Top theatre to see in New York in November
Check out our picks for must-see Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre in November, including new musicals, award-winning plays, and Off-Broadway premieres.
With the cold weather setting in across New York, you can warm up by donning a sweater, drinking hot cocoa — or cozying up in a theatre. The shows on offer in New York are sure to warm your heart, too.
It's the season of giving, after all, and the city's theatres are giving audiences plenty of funny, poignant, and classic shows to see. Christmas shows are opening on and off Broadway this month to get you in the holiday spirit, and there are plenty non-holiday shows to discover, too, including multiple new Broadway musicals and standout new plays.
Check out our list of theatre to see in November 2023, and see our list of New York shows that started in October for even more new theatre you can still catch.
Broadway shows in November
Noteworthy musicals and plays start performances on Broadway this month, including exciting revivals and new shows by award-winning artists. Be sure to check out these widely celebrated shows, many with celebrities in the cast.
Get tickets to a Broadway show on New York Theatre Guide.
Appropriate
Brace for a blast from the past! Emmy Award winner Sarah Paulson leads the cast of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's play about a fractious family’s reunion at the deceased father’s Arkansas plantation, which reveals unsettling secrets about their shared history.
Get Appropriate tickets now.
I Need That
Taxi Emmy winner Danny DeVito plays the starring role in Theresa Rebeck’s play about a die-hard hoarder whose clutter has run amok – and landed him in hot water. DeVito’s daughter, Lucy DeVito, and Ray Anthony Thomas co-star in this Roundabout Theatre Company production.
Get I Need That tickets now.
Spamalot
Want to laugh a lot? Back on Broadway for the first time since its 2005 premiere, this Tony-winning Best Musical inspired by the 1975 movie spoof Monty Python and the Holy Grail plays fast and loose with the legend of King Arthur. The star-studded cast includes Taran Killam as Lancelot, Michael Urie as Sir Robin, James Monroe Iglehart as Arthur, and Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer as the Lady of the Lake.
Get Spamalot tickets now.
Harmony
In this musical comedy-turned-drama, Barry Manilow (music) and Bruce Sussman (book and lyrics) trace the real-life journey of the Comedian Harmonists, a German sextet that became famous in 1920s and 1930s. The group, which included three Jewish men, disbanded and disappeared amid the rise of the Nazi regime.
Get Harmony tickets now.
How to Dance In Ohio
A group of autistic young adults at a community counseling center prepare for their first spring dance in this musical based on the award-winning documentary of the same name. All seven of How to Dance In Ohio’s autistic lead actors reprise roles from musical’s world premiere last year.
Get How to Dance in Ohio tickets now.
Off-Broadway shows in November
Off-Broadway theatres have it all this month: innovative new plays, comedy shows, and more. Whatever your taste in theatre, you’ll find it off Broadway, so check out these shows starting New York performances this month and find one that's best for you.
Get tickets to an Off-Broadway show on New York Theatre Guide.
Scene Partners
Oscar winner Dianne Wiest stars in John J. Casewell, Jr.’s play about Meryl, a 70something woman ready to recast herself in a new life. So she leaves Milwaukee and heads to Los Angeles to be a Streep-style movie star. Hadestown Tony winner Rachel Chavkin directs this world premiere at Vineyard Theatre.
Get Scene Partners tickets now.
Nutcracker Rouge
The Land of Sweets just got sexier. The classic Nutcracker tale, about a girl whose toy comes to life in her dreams, gets a racy redo in Company XIV’s bold burlesque version. This show features circus, music, acrobatics, dance, and themed drinks, and it's been a seasonal favorite since its 2013 premiere.
Get Nutcracker Rouge tickets now.
Spain
Jen Silverman’s play, set in 1936, follows two young filmmakers making a film about the Spanish Civil War who must question the message their movie is sending. The cast features The Inheritance Tony winner Andrew Burnap and Tony nominee Marin Ireland.
Get Spain tickets now.
Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice
Hello Dolly! Tony winner Gavin Creel wrote and stars in this pop-flavored musical inspired by his many strolls through the Metropolitan Museum of Art — a place he'd never been before creating this show, and which gave him new insights into life and art.
Sad Boys in Harpy Land, School Pictures, and Amusements
These three shows make up a series of solo works at Playwrights Horizons, running on alternate nights throughout November. In Sad Boys in Harpy Land, writer and performer Alexandra Tatarsky’s mind-bending absurdist play, a young Jewish woman imagines that she’s a small German boy who thinks he’s a tree.
Ten students fighting to get into elite New York City schools emerge in School Pictures, Milo Cramer’s theatrical group portrait based on the writer and performer’s firsthand experience from the front lines: as a tutor.
Finally, in Amusements, author and actor Ikechukwu Ufomadu mines his longtime fascination with classic TV variety shows and talk shows to explore social facades.
Check back for information on Sad Boys in Harpy Land tickets, School Pictures tickets, and Amusements tickets on New York Theatre Guide.
Mind Mangler
Talk about a head case. Subtitled “A Night of Tragic Illusion,” the screwball comedy follows the exploits of a clumsy clairvoyant whose onstage act goes spectacularly bad. At New World Stages, Mind Mangler is from the brains behind The Play That Goes Wrong.
Check back for information on Mind Mangler tickets on New York Theatre Guide.
Photo credit: The cast of Spamalot on Broadway. (Photo by Matthew Murphy)
Originally published on