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Best Off-Broadway shows to see this fall

Explore the wide world of plays and musicals beyond Broadway's 41 venues, and discover must-see Off-Broadway theatre all across New York City this fall.

Off-Broadway fall excitement is in the air — and for good reason. Autumn’s rich, varied lineup of plays and musicals, from thrilling world premieres to inventive revivals, offers a feast of ideas to savor and discuss long after the curtain falls.

It’s a brilliantly star-stacked roster, with award-winning performers and creators bringing their proven talents to more intimate stages than on Broadway. But discovery is part of Off-Broadway’s magic, too, and this season’s nearly 40 new fall productions offer a mix of fresh voices and new surprises.

Learn about major Off-Broadway shows opening this fall below, listed in order of start date. To discover even more theatre, check out our roundup of all the new Broadway shows in fall 2026.

Get tickets to Off-Broadway shows on New York Theatre Guide.

Summary

  • This article contains 39 Off-Broadway plays and musicals premiering in fall 2026
  • The article will be updated as new shows are announced
1.

Pre-Existing Condition

2.

Garry Starr: Classic Penguins

3.

The Holes

4.

In Honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat

5.

Midnight

6.

Lost in Del Valle

7.

How Shakespeare Saved My Life

8.

creation stories and all the important importants

9.

Degenerates

10.

Slam Frank

11.

Good Time Charlie

12.

ANON – a tempest at our kitchen table

13.

Fish

14.

Kramer/Fauci

15.

A Ghost in Your Ear

16.

Soon

17.

King of the Yees

18.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

19.

The Heart

20.

The Unbelievers

21.

Clifford Odets’ Waiting for Lefty

22.

I Became We

23.

2:22 - A Ghost Story

24.

The Visitors

25.

We’ll See

26.

The Verge

27.

In the Heights

28.

Ms. Blakk for President

29.

Tristan & Yseult

30.

Seven Guitars

31.

The Conversation

32.

A Christmas Carol

33.

Imitation of Life

34.

Wild Rose

35.

A View from the Bridge

36.

Saigon

37.

Spring Awakening

38.

the ripple, the wave that carried me home

39.

Hole!

1.

Pre-Existing Condition

Play
Drama
Stars on stage

After an abusive relationship shatters her life, a woman navigates trauma and rediscovers connection and hope. Lupita Nyong’o and Edie Falco are among a series of stars leading the cast in this return engagement of Marin Ireland’s deeply personal drama.

Performances begin: September 1

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Pre-Existing Condition

2.

Garry Starr: Classic Penguins

Comedy
Solo show

Written and performed by Damien Warren-Smith, the show boldly waddles into New York after acclaimed runs in the U.K. and Australia. Warren-Smith's fast-paced clown alter ego hilariously — and nakedly — races through Penguin Classics novels in a frantic mission to save literature from extinction.

Performances begin: September 3

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Garry Starr: Classic Penguins

3.

The Holes

Play
Comedy
Drama

In this new work by Max Wolf Friedlich (Job), a run-down bar with a padlocked back room sets the scene for a dark comedy about the tension between shame and desire. Robert Pattinson executive produces with his production company Icki Eneo Arlo.

Performances begin: September 8

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The Holes

4.

In Honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat

Play
Solo show
Drama

Obie Award winner Roger Guenveur Smith’s personal solo show celebrates his friendship and creative collaboration with visionary artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, with live sound design by Marc Anthony Thompson.

Performances begin: September 9

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Unlock your 24-hour New York City itinerary

Unlock your exclusive guide, full of the best attractions, food, free events and more.

09:00

Breakfast at Liberty Bagels

Regularly named one of the city’s best bagel shops, the unassuming Liberty Bagels is the perfect spot to get a classic NYC breakfast sandwich.

10:00

Macy’s Herald Square

One of the world’s largest stores, Macy’s is a sight to behold, especially when it’s decked out for the holidays.

5.

