See these celebrities in Broadway and Off-Broadway shows – New York Theatre Guide

In New York, it's not unheard of to spot a celebrity in public, walking their dog or attending a show. So it's no wonder, with so many living here, that plenty of celebrities find themselves on the Broadway or Off-Broadway stage at some point in their career.Many actors, having come from acting schools, get their start in theatre before gaining mainstream fame as a movie or TV star, and New York's stages allow them a return to their roots. Or, tried-and-true screen actors will make their stage debuts later in their careers to try something new. Either way, putting celebrities on stage gives audiences a chance to see their favorite stars live in a whole new way.

There are many celebrities on Broadway and off-Broadway to see right now, from comedians to musicians to screen veterans, many of whom do it all. Buzzy Broadway revivalsand limited-run Off-Broadway shows alikeare all studded with stars. Here are the celebrities in New York shows that are performing right now.

Get tickets to Broadway shows on New York Theatre Guide.

Beanie Feldstein and Jane Lynch are the greatest stars ofFunny Girlon Broadway this year. The two stage and screen stars play relatives real-life Ziegfeld Follies performer Fanny Brice and her mother, Mrs. Rosie Brice, respectively in this musical about Fanny's rise to fame and tumultuous romance with the gambler Nicky Arnstein, played by theatre veteran Ramin Karimloo.

Feldstein has been on the film circuit since 2016, when she landed her first major role inNeighbors 2: Sorority Rising. Since then, she's made a name for herself in films likeLady Birdand Booksmartand the miniseriesAmerican Crime Story: Impeachment, and she made her Broadway debut in 2017 in another high-profile Broadway revival:Hello, Dolly!

Funny Girlalso marks the second Broadway appearance of Jane Lynch, after she appeared inAnnieas Miss Hannigan in 2014. Lynch is best known for her screen work, in a role entirely opposite of her musical work: that of the theatre-hating, hard-nosed cheer coach Sue Sylvester in the long-running TV showGlee.She earned a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award for the role, and she picked up another two Emmys for performing inDropping the SoapandThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but you don't need to go all the way there to see her you can catch the real-life star inFunny Girlright here in New York.

Funny Girltickets will be available on New York Theatre Guide soon.

If you've wished to see Debra Messing return to Broadway, you're in luck. She's stepping into her first Broadway role since 2014 in Noah Haidle'sBirthday Candles, a postponed production from 2020. She stars as Ernestine Ashworth, a woman celebrating more than 80 years' worth of birthdays and continually reevaluating what she wants out of life every step of the way.

But it was back in 1998 when Messing hit a turning point in her own life, landing her breakthrough role as interior designer inWill & Grace. The show ran for eight years, and was rebooted in 2017 for another three seasons. For Will & Grace, Messing received seven Golden Globe Award nominations and five Primetime Emmy Award nominations (including one win) for her performance.In between, Messing only built upon her onscreen success with appearances inSmash, The Mysteries of Laura, Hollywood Ending,The Mothman Prophecies,and more.

Messing will star inBirthday Candleson Broadway alongside Enrico Colantoni, who plays her neighbor and teenage admirer. Colantoni has had a 35-year screen acting career of his own, with some of his best-known roles beingKeith Marson Veronica Mars,Elliot DiMauro in Just Shoot Me!, Carl Elias onPerson of Interest, and Sergeant Greg Parker on Flashpoint.

GetBirthday Candlestickets now.

This year's revival ofTake Me Outhas hit a home run with this cast. Screen starsPatrick J. Adams, Jesse Williams, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson are the key players in this show about Darren Lemming, a fictional Major League Baseball player who comes out as gay, facing backlash from his teammates and the public. Starring as that player, Darren Lemming, is Jesse Williams, best known for playing Dr. Jackson Avery onGreys Anatomyfor nearly 12 years and now makes his Broadway debut alongside Patrick J. Adams.

Adams, who plays Darren's teammate Kippy Sunderstrom, is a Screen Actors Guild Award-nominated actor known for his role as Mike Ross in Suits.He has also appeared on TV in NCIS, Lost, Friday Night Lights, and more. Also on theTake Me Outteam is Jesse Tyler Ferguson, a five-time Emmy nominee and four-time Screen Actors Guild winner for playing Mitch Pritchett on all 10 seasons ofModern Family. He now returns to the stageas Mason Marzac, a gay accountant working for Darren who's very interested in his coming out.

GetTake Me Outtickets now.

Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parkerplay three couples in Neil Simon's farcePlaza Suite, but their real-life love story long precedes this production. They married in 1997 (after performing at the same theatre company!) and later performed inHow to Succeed in Business Without Really Tryingon Broadway together. But of course, each has established a successful independent acting career. Since landing his breakout role as the titular character inFerris Bueller's Day Off, Broderick has gone on to star in critically acclaimed films likeThe Producers, The Lion King, The Music Man, and plenty other non-theatrical films. He's also a two-time Tony Award winner, forHow to SucceedandBrighton Beach Memoirs.

Parker is synonymous with the groundbreakingSex and the Cityfranchise, in which she starred for six TV seasons, a series reboot, and two movies as the fashion-obsessed writer Carrie Bradshaw. She won two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards for her portrayal, butSex and the Cityis far from her only claim to fame. She first performed on Broadway at age 11 in The Innocentsand made her first major screen appearances inFootlooseandFirstborn, and she's gone on to star in popular films likeHoneymoon in Vegas,Hocus Pocus,The First Wives Club, andFailure to Launch.

GetPlaza Suitetickets now.

Hugh Jackman and Sutton Fosterlead the big parade at the Winter Garden Theatre, playing Harold Hill and Marian Paroo in this year's Broadway revival ofThe Music Man. Before starring as Harold a con man who plans to swindle the residents of River City, Iowa, out of their money Jackman made his Broadway debut in 2004'sThe Boy From Ozand earned a Tony Award. He won a second one in 2012 for his solo concert,Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway.

Jackman has earned even wider acclaim for his film career, with his breakthrough role as Wolverine in 2000'sX-Menleading to a 17-year career with the franchise. An Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe-winning turn inLes Misrables, P. T. Barnum inThe Greatest Showman, andRobert Angier inPrestigeare among his other popular screen credits.

Sutton Foster has established a formidable Broadway roster leading up to her current role as Marian, a librarian who falls in love with Harold and is hesitant to expose his scheme. She gained fame as a last-minute replacement in the title role ofThoroughly Modern Millieand eventually won a Tony for the role, and she won a second one for playing Reno Sweeney in 2011'sAnything Goes,a performance she reprised in London 10 years later. She's also starred in the Broadway musicalsLittle Women,The Drowsy Chaperone,Young Frankenstein,Shrek, andViolet.Duringher seven-year Broadway hiatus betweenVioletandThe Music Man, she starred on the comedy/drama seriesYoungerfor all seven seasons.

The Music Mantickets will be available on New York Theatre Guide soon.

WithAmerican Utopia, David Byrne is Byrne-ing down the house the St. James Theatre, that is, where Byrne is right at home performing his greatest career hits. In his Tony-winning theatrical concert, the former Talking Heads frontman sings songs from his time with the band as well as music from the 2018 solo album that gives the Broadway show its name.

Byrne has been on the music scene since the 1970s, when the Talking Heads took off and became popular for their new wave sound. The band broke up in 1988, but Byrne quickly launched an equally successful solo career, and all his musical achievements earned him a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Now, you can see Byrne and his 11-piece band cover his five-decade career in an uplifting 100-minute performance.

GetDavid Byrne's American Utopiatickets now.

Even those who don't "know" Broadway will likely recognize Patti LuPone. Her five-decade career has spanned not only theatre, but also plenty of film and television: her credits include the filmsDriving Miss DaisyandThe 24 Hour Woman, and recurring roles on TV shows likePose, Hollywood, Life Goes On,andOz, to name a few. However, it is especially on stage where LuPone has become an icon.

Since making her professional acting debut in 1972, she's gone on towin Tony Awards for starring inGypsyandEvita, in addition tobeing nominated for her performances inWar Paint, Sweeney Todd,The Robber Bridegroom, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,andAnything Goes. LuPone has had equal success across the pond: shes won Olivier Awards for originating the roles of Fantine inLes Misrables, Norma Desmond inSunset Boulevard, and Joanne in the latest revival of Stephen Sondheim'sCompany.Now, LuPone is reprising her Olivier Award-winning performance as Joanne inCompanyon Broadway.

GetCompanytickets now.

Five-time Emmy nominee Phylicia Rashad is a trailblazer of both stage and screen. Two of her Emmy nominations were for her most famous role as Claire Huxtable onThe Cosby Show, and she picked up an additional three more than 30 years later for her four-episode turn as Carol Clarke onThis Is Us.

On stage, she became the first-ever Black woman to win the Best Actress Tony Award when she played Lena Younger in the 2004 revival ofA Raisin in the Sun.She's also starred in shows likeInto the Woodsand August: Osage County, and she was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2016 for all her accomplishments. Her latest star turn is inSkeleton Crewon Broadway, where she plays a blue-collar worker at a Detroit auto plant on the brink of closure.

GetSkeleton Crewtickets now.

It's fitting that Bill Camp and Elizabeth Marvel, a real-life married couple, play spouses in the Off-Broadway revival ofLong Day's Journey into Night, though they're doing much better together than the fearful, addiction-addled Tyrones in Eugene O'Neill's play. Both actors have had equally prolific careers on stage and screen: Camp, for one, is an Obie Award winner for his performance inTony KushnersHomebody/Kabuland a Tony Award nominee for playing John Proctor inThe Crucible, and he's also starred inDeath of a Salesman,Saint Joan, Heartbreak House, and more.Camp's equally numerous film and TV credits include, 12 Years a Slave,Joker,The Queens Gambit,Law & Order, Boardwalk Empire,The Good Wife, andLincoln.

Marvel also starred on screen in Lincoln, so Long Day's Journey into Nightisn't the couple's first acting project together. She also has 30 years' worth of performance credits under her belt between Broadway shows, Off-Broadway shows, and film and TV. Like her husband, Marvel is an Obie winner for her Off-Broadway work, with four trophies to her name: forThrse Raquin, A Streetcar Named Desire, Hedda Gabler,andMisalliance.She's also appeared inTop Girls, Picnic,King Lear, and more on Broadway, and her screen credits include movies and shows likeHouse of Cards,Helstrom,The District,Homeland, andLaw & Order: SVU.

GetLong Day's Journey into Nighttickets now.

If you're searching for hilarious life in the universe, you'll find it in Cecily Strong. Before taking on the role of alien-communicating "bag lady" Trudy (among other characters), made famous by Lily Tomlin in The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, Strong honed her comedy chops on the Chicago stage.

In 2012, she began a still-running gig as a cast member onSaturday Night Live. She gained acclaim (including two Emmy nominations) particularly for her celebrity impressions, including theatrical figures like Liza Minnelli, Julie Andrews, andLin-Manuel Miranda. Earlier in 2021, before going onThe Search's adventure through time and space, she went on another journey inSchmigadoon!, Apple TV+'s musical theatre-parodying series that starred Strong and Keegan Michael-Key as the unwitting main characters in a Golden Age musical.

GetThe Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universetickets now.

Tariq Trotter does it all. Known professionally as "Black Thought," Trotter has been in the music business since 1987, when he co-founded The Roots. The hip-hop group gained mainstream fame as the house band ofThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallonand has also released 11 studio albums, one of which received a Grammy nomination. Now, in a departure from his usual MCing, Trotter is exercising both his songwriting and acting chops as part ofBlack No Moreoff- Broadway. Trotter wrote original music and lyrics for the new musical, which is based on a 1931 satire novel by George S. Schuyler. Trotter stars in the show as Dr. Junius Crookman, the inventor of a machine that turns Black people white.

GetBlack No Moretickets now.

From one bloody show to another goes Conrad Ricamora. The actor is best known for his role onHow To Get Away with Murderas the computer whiz Oliver Hampton. He now plays another geeky role, but this time on stage: He's the latest actor to play the adorably awkward Seymour inLittle Shop of Horrorsat the Westside Theatre. But he's no stranger to the Off-Broadway stage: Ricamora has two Lucille Lortel Award nominations under his belt, one each for the musicalsSoft PowerandHere Lies Love. He also played Lun Tha in the most recent revival ofThe King and I and now suddenly, he's Seymour!

Get Little Shop of Horrorstickets now.

The rest is here:

See these celebrities in Broadway and Off-Broadway shows - New York Theatre Guide