If you needed a reason to get into a theater this week, here are approximately seven of them. Two major off-Broadway productions open tonight. One of the most starry Broadway ensembles of the season ends this Sunday. John Lithgow has less than a month left at the Music Box. And Chess is in its final weeks — with $49 lottery tickets available every single day. This is the kind of week that makes you realize how extraordinary New York City theater actually is, even on a random Tuesday in June.
Don’t Miss: Are You Now or Have You Ever Been — Opens Tonight at NYC Center
This is the must-see theater event of the week, and it starts tonight. Are You Now or Have You Ever Been, Eric Bentley’s searing docudrama assembled from actual transcripts of the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings in the 1940s, opens its off-Broadway run at New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street, with performances running through September 11, 2026.
The hook here isn’t just the material — it’s the cast, which is one of the most staggering rotating ensembles assembled for any off-Broadway production in recent memory. Brooks Ashmanskas, Santino Fontana, Adam Kantor, T.R. Knight, David Krumholtz, Harry Lennix, Andrew McCarthy, Michael McKean, Bob Odenkirk, Molly Ringwald, Thomas Sadoski, and Frederick Weller, among others, cycle through the roles across performances. You might see a completely different lineup than your friend who went last week.
Directed by Anna D. Shapiro, this revival turns archival testimony into something viscerally theatrical — and given the current moment, it has never felt more urgent. Tickets start at $100. TodayTix and TDF are your best bets for discounts. Do not sleep on this one.
Girl, Interrupted — The Musical You Did Not Know You Needed
Girl, Interrupted is running at The Public Theater’s Martinson Hall with a creative team that should have you sprinting to buy tickets. The musical adaptation of Susanna Kaysen’s memoir features a script by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok, original music by Grammy winner Aimee Mann, choreography by Tony winner Sonya Tayeh, and direction by Jo Bonney. That is a genuinely extraordinary group of artists working together on one show.
The run extends into June — check thepublictheater.org for current performance dates and tickets. The Public Theater is at 425 Lafayette Street, NoHo. This is a world-premiere musical at one of the most prestigious theater companies in America. These are the shows you tell people you saw before they were famous.
A Woman Among Women — A Sharp New Off-Broadway Play from Julia May Jonas
A Woman Among Women opens Thursday, June 4 at LCT3’s Claire Tow Theater at Lincoln Center (165 West 65th Street, Upper West Side). Written by Julia May Jonas — whose debut novel Vladimir was a sensation — and directed by Sarah Cameron Hughes, this is a bold counterpoint to Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, arriving in partnership with New Georges and the Bushwick Starr.
LCT3 is Lincoln Center’s emerging-artists stage, and it consistently punches above its weight. If you like your theater smart, subversive, and a little dangerous, this is your show this week. Tickets are available at lct.org and TodayTix.
Last Call: Fallen Angels Closes Sunday, June 7
You have five days to see Kelli O’Hara and Rose Byrne do Noel Coward, and if you don’t go, you will regret it. Fallen Angels — a razor-sharp comedy about two married women who discover their shared ex is coming to town — closes its Broadway run on Sunday, June 7. O’Hara is a Tony winner. Byrne is a screen icon making her Broadway debut. Coward’s writing crackles. This combination does not come around often.
Check nytix.com for last-minute discounts on remaining performances — closing-week tickets sometimes drop. If there was ever a week to impulse-buy Broadway seats, this is it.
Enter the Chess Lottery Right Now — $49 Tickets Available Daily
Chess, the Cold War musical with the ABBA songwriting duo of Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus plus Tim Rice, closes at the Imperial Theatre on June 21. That gives you less than three weeks — and there is a very affordable way in.
The Chess digital lottery offers $49 tickets for every performance. The lottery opens at midnight the day before each show and closes at 3:00 PM, with winners drawn at 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM. Enter at rush.telecharge.com. If you don’t win, same-day in-person rush tickets are available at the Imperial Theatre box office, 249 West 45th Street, starting at 10:00 AM daily (noon on Sundays). Limit two tickets per person.
At $49, this is one of the best deals in Broadway right now for a show with genuine staying power.
John Lithgow in Giant — Four Weeks Left
And if you want your heart broken in the most beautiful way possible, Giant plays through June 28 at the Music Box Theatre, 239 West 45th Street. John Lithgow reprises his Olivier Award-winning performance as Roald Dahl in this acclaimed play that transferred from London’s West End.
Lithgow is one of the great stage actors of his generation — seeing him live, in this role, in this theater, is the kind of thing you remember. Tickets at broadway.com. Do not wait until week four.
Your Rush + Lottery Quick Reference
Chess — $49 digital lottery at rush.telecharge.com, or same-day rush at Imperial Theatre box office at 10 AM. Are You Now or Have You Ever Been — TDF.org for member discounts. Hamilton — $10 daily lottery via the Hamilton app. TodayTix Rush — same-day rush across dozens of shows at todaytix.com.
New York theater in June is doing something special this week. Two shows open, one icon closes, and there is affordable access to almost everything if you know where to look. Our Hamilton lottery guide walks through exactly how to work the rush system. And check out the complete free events guide for June 2-8 for everything happening around the city this week.
