‘Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes’ / ‘Creditors’
Together, a new company founded by Hugh Jackman and the producer Sonia Friedman, kicks off with two plays presented in repertory at the Minetta Lane Theater, in collaboration with Audible. Jackman himself stars in Hannah Moscovitch’s “Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes” alongside Ella Beatty — and when was the last time we saw him in such an intimate space? Starting May 10, the show will alternate with a new adaptation of August Strindberg’s “Creditors” by Jen Silverman (“The Roommate”), starring Liev Schreiber, Maggie Siff and Justice Smith. Both productions are directed by Ian Rickson. (Through June 18, Minetta Lane Theater)
‘Goddess’
Michael Thurber and Saheem Ali’s new musical, with additional book material by James Ijames, is set in a nightclub in Mombasa, Kenya. Ali directs at the Public Theater, where he staged Ijames’s hit play “Fat Ham” before it transferred to Broadway. Amber Iman (“Lempicka”) plays Nadira, a singer who actually is the title deity, Marimba, the ruler of music. (Through June 8, Public Theater)
‘Bowl EP’
Skating? Been there, done that onstage, from “Starlight Express” to “Kimberly Akimbo.” Skateboarding is a much rarer beast. Now the Vineyard Theater is getting an in-the-round makeover to accommodate Nazareth Hassan’s new play about hip-hop and the culture that gave us ollies and airwalks. A co-production with National Black Theater in association with the New Group. (Through June 8, Vineyard Theater)
You can’t blame Colman Domingo (“Rustin,” “Sing Sing”) for focusing on acting these past few years — he’s getting the recognition and roles he’s long deserved. Still, it’s nice to see him return to playwriting, in collaboration with Patricia McGregor (who also directed). The story — enhanced with musical numbers — takes place in 1957, on the last night of the TV show hosted by the silky voiced Nat “King” Cole (Dulé Hill). He has just quit after enduring constant bigotry and pressure from the network and national advertisers, and has a lot on his mind. Daniel J. Watts also stars as Sammy Davis Jr. (Through June 29, New York Theater Workshop)
‘The Last Bimbo of the Apocalypse’
The title of this new musical by Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley (“Circle Jerk”) is a reference to a New York Post headline from 2006 about Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears. The show imagines that the unholy trinity actually was a quartet — but whatever happened to the last member? An internet sleuth is played by Milly Shapiro, herself one of the four little girls who won Tony Honors for Excellence in Theater in 2013 when they alternated in the lead role of “Matilda the Musical.” (Through June 8; The New Group)
‘Bus Stop’
This co-production from Classic Stage Company, the National Asian American Theater Company and Transport Group revisits a William Inge play from 1955 that is set inside a Kansas diner, where the staffers must share a few hours with bus passengers marooned by a snowstorm. The director Jack Cummings III is in familiar territory, having helmed excellent revivals of Inge’s “Come Back, Little Sheba” and “Picnic” in 2017. (May 8-June 8, Classic Stage Company)
‘A(u)nts!’
The new play by the actress and writer Zoë Geltman is about aunts (three women working in one dental practice) and ants. That is all we know about the show, but since it’s being staged at the experimental hot spot the Brick Theater, it’s a safe bet it won’t be your average play. More incentives to check it out: Geltman is a promising, emerging voice and the wonderful Megan Hill — a memorable David Lee Roth in the Off Broadway comedy “Eddie and Dave” — stars alongside Geltman and Jehan O. Young. (May 8-24, the Brick)
‘The Imaginary Invalid’
Chekhov has been a favorite this spring (when is he not?), but now it’s Molière’s turn, with two productions of his classic comedy from 1673. The first is from Molière in the Park — Prospect Park in Brooklyn, that is — and stars Sahr Ngaujah (“Fela!,” “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”) as Argan, a hypochondriac entangled with scheming family members, servants and doctors. (May 8-25, LeFrak Center at Lakeside, Brooklyn)
Next comes a version from the Red Bull company, with the director Jesse Berger and the adapter Jeffrey Hatcher teaming up again after their successful revivals of “The Government Inspector” and “The Alchemist.” Mark Linn-Baker plays Argan and Sarah Stiles (“Tootsie”) is his wily maid, Toinette. (May 21-June 29, New World Stages)
‘Eurydice’
Sarah Ruhl’s breakthrough play has had quite the journey in the past couple of decades, including an opera adaptation with the composer Matthew Aucoin in 2020. Now Signature Theater brings the show, which puts Orpheus’s wife at the center of the story, back to New York with Maya Hawke in the title role and Brian D’Arcy James as her father. Les Waters, who oversaw the Off Broadway premiere in 2007, directs. (May 13-June 22, the Pershing Square Signature Center)
‘Business Ideas’
The Clubbed Thumb company’s annual Summerworks series — one of the city’s most reliably rewarding showcases of new plays — kicks off with the latest from Milo Cramer (“School Pictures”). The show follows the efforts of a mother and her daughter who come up with entrepreneurial ideas to make it in a gig and service economy. (May 14-27, the Wild Project)
‘Lunar Eclipse’
Reed Birney and Lisa Emery portray a couple taking stock after decades of marriage as they contemplate the title event on their Kentucky farm; the playwright Donald Margulies (“Dinner With Friends”) has said the show was inspired by his relationship with his father-in-law, a Kentucky farmer. This is the first Second Stage production at the company’s new home at the Signature complex. (May 14-June 22, the Pershing Square Signature Center)
‘Seagull: True Story’
The director Alexander Molochnikov has been persona non grata in Moscow since the start of the Ukraine war, so his latest project is opening in New York. Created and directed by Molochnikov, and written by Eli Rarey, “Seagull: True Story” tells the story of a Russian director, Kon (Eric Tabach), trying to stage Chekhov’s “The Seagull” — but how? Where? Presented at La MaMa (which has also presented works by the Russian theatermaker in exile Dmitry Krymov) in association with MART Foundation and En Garde Arts. (May 16-June 1, La MaMa)
‘Angry Alan’
John Krasinski makes his return to the stage in Penelope Skinner’s monologue about toxic masculinity from the perspective of a man consumed by his grievances and rage. Sam Gold directs this offering from Seaview Productions, which has built an impressive résumé (“Good Night, and Good Luck,” “Romeo + Juliet”), and is presenting the show in its own space, Studio Seaview. (May 23-Aug. 3, Studio Seaview)