Midnight

Musical
Drama
Stars on stage

Writer/director/choreographer/star Todrick Hall’s sung-through musical blends gospel, R&B, pop, rock, folk, opera, and showtunes to tell a story of love, identity, and humanity in 19th-century America. Twelve characters — six Black and six white — collide, connect, and clash.

Performances begin: September 12

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Midnight

6.

Lost in Del Valle

Play
Solo show
True story
Drama

Ned Van Zandt’s wild one-man work tells the true story of a well-born Texan who conquered Hollywood and then landed in prison. Along the way, he takes audiences from New York’s iconic Chelsea Hotel to the notorious Travis County Correctional Complex, known as Del Valle.

Performances begin: September 14

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7.

How Shakespeare Saved My Life

Play
Solo show
True story
Drama

Jacob Ming-Trent’s autobiographical solo performance traces his tempest-tossed youth, recalling how Shakespeare, hip-hop, and poetry helped him find connection, forgiveness, and purpose.

Performances begin: September 15

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8.

creation stories and all the important importants

Play
Drama

The latest production in LCT3’s ongoing series of works by new writers, Mfoniso Udofia’s time-spanning play follows a middle-aged Black woman racing to balance the demands of work, family, and herself.

Performances begin: September 15

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9.

Degenerates

Play
Drama

Else Went’s drama about isolation and identity follows lonely young men who find belonging in an online "incel" community. But when an unexpected relationship forms, it challenges the group’s beliefs and threatens to unravel their dark fraternity.

Performances begin: September 16

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Degenerates

10.

Slam Frank

Musical
Comedy
Historical

Andrew Fox and Joel Sinensky created this provocative satirical musical, returning for a second engagement after critical acclaim, in which a fictional theatre company radically reimagines The Diary of Anne Frank. Expect identity politics and performative activism to get, well, slammed.

Performances begin: September 17

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Slam Frank

11.

Good Time Charlie

Play
Comedy

Playwright and actor Ryan J. Haddad, known for his autobiographical works on stage, returns with a multigenerational family drama spanning three decades of gay men growing up, finding love, and sustaining one another through art.

Performances begin: September 24

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Good Time Charlie

12.

ANON – a tempest at our kitchen table

Play
Drama

Can you ever really know your neighbors? Anne Washburn (Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play) explores that subject in this play set in a Texas suburb in the TikTok era, where a gay pride flag ignites strong reactions in two neighboring households.

Performances begin: September 25

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13.

Fish

Play
Drama

In this coming-of-age drama by Melis Aker, a 17-year-old’s efforts to find her missing brother leads her to the internet's darkest corners. The search gets increasingly sinister from there.

Performances begin: September 26

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14.

Kramer/Fauci

Play
Drama
True story
Historical

Daniel Fish (Oklahoma!) conceived and directs this dramatization of 1993's fiery televised confrontation between Dr. Anthony Fauci (Tony Award winner Will Brill), then the nation’s leading AIDS researcher, and playwright/activist Larry Kramer (Thomas Jay Ryan). The two men's conversation humanizes the collision of art, activism, and public health.

Performances begin: September 27

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Kramer/Fauci

15.

A Ghost in Your Ear

Play
Horror
Immersive

This immersive thriller by Tony Award nominee Jamie Armitage (Six) trains its eye — and ear — on an actor whose recording session of audiobook ghost story turns terrifyingly real. Theatregoers wear headphones to experience every chilling effect.

Performances begin: September 29

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A Ghost in Your Ear

16.

Soon

Musical
Drama

Knock, knock. How do you open the door to your dreams when the world feels so uncertain? Nick Blaemire (Glory Days, Space Dogs) explores that timeless question in this indie-pop musical set in an East Village apartment. After premiering in Arlington, Virginia, in 2015 and at the East Village Basement in 2025, the show returns to NYC.

Performances begin: September 30

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17.

King of the Yees

Play
Drama
True story

Playwright Lauren Yee (Cambodian Rock Band, Mother Russia) turns semi-autobiographical and meta in this theatrically self-aware new comedy. Tony Award winner Francis Jue (Yellow Face) plays her father.

