The list below includes two Broadway shows but only a handful Off-Broadway.
If July looks sparser than most months, that’s because the list below doesn’t the summer theater festivals, the FREE theatrical concerts like the weekly Broadway in Bryant Park, and the countless Shakespeares in the parks.
Color key: Broadway: Red. Off Broadway: Purple, blue or black. Off Off Broadway: Green.
July 4
Liberty: A Monumental Musical (42West)
Details the story of Lady Liberty’s arrival in America
July 6
Runaways (New York City Center)
The Encores! concert version of the 1978 musical by Elizabeth Swados based on her interviews with child runaways.
July 11
Oslo (Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E Newhouse)
A play by J.T. Rogers based on the true story of how two Norwegian diplomats had covertly organized the back-channel talks between the State of Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization that led to the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords
July 12
Pillars of New York (St. Luke’s Theater)
A therapist deals with four couples’ personal struggles with the events surrounding 9-11.
July 13
Small Mouth Sounds (Signature Theater Center)
A commercial production of the acclaimed play by Beth Wohl, directed by Rachel Chavkin, that originally opened at Ars Nova. “In the overwhelming quiet of the woods, six runaways from city life embark on a silent retreat. As these strangers confront internal demons both profound and absurd, their vows of silence collide with the achingly human need to connect.”
July 18
Privacy (The Public Theater)
Daniel Radcliffe stars in this play by James Graham about a “lonely guy arriving in the city to figure out how to like, tag and share his life without giving it all away. Inspired by the revelations of Edward Snowden, and drawing on dozens of exclusive interviews with the country’s top journalists, politicians and academics, Privacy explores our complicated relationship with technology and data.”
iLuminate (Theater 80)
“a company based on the fusion of technology and dance”
July 21
Motown the Musical (Nederlander)
A return of the surprise hit jukebox musical using the music of the 1960s record label Motown, featuring performances by persuasive impersonators of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye and a whole slew of their artists. The book is by Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown, who paints himself as a hero. My review of the original production. (There is a new cast.)
July 25
A Class Act (New World Stages)
A major chemical company pours cancer causing waste into the water supply… A high power law firm brings a class action lawsuit on behalf of thousands of “the little people” – who might die from the poisonous water
July 27
Kurt Vonnegut’s God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
The Encores! concert version of the 1979 musical by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, their first. “Millionaire Eliot Rosewater (Santino Fontana) drunkenly decides to blow his fortune on an impoverished town after being inspired by the utopian vision of novelist Kilgore Trout (James Earl Jones). But there are forces who want to put the kibosh on Eliot’s philanthropy—like Norman Mushari (Skylar Astin), a lawyer plotting to have Eliot declared insane. ”
July 28
Quietly (Irish Rep)
The Abbey Theatre production of a play by Owen McCafferty: “Tonight, in a small back-street bar, while Northern Ireland plays Poland on the TV, Jimmy and Ian will meet for the first time. They share a violent past and this is a conversation that’s been brewing for more than 20 years…a story about what happened in a particular bar in 1974, but also what happened in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s to the late 90s.”
July 31
CATS (Neil Simon Theater)
The first Broadway revival of the long-running musical, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by t.s. eliot, with new choreography by Hamilton’s Andy Blankenbuehler.
