New World Stages is a five-theater,

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

performing arts complex in the

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...

neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It is between 49th and 50th Streets beneath the plaza of the Worldwide Plaza complex at Eighth Avenue.

History

Constructed on the site of the third Madison Square Garden, New World Stages was originally built as a

Loews Cineplex Entertainment Loews Cineplex Entertainment, also known as Loews Incorporated, was an American theater chain operating in North America. The company was originally named "Loew's" after its founder Marcus Loew. In 1969, when the Tisch brothers acquired the com ...

multiplex cinema at Worldwide Plaza. The Worldwide Cinemas multiplex opened in June 1989 and was originally operated by the

Cineplex Odeon Corporation Cineplex Odeon is a theatre brand owned by Cineplex Entertainment in Canada, after acquiring the Cineplex Odeon Corporation in 1998. As of 2023, there are 61 Cineplex Odeon locations in Canada. The former corporation was one of North America's ...

. The Loews Cineplex at Worldwide Plaza closed in early 2001 after its operator went bankrupt. The former multiplex temporarily served as office space for accounting firm

Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...

later that year after that firm's offices were destroyed in the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. Dodger Stage Holding Theatricals leased the complex in 2002 with plans to convert the former six-screen multiplex into five Off-Broadway stages. The movie theater complex reopened as Dodger Stages in 2004 following substantial renovations. The architects were Beyer Blinder Belle, the theatre designers were Sachs Morgan, and the interior designer was Klara Zieglerova. Since that time, the theater complex has housed many commercial theatrical productions, as well as numerous corporate events, readings, and concerts. Dodger Stages was renamed New World Stages on March 16, 2006, concurrent with

Stage Entertainment Stage Entertainment is an international operating live entertainment company, a subsidiary of Advance Publications. The company was founded in 1998 by Joop van den Ende in Amsterdam. History The Netherlands / Corporate The root of the company l ...

’s assuming sole ownership of the complex. Since November 17, 2014, the venue has been owned and operated by

The Shubert Organization The Shubert Organization is a theatrical producing organization and a major owner of theatres based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by the three Shubert brothers — Lee, Sam, and Jacob J. Shubert — in the late 19th century. T ...

. In addition to new Off-Broadway productions, New World Stages has become a home to shows that were previously on Broadway, including ''

Avenue Q '' Avenue Q'' is a musical comedy featuring puppets and human actors with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx and a book by Jeff Whitty. It won Best Musical, Book, and Score at the 2004 Tony Awards. The show's format is a parody ...

'', '' The 39 Steps'', ''

Million Dollar Quartet "Million Dollar Quartet" is a recording of an impromptu jam session involving Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash made on December 4, 1956 at the Sun Studio, Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. An article about th ...

'', ''

Peter and the Starcatcher ''Peter and the Starcatcher'' is a play based on the 2004 novel ''Peter and the Starcatchers'' by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, adapted for the stage by Rick Elice. The play provides a backstory for the characters of Peter Pan, Mrs Darling, Tin ...

'', ''

Jersey Boys ''Jersey Boys'' is a jukebox musical with a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success and breakup of the 1960s rock 'n' roll group The Four Seasons. The mus ...

'', and ''

The Play That Goes Wrong ''The Play That Goes Wrong'' is a play by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields of Mischief Theatre Company. The story follows a performance of a murder mystery, where the ill-fated theatre company encounters numerous mishaps. The ...

''. This producing tactic has been utilized to encourage the extension of a show's commercial run. The venue has also become a location for the piggybacking model, whereby multiple shows adjust their playing times and share the same theater, set, and tech personnel to lower the costs of keeping an open-ended Off-Broadway show running. The theatres and lobby are also available for special events, including conferences, readings, workshops and receptions.

Statistics

New World Stages houses five theaters. Stages 1 and 3 have a maximum of 499 seats each, Stages 2 and 4 have a maximum of 350 seats each, and Stage 5 has a maximum of 199 seats. These capacities, greater than 100, fewer than 500, define New World Stages as an Off-Broadway complex. (Theaters with fewer than 100 seats are Off-Off-Broadway; theaters with 500 or more seats that are in the theater district are classified as Broadway level.) The maximum weekly capacity, assuming five shows running concurrently in the five theaters, each for eight performances per week, is 15,176 people. The complete square footage of the underground complex is 61,300 square feet (5,690 m²), and it reaches underground the length of a full city block, from 49th Street to 50th Street.

Show history

The following information is taken from the Internet Off-Broadway Database. New World Stages has been home to a variety of Off-Broadway shows in its brief history, ranging in theme from a water based puppet show to a zombie musical. Current productions are in bold.

