This season’s Broadway lineup is a stunner. It includes a behind-the-scenes glimpse of a Hollywood blockbuster, modern takes on history and a couple of long-overdue and welcome revivals. Read on for all the must-see productions you’ll want to harmonize with (even if it’s to the two-note tune of one very iconic on-screen shark).
Here Lies Love. Photo: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman
Ongoing
This show about former Filipina First Lady Imelda Marcos and her rise to power is anything but a dry political drama. Instead it’s a high-concept disco pop musical, conceptualized by David Byrne with music from him and Fatboy Slim (plus choreography by Annie-B Parson and direction from Moulin Rouge!’s Alex Timbers, both of whom collaborated with Byrne on American Utopia), that deconstructs history and reimagines it through a massive dance party. This show is participating in NYC Broadway Week; for 2-for-1 tickets, click here.
For fans of: unusual spins on historical figures, female-fronted stories, audience participation
Courtesy, Back to the Future
Ongoing
This adