Best Broadway shows in New York in October 2026

Check out our guide to must-see Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre in October 2026, a popular month for the openings of buzzy new Broadway plays and musicals.

Gillian Russo
Written byGillian Russo

Fall is underway and it's time to fall in love with some new theatre — or fall in love with your favorite shows all over again. Broadway's long-running favorites are still going strong, but they're joined by plenty of new Broadway plays and musicals, including world-premiere Off-Broadway shows and many offerings with starry casts.

Check out our list of theatre to see in October 2026 below. And don't forget — it's Halloween season, so be sure to check out our roundup of spooky, supernatural, and magical Halloween shows and events in New York to visit.

1.

The Rocky Horror Show

2.

A Few Good Men

3.

Paranormal Activity

4.

The Fantasticks

5.

Downstate

6.

The Imaginary Invalid

7.

Wicked

8.

Wanted

9.

Little Shop of Horrors

10.

The Heart

11.

Drunk Dracula

12.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

13.

Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen

14.

Copperfield! The New Musical

15.

860

16.

Other Desert Cities

17.

The Ask

18.

ANON – a tempest at our kitchen table

19.

I Became We

20.

Kramer/Fauci

21.

Fish

22.

King of the Yees

1.

The Rocky Horror Show

Broadway
Musical
Classic
Stars on stage

October is the month for Rocky Horror, when costume contests and late-night screenings pop up all over the city — including on Broadway. Do the Time Warp over to Frank-n-Furter's mansion (aka Studio 54), where The Rocky Horror Show is celebrating Halloween at performances all month long.

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The Rocky Horror Show

2.

A Few Good Men

Broadway
Play
Drama
Revival
Stage to screen
Stars on stage

We've got a few good reasons to see A Few Good Men on Broadway: Tom Blyth, Bradley Whitford, and Aaron Sorkin. Blyth and Whitford lead the first revival of Sorkin's first play, about a young military lawyer who gets an assignment that puts him at odds with the whole chain of command. Can you handle the truth?

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A Few Good Men

Photo credit: The Broadway cast of A Few Good Men in rehearsal. (Photo by Michaelah Reynolds)

3.

Paranormal Activity

Broadway
Play
Horror
Screen to stage

Ready to get spooked? Get your Halloween horror fix at Paranormal Activity on Broadway. It's got the same creepy specters as the hit film franchise, but with an all-new story of a couple who move from Chicago to London to escape their demons. Spoiler alert: They don't.

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Paranormal Activity

4.

The Fantasticks

Broadway
Musical
Romance
Classic
Award winner
Stars on stage

Something major is happening this October: The world's longest-running musical is debuting on Broadway for the first time. The classic '60s romance The Fantasticks has been newly reimagined as a gay love story, where two moms scheme to make their sons fall in love.

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The Fantasticks

Photo credit: Ruthie Ann Miles, Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, Maxim Chlumecky, Nathan Levy, Zane Phillips, Kevin del Aguila, David Patrick Kelly, and Ahmad Simmons. (Photos courtesy of production)

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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.

Downstate

Broadway
Play
Drama
Stars on stage

This is the play everyone will be talking about this fall. Bruce Norris's provocative Downstate asks audiences to test the limits of their compassion, tolerance, and forgiveness with a study of four convicted child sex offenders in a group home. When — if ever — is justice enough?

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Downstate

6.

The Imaginary Invalid

Broadway
Play
Comedy
Classic
Stars on stage

You'll be sick with laughter watching Tony Award winner Bill Irwin (The Odyssey), Emmy winner Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) and more in Molière's wild comedy about a hypochondriac with plans to marry off his daughter to a doctor for free healthcare. Let's just say all doesn't go as prescribed.

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The Imaginary Invalid

Photo credit: Bill Irwin, Rachel Bloom, Brooks Ashmanskas, Dylan Baker, Hiram Delgado, Crystal A. Dickinson, Daniel Croix Henderson, and Ava Lalezarzadeh. (Photos courtesy of production)

7.

Wicked

Broadway
Musical
Award winner
Stage to screen
Family-friendly

October 30 of every year is Wicked Day, commemmorating the day the musical first opened in 2003, so don your most magical outfit and plan a Halloween trip to see the popular musical about the witches of Oz. Of course, you don't have to wait until that day to take a trip to the Emerald City this year.

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Wicked

8.

Wanted

Broadway
Musical
True story

Saddle up for the Broadway premiere of Wanted, a new musical starring Solea Pfeiffer and Liisi LaFontaine as two real-life sisters who became outlaws to save their mother from crushing debt. Who doesn't love a good antihero?

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Wanted

9.

Little Shop of Horrors

Off-Broadway
Musical
Classic
Award winner
Stars on stage

There's no better time than October to revisit this smash-hit horror comedy, now celebrating its seventh anniversary off Broadway! A cult classic for decades, Little Shop of Horrors follows a shy flower shop worker, Seymour, who makes a devilish deal with a talking plant in exchange for fame and fortune. Seymour's end of the deal? He has to provide the plant with fresh meat.

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Little Shop of Horrors

Photo credit: Little Shop of Horrors off Broadway. (Photo by Emilio Madrid)

Halloween in New York

Wicked

Gershwin Theatre

Little Shop of Horrors

Westside Theatre

Drunk Dracula NYC

The Ruby Theatre

Perfect Crime

The Theater Center

Speakeasy Magick

The Overlook Bar

AMAZE Magic

New World Stages

Chamber Magic

Lotte New York Palace Hotel

10.

The Heart

Off-Broadway
Musical
Drama
Page to stage

This heart-racing electronic musical spans the tense 24 hours between a young surfer's death and the donation of their heart to a patient in desperate need of a second chance. Theatre favorites Joaquina Kalukango, Drew Gehling, Jason Tam, and Heidi Blickenstaff are among the cast.

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The Heart

Photo credit: Joaquina Kalukango, Heidi Blickenstaff, Drew Gehling, Jason Tam, Lincoln Clauss, Nick T. Daly, Bre Jackson, Max McKenna, and Wren Rivera. (Photos courtesy of production)

11.

Drunk Dracula

Off-Broadway
Play
Comedy
21+

Thirsty for some Halloween fun? The team behind Drunk Shakespeare returns with its seasonal presentation of Drunk Dracula, a boozy adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic. Dracula may be drinking blood, but you'll be drinking cocktails as you watch four sober actors and one drunk one sink their teeth into the play — and hilariously try to keep the drunk performer from going off the rails.

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Drunk Dracula

Photo credit: The 2025 cast of Drunk Dracula off Broadway. (Photo courtesy of production)

12.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Off-Broadway
Musical
Page to stage
Screen to stage
Award winner

You may have seen Benjamin Button on screen or read his story in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel — now, see him come to life on stage. The love story about a man who ages backwards earned the Olivier Award winner for Best New Musical for its London premiere.

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Photo credit: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in London. (Photo by Marc Brenner)

13.

Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen

Off-Broadway
Musical
Manga
Drama

Adapted from the hit manga of the same name, Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen follows a Parisian brothel worker who chronicles the unusual desires of her clients while being consumed with a dark obsession of her own. Memoirs is one of the last musicals from composer Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening), who passed away in September.

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Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen

14.

Copperfield! The New Musical

Off-Broadway
Musical
Page to stage

No, it's not about the magician: Charles Dickens's classic novel David Copperfield is getting the musical twist. Broadway star Bobby Conte stars in the title role of a young man reckoning with what's become of his hardship-filled life. Learn more in our interview with Conte.

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Copperfield! The New Musical

Photo credit: Bobby Conte. (Photo courtesy of production)

15.

860

Broadway
Play
Drama
Stars on stage

Billy Crystal is known for comedy, but he gets personal in 860, a solo show named for the address of his former L.A. home. In the wake of the 2025 Palisades fires that destroyed that home, Crystal reflects on decades' worth of bittersweet memories.

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860

Photo credit: Billy Crystal. (Photo courtesy of production)

16.

Other Desert Cities

Broadway
Play
Drama
Stars on stage
Award winner

Truth hurts in Jon Robin Baitz's Pulitzer-nominated drama about a memoir that threatens to bring an influential family to its knees. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Joe Keery make their Broadway debuts alongside Ed Harris, Allison Janney, and Lily Rabe in this explosive drama.

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Other Desert Cities

Photo credit: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ed Harris, Allison Janney, Joe Keery, and Lily Rabe (Photos courtesy of production; Louis-Dreyfus photo by Christopher Anderson; Harris photo by O'Shane Howard; Janney photo by Robert Ascroft)

18.

ANON – a tempest at our kitchen table

Off-Broadway
Play
Drama

Two households alike in dignity, in fair Texas, where we lay our scene. Anne Washburn's latest play is set in a modern-day suburb where the raising of a gay pride flag ignites strong reactions from two wildly different neighbors.

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ANON – a tempest at our kitchen table

Photo credit: Jeremy Shamos, Crystal Finn, Jeff Biehl, Andrew Garman, and Izabel Mar. (Photos courtesy of production)

19.

I Became We

Off-Broadway
Play with music
Drama

Mona Pirnot's latest play contains multitudes. The form-breaking playwright's I Became We is a monologue about a 30something woman facing a major life decision — except it's performed by a 16-person choir.

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I Became We

20.

Kramer/Fauci

Off-Broadway
Play
Drama
True story
Historical

Tony Award winner Will Brill and Thomas Jay Ryan star as AIDS researcher Dr. Anthony Fauci and playwright/activist Larry Kramer in Daniel Fish's (Oklahoma!) theatrical recreation of a fiery TV debate between the two men over public health and truth.

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Kramer/Fauci

Photo credit: Kramer/Fauci. (Photo by Maria Baranova)

21.

Fish

Off-Broadway
Play
Drama

Dive into the darkest corners of the internet in Fish, about a 17-year-old’s search for her missing brother that starts with an experiment and turns into something much more twisted.

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22.

King of the Yees

Off-Broadway
Play
Drama
True story

Go on a surreal quest with playwright Lauren Yee (Cambodian Rock Band, Mother Russia), whose own family inspired her latest work, King of the Yees. Kelly Marie Tran (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) plays a fictionalized version of Yee, whose father's disappearance sends her on an adventure through her own history. Tony Award winner Francis Jue (Yellow Face) plays her father.

Check back for information on King of the Yees tickets on New York Theatre Guide.

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