Summer Stages: BWW's Top Summer Theatre Picks - NYC!

While Broadway and Off-Broadway productions are still thrilling audiences eight times a week, the summer is a great time to explore some of New York City's other great theatre options.

Sideshows By The Seashore: Various dates and times through mid-September at Coney Island. Visit coneyisland.com. Affectionately known as the Freak Show, Sideshows has been keeping the great tradition of carnival entertainment alive for over 25 years. During peak summer weeks shows are continuous throughout the day, so stop by anytime, buy a ticket at the door and be thrilled and amazed by the man who chews glass, the human blockhead, sword swallowers, snake charmers and other wild wonders.

Lower East Side Tenement Museum: 97 Orchard Street. Visit tenement.org. Performances rarely get as intimate or as participatory as the guided tours in this 1863 building that nearly 7000 working class immigrants have called home. Large extended families were usually jammed into these small apartments as they worked to provide a better life in America. Tour guides at the Tenement Museum are actors who welcome you in character and open up their homes to you, describing their everyday lives and engaging their small groups of visitors in conversation. Tours last from one hour to ninety minutes, immersing you into the fascinating world of old New York.

New York Musical Festival: July 11-August 7 at various midtown venues. Visit nymf.org. It's lucky year #13 for this amazing annual event that first hit town in 2004. Over 400 musicals later, over 70 of which have gone on to major New York and/or regional productions, NYMF has become an annual celebration for those who appreciate interesting scores and adventurous writing over extravagant production values. Tickets are inexpensive and each venue hosts several different shows daily, so it's easy to spend the day discovering the wide variety of musicals in the works.

Shakespeare In The Parking Lot: Performances at 114 Norfolk Street and at Bryant Park. Visit shakespeareintheparkinglot.com. Sure, we all love free Shakespeare at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, but every summer in the city you'll find dozens of free Shakespeare performances in parks, gardens and almost any location that can pass as a stage. Shakespeare in the Parking Lot began in 1995 in a municipal parking lot at the corner of Ludlow and Broome Streets in Manhattan's Lower East Side. Now presented by The Drilling Company, they call the lot behind the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center home, and 2016 will be its third year of performances in Bryant Park. No need to wait in line for this summer's productions of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM and THE MERCHANT OF VENICE.

Free Summer Theatre at New York City Parks: Visit nycgovparks.org. The official website of New York City's Public Parks offers a handy guide to free outdoor performances throughout the summer. From Shakespeare to kids shows to Gilbert & Sullivan, in all five boroughs, it's easy to search for a fun show near you.