Today’s Highlights:
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, directed by Dan Knechtges, featuring Kevin Cahoon (Vice Principal Douglas Panch), Mark Ivy (William Barfee), Michael Alonzo (Chip Tolentino), Gemini Quintos (Marcy Park), Julia Krohn (Rona Lisa Peretti), JD Houston (Mitch Mahoney), Marco Camacho (Leaf Coneybear), Abigail Bensman (Logainne SchwartzandGrubenierre), JD Houston (Mitch Mahoney), and Adell Ehrhorn (Olive Ostrovsky), with John Ryan, Del Bosque, and Rebecca Russell, opens at Houston’s TUTS.
Red Bull Theater‘s reading of José Cruz González’s Invierno, both live & in person, and live-streamed, by José Cruz González, directed by Madeline Sayet, featuring Carlo Alban, Bailey Frankenberg, Zachary Lopez-Roa, Alfredo Narciso, Tanis Parenteau, Stephen Michael Spencer, and more, at 7:30 PM at Off-Broadway’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater.
Spotlight: The Dorothy, a private NYC industry reading, by Trey Ellis & Shelton L. Becton, at 11 AM & 2 PM at Off-Broadway’s Laurie Beechman Theatre, directed by Kenge (Motown) and featuring Christina Sajous, featuring N’Kenge as Dorothy Dandridge, Tia Altinay, Felicia Bosewell, Ronnie Bowman Jr., Mark Campbell, Carrie Compere, Dawn Derow, Grace Field, Patrick Oliver Jones, James T. Lane, Alexander Rios, Ollice Spaulding, Jeremy Webb, Darnell Williams, Natasha Yvette Williams, and Lavon Fischer-Wilson. 
A powerful new stage production celebrating the life, artistry, and resilience of Hollywood trailblazer Dorothy Dandridge, Spotlight! fuses breathtaking music, dazzling dance, and unforgettable storytelling to illuminate the legacy of the first Black woman nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.
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August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone will run in Spring 2026 (dates TBA) at a Shubert Theatre TBA, directed by Debbie Allen.
Taraji P. Henson (Bertha Holly), Cedric The Entertainer (Seth Holly), Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Bynum Walker), and Joshua Boone (Herald Loomis).
The play unfolds in a Pittsburgh boarding house run by the steadfast Seth and warm-hearted Bertha Holly. Their home offers refuge to Black travelers navigating the upheaval of the Great Migration. Among them is Herald Loomis, a man on a quest to reunite with his lost wife—and to reclaim the self he was forced to abandon during seven years of forced labor under Joe Turner. As buried traumas surface and spiritual forces awaken, Loomis’s journey becomes one of profound self-discovery. Around him, others seek connection, direction, and healing from a past marked by pain. Through poetic dialogue and vivid, deeply human characters, Wilson crafts a powerful meditation on identity, resilience, and renewal.
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The annual Broadway Dreams gala, honoring Jerry Mitchell, will take place Sat. Dec. 13 at 7 PM (cocktails begin at 6 PM) at Plaza New York, co-directed by Alex Newell & Spencer Liff.
Jerry Mitchell.
TBA.
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The world premiere of Nick Bisa’s Nepo Baby will run Nov. 6-21 (opening Nov. 8) at The New Stage, directed Beejan Land.
Theodore Bouloukos.
An eccentric, old-school classy Oscar-nominated character actor, Augustus Nepopoulos, is going through a rough patch in his career when he reconnects with his nephew, Baby. Twenty-two, unemployed, and still living with his rich parents, Baby is in desperate need of some guidance. So, when he mentions in passing that he wants to try acting, Augustus is quick to offer a helping hand. It’s an invigorating partnership for both, but as Baby’s career begins to skyrocket, his intentions come into question: will he stick by his uncle and bring him along for the ride? Or will he get sucked into the darkness of fame and leave him for dead.
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An additional Performance has been announced for Amas Musical Theatre’s Benefit Concert of Michael Colby & Gerald Jay Markoe’s Charlotte Sweet The Madcap Musical, now on Mon. Nov, 17 & Tues. Nov. 18, both at 7 PM at Off-Broadway’s A.R.T./New York Theatres.
Megan Styrna (Charlotte Sweet), with Dwayne Clark, Ann Harada, Nicholas King, Mark Kudisch, Michael McCoy, Mamie Parris, and Stephanie Pope.
Imagine a fractured fairy tale in the tradition of Gilbert & Sullivan and Mad Magazine. The return of Charlotte Sweet spotlights the stratospherically high soprano of British Music Hall, along with the freaky Circus of Voices.
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A reading of Red Bull Theater‘s Invierno, by José Cruz González,will be available on-demand through Oct. 26, directed by Madeline Sayet.
Carlo Albán, Aubee Billie, Joe Cross, Bailey Frankenberg, Zack Lopez Roa, Alfredo Narciso, Tanis Parenteau, Andrew Rothenberg, and Stephen Michael Spencer.
In this powerful new version of The Winter’s Tale, José Cruz González uses Shakespeare’s story of jealousy, betrayal, and redemption to heal wounds of colonialism. Set against the rich cultural backdrop of California’s Central Coast, the play travels between the U.S. invasion of Mexico in 1846 and the 21st Century, and opens with a lullaby in the language of the Chumash Native Americans, sung by the character Paulina as a healer who weaves the voice of Indigenous resistance into the temporal borderlands of Shakespeare’s romance.
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Tracy Letts’ Bug will begin previews Dec. 16 and open Jan. 8, 2026 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, directed by David Cromer.
Carrie Coon, Namir Smallwood, Randall Arney, Jennifer Engstrom, and Steve Key.
A cult classic about an unexpected and intense romance between a lonely waitress and a mysterious drifter. What begins as a simple connection between two broken people in a seedy Oklahoma motel room twists into something far more dangerous. When reality slips out of grasp, paranoia, delusion, and conspiracy take over.
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NYC’s Lyrics & Lyricists will present Motown’s Heat Wave: The Songs of Holland-Dozier-Holland will run Nov. 8-10 at 92NY, written by Elizabeth Addison, directed by Brian Harlan Brook, with music direction by Michael O. Mitchell.
Derrick Baskin, Najah Hetsberger, Melrose Johnson, Ephraim Sykes, and Curtis Wiley.
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The world premiere of Simon Rich’s All Out: Comedy About Ambition will run Dec. 12 – Mar. 8, 2026 at the Nederlander Theater, directed by Alex Timbers. 
Each performance is headlined from one of the cast listed below.
Eric andre, Mike Birbiglia, Wayne Brady, Nicholas Braun, Jim Gaffigan, Heidi Gardner, Abbi Jacobson, Jaxon Mantzoukas, Ashley Park, Graig Robinson, Ray Romano, Ben Schwartz, Sarah Silberman, Jon Stewart, and Cecily Strong, with more TBA.