (if numbing) variations on vaudeville by way of English punk.—David Cote

Just in time for the holiday season, the Irish Rep has cooked up a chestnut: a tasty revival of Dion Boucicault’s 1857 melodrama The Poor of New York, transformed into a musical with original songs by director Charlotte Moore, who embraces the play's quaint sensationalism and sententiousness with open arms and a wink. It is buoyed by a talented cast of 12—Amanda Jane Cooper is a standout as a spoiled rich girl—and Linda Fisher’s splendid costumes and Hugh Landwehr’s witty set add to the charm.—Adam Feldman