Newsies, Founding Fathers, Patti LuPone & Naked Dudes! 10 Must-See Events in New York City This Summer

Getting ready to spend this summer at the beach? Cancel your plans immediately! There’s too much amazing stuff happening in New York City, so throw out your bathing suit and tell your friends on Fire Island you're spending the summer with Patti LuPone. Here are 10 must-see events to keep you entertained in the city all summer long—and with Jake Gyllenhaal, Sutton Foster, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jeremy Jordan, Taye Diggs, Celia Keenan-Bolger and a bunch of naked dudes, who could ask for anything more?


Broadway Bares: Top Bottoms of Burlesque
June 21 at the Hammerstein Ballroom
For 25 years, the cast of Broadway Bares, the sexy striptease that benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, has been strutting their stuff in nearly nothing for our entertainment. With the show’s Tony-winning creator Jerry Mitchell back to direct, Top Bottoms of Burlesque pays tribute to some of Broadway’s most iconic personalities. Hey, as long as those iconic Broadway personalities take their clothes off, we’re in. Click for tickets!


A Trio of Musical Favorites at Encores!
Begins June 24 at New York City Center
Usually we ditch the Big Apple for the Hamptons, but we’ve got three very important reasons to stay put this summer: A New Brain starring Jonathan Groff, The Wild Party with Sutton Foster and Little Shop of Horrors headlined by Jake Gyllenhaal and original star Ellen Greene at Encores! (Good luck trying to score a seat for that last one, but still.) Click for tickets!


Shows For Days
Opens June 29 at LCT’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre
Tony winner Patti LuPone is ditching her Broadway pedigree to run a community theater. Well, not in real life. (Although the Patti LuPone Playhouse would be awesome.) In Douglas Carter Beane’s new comedy Shows For Days at Lincoln Center Theater! LuPone joins Dale Soules, Jordan Dean, Zoe Winters, Lance Coadie Williams and Michael Urie as Car (the playwright’s alter-ego) in this semi-autobiographical new play. Click for tickets!


Gloria
Now playing at the Vineyard Theatre
Climb the corporate ladder with a team of disgruntled editorial assistants in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Gloria, a new dark (dark, dark) comedy featuring Kyle Beltran and a host of off-Broadway newcomers. When an ordinary day at work is interrupted, the millennials’ lives and careers are turned on their heads. This shocking and powerful production is not to be missed. Click for tickets!


The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Reunion
July 6 at Town Hall
It’s been 10 years since William Finn’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee first opened on Broadway, and alas, we’ve completely forgotten how to spell C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E. It’s time to brush up on those spelling skills with Tony winner Dan Fogler, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Celia Keenan-Bolger and more members of the original cast at Town Hall! Bring your dictionary. Click for tickets!


Penn & Teller
Begins July 7 at the Marquis Theatre
Thirty years after making their Broadway debut, Penn & Teller are returning to the Big Apple to make magic at the Mariott Marquis Theatre. Since appearing on the Great White Way, the duo have created their own Showtime show Bullshit!, appeared on Celebrity Apprentice, Dancing with the Stars, and oh, became household names. NBD. See them go back to their roots for six weeks only this summer. Click for tickets!


Hamilton
Begins July 13 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre
If you missed its sold-out run at the Public Theater, don’t worry—Lin-Manuel Miranda’s historical hip-hop musical Hamilton begins performances on Broadway this summer. (And if you already saw it off-Broadway, you obviously need to go again. And again. And again.) The buzzed-about musical about founding father Alexander Hamilton is guaranteed to be one of the hottest tickets of the year. Click for tickets!


Newsies in Concert
Begins July 22 at 54 Below
It’s been almost a year since Newsies closed on Broadway, and man, we miss those little vest-wearing, pape-toting, dirty-faced hooligans. But don’t worry, they’re back to carry the banner at 54 Below! Original star Jeremy Jordan will headline a solo concert series at the cabaret hot spot from June 26 through July 3, and Corey Cott, Kara Lindsay and more stars from the Broadway production will reunite on August 24. Click here and here for tickets!


Taye Diggs in Hedwig
Begins July 22 at the Belasco Theatre
Ladies and gentlemen, there’s a new transgender rock goddess in New York City. After Darren Criss departs on July 19, Rent favorite Taye Diggs will put on some makeup, turn up the eight-track and pull the wig down from the shelf, becoming the first African-American actor to play the role in a professional production. Bring on the glitter. Click for tickets!


Cymbeline
Begins July 23 at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park
Fill up a thermos with wine and pick up some of that fancy cheese from Whole Foods, because it’s time for Shakespeare in the Park! Enjoy the great outdoors as Tony nominee Lily Rabe and her real-life beau Hamish Linklater bring the Shakespearean tale to life under the stars. Best of all, it's free. Click for tickets!