From Masquerade 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.
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 April 12 for $58 to $194
ARCHDUKE
Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre, Off Broadway
Rajiv Joseph’s ‘Archduke,’ a comedic retelling of the recruitment of the anarchist whose 1913 assassination of Austro-Hungarian ruler Franz Ferdinand triggered World War I, is like a contemporary version of a Shakespearean history play as filtered through Comedy Central’s ‘Drunk History.’ ★★★★☆
Running time: 2 hours (with 1 intermission)
Tickets on sale through December 21 for $69 o $102
THE BAKER’S WIFE
Classic Stage Company, Off Broadway
It’s tempting to call ‘The Baker’s Wife’ a tasty bagatelle, but it’s more like a baguette offering simple but hardy nourishment for the mind and the soul. ★★★★☆
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes (with 1 intermission)
Tickets on sale through December 21 for $66 to $206
BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB
Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway
While the narrative framework for the show may be rickety, the music is the real star here and you don’t have to be a fan of Cuban music, or even understand Spanish, to get caught up in the infectious, rhythmic joy. ★★★★☆
Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes (1 intermission)
Tickets on sale through May 24, 2026 for $59 to $321
DEATH BECOMES HER
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, Broadway
This may be the one musical where you really might exit humming the set — but you’ll also remember the rapier-sharp repartee between Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard, who lean into the material’s catty campiness with hilarious results. ★★★★☆
Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes (with intermission)
Tickets on sale through April 5, 2026
THE HONEY TRAP
Irish Repertory Theatre, Off Broadway
Leo McGann ramps up the tension to an ending that is both shockingly unexpected and yet feels absolutely right. But at nearly two and a half hours, ‘The Honey Trap’ runs too long to build up and sustain the suspense to its crackerjack finale. ★★★★☆
Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes (with 1 intermission)
Tickets on sale through February 15 for $60 to $125
LIBERATION
James Earl Jones Theatre, Broadway
Bess Wohl’s latest drama is her most personal — an instant classic of a memory play that focuses on Wohl’s desire to come to terms with a mother she suspects did not fully embrace the feminist ideals of her youth. ★★★★★
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes (with 1 intermission)
Tickets on sale through January 11 for $58 to $371
LITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD
Booth Theatre, Broadway
Laurie Metcalf demonstrates why she is one of the finest actors of her generation — delivering a performance that is natural, compelling, and in key moments emotionally raw. ★★★★☆
Running time: 95 minutes (with no intermission)
Tickets on sale through February 15 for $74 to $311
MAMMA MIA!
Winter Garden Theatre, Broadway
‘Mamma Mia!,’ returning to Broadway nearly a quarter century after it launched a long and glorious run at the Winter Garden Theatre (and later the Broadhurst), has an infectious, high-energy showmanship that’s almost irrepressible. ★★★★☆
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes (with 1 intermission)
Tickets on sale through February 1 for $89 to $522
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 (no intermission)
Tickets on sale through February 1 for $212 to $322
MAYBE HAPPY ENDING
Belasco Theatre, Broadway
Resolutely old-fashioned but impressively modern, ‘Maybe Happy Ending‘ is a sui generis original that is as understated in its storytelling as it is cutting-edge in its design. ★★★★★
Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes (no intermission)
Tickets on sale through Jan. 18, 2026
OEDIPUS
Studio 54, Broadway
The most contemporary, trenchant new play on Broadway is Robert Ickes’ searing new adaptation of Sophocles’ millennia-old ‘Oedipus,’ a mesmerizing production that stands as one of the memorable nights of theater you are ever likely to experience. ★★★★★
Running time: 2 hours (with no intermission)
Tickets on sale through February 9 for $69 to $348
OH, MARY!
Lyceum Theatre, Broadway
Cole Escola’s comedy is a triumph that blends a clever conceit, from-left-field verbal humor, and old-fashioned slapstick to degrees that Broadway has not seen in ages. ★★★★★
Running time: 85 minutes (no intermission)
Tickets on sale through July 5, 2026 for $73 to $399
OPERATION MINCEMEAT
Golden Theatre, Broadway
‘Operation Mincemeat’ takes a bizarre-but-true chapter of World War II spycraft and turns it into a genre-busting celebration of musical storytelling that bursts with both hilarity and heart. ★★★★★
Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes (with 1 intermission)
Tickets on sale through March 15, 2026 for $59 to $499
PRACTICE
Playwrights Horizons, Off Broadway
‘Practice’ unfolds in a fascinating, infuriating, and increasingly pitch-black humorous way — assuming that you’re not triggered by watching leaders who manipulate, gaslight, and belittle their underlings in the name of ‘art.’ ★★★★☆
Running time: 3 hours, 10 minutes (with 1 intermission)
Tickets on sale through December 19 for $64 to $104
RAGTIME
Vivian Beaumont Theater, Broadway
This is, hands down, one of the best sung productions New Yorkers will hear this year. Lear DeBessonet’s thoughtful staging underscores why Ragtime is still worth revisiting. ★★★★☆
Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes (with 1 intermission)
Tickets on sale through June 14 for $114 to $331
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 1 intermission)
Tickets on sale through July 5 for $59 to $399
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