Women on the verge of corporate burnout

Women on the verge of corporate burnout

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You've spent three Tuesdays on a Slack thread that should have been an email, and the group chat has heard enough about it. These are the shows about the women grinding, gaslighting, gunning for the promotion, and quietly unraveling — the catharsis no Sunday face mask is going to deliver.

An American Daughter

from $45

A woman's rise to national power gets derailed by a "minor personal mistake" the press won't drop. Wendy Wasserstein's sharp comedy about the double standard for ambitious women, with Montego Glover leading the revival under director Sarna Lapine. Off-Broadway at the Pershing Square Signature Center, July 23 through September 6.

Poster of Girl, Interrupted in New York.

Girl, Interrupted

from $129

Susanna Kaysen's memoir of a 1960s psych ward gets a world-premiere stage adaptation, scored by Aimee Mann's Queens of the Summer Hotel — the album she literally wrote about the same material. The young women on the ward are fighting for stability, control, and a way out, in a place that's both refuge and prison. At The Public through June 21.

Poster of Death Becomes Her on Broadway in New York.

Death Becomes Her on Broadway

94%

4.2k ratings

from $62

Two women would rather drink the immortality potion than lose to each other — at staying young, at stealing the same man, at coming out on top. The 1992 cult film is now a Broadway musical, and the whole arc is two girlies refusing to log off the competition. Eternal life, eternal exhaustion. At the Lunt-Fontanne.

Schmigadoon! on Broadway

91%

844 ratings

from $72

Two New York doctors so burnt out they sign up for a couples' backpacking retreat, and end up trapped in a Golden Age musical that won't let them leave until they've found true love. The gag is that escaping their exhaustion looks suspiciously like falling for a Rodgers-and-Hammerstein cliché, and the score commits all the way. At the Nederlander.

Poster of Operation Mincemeat in New York.

Operation Mincemeat

89%

1k ratings

from $63

The British secret-service typing pool runs a corpse-based deception that turns the tide of WWII, and the women who actually do the work spend the run-time watching the men collect the credit. A five-person troupe plays every role at full sprint, with office-supply choreography that became the show's calling card. At the Golden after sold-out runs in the West End.

Poster of Proof on Broadway in New York.

Proof on Broadway

93%

644 ratings

from $72

Catherine is a brilliant young mathematician who put her own work on hold to take care of her brilliant, unstable father. Now he's gone, a notebook of breakthrough proofs has surfaced, and nobody — not her sister, not her father's protégé, not Catherine herself — is sure who actually wrote it. Ayo Edebiri leads at the Booth through July 19.

Square poster for Moulin Rouge

Moulin Rouge! The Musical on Broadway

88%

4.1k ratings

from $72

The Moulin Rouge's headliner is also the only thing keeping the lights on, the investor at bay, and the consumption at a manageable level. The pop-mashup score puts every working-too-hard ballad ever written ("Rolling in the Deep," "Royals," "Chandelier") in her mouth, and the corseted exhaustion lands. At the Al Hirschfeld.

Poster of Petite Rouge by Company XIV in Brooklyn.

Petite Rouge by Company XIV

from $39

Little Red ditches the cape and goes into the woods anyway. Company XIV's baroque-burlesque rework of the Perrault fairytale is all aerial silks, opulent costumes, and the kind of decadent choreography that earned the company its reputation as New York nightlife's longest-running fever dream. Twenty-one and up. At Théâtre XIV.

Poster of Pied à Terre in New York.

Pied à Terre

from $43

Julia, a successful TV journalist, discovers her attorney husband owns a Manhattan apartment she didn't know existed — and the young woman waiting inside who seems to know him a little too well. The two women face off and discover the burdens they're each carrying have more in common than the husband they share. At the Anne L. Bernstein Theater off-Broadway.

Poster of SIX in New York.

SIX

88%

3.7k ratings

from $62

Henry VIII's six wives swap the history textbook for a pop concert and finally hold the mic, each taking a turn pitching the divorced/beheaded/died crowd on whose CV got worst-treated. Eighty intermission-free minutes of arena-energy pop reclamation in a Broadway house. The original girl-boss reclamation arc, with a Best Original Score Tony in tow.

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Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between Broadway and Off-Broadway?

Broadway theaters in New York have 500 or more seats and cluster in Midtown's Theater District. Off-Broadway venues have 100 to 499 seats and host newer plays, experimental work, and limited engagements before potential Broadway transfers.

What are the best Broadway musicals with strong female leads?

Broadway musicals with strong women at the center include SIX (about Henry VIII's six wives), Wicked, Hadestown, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, and Death Becomes Her. Off-Broadway picks include Operation Mincemeat and Petite Rouge by Company XIV.

How do I get cheap Broadway tickets in NYC?

You can get cheaper Broadway tickets through TodayTix Rush (same-day discounted seats), TodayTix lotteries, mid-week and matinee performances, and promotional codes for select productions. Off-Broadway shows often have lower base prices than Broadway musicals.

What's the best Broadway show for a girls' night out?

Popular Broadway and Off-Broadway picks for a girls' night out include SIX, Death Becomes Her, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Schmigadoon!, Titanique, and Operation Mincemeat. Each pairs well with pre or post-show dinner in the Theater District.

How long are most Broadway shows?

Most Broadway musicals run between two and three hours including an intermission. Plays tend to run shorter, often 90 to 120 minutes, and many newer productions skip the intermission entirely. Run times are listed on each show's page.