Stage 1

499 Seats * ''

The Great American Trailer Park Musical ''The Great American Trailer Park Musical'' is a two-act musical, written by David Nehls and Betsy Kelso. It explores the relationships between the tenants at the Armadillo Acres Trailer Park in Starke, Florida, particularly between Pippi, "the s ...

'', August 20, 2005 – December 4, 2005 * '' Evil Dead the Musical'', October 2, 2006 – February 17, 2007 * ''Elvis People'', June 6, 2007 – June 23, 2007 * ''

Die, Mommie, Die! ''Die, Mommie, Die!'' is a 2003 American satire (film and television), satirical black comedy film written by Drag queen, female impersonator Charles Busch, who also plays the lead role. Partly spoof and partly homage, it draws heavily on the tro ...

'', October 9, 2007 – January 13, 2008 * ''

Jackie Mason Jackie Mason (born Yacov Moshe Maza; ; June 9, 1928 – July 24, 2021) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. His 1986 one-man show ''The World According to Me!'' won a Special Tony Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, an Ace Award, ...

: The Ultimate Jew'', March 18, 2008 – July 20, 2008 * ''

Rock of Ages Rock of Ages is an epithet that is used in some translations of Isaiah 26, Isaiah 26:4 and may refer to: Films * Rock of Ages (1918 film), ''Rock of Ages'' (1918 film), a British silent film by Bertram Phillips * Rock of Ages (2012 film), ''Roc ...

'', October 1, 2008 – January 4, 2009 * '' The Toxic Avenger'', March 18, 2009 – January 3, 2010 * '' The 39 Steps'', March 25, 2010 – January 16, 2011 * ''Between Worlds (Entre Mundos)'', March 4, 2011 – April 24, 2011 * ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

'', July 14, 2011 – September 9, 2012 * ''

'', March 18, 2013 – January 12, 2014 * '' Heathers: The Musical'', March 17, 2014 – August 4, 2014 * '' Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe'', January 14, 2015 – March 29, 2015 * ''Tappin' Thru Life'', December 23, 2015 – February 21, 2016 * '' iLuminate'', November 22, 2016 – January 8, 2017 * '' Building the Wall'', May 12, 2017 - June 4, 2017 * ''

'', November 22, 2017 – May 22, 2022 * ''

Melissa Etheridge Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist. Her Melissa Etheridge (album), eponymous debut album was released in 1988 and became an underground success. It peaked at No. 22 on the Billbo ...

My Window - A Journey Through Life'', October 13, 2022 - October 29, 2022 * ''

Fidler Afn Dakh ''Fidler Afn Dakh'' (פידלער אויפן דאך) is a Yiddish-language adaptation of the musical ''Fiddler on the Roof'' translated and adapted by Shraga Friedman. The adaptation revisits the 1894 collection of Yiddish short stories on which '' ...

'', November 13, 2022 – January 1, 2023 * '' iLuminate'', November 17, 2023 – January 21, 2024 * ''A Sign of the Times'', February 8, 2024 – June 2, 2024 *''EMPIRE: The Musical'', July 1, 2024 – September 22, 2024 *''

Teeth (musical) ''Teeth'' is a musical by Michael R. Jackson and Anna K. Jacobs, adapted from the 2007 horror film of the same name. It premiered off-Broadway in 2024 at Playwrights Horizons. The musical follows Dawn O'Keefe, an evangelical teenager, who is ...

'', October 18, 2024 – January 5, 2025 * '' Heathers: The Musical'', June 22, 2025 – Present

Stage 2

350 Seats *''Pieces (of Ass)'', December 7, 2004 – March 27, 2005 *'' Drumstruck'', May 12, 2005 – November 12, 2006 *'' Bill W. and Dr. Bob'', February 16, 2007 – June 10, 2007 *''Celia'', August 28, 2007 – May 25, 2008 *''Flamingo Court'', July 17, 2008 – September 28, 2008 *''Rooms – A Rock Romance'', February 27, 2009 – May 10, 2009 *''Gazillion Bubble Show'', September 2009 – Present (moved from Stage 3) *'' Voca People'', February 16, 2012 – September 2, 2012 *''

Jackie Hoffman Jacqueline Laura Hoffman (born November 29, 1960) is an American actress, singer, and comedian known for her one-woman shows of Jewish-themed original songs and monologues. She is a veteran of Chicago's famed The Second City comedy improv group. ...

