What is your favorite small theater for live performance in New York City?

Check out a listing of the past venues for the NYC Fringe festival—that will basically be an automatic “places to google” list for you. Also, great individual places off the top of my head: WOW Cafe, The Kitchen, and LMCC’s residency program (Swing Space) that matches projects with small unused spaces downtown.

@marmoset : Thank you! Just the kind of thing…

I’m not that much into the theatre, so I can’t really answer your question.

But I can give you a little advice that I hope the mods will consider sufficiently on topic to let my answer remain: go into any large upscale hotel and ask the concierge to recommend whatever you’re looking for (you don’t have to let on that you’re not a guest at the hotel, but don’t go into little boutique hotels because they do know who all the guests are at the moment).

Not bad advice, @HungryGuy , I’ll find one near Grand Central. (I day trip in). Thanks.

@JilltheTooth – There’s tons of gimungous upscale hotels in Midtown (near Grand Central).

Just to clarify, I would also love recommendations from people who have been to some small theaters there, and have ones that they like. For example, I love Abingdon, but I don’t want to go there every time.

Both The New Yorker and New York Magazine have long lists of current entertainment available in NYC, often with short, critical blurbs included.

My husband and I like Pearl Theater Company. They are excellent but they do classical repertory so I’m not sure if that is what you are looking for. We’ve seen them do Miss Julie by Strindberg, Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde and others. It’s a resident acting company and I know that one of their supporters in the past was Glenn Close.
http://www.pearltheatre.org/

New York Theater Workshop
Classic Stage Company
HERE Arts Center
The Public Theater
Rattlestick Playwright’s Theater
SoHo Rep
St. Ann’s Warehouse (Bklyn)
Brooklyn Academy of Music (Bklyn)

I have attended theater at each of these. Rattlestick and St. Ann’s have been particularly “hot” in recent seasons…

@Earthgirl : Some of the best Shakespeare I’ve seen has been at tiny venues, I like the classics as well, thank you!

@zigmund : I’ll look into all of these as well, thank you!

JilltheTooth You’re welcome. I think the actors are top notch. Sadly, they had to move out of their old digs on St. Mark’s Place. It was a cool little theater. I tried to find a pic of the interior which was very old and quaint. Red velvet drapes, old wooden seats, (not a bad one in the house) and all. I found this about the handprints in the sidewalk which are pretty cool. Myna Loy is one of my favorites!
http://famousankles.com/2008/03/29/pearl-theatre-company-and-the-les-handprints-of-fame/
Now they are at City Center which is nice but the last play we saw there was in a theater with folding chairs on the side and no atmosphere. Whatever, once the lights go down and the actors come on you forget all that right?..... Suspension of disbelief.

I am also happy to hear that Cherry Lane Theatre is out of debt and moving forward with a new 2012 season. I saw Joan Cusack there in the 90’s in Brilliant Traces. She was great! Damn, this is making me realize I don’t go out to the theatre often enough. Anyways, it is a really nice location with plenty of good restaurants nearby and quite an illustrious history including F. Scott Fitzgerald. I think I just made a resolution to go there this year!

@JilltheTooth: And remember to visit our own @breedmitch’s Brookvin wine bar if you are in the neighborhood.