Performances begin: October 6

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18.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Musical
Page to stage
Screen to stage
Award winner

Tony nominee Andrew Durand (Dead Outlaw) stars as Benjamin Button, who ages in reverse while searching for love and connection, in Jethro Compton and Darren Clark’s folk-infused musical. Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story, the Olivier Award winner for Best New Musical offers a fresh take on the tale famously brought to the screen with Brad Pitt.

Performances begin: October 8

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

19.

The Heart

Musical
Drama
Page to stage

The 2014 French novel Réparer les vivants is reborn as a musical by Kait Kerrigan, Anne Eisendrath, and Ian Eisendrath. It traces the 24-hour aftermath of a young surfer’s fatal accident, in which an organ recipient gets a second chance at life. Tony winner Christopher Ashley directs, and Mandy Moore choreographs.

Performances begin: October 8

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20.

The Unbelievers

Play
Drama

How do you move on after a life-altering mystery? Constellations playwright Nick Payne explores faith and hope in this drama starring Lauren Ambrose and Tom Riley as parents whose teenage son disappears without a trace.

Performances begin: October 13

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The Unbelievers

21.

Clifford Odets’ Waiting for Lefty

Play
Drama
Classic
Stars on stage

Actor Steven Pasquale (The Bridges of Madison County) makes his directing debut with a music- and movement-driven take on this Depression-era classic, where taxi drivers unite to fight exploitation and inequality. The ensemble includes Tony nominees Tala Ashe and Conrad Ricamora.

Performances begin: October 15

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Clifford Odets’ Waiting for Lefty

22.

I Became We

Play with music
Drama

Mona Pirnot (I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan) has a knack for reimagining theatrical form. Her new first-person monologue about a woman in her 30s facing a major life decision is delivered by a 16-member choir. Talk about containing multitudes.

Performances begin: October 16

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23.

2:22 - A Ghost Story

Play
Horror
Award winner

Goosebumps guaranteed! Following an Olivier Award-nominated West End run and hit U.K. tour, Danny Robins’s spine-tingling thriller arrives in New York. At a tense dinner party, a couple and two friends debate whether the host’s new home is haunted as the witching hour — 2:22 a.m. — approaches.

Performances begin: October 20

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2:22 - A Ghost Story

24.

The Visitors

Play
Drama

Playwright Bryna Turner (At the Wedding) has a talent for finding the comedy and heartbreak in family relationships. In this new play about the roles we play for the people closest to us, a woman’s announcement to her three siblings upends everything they thought they knew.

Performances begin: October 21

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The Visitors

25.

We’ll See

Play
Drama

Midterm Election Day — November 3, 2026 — gets our vote as the perfect occasion for a new work from Richard Nelson’s series about the middle-class Apple family of Rhinebeck, New York. As in Sweet and Sad, intimate family gatherings reveal the connections between personal lives and the currents of contemporary America.

Performances begin: October 25

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26.

The Verge

Play
Drama
Classic

Fiasco Theater is known for reimagining classics to uncover fresh theatrical possibilities. Their latest experiment: A revival of Susan Glaspell’s stylized 1921 play about a woman scientist determined to create new life forms and break free from society’s rigid conventions.

Performances begin: October 27

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27.

In the Heights

Musical
Revival
Award winner

Lights up on Washington Heights! Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes’s 2008 Tony Award-winning musical returns in a concert-style production, bringing back to the stage a vibrant Latin American NYC community as they chase dreams, navigate love, and embrace change.

Performances begin: October 28

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In the Heights

28.

Ms. Blakk for President

Play
Drama
Comedy
Stars on stage

Wayne Brady stars in Oscar winner Tarell Alvin McCraney’s (Moonlight) latest play, inspired by the true story of drag activist Terence Alan Smith, aka Joan Jett Blakk, who ran for president in the early ’90s to champion gay rights during the AIDS crisis. Tony Award nominee Tina Landau (Floyd Collins) co-wrote and directs.

