Celebrities To See on New York City Stages This Fall and Winter

This autumn, there will be lots of film and TV stars doing plays and musicals on and off Broadway. Here are the ones you can see if you visit NYC:

Tom Hanks. This is probably the biggest star to grace the season, but Hanks won’t be on Broadway. He’ll be at a relatively new Off-Broadway venue called The Shed in a play he co-wrote with James Glossman called This World of Tomorrow. Broadway star Kelli O’Hara will appear opposite Hanks.

Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. This duo from the Bill & Ted movies is heading to Broadway in the classic Samuel Beckett play, Waiting for Godot. Most triumphant!

Kristin Chenoweth and F. Murray Abraham come together for Stephen Schwartz’s new musical, The Queen of Versailles on Broadway. I have high hopes for this one!

Neil Patrick Harris, Bobby Cannavale, and James Corden. All three of these actors are seasoned theater performers. They’ll come together on Broadway for a revival of the play, Art, by Yasmina Reza.

Michelle Williams and Mike Faist will star in Eugene O’Neill’s classic, Anna Christie, Off-Broadway in Brooklyn at St. Ann’s Warehouse, a lovely venue with a view of the Brooklyn Bridge just outside its doors. Faist is a Tony nominee who was head of the Jets in the recent remake of West Side Story and also starred in the film, Challengers.

Mark Strong of The Penguin and Lesley Manville of The Crown. These two will bring their Olivier Award-winning production of Oedipus to Broadway.

Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, will take on the adult Draco character in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway.

Oscar nominee Ariana DeBose and Scott Bakula. The pair will star in Stephen Schwartz’s musical, The Baker’s Wife, at Off-Broadway’s Classic Stage Company. This is a small venue, where every seat is a good one that will give you an excellent view of the stars.

Aubrey Plaza of White Lotus fame will star opposite Chris Bauer of True Blood in Oscar winner Ethan Coen’s new play, Let’s Love, at Off-Broadway’s Atlantic Theater Company.

Laurie Metcalf will return to Broadway in the play, Little Bear Ridge Road, by Samuel D. Hunter. She will star opposite Micah Stock of the series Bonding and Kindred.

Matthew Broderick and David Cross. Broderick is a frequent theater performer, both on and off Broadway. This time, he’ll star with Cross in an adaptation of Moliere’s classic, Tartuffe, by Lucas Hnath at Off-Broadway’s New York Theatre Workshop.

Lea Michele and Aaron Tveit. You’ll remember Lea Michele from Glee and Aaron Tveit from Schmigadoon. They’ll appear in a revival of the musical, Chess, on Broadway. They’ll be joined by Broadway star Nicholas Christopher.

Kevin McHale, also of Glee, will lead an Off-Broadway revival of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

Michael Urie, Kumail Nanjiani, and Jinx Monsoon. These three are already on stage in the hit play, Oh, Mary! on Broadway. You’ll remember Emmy nominee Urie from Ugly Betty and Shrinking. He’s a frequent theater performer. Nanjiani is best known for The Big Sick, and Monsoon is known for RuPaul’s Drag Race and the recent Broadway production of Pirates!

Leslie Odom, Jr., an Oscar nominee, returns to Hamilton for a limited engagement as Aaron Burr once again.

Jonathan Groff, speaking of Hamilton (he played King George in the original cast), is currently playing Bobby Darin in the new Broadway jukebox musical, Just In Time, and having seen it, I can personally say that he’s tearing it up. You’ll smile from start to finish. Jonathan starred in TV’s Looking, Glee, and Mindhunter, as well as the recent film, A Nice Indian Boy. That makes three Glee alums on NYC stages this fall.