Welcome to Standing Room Only

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Let's be honest: Broadway tickets aren't cheap. Off-Broadway tickets aren't cheap. Your time definitely isn't cheap. And there's nothing worse than sitting through two and a half hours of a show you knew was wrong for you by the end of Act One.

That's where we come in.

Welcome to Standing Room Only, your no-BS guide to New York theater. We see everything—the hits, the misses, the overhyped, the underrated, the Broadway blockbusters, and the scrappy Off-Broadway gems—so you can make smarter choices about where to spend your evening and your hard-earned money.

We're not here to write glowing reviews for shows that don't deserve them. We're not collecting quotes for poster ads. We're here to tell you the truth: what's worth your time, what's worth the hype, and what you should absolutely skip (even if everyone else is raving about it).

New York has more theater than any city in the world. That's a blessing and a curse. Let us help you navigate it.

Your time is precious. Don't waste it on a bad show.

Welcome to Standing Room Only. Let's talk theater.

 
Featured
"Archduke" Can't Decide What It Wants to Kill
"Archduke" Can't Decide What It Wants to Kill

In Rajiv Joseph's "Archduke," now playing at Roundabout Theatre Company, a group of young Serbian revolutionaries plot the murder that sparked World War I while obsessing over women they've never touched and coughing up blood into handkerchiefs. They're all virgins, all consumed by tuberculosis, all desperate to mean something before they die—which makes the whole assassination plot feel less like political conviction and more like a particularly dramatic bucket list.

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Bat Boy at New York City Center: The Musical NYC Didn't Know It Needed
Bat Boy at New York City Center: The Musical NYC Didn't Know It Needed

Bat Boy is about a half-human, half-bat creature discovered in a cave in West Virginia who gets taken in by the town veterinarian and his family. The vet's wife tries to civilize him. The teenage daughter falls for him. The townspeople want him dead. There's religious allegory, there's a revival meeting, there's forbidden love, there's murder, and…

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October Wasn't All Bad: Five Shows We Actually Liked
October Wasn't All Bad: Five Shows We Actually Liked

October wasn't exactly a banner month for New York theater. But buried between the disappointments were five shows that reminded us why we do this. Here's what's worth your time.

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Welcome to Standing Room Only
Welcome to Standing Room Only

The who, what, and why of SRO.

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October Wasn't All Bad: Five Shows We Actually Liked