Top theatre to see in New York in August

Here are our top picks of New York plays and musicals to check out in August 2024, including the first new shows to kick off the 2024-25 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 Broadway season kick offs in earnest in the fall, so it's 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 Off-Broadway shows premiering in August and the hit Broadway 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 the Broadway shows this fall to snag your tickets to now.

Get tickets to a New York show on New York Theatre Guide.

The Roommate

See Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone return to the stage in Jen Silverman's The Roommate, the first new show of the fall Broadway season. When a recent divorcée from Iowa puts out an ad for a roommate, a brash Bronx woman answers the call, and the two navigate identity, intimacy, morality, and reinvention together.

Get The Roommate tickets now.

Once Upon a Mattress

Sutton Foster and Michael Urie are Broadway royalty already, but now they're literally playing a princess and prince in Once Upon a Mattress, which officially opens August 12.

In this musical comedy adaptation of The Princess and the Pea, Princess Winnifred (Foster) wants to marry Prince Dauntless (Urie), but the strict Queen Aggravain (Ana Gasteyer) has some tests for her first.

Get Once Upon a Mattress tickets now.

Cats: The Jellicle Ball

You only have until August 11 to attend this su-purr-b revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic dance musical. Cats: The Jellicle Ball sets Cats at a queer ball, in which the characters compete via dance and fashion contests for a chance at new life. It's fresh, it's fabulous, and it's "one of the best musicals, revival or otherwise, to be staged in New York," our critic raved.

Get Cats: The Jellicle Ball tickets now.

Life and Trust

Step into downtown Manhattan's Conwell Tower into a world of grandeur and mystery. The latest immersive show from the producers of the long-running experience Sleep No More tells a story inspired by the legend of Faust, who makes a deal with the devil for riches and knowledge.

This tale, set in a major bank on the brink of the Great Depression, unfolds all around the audience, who get to explore the venue as they choose and even interact with the players performing among them.

Get Life and Trust tickets now.

N/A

As of September 1, this play will be N/A (not available), so now's your last chance to see it before it closes. Watch Holland Taylor and Ana Villafañe transform into N and A, two Congresswomen inspired by Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Over the course of multiple years, the women from different generations debate politics, power, and progress — and learn from each other in the process.

Get N/A tickets now.

From Here

This touching musical that finds hope in tragedy runs off Broadway through August 11. From Here takes place in the aftermath of the 2016 shooting at the LGBT nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Florida. Daniel, a 30something gay man, reckons with the impact of the tragedy on his community and his own life, seeking joy and support in the wake of sadness.

Get From Here tickets now.

Cellino v. Barnes

Cellino & Barnes was once a well-known personal injury law firm — that is, until its two namesake founders had a falling-out. The new comedy play Cellino v. Barnes dramatizes their rise and fall, reimagining it as a tale of bribery, buffoonery, and bromance.

Get Cellino v. Barnes tickets now.

Table 17

Tony Award winner Kara Young stars in this new Off-Broadway rom-com at MCC Theater from August 14. Not everyone would want to meet back up with their ex, but former fiancés Jada and Dallas decide to have dinner and hash out their past. They recall the good, bad, and ugly from their relationship, get interrupted by sassy waiters, and confront the truth about their current feelings for each other.

Get Table 17 tickets now.

Photo credit: N/A off Broadway. (Photo by Daniel Rader)