Here’s what’s hopping this month in NYC—audience tested, editor approved.
1. The April Show of the Month is the new musical Tuck Everlasting
. I love my new musicals to emotionally wreck me, so I’m all in on this vibrant and moving adaptation of the classic children’s novel about a family who can live forever and one young girl who has the rare opportunity to join them for eternity. The cast is a solid A+, it’s directed by Broadway hit-maker Casey Nicholaw, and this month we have an exclusive discount deal that brings you closer to the action for even less. Running at the Broadhurst Theatre.2. Beloved Broadway leading lady Rebecca Luker returns to the boards as Helen Bechdel in the Tony-winning musical Fun Home
. Now for someone who played out her recordings of The Music Man, The Sound of Music and The Secret Garden, hearing her sing “Days and Days” feels like a bucket-list moment. Running at the Circle in the Square Theatre.
3. Right now, you can score a discount ticket to see Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Jessica Lange as Mary Tyrone in RTC’s revival of Long Day’s Journey Into Night
—that should be enough to sell you, honestly. But if you need more, her co-stars include Tony winner John Gallagher Jr., Michael Shannon, and Gabriel Byrne, and the piece is considered Eugene O’Neill’s masterpiece. Running at the American Airlines Theatre.
4. A young man and woman fall in love while on a medical trial for a new antidepressant in the fantastic (and the surprisingly sad) new drama The Effect
; the only problem is which one is really in love and which is just feeling the effect of the powerful drug? The award-winning work feels fresh and modern and features four stellar performances. Running at the Barrow Street Theatre through June 19.
5. Ben Platt and Rachel Bay Jones shine in the original Pasek and Paul musical Dear Evan Hansen. The emotional and funny journey tells the story of a teenage boy whose well-intentioned lie gets way out of hand. It’s going to be one of those red-hot off-Broadway musicals that tickets will become scarce for once reviews come out or a B’way transfer is announced. Running at Second Stage Theatre through May 22.
6. Mike Birbiglia’s Thank God for Jokes is one of the rare, live shows you actually laugh so hard you cry watching it—several times. Bring a date, bring your friends, go alone—just go see the latest from the Sleepwalk with Me creator! Running at off-Broadway’s Lynn Redgrave Theatre.
7. The buzz is earned for Sara Bareilles’ musical debut, Waitress
. Tony winner Jessie Mueller and two-time Tony nominee Christopher Fitzgerald give performances that just can’t be missed, and the score might never leave your Most Played list ever again. Running at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.has a whole new cast of characters worth going back to see this April (except for the divine Laura Michelle Kelly—may she never leave...ever). Tony winner Alfie Boe is leading the company as J.M. Barrie, British treasure Sally Ann Triplett is mining pure gold out of the role of Madame du Maurier, and three-time Tony nominee Marc Kudisch joins the company April 12 as Charles Frohman/Captain Hook. It’s like someone thought, ‘Who could we cast to bring theatre fans back to the Lunt in a hurry?’ Running at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
9. After touring correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and community centers, The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit production of Romeo & Juliet
sets up shop downtown , and who in their right mind could pass up a good, stripped-down R&J?! Running at The Public Theater April 11-May 1.
10. The New York Pops are pulling out all the stops for their 33rd Birthday Gala honoring the Tony-winning pair who created Les Miserables, The Pirate Queen and Miss Saigon, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg. Scheduled to appear at the May 2 (Yes, it’s technically in May, that’s why it’s last!) Carnegie Hall concert are Patti LuPone, Stephanie J. Block, Lea Salonga, Jeremy Jordan, Norm Lewis, Laura Osnes, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Montego Glover, Robert Marien, Eva Noblezada, John Owen-Jones, Hugh Panaro, Kyle Scatliffe, Marie Zamora, and more.
New Jersey Bonus: Paper Mill Playhouse’s production of Pump Boys and Dinettes
runs April 6-May 1. (And honestly, where better to see a musical about a diner than in Jersey!?) It’s such a rarely-produced musical that any production is a treat—especially one that has Alysha Umphress slaying the house down with her big song “Be Good or Be Gone”.
