Top Off-Broadway Shows for May 2025
Top shows include Eurydice starring Brian d'Arcy James and Maya Hawke, John Krasinski's return to the stage in Angry Alan, and more.
By: Sidney Paterra May. 01, 2025
What's happening off-Broadway? BroadwayWorld is here to guide you through the top picks for theatre this month. May brings a diverse array of productions to the Off-Broadway scene, including world premieres, and more. Top shows include the extended GLASS. KILL. WHAT IF IF ONLY. IMP., Eurydice starring Brian d'Arcy James and Maya Hawke, John Krasinski's return to the stage in Angry Alan, and more.
BroadwayWorld selects shows to feature based on a variety of factors such as popularity, critical acclaim, unique concepts, star power, and more. BroadwayWorld's senior editorial team closely follows the Off-Broadway scene to stay informed about upcoming and currently running productions. They consider a range of offerings each month, including musicals, plays, and more to provide a well-rounded selection of recommendations to readers. Their goal is to offer theater enthusiasts a comprehensive guide to the most exciting shows happening Off-Broadway each month.
Take a look at BroadwayWorld's recommendations for the best shows to catch off-Broadway in May!
Bowl EP
Now through May 25
In Bowl EP, Kelly K Klarkson and Quentavius da Quitter need to find a name for their rap group. Through flirty interludes, cringy overshares, and practicing their ollies, they grow increasingly closer. Skating and Smoking. Skating and Drinking. Skating and exorcizing a demon. With live skating and original music, enter Bowl EP: a skateboard park, in the middle of a wasteland, at the edge of the galaxy.
Kelly K Klarkson will be played by Essence Lotus (soft), Quentavius da Quitter will be played by Oghenero Gbaje (Blood Conscious) and Lemon Pepper Wings will be played by Felicia Curry (Into the Woods). Kalonjee Gallimore (A Beautiful Noise) will serve as understudy.
Five Models in Ruins, 1981
Claire Tow Theater
Now through June 1
Roberta (Elizabeth Marvel), a visionary fashion photographer, lands the gig of a lifetime - the cover of Vogue - but quickly learns it could be her downfall. Location is a nightmare. The models are vicious. Hair and makeup is MIA. And the cigarette supply is running dangerously low. As chaos escalates, Roberta must summon her strength and find the perfect light to capture a moment of beauty in a brutal world.
Set against the backdrop of a crumbling European estate in the aftermath of Princess Diana’s wedding, Five Models in Ruins, 1981 is a darkly comedic exploration of a woman grappling with the power of her own gaze.
GLASS. KILL. WHAT IF IF ONLY. IMP.
Now through May 25
GLASS. KILL. WHAT IF IF ONLY. IMP., a quartet of inventive new plays written by playwright Caryl Churchill and directed by Obie Award winner James Macdonald, has extended again at The Public Theater.
Mindplay
Greenwich House Theatre
Now through May 11
Created and performed by Drama Desk Award-nominated mentalist Vinny DePonto (Charlatan), written by Vinny DePonto and Josh Koenigsberg, and directed by Andrew Neisler, Mindplay invites audiences to an unforgettable, gasp-inducing experience in which your thoughts and memories play a leading role. Infused with intrigue and mystery, DePonto guides participants on a jaw-dropping, interactive journey as he reads minds while also revealing his own.
Masterfully blurring the line between illusion and reality, while investigating the wildly unreliable nature of memory, Mindplay will send audiences reeling into the night.
Cracked Open
Theatre Row Theatre
May 6 - June 28, 2025
Each May, Mental Health Awareness Month provides an opportunity to amplify conversations around mental health, encourage understanding, and break the stigma that prevents so many from seeking help. At its core, CRACKED OPEN by Gail Kreigel, is a powerful, timely story about a family whose love is tested when their 17-year-old daughter experiences the sudden onset of mental illness. As they struggle to understand her new reality, they must navigate the complexities of treatment, social stigma, and their own fears, ultimately discovering the resilience that binds them together.
