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The streets of New York alone are stageworthy. With so many people faking it 'til they make it, daily life can take on the feeling of performance—to exhausting, and inspiring, effect. No wonder that the city draws a constant influx of actors, singers, dancers, and musicians from around the globe, all striving for their big break and infusing the city with a crackling creative energy. This fiercely competitive scene produces an unrivaled wealth of culture and art that many New Yorkers cite as the reason they're here, and that millions more are determined to travel for.
Although costly ticket prices can make attending a Broadway show a less common outing for even the most devout theater-loving New Yorkers, that's not true of many other kinds of more affordable performances. Whether the audiences are primarily local or not, it's their discernment that helps drive the arts scene, whether they are flocking to a concert hall to hear a world-class soprano deliver a flawless performance, or crowding into a cramped café to support fledgling writers reading from their own work.
New York has upward of 200 "legitimate" theaters (meaning those with theatrical performances, not movies), and many more ad hoc venues—parks, churches, lofts, galleries, rooftops, even parking lots. The city is also a revolving door of special events: summer jazz, one-act-play marathons, film festivals, and music and dance celebrations from the classical to the avant-garde, to name just a few.
The venerable New York Studio School hosts two—always free, almost always on Tuesday and Wednesday—evening lecture series (fall and spring) on contemporary issues in art. Hear from both emerging and established artists and curators, as well as some of the biggest names in art history and criticism. The school building served as the original location of the Whitney Museum.
Works by new and established playwrights anchor this theater's repertoire. Jonathan Larson's Rent got its start here before going to Broadway, and works by Tony Kushner (Homebody/Kabul), Caryl Churchill, Amy Herzog, and Paul Rudnick have also been staged here. Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me also ran here, as did an early version of Anaïs Mitchell's Hadestown.
This pristine, wood-lined theater on the NYU campus supports emerging artists, with interesting dance, music, and theater events, often in collaboration with international companies. Conferences and a speaker series featuring prominent cultural figures round out the calendar, which also includes many family-friendly events.
Across from the Plaza Hotel stands the Paris Theatre—a rare, stately remnant of the single-screen era. Opened in 1948, the historic cinema was purchased by Netflix in 2019 and today serves as an elegant, wide-screen showcase for original Netflix productions as well as art-house and classic-film screenings. Tickets can be purchased online in advance, with the option to select seats, too.
The World Trade Center site’s final public element opened in 2023, adding a major cultural attraction to Lower Manhattan. The Perelman Performing Arts Center, or PAC, is a striking architectural vision wedged between the WTC’s skyscrapers and the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. It’s built like a patterned stone cube rising 10 stories, its entry stairs and elevator tucked modestly below on Fulton Street, with innovative lighting making the facade’s 5,000 half-inch-thick marble tiles appear to glow at night. Its 90,000 square feet encompass the Lobby Stage with free shows (Thursday–Sunday); the lobby's modern, elegant restaurant and bar, Metropolis by Marcus Samuelsson; and three principal theaters within. What makes the PAC uncommon, however, is that each venue can be used independently or by combining them. The auditoria can transform into more than 60 stage-audience arrangements, with capacities ranging from 90 to 950 seats. Artistic programming is intended to be as daring as the architecture, with a wide array of works, including feature commissions, world premieres, co-productions, and collaborative work across theater, dance, music, opera, film, and more. Tickets are priced for all budgets.
Founded in 1980 inside a 19th-century public school building, Performance Space 122 has helped launch the careers of many downtown musicians and artists, both on the fringe and otherwise. Familiar names that graced the marquee over the years include Spalding Gray, John Leguizamo, and Young Jean Lee. After a renovation, it reopened in 2018 with two new theaters and a modernized interior. Expect a schedule of interdisciplinary works that blend performance with installations and readings by different artists with varied visions.
Known for its support of new work by American playwrights, this Off-Broadway theater was the first home for eventual Broadway hits such as Grey Gardens and Wendy Wasserstein's Heidi Chronicles.