's A Chanukah Carol'', December 8, 2012 - December 29, 2012 *''Greed: A Musical for Our Times'', March 19, 2014 - April 19, 2014 *''Blank! The Musical'', November 1, 2014 - November 30, 2014 *''Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus LIVE!'', October 22, 2015 – November 29, 2015 *''One Funny Mother'', March 31, 2016 – January 7, 2017 *''

Katsura Sunshine is a traditional Japanese rakugo comic storyteller, theatre producer, and playwright. He is Canadian of Slovenian descent, and currently resides in Tokyo, Japan. He travels monthly to New York to perform rakugo at New World Stages in New Yor ...

's Rakugo'', September 19, 2019 – Present

Stage 3

499 Seats *''Mandy Patinkin in Concert'', September 20, 2004 – October 28, 2004 *''Modern Orthodox'', November 11, 2004 – May 8, 2005 *''A Mother, A Daughter, and A Gun'', October 14, 2005 – November 27, 2007 *''Burleigh Grime$'', May 23, 2006 – July 16, 2006 *'' Mimi le Duck'', November 6, 2006 – December 3, 2006 *''Gazillion Bubble Show'', January 17, 2007 – September 2009 (moved to Stage 2) *''

'', October 9, 2009 – May 26, 2019 *''

'', June 19, 2019 – March 11, 2020 *''A Sherlock Carol'', November 11, 2021 – January 2, 2022 *'' ¡Americano!'', March 31, 2022 – June 19, 2022 *''A Sherlock Carol'', November 21, 2022 – January 1, 2023 *''

Dog Man ''Dog Man'' is a children's graphic novel series by American author and illustrator Dav Pilkey. A spinoff and story within a story of Pilkey's ''Captain Underpants'' series, ''Dog Man'' revolves around the adventures of the titular character, ...

: The Musical'', March 4, 2023 - April 30, 2023 *''Rock and Roll Man'', June 3, 2023 – September 1, 2023 *''Mind Mangler: A Night of Tragic Illusion'', November 10, 2023 – January 28, 2024 *''Stalker'', March 18, 2024 – September 1, 2024 * '' Drag: The Musical'', September 30, 2024 – April 27, 2025 * ''Rolling Thunder'', July 10, 2025 – Present

Stage 4

350 Seats *'' The Immigrant'', October 8, 2004 - November 28, 2004 *''

Altar Boyz ''Altar Boyz'' is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker and a book by Kevin Del Aguila (based on an idea by Marc J. Kessler and Ken Davenport). Centering on a fictitious Christian boy band from Ohio, ...

'', February 15, 2005 – January 10, 2010 *''

Naked Boys Singing ''Naked Boys Singing!'' is a musical revue that features traditional American vaudeville-style music performed by eight actors who sing and dance naked. The campy musical comedy premiered at the Celebration Theatre in West Hollywood, Californi ...

'', October 14, 2005 – January 28, 2012 *'' White's Lies'', April 12, 2010 – June 13, 2010 *''Freckleface Strawberry'', October 1, 2010 – April 24, 2011 *''

Jump JuMP is an algebraic modeling language and a collection of supporting packages for mathematical optimization embedded in the Julia programming language. JuMP is used by companies, government agencies, academic institutions, software projects ...

'', May 11, 2011 - June 12, 2011 *''

'', July 28, 2011 – June 24, 2012 *''Bullet for Adolf'', July 19, 2012 – September 30, 2012 *'' Bare: The Musical'', November 19, 2012 – February 3, 2013 *'' iLuminate'', June 24, 2013 – January 18, 2015 *'' Clinton: The Musical'', March 25, 2015 – June 21, 2015 *''

Shear Madness ''Shear Madness'' is an interactive theatre, interactive whodunit play, and one of the longest-running nonmusical Play (theatre), plays in the world.

'', October 22, 2015 – July 10, 2016 *''Not That Jewish'', October 6, 2016 – April 30, 2017 *''

The Government Inspector ''The Government Inspector'', also known as ''The Inspector General'' (, literally: "Inspector"), is a satirical play by Russian dramatist and novelist Nikolai Gogol. Originally published in 1836, the play was revised for an 1842 edition. Base ...

'', July 5, 2017 - August 20, 2017 * ''A Clockwork Orange'', September 2, 2017 - December 2, 2017 *'' Desperate Measures'', May 30, 2018 – October 28, 2018 *''

'', February 11, 2019 – Present

Stage 5

199 Seats *''Symphonie Fantastique'': August 31, 2004 – January 2, 2005 *''

The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'', February 2, 2005 – November 13, 2005 *'' Christine Jorgensen Reveals'', December 29, 2005 – January 18, 2006 *''Sidd: A New Musical'', February 23, 2006 – March 26, 2006 *''How to Save the World and Find True Love in 90 Minutes'', November 4, 2006 – December 31, 2006 *''Sealed for Freshness'', February 15, 2007 – April 29, 2007 *'' My First Time'', July 12, 2007 – January 22, 2010 *''The All-American Sport of Bi-Partisan Bashing'', August 6, 2007 – October 14, 2007 *'' Make Me a Song'', October 30, 2007 – December 30, 2007 *'' Pinkalicious, the Musical'', January 12, 2008 – September 21, 2008 *''

Tim Minchin Timothy David Minchin Order of Australia#Levels of membership, AM (born 7 October 1975) is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, musician, poet, composer, and songwriter. Minchin has released six CDs, five DVDs, and live comedy shows that he ...

