10 Free Shows in New York This Summer

Broadway tickets have never been more expensive, but that shouldn’t keep you, a New Yorker on a budget, from enjoying world-class entertainment. That’s especially true in the summer, when the city’s parks (and parking lots) transform into stages. Here are my recommendations for 10 outdoor shows to see in New York this summer—all completely free of charge.

1.The Taming of the Shrew (through July 19)
Boomerang Theatre Company returns to Central Park (specifically the lawn near the 69^th Street entrance at Central Park West) for Shakespeare’s tale of Kate, an independent-minded woman who just happens to be living in Renaissance Padua and is therefore deemed a “shrew,” and Petruchio, the man who sets out to “tame” her. Is it Shakespearean misogyny or a timeless battle of wills that reflects the massive gulf between the sexes that seems to have only widened in 2026?

2. Hamlet (through July 19)
Nicholas Martin-Smith, founding artistic director of Hudson Classical Theater Company, directs this fresh take on Shakespeare’s tragedy of the dispossessed prince of Denmark with three actors in the title role. Performing all its free summer productions on the back patio of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument in Riverside Park, Hudson Classical has developed a reputation for thrilling up-close stage combat, so you’ll definitely want to stick around for the final scene.

3. Othello (through July 26)
Classical Theatre of Harlem takes on the Moor of Venice, Shakespeare’s great tragedy of resentment and paranoia, which has gotten a lot of play in recent years, though I cannot imagine why. TheaterMania’s Kenji Fujishima calls this new staging from director Carl Cofield the best of the bunch—and you don’t even have to drop $900 on a ticket.

4. Broadway by the Boardwalk (July 13-August 10)
This series of free concerts at Clinton Cove in Hudson River Park (just follow 55^th Street until you reach the river) kicks off on Monday at 6:30pm with Max von Essen accompanied by Billy Stritch. The following Monday, newly minted Tony winner Ali Louis Bourzgui will perform on his day off from The Lost Boys. Each concert will also feature a special opening act, dubbed “Stepping Into the Spotlight,” highlighting Broadway’s understudies. It’s a great way to catch tomorrow’s Tony winners set against the backdrop of a Hudson River sunset. See the full schedule here.

5. As You Like It (July 16 – August 1)
The Forest of Arden sprouts in a Lower East Side car park in this “Shakespeare in the Parking Lot” production from the Drilling Company. Director Hamilton Clancy reimagines Shakespeare’s play for the artists and freethinkers of today who seek to escape an authoritarian court obsessed with low spectacle—the exact kind of people who used to be able to afford to live on the Lower East Side.

6.The Dancing Men (July 23 – August 14)
Hudson Classical wraps its summer season at the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument with executive artistic director Susane Lee’s new adaptation of an Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes story. Lee has previously (and excellently) adapted The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years Later, and The Man in the Iron Mask for the company. It’s easiest to enter Riverside Park at West 89^th Street.

7. The Winter’s Tale (July 25-August 23)
The OG Shakespeare in the Park is back and running at full capacity, with two productions at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The second of the summer is The Winter’s Tale: Raúl Esparza and Lily Rabe play the King and Queen of Sicily in this “problem play” about jealousy, mistaken identity, and the irrepressible power of love. Tony winner Daniel Sullivan, one of the great interpreters of Shakespeare working today, directs. Even if you didn’t quite fall in love with this summer’s earlier production of Romeo & Juliet, you won’t want to miss this one.

8. As You Like It and Macbeth (July 28 – August 19)
This is technically two shows playing in repertory in locations across Queens, Long Island, and New Jersey. The ambitious troupe behind this tour is Hip to Hip Theatre Company, which is now in its 20^th anniversary season. This summer they are pairing Shakespeare’s famous Scottish tragedy with his delightful pastoral comedy. It’s the Forest of Arden and Birnam Wood come to 10 different area parks. Find out which ones by browsing the complete tour schedule here.

9. Qween Jean’s Summer Legacy Ball (August 1)
Now in its third year, this is a ballroom competition on Little Island with categories like “Face,” “Tag Team Runway,” and “Executive Realness.” Our host is Qween Jean, Tony Award winner for her dazzling costumes for Cats: The Jellicle Ball. If you can’t afford a ticket to Broadway, you can still enjoy some of the most sickening looks and devastating beauty New York City has to offer during this one-night-only event.

10. Don Juan (August 14 preview, full run September 5-27)
You’ve heard of Shakespeare in the Park, but what about Molière? As summer fades into fall, Molière in the Park presents the French comic master’s spin on the legendary libertine, whose appetite for vice remains unquenched even as the sound of doom draws near. A special preview will perform in Brooklyn’s Domino Park on August 14 ahead of the full run at Prospect Park’s LeFrak Center at Lakeside in September. The relatively young company received two Drama Desk nominations for last season’s The Imaginary Invalid, so I’m eager to see what they pull off with this one.