Performances begin: October 2026

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Ms. Blakk for President

29.

Tristan & Yseult

Play with music
Romance

Forbidden love beats at the heart of this tale of a Frenchman and an Irish maiden who surrender to desire and face the consequences. Director Emma Rice and Kneehigh, famed for their visually dazzling and highly physical productions, make their version, last seen in Brooklyn in 2014, a thrilling ride.

Performances begin: November 1

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Tristan & Yseult

30.

Seven Guitars

Play
Drama
Classic

August Wilson’s drama set in 1948 Pittsburgh follows the aftermath of a blues musician’s death as friends and lovers reckon with lost dreams, betrayal, and racism. Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who won a Tony for his role in the original Broadway production, directs this revival.

Performances begin: November 5

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Seven Guitars

31.

The Conversation

Musical
Romance
Drama

Tony Award winner Joshua Henry (Ragtime) and Julia Harriman conceived, composed, and star in this new musical blending pop, R&B, and soul about the complexity of a long-term relationship. Nick Green wrote the book, and Tony winner Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun) directs.

Performances begin: November 17

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The Conversation

32.

A Christmas Carol

Play with music
Holiday
Classic
Family show

This Tony Award-winning take on the Charles Dickens classic returns for the holidays. Adapted by Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) and conceived and directed by Matthew Warchus (Matilda), the timeless story of transformation and hope sparkles with theatrical magic.

Performances begin: November 20

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A Christmas Carol

33.

Imitation of Life

Play
Drama
Page to stage
Screen to stage

John Legend (music and lyrics), Lynn Nottage (book), and Whitney White (director) make up the all-star creative team of this new musical. Based on a 1933 bestseller and its two Oscar-nominated film adaptations, Imitation of Life follows two single mothers — one Black, one white — and their daughters in a moving story of race, identity, ambition, and family.

Performances begin: November 21

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Imitation of Life

34.

Wild Rose

Musical
Drama
Screen to stage

Scottish screenwriter and BAFTA winner Nicole Taylor’s new musical, based on her 2018 movie, follows a Glasgow cleaning woman with two young children and a troubled past who dreams of becoming a country music singer. Tony winner John Tiffany (Once, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) directs.

Performances begin: November 24

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35.

A View from the Bridge

Play
Drama
Stars on stage
Classic

Oscar winner Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) stars in and co-produces a new production of Arthur Miller’s enduring 1950s Brooklyn classic, alongside Marin Ireland and Alfred Molina. In 1950s Brooklyn, a longshoreman’s obsessive love for his niece sets tragedy in motion.

Performances begin: November 27

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A View from the Bridge

36.

Saigon

Play
Drama

Moving between 1950s Vietnam and 1990s Paris, director Caroline Guiela Nguyen’s intimate ensemble play explores resilience, connection, and the enduring impact of exile, loss, and history. Saigon is performed in French and Vietnamese with English captions.

Performances begin: December 3

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Saigon

37.

Spring Awakening

Musical
Drama
Award winner
Classic

Tony Award winner Danya Taymor (The Outsiders, John Proctor Is the Villain) trains her directorial eye on Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik’s hit rock musical about 19th-century German teenagers grappling with desire, repression, and identity. Choreography is by Celia Rowlson-Hall.

Performances begin: Fall 2026

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38.

the ripple, the wave that carried me home

Play
Drama

Christina Anderson’s new play follows a woman whose Kansas homecoming to honor her father forces her to confront a childhood shaped by her parents’ fight to desegregate public swimming pools.

Performances begin: Fall 2026

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39.

Hole!

Musical
Comedy

In a no-holds-barred new musical from American Sing-Song (writer/performers Jake Brasch and Nadja Leonhard-Hooper), two Nebraska best friends set out on a holy mission after a bizarre apocalypse called “The Great Sucking.” They discover far more than they bargained for.

Performances begin: Fall/winter 2026

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