'', March 5, 2008 – April 12, 2008 *''The Castle'', March 30, 2008 – May 23, 2009 *''East 14th'', June 26, 2008 – September 6, 2008 *''What's That Smell: The Music of Jacob Sterling'', November 1, 2008 – December 28, 2008 *''Flamingo Court'', April 18, 2009 – July 19, 2009 *''For Lovers Only (Love Songs...Nothing But Love Songs'', April 24, 2009 – August 3, 2009 *''Love Child'', October 23, 2009 – January 3, 2010 *'' The Temperamentals'', February 18, 2010 – May 30, 2010 *'' John Tartaglia's ImaginOcean'', March 17, 2010 – September 4, 2011 *''Devil Boys from Beyond'', November 3, 2010 – December 4, 2010 *''La Barberia'', February 3, 2011 – June 12, 2011 *''Freud's Last Session'', October 7, 2011 – July 22, 2012 *'' In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel'', October 13, 2012 – October 28, 2012 *'' Forever Dusty'', November 11, 2012 – April 7, 2013 *''

The Two-Character Play ''The Two-Character Play'' (also known as '' Out Cry'' in one of its alternate versions) is an American play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in London at the Hampstead Theatre in December 1967. Williams himself had great affection for the p ...

'', June 13, 2013 – September 29, 2013 *'' Murder for Two'', November 6, 2013 – June 29, 2014 *''

Stalking the Bogeyman ''Stalking the Bogeyman'' is an American play by Markus Potter and David Holthouse with additional writing by Shane Zeigler, Shane Stokes & Santino Fontana. It is based upon David Holthouse's Westword newspaper article, where Holthouse wrote a ...

'', September 12, 2014 – November 9, 2014 *''Churchill'', February 6, 2015 – July 12, 2015 *''Would You Still Love Me If...'', October 10, 2015 – October 26, 2015 *''Mad Libs Live!'', November 1, 2015 – January 3, 2016 *''Real Men: The Musical'', November 12, 2015 – December 12, 2015 *'' The Woodsman'', January 27, 2016 – May 29, 2016 *''A Class Act'', July 9, 2016 – August 28, 2016 *''Verso'', September 19, 2016 – November 27, 2016 *''Church & State'', March 3, 2017 – June 4, 2017 *'' Puffs, or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic'', July 8, 2017 – August 18, 2019 *''MsTRIAL'', November 14, 2019 – February 2, 2020 *''Drift'', February 29, 2020 – March 11, 2020 *''The Alchemist'', November 7, 2021 – December 15, 2021 *''Little Girl Blue'', March 5, 2022 – May 29, 2022 *'' Without You'', January 14, 2023 – June 11, 2023 *''Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors'', September 4, 2023 – January 7, 2024 *''

The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers ''The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers'' is a One-person show, one-man stage performance by American stage and screen actor Marc Summers. The performance takes place on a replica of the original ''Double Dare (franchise), Double Dare'' set, with ...

'', February 14, 2024 – June 2, 2024 *''Mama, I'm A Big Girl Now!'', November 2, 2024 – December 21, 2024 *''Last Call'', March 12, 2025 – May 4, 2025 *''

The Imaginary Invalid ''The Imaginary Invalid'', ''The Hypochondriac'', or ''The Would-Be Invalid'' ( French title ''Le Malade imaginaire'', ) is a three- act ''comédie-ballet'' by the French playwright Molière with dance sequences and musical interludes ( H.495, H ...

'', May 21, 2025 – June 29, 2025 *'' Jamie Allan (magician)'s Amaze'', July 20, 2025 – Present

The Green Room

The Green Room is a bar and lounge area located downstairs at New World Stages. Drinks bought from The Green Room are allowed to be brought into the theaters. From October 14, 2016 through March 11, 2020, The Green Room was home to '' The Imbible: A Spirited History of Drinking''.

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{Off-Broadway theatres Theatrical organizations in the United States Theatres in Manhattan Off-Broadway theaters Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan Theatres completed in 2004