Summer Stages: BWW's Top Summer Theatre Picks in NYC

City Center Encores! Off-Center and The Lobby Project (http://www.nycitycenter.org/content/stage/off-center.aspx). It's exciting enough that Encores! will be exploring Off-Broadway this summer with concert performances of three landmark musicals, The Cradle Will Rock, Violet and I'm Getting My Act Together And Taking It On The Road, but ticket-holders will also be invited to attend The Lobby Project, a series of free pre-show exhibitions and discussions. Participants and topics include Oskar Eustis, Amy Herzog and Sam Gold discussing how personal politics impacts art, Idina Menzel talking about A BroaderWay Foundation, an arts camp she created in 2010 with Taye Diggs for girls from underserved communities and Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford discussing their creation of Getting My Act Together...

New York Musical Theatre Festival: July 8-28. (http://www.nymf.org) New York prides itself in being the birthplace of the American musical and the New York Musical Theatre Festival, celebrating its 10th season in 2013, prides itself in being the city's most exciting showplace for new musicals with interesting scores and adventurous bookwriting. Tickets are inexpensive and each of the festival's multiple venues hosts several different shows daily, so it's easy to spend the day discovering the wide variety of musicals in the works.

Sideshows By The Seashore at Coney Island (http://www.coneyisland.com/sideshow.shtml) Affectionately known as the Freak Show, Sideshows has been keeping the great tradition of carnival entertainment alive for over 25 years. The stage at Coney Island U.S.A. was submerged in water after hurricane Sandy, but through generous donations and volunteer work this landmark structure has been beautifully refurbished. 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. The stage is also used for fun events like Burlesque At The Beach and Magic At Coney.