Here are our top picks of New York plays and musicals to check out in August 2026, including the first new shows to kick off the 2026-27 fall Broadway season.
August is the prime time to soak up some last sun rays on the beach or get away with your family before school starts back up again. But it's also a great time to go to the theatre! The new Broadway season kicks off in earnest in the fall, so now is a great time to catch a bucket-list show you've been meaning to see or venture off Broadway to discover something entirely new.
Below, we've rounded up the new Broadway and Off-Broadway shows premiering in August, plus hit shows playing their final performances this month, so get your theatre tickets to these now! August is also a great time to start planning your fall itinerary. Once you've got your August tickets lined up and are ready to look ahead, check out all the Broadway shows this fall and snag your seats now.
Get tickets to a New York show on New York Theatre Guide.
Paranormal Activity
Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Disruption
The Winter's Tale
The Pass
An American Daughter
Label•less
The Real Ivanov
Paranormal Activity
You're in for a frighteningly good time at Paranormal Activity, the new stage play set in the world of the hit horror films. When a couple moves from Chicago to London to escape their past, they find that their past has come along to haunt them. The show has some seriously sinister stagecraft, so be prepared to be scared.
Get Paranormal Activity tickets now.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical
It's your last chance to get your kicks at Moulin Rouge! The Musical — the 10-time Tony-winning musical ends its seven-year run at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on August 30. The story of star-crossed lovers Christian and Satine, who pursue truth, beauty, freedom, and love at the title Paris nightclub, is set to dozens of pop hits spanning 70 years. If you can-can go, don't miss it.
Get Moulin Rouge! The Musical tickets now.
Disruption
Can technology really know us better than we know ourselves? Should it? That's the question at the heart of Andrew Stein's Disruption, in which a former Silcon Valley bigwig pitches his latest idea to his friends: an algorithm to steer them through their biggest life decisions. Golden Globe nominee John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman, The Piano Lesson), Tony Award nominee Conrad Ricamora (Oh, Mary!), Tony nominee Elizabeth Stanley (Jagged Little Pill), and more star.
Get Disruption tickets now.
The Winter's Tale
See one of Shakespeare's lesser-produced classics under the stars at Shakespeare in the Park this summer. Lily Rabe, Raúl Esparza, Steven Skybell, and more lead The Winter's Tale, about an estranged Sicilian princess that doesn't know that she, and the shepherd boy she falls for, are actually royalty. More famous than the story, though, is one of the show's stage directions: "Exit, pursued by a bear."
Free tickets are available at in-person distribution centers in all five boroughs, or through a digital lottery on the TodayTix app. Learn more.
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The Pass
Fast-rising soccer stars Jason and Ade are living the dream — but on the eve of their first-team debut, there's as much at stake off the pitch as on it. Taking place in three hotel rooms over the course of 13 years, John Donnelly's play about masculinity, sexuality, and secrets in the sports world is perfect for fans of shows like Heated Rivalry.
Get The Pass tickets now.
An American Daughter
Wendy Wasserstein is a trailblazer as only one of four women to ever win the Best Play Tony Award — but it's a rare treat to see one of her works in New York today. A revival of her 1997 play An American Daughter offers that opportunity with a story about a woman who undergoes intense media scrutiny after a single blunder, exposing the double standard put on her and all successful women.
Read our interview with the cast and creative team to learn more.
Get An American Daughter tickets now.
Label•less
Married creators Drew Lachey (of 98 Degrees) and Lea Lachey present a passionate show about the power of music, resilience, and being your truest self through August 29. The score features an original pop, rock, and R&B score alongside a few beloved hits including “Born This Way” and “Rise Up.” Read our interview with the Lacheys to learn more.
Get Label•less tickets now.
The Real Ivanov
Misunderstanding each other can be horrific and hilarious. So it goes in this 100-minute adaptation of Chekhov's Ivanov, in which everyone has an opinion on why the title character has suddenly gone from charming to despairing. Ivanov has an opinion, too: that all his friends are totally wrong.
Get The Real Ivanov tickets now.
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