From Paranormal Activity to Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York), here are our critic’s picks of the best shows currently on the New York stage. Click the title show link to read our full review.
THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
New World Stages, Off Broadway
‘Spelling Bee’ is the perfect antidote to these dreary anxiety-ridden times, and it’s worth settling down for a long, laughter-induced spell. ★★★★★
Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes (with no intermission)
Tickets on sale through October 11 for $58 to $194
AMAZE
New World Stages, Off Broadway
‘Amaze’ is as well-constructed as any autobiographical one-man show you’re likely to see on an Off Broadway stage, and Allan definitely knows how to manipulate a big reveal. ★★★★☆
Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes (with 1 intermission)
Tickets on sale through Jan. 31 for $59 to $265
DEGENERATES
Playwrights Horizons, Off Broadway
Else Went’s new drama transforms ripped-from-the-headlines sociology into incisive character study. This is engrossing, essential theater that should not be missed. ★★★★★
Running time: 2 hours, 50 minutes (with one intermission)
Tickets on sale through October 18 for $75 to $129
DELIRIUM
The Space at Irondale, Brooklyn
Igor Golyak’s adaptation of Ionesco’s lesser-known 1962 play is a rib-tickling, thought-provoking dark comedy for the age of doomscrolling. ★★★★☆
Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes minutes (no intermission)
Tickets on sale through November 7 for $69 to $129
IN HONOR OF JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
New York Theatre Workshop, Off Broadway
Roger Guenveur Smith’s monologue is fascinating, discursive, highly poetic — and delivered with the barefoot confidence of a veteran sideman from some smoky downtown jazz club. ★★★★☆
Running time: 60 minutes (with no intermission)
Tickets on sale through October 4 for $54 to $84
JUST IN TIME
Circle in the Square, Broadway
‘Just in Time’ feels rejuvenated by Jeremy Jordan, who seems tailor-made to play Bobby Darin, a legend with a golden voice, a hard-charging style, and charm to spare. ★★★★☆
Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes (with 1 intermission)
Tickets on sale through Feb. 7 for $69 to $599
THE LOST BOYS
Palace Theatre, Broadway
‘The Lost Boys’ may be the most spectacular surprise of the Broadway season — a technically astounding show that actually improves on its source material with more fleshed-out characters, a more coherent plot, and a hook-filled rock score that deepens our connection to both the players and their plight. ★★★★☆
Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes (with one intermission)
Tickets on sale through March 7 for $55 to $270
MASQUERADE
218 West 57th St., Off Broadway
While ‘Masquerade’ offers a memorable adventure in the milieu of ‘Phantom of the Opera,’ it’s harder to be moved by Christine’s story when you’re the one doing most of the moving. ★★★★☆
Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes (with no intermission)
Tickets on sale through Feb. 28 for $175 to $395
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
August Wilson Theatre, Broadway
In its clever storytelling and ingenious stagecraft, the show re-creates the communal feeling of being in a crowded movie theater, with the added benefit of having both a live audience as well as performers who feed off all that pumped-up nervous energy. ★★★★☆
Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes (with one intermission)
Tickets on sale through January 3 for $63 to $363
PRE-EXISTING CONDITION
Greenwich House Theater, Off Broadway
Marin Ireland, who based the play on her well-publicized experience with domestic violence, has written an actorly play that allows its entire cast to shine. ★★★★★
Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes (no intermission)
Tickets on sale through December 19 for $49 to $179
SCHMIGADOON!
Nederlander Theatre, Broadway
Cinco Paul’s score toes a delicate but delectable line between parody and pastiche, while director-choreographer’s Christopher Gattelli’s high-stepping production numbers match the eclectic score with a wide range of callbacks to classic Broadway moves. ★★★★☆
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes (with one intermission)
Tickets on sale through April 4 for $69 to $349
SCHOOL GIRLS: OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, Broadway
‘School Girls’ sprays a thin mist of social commentary over its familiar genre-based story but it really shines in the comedic set pieces, including a hilariously off-kilter rendition of a Whitney Houston ballad. ★★★★☆
Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes (no intermission)
Tickets on sale through November 1 for $70 to $321
TWO STRANGERS (CARRY A CAKE ACROSS NEW YORK)
Longacre Theatre, Broadway
Every now and then, an enchanting new musical classic comes along out of nowhere, with pop-tinged bops that are as catchy as Velcro. ‘Two Strangers’ may not follow the template of a traditional love story, but it’s a crush note to New York City and one of the best new musicals of the year. ★★★★★
Running time: 2 hours, 5 minutes (with one intermission)
Tickets on sale through Nov. 22 for $59 to $399