Pick your favorite version of "When September Ends", and scroll through the shows (most of which are happening off-Broadway) that make Sept. in NYC exciting.
1. You only have a couple weeks left to see two incredible new musicals before they conclude their premature Broadway runs: the totally original WWII tearjerker Bandstand
and the hilarious and clever big-budget adaptation of Groundhog Day. Both shows end their runs on September 17 and you’ll kick yourself for years to come for missing either.
2. Roundabout Theatre Company kicks off its season with the time traveling family drama Time and the Conways
. The production stars Downton Abbey’s Elizabeth McGovern, Pitch Perfect’s Anna Camp, Tony winner Gabe Ebert, Tony nominee Steven Boyer, and Matthew James Thomas (Pippin, Spider Man). Nothing says “I’m embracing the fall” like a period piece set in London during 1919 and 1938.
3. Equal parts sexy and disturbing, A Clockwork Orange arrives in NYC after an award-winning London run with British star (and hunk) Jonno Davies reprising his performance as Alex DeLarge and co-starring Broadway favorite Matt Doyle. Whether you’re a fan of the Stanley Kubrick film or the novel or just like watching a bunch of hot young actors onstage for 90 minutes, you’re going to love your time in the crazy, f^cked up world of A Clockwork Orange.
4. Another boundary-breaking off-Broadway play happening this month is MCC Theater’s premiere of Charm
. Based on the real-life Miss Gloria Allen, Charm tells the story of a 67-year-old, black, transgender woman who teaches an etiquette class at Chicago’s LGBTQ community center and stars trans actress Sandra Caldwell. This Sept. support theatre that tells stories you haven’t heard before.5. New York Theatre Workshop kicks off their off-Broadway season with Amy Herzog’s new drama Mary Jane
starring Emmy and Tony nominee Carrie Coon as a single mother caring for a chronically ill child. The combo of Coon, Herzog, & NYTW makes this more than a play, it’s an event.6. Over at Atlantic Theater Company, you can choose between a fun, light, educational new children’s musical Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical
—which explores what it’s like to grow up different—and the meaty adult drama On the Shore of the Wide World. The new play from Tony and Olivier winner Simon Stephens (Curious Incident) stars a first-class troupe of stage actors and follows three generations of an English family and the persistent dreams and struggle that each face.
7. The York Theatre company brings Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure to the Wild West for the new musical Desperate Measures
. You get the gist: a nun is propositioned by a corrupt man in power if she wants to save her brother’s life, but this time with a country twang and some toe-tapping musical numbers.8. Spend September 11 at Joe’s Pub with one of downtown’s coolest artists Kenyon Phillips and his queer, radical reimagining of the musical The Who’s Tommy, Night of a Thousand Acid Queens
. Any Tommy is great, but LGBT Tommy co-starring Cady Huffman and Erik Lieberman is completely can’t miss. The one-night-only concert also features Cheryl Freeman, the original Acid Queen!9. Everyone remembers The Scarlet Letter, right? Well, this month, Signature Theatre presents The Red Letter plays by Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks. Fucking A
and In the Blood offer two distinct looks at the Nathaniel Hawthorne classic and its iconic, misunderstood adulteress, Hester.
10. Travel to the moon (or Jersey as it happens) to see the world premiere of The Honeymooners
. The highly-anticipated musical adaptation of the classic sitcom debuts at the Paper Mill Playhouse and stars Michael McGrath as Ralph Kramden, Leslie Kritzer as his wife Alice, Laura Bell Bundy as Trixie, and Michael Mastro as Ed Norton. This cast alone is worth the train ride.
