Below is a calendar of New York theater opening* in July,, including two Broadway plays, “Oh,Mary” and “Job,” both of which are transferring from sold-out runs Off Broadway; the world premiere of the late celebrated playwright María Irene Fornés’ very first play; an acclaimed Italian production of “King Lear,” and a month’s worth of outdoor performances, many of which are free, including a series at Little Island led by Suzan-Lori Parks.
The calendar is organized chronologically by opening date*, or (if no official opening) first performance, but we must consider the dates subject to change, because, yes, COVID-19 is still around, and both it and theater are unpredictable.
Each title below is linked to a relevant website.
Color key: Broadway: Red 🟥.
Off Broadway: Blue 🟦.
Off Off Broadway: Green 🟩.
Digital or Hybrid Theater: Yellow 🟨
Theater festival: Orange 🟧.
Immersive and/or Site Specific: Silver ⬜️ .
Puppetry: Brown 🟫
Opera: Purple🟪
Concert: 🎶
Out of town 🇺🇸
Free of charge (or “pay what you can”) 🆓
July 3
🟩Horsefacts.gov (The Brick)
Writer/director/character Sleth delivers a lecture about horses in a far-off future where horses no longer exist, having been given this mission earlier by Governor Kathy Hochul
July 3 -13
July 4
🎶 🟨🇺🇸A Capitol Fourth (PBS)
The annual concert, streamed live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C, features more than a dozen bands and individual performers, including Broadway veterans Fantasia and Darren Criss.
July 6
🆓A Midsummer’s Night Dream (Marcus Garvey Park)
Classical Theatre of Harlem’s one-act version of Shakespeare’s comedy stars stand-up Russell Peters stars as Nick Bottom
July 6-28
July 10
🆓Tell Me More with Suzan-Lori Parks (Little Island)
A free five-day series that pairs a musical performance with a conversation between Parks and an expert from different fields. The first of these, on July 10, is entitled “Greens & Blues,” featuring a set by blues legend Ruthie Foster followed by a talk between Parks and Majora Carter, founder of Sustainable South Bronx.
July 10-14
July 11
🟥Oh, Mary (Lyceum)
Cole Escola’s campy Off-Broadway hit about First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln . My review of it Off-Broadway
June 26 – September 15
🟦Empire The Musical (New World Stages)
A musical celebrating the Empire State Building
July 1 – September 22
🟦The Journals of Adam and Eve (Sheen Center)
Hal Linden and Marilu Henner star as the first couple in this comedy by Ed Weinberger, telling their story in their own words from their first date to their twilight years, including what it was like being the world’s first parents.
July 10-28
July 12
🟩King Lear (La MaMa)
Following a successful world premiere at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas in June, Compagnia de’ Colombari’s fresh, vital and urgent KING LEAR debuts in New York City for a limited run of four performance
July 12-14
July 14
🟦Ain’t Done Bad (Signature)
A story of coming out, falling in love, and finding one’s true voice as a queer person in the South, told entirely through contemporary dance without a single spoken word, (Yes, this sounds like Illinoise,) It is conceived, directed, and choreographed by Jakob Karr (“So You Think You Can Dance”) and features the music of country star Orville Peck.
July 9 – September 1
July 16
🟩 A Hundred Circling Camps (Dogteam Theate Project at Atlantic Stage 2)
This play by Sam Collier recalls the largely forgotten “Bonus Army.” In the summer of 1932, over 20,000 people hopped trains to Washington D.C. and camped out to demand fair pay for veterans of the World War.
July 9 – August 3
in repertory with…
July 17
🟩La Viuda (Dogteam Theater Project at Atlantic Stage 2)
The world premiere of María Irene Fornés’ first play, written in 1961, about a Cuban woman who fled to Spain after the Spanish-American War, and is writing letters to her lawyer about her lawsuit she filed on behalf of her property in Cuba and her dignity while her memories, especially of her deceased husband, flood the stage. The play was drawn from letters written to Fornes’ great-grandfather.
July 10 – August 4
🟩 Inspired by True Events (Out of the Box Theatrics at 154)
In this play by Ryan Spahn, the star actor of a community theater in Rochester, rrives in a dangerously unhinged state, forcing the company to improvise on and off stage in ways they could not have imagined. (The newly named 154 theater, replaces New Ohio, at 154 Christopher Street)
July 10-28
July 24
🆓Justin Vivian Bond (Little Island)
A week of cabaret
July 24-28
July 25
🆓Twelfth Night (Riverside Park)
Hudson Classical Theater Company
July 25-August 18
July 29
🟦Six Characters (Lincoln Center’s Claire Tow Theater)
In Phillip Howze’s play, citizens storm a renowned cultural center where they’re not meant to be
July 13 – August 25
July 30
🟥Job (Hayes)
In this two-character play by Max Wolf Friedlich, Jane (Sydney Lemmon), an employee at a big tech company (you know the one), has been placed on leave after becoming the subject of a viral video. She arrives in the office of a crisis therapist – Loyd (Peter Friedman) – determined to be reinstated to the job that gives her life meaning…and pointing a gun at him. My review of “Job” Off Broadway.
July 15 – September 29
July 31
🟧🟨SheArts Theater Festival (Connelly Theater and, later, online)
Eight shows at a festival that showcases new, original works by women, trans, & non-binary writers and composers. The first, “Borderland,” is a new musical about Ida C. Craddock, a real-life 19th-century sexologist who claimed to be married to an angel.
July 31 – August 11
🟦Someone Spectacular (at Signature)
Once a week, six recently bereaved strangers gather for group therapy. It’s a stable routine — until one day, their grief counselor is inexplicably MIA.
July 17-August 31
*Opening Night
This selection of plays in this month is organized chronologically by opening night, but includes the dates when a show’s run starts and ends (when available.)
Opening night is usually not the same as the first performance on Broadway and Off-Broadway. There is usually a “preview period” that can last days or weeks, sometimes months. But professional reviews are forbidden from being published until opening night, which is why I organize this calendar by opening night (when it exists and when I can find it) rather than first performance, as a way to support the continuing relevance of theater reviewing. (Shows that begin previews in July but don’t officially open until August will be featured in next month’s calendar.) Check out my essay: Broadway Opening Night. What It Means. How It’s Changed. 7 Facts to Clear Urp The Confusion and Crystallize the Outrage.
What Is Broadway 🟥, Off Broadway 🟦 and Off-Off Broadway🟩?
Off-Broadway theaters, by definition, have anywhere from 100 to 499 seats. If a theater has more seats than that, it’s a Broadway house. If it has fewer, it’s Off-Off Broadway. (There is a more sophisticated definition, having to do with contracts, and more elaborate distinctions, having to do with ticket prices, number and location of theaters, length of runs, willingness to take artistic risks, etc.)
(Several performing arts venues in New York City, such as The Shed, Little Island, Park Avenue Armory, NYU Skirball and the Perelman Performing Arts Center, technically exist outside these classifications; I list them as Off-Broadway, even though, for most shows, they have more than 500 seats.)
