New World Stages is a five-theater, Off-Broadway performing arts complex in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. 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 multiplex cinema at Worldwide Plaza. The Worldwide Cinemas multiplex opened in June 1989 and was originally operated by the Cineplex Odeon Corporation. 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 later that year after that firm's offices were destroyed in the September 11 attacks.
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’s assuming sole ownership of the complex. Since November 17, 2014, the venue has been owned and operated by The Shubert Organization.
In addition to new Off-Broadway productions, New World Stages has become a home to shows that were previously on Broadway, including Avenue Q, The 39 Steps, Million Dollar Quartet, Peter and the Starcatcher, Jersey Boys, and The Play That Goes Wrong. 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, 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!, October 9, 2007 – January 13, 2008 Jackie Mason: The Ultimate Jew, March 18, 2008 – July 20, 2008 Rock of Ages, 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, July 14, 2011 – September 9, 2012 Peter and the Starcatcher, 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, 2017American Theatre Wing, "Working in the Theatre: Building the Wall", November 30, 2016 Jersey Boys, November 22, 2017 – May 22, 2022 Melissa Etheridge My Window - A Journey Through Life, October 13, 2022 - October 29, 2022 Fidler Afn Dakh, 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, October 18, 2024 – January 5, 2025 Heathers: The Musical, June 22, 2025 – October 11, 2026Stage 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, 2009Gazillion Bubble Show, September 18, 2009 – January 18, 2027 (moved from Stage 3) Voca People, February 16, 2012 – September 2, 2012 Jackie Hoffman'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, 2017Katsura Sunshine's Rakugo, September 19, 2019 – January 8, 2027
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 6, 2009 (moved to Stage 2) Avenue Q, October 9, 2009 – May 26, 2019 Rock of Ages, 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: 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 – September 7, 2025 The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, November 7, 2025 – October 11, 2026
Stage 4 350 Seats The Immigrant, October 8, 2004 - November 28, 2004 Altar Boyz, February 15, 2005 – January 10, 2010 Naked Boys Singing, October 14, 2005 – January 28, 2012 White's Lies, April 12, 2010 – June 13, 2010 Freckleface Strawberry, October 1, 2010 – April 24, 2011 Jump, May 11, 2011 - June 12, 2011 Million Dollar Quartet, 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, October 22, 2015 – July 10, 2016 Not That Jewish, October 6, 2016 – April 30, 2017 The Government Inspector, July 5, 2017 - August 20, 2017 A Clockwork Orange, September 2, 2017 - December 2, 2017 Desperate Measures, May 30, 2018 – October 28, 2018 The Play That Goes Wrong, February 11, 2019 – Present
Stage 5 199 Seats Symphonie Fantastique: August 31, 2004 – January 2, 2005 The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!), 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, 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, June 13, 2013 – September 29, 2013 Murder for Two, November 6, 2013 – June 29, 2014 Stalking the Bogeyman, 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, 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, May 21, 2025 – June 29, 2025 Jamie Allan'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
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