With a cast of 11 actors portraying 32 characters, CRACKED OPEN is a story of love, struggle, and the power of family.
Cast includes Pamela Bob, Joyia D. Bradley, Rubén Caballero, Paul Castree, Blaire DiMisa, Scott Harrison, Madeline Grace Jones, Lisa Pelikan, Katherine Reis, Bart Shatto, and Jeene Vath.
O.K.!
INTAR Theatre
May 10 - June 8, 2025
Inside the dressing room of a regional theater in Oklahoma, it's 90 minutes until curtain for the all-new production of O.K.!, a bilingual parody of some other musical the producers couldn’t get the rights for. Melinda receives a disturbing phone call that sends her spiraling like a tornado. Due to the state's recent abortion ban, her upcoming appointment has been canceled indefinitely. Melinda's meltdown captures the attention of her wisecracking New York Latina cast mates who come to her rescue.
Together, they navigate a post-Roe America with grievances, fears, necessary humor, and even some tarot cards. As the minutes go by, and with the show starting soon, the women become desperate to know: what will Melinda do next?
Eurydice
The Pershing Square Signature Center
May 13 - June 22, 2025
Brian d'Arcy James will join Maya Hawke in Signature Theatre's production of Spotlight Resident Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice, directed by Les Waters.
Writing the play for her father, whom she had recently lost, Sarah Ruhl reframed the myth of Eurydice and Orpheus—so often reduced to Orpheus' infamous mistake—around Eurydice's relationship to her father, whom she re-encounters in the underworld. Eurydice tightens the bond of two themes Ruhl has explored, often simultaneously and symbiotically, at Signature: loss and transcendence. Letters from Max, a ritual was a work of ritual theater, openly discussing terminal illness and testing poetry's capacity to put to words what otherwise feels ineffable.
A Freeky Introduction
Linda Gross Theater
May 16- June 22, 2025
EVERYBODY SAY YEAH! Everybody talks about freedom, but few know how to get there. That's because they don't know their Freek. Fear not, Freeky Dee is here with a mix of poetry, ministry, and magic...plus I got a DJ with me. Together, we'll move you past your fears and doubts to bring your inner Freek all the way out! You wanna get free? Then come get your Freek on!
A Freeky Introduction will star NSangou Njikam (Syncing Ink), and feature DJ Monday Blue (Buh Wha’ Trouble is Dis?). It is written by NSangou Njikam and directed by Dennis A. Allen II (Launch Commission writer).
Angry Alan
Second Stage - Tony Kiser Theatre
May 23 - August 3, 2025
Tony Award winning production company SEAVIEW has just announced the inaugural production at STUDIO SEAVIEW will be Penelope Skinner’s critically acclaimed dark comedy ANGRY ALAN, starring award-winning actor John Krasinski in his highly anticipated return to the New York stage. Tony Award-winning director Sam Gold will helm the production which will officially open the Studio Seaview space that occupies the former Tony Kiser Theatre (305 West 43rd Street) in midtown Manhattan.
Roger is divorced, demoted, and drifting—lost in an era that no longer makes sense. But when an online personality promises clarity, Roger dives in without looking back. Timely, provocative, and darkly comedic, Angry Alan explores one man’s journey down the digital rabbit hole—examining how far he's willing to go, and how much he's prepared to lose, for validation in a world where “everybody’s changing the rules.”
Little Shop of Horrors
Now Running
Milo Manheim and Elizabeth Gilles will star through June 1. Seymour is a down-on-his-luck florist with a crush on his co-worker Audrey. When he discovers a mysterious – and voracious – plant, suddenly Seymour and Audrey are thrust into an epic battle that will determine the fate of the entire human race. Little Shop of Horrors first premiered Off-Broadway in 1982, where it made audiences laugh, scream, and give up gardening for good.
Videos