Launched in 1966, the Poetry Project has been a source of sustenance for poets (and their audiences) ever since. This place has seen performances by Eric Bogosian, Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka, Sam Shepard, Patti Smith, Anne Waldman, Jim Carroll, Philip Glass, and many others. Current readings feature artists of a similar caliber.
Marionettes have been used to enact classic children's stories like The Tortoise and the Hare, Alice in Wonderland, and The Wizard of Oz at this storefront theater since 1990. A friendly puppeteer preps the young audience on theater etiquette before each show. Afterward, theater education continues with a Q&A. Performances are twice a day on weekends only; call or email for reservations.
The nonprofit theatrical company is known for its excellent revivals of classic musicals and plays. Its main stage, the American Airlines Theatre, is the former Selwyn—the venerable home to the works of Noel Coward, George S. Kaufman, and Cole Porter in their heyday. The Roundabout's other Broadway venues are Studio 54 and the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. The two Off-Broadway stages at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre on West 46th Street show a mix of classics and works from up-and-coming playwrights.
New Yorkers come out of hibernation en masse at the end of April to witness the extremely popular annual Sakura Matsuri Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. In addition to the blooming cherry trees, there are Taiko drumming performances, Japanese pop bands, samurai swords, martial arts, tea ceremonies, and more.
Designed by architect Frank Gehry, the company's Pershing Square Signature Center houses three theater spaces. The Tony Award–winning, not-for-profit theater company provides a platform for both New York and world premieres, as well as revivals. Tickets tend to be affordable here, as low as $35 for some shows. A central space with a café is open before and after shows and during intermission; there's also a bookstore with limited hours.
Built for vaudeville in 1928, this classic theater is still going strong nearly a century later, with a mix of classic movie screenings, stand-up comedy, educational theater performances for kids and teens, and music concerts catering to the Gen X and older crowd—or anyone who enjoys '70s soul, '80s yacht rock, and the likes of Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, or Beatles cover bands. Without a performance, the building's interior design still dazzles; the theater is a mix of Spanish and Italian baroque styles, with paintings and murals throughout, as well as tiled fountains.
Over the first three Saturdays in August, you can join hundreds of thousands of locals to let loose on nearly 7 miles of pedestrianized arterials for Summer Streets. From the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park, along Park Avenue and connecting streets, New Yorkers hit the car-free streets to run, zip-line, dance, experience art, or just ramble along the city's streets in a new way—all for free.
Vibrant original musicals for family audiences are performed by a cast of talented kids (ages 8–18). Most shows are on weekends, and children's tickets start at reasonable prices.
Founded by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal to contribute to the long-term recovery of Lower Manhattan after 9/11, the Tribeca Film Festival has become one of the world's most prominent such events. There are upward of 250 films—with more than 1,000 screenings at multiple locations including the Tribeca Film Center (TFC
The longest-operating performance venue in Lower Manhattan, the TriBeCa PAC celebrates theater, music, and dance, including children's and young-adult theater. Along with global and new-artist programming, the center is primarily known for jazz. Tickets are reasonably priced and the space itself is comfortable and polished.
Brookfield Place, an upscale shopping-and-dining complex across the street from the World Trade Center, provides a showcase for free performing and visual arts programs, including occasional live music, as well as site-specific installations (with an emphasis on commissioned works), poetry readings, film screenings, and more. Events are presented within Brookfield Place's spectacular, 10-story, glass-covered Winter Garden atrium or on its outdoor plaza overlooking the Hudson (weather permitting). In winter, there's an outdoor ice-skating rink, too.
This museum touts two theaters, including both a show palace and an intimate screening room, where classic Hollywood and foreign titles share the screen with experimental works, new films from the international festival circuit, live musical collaborations, and in-person appearances by moviemaker luminaries. Daily short films are screened in Tut's Fever Movie Palace, a fab Red Grooms and Lysiane Luong–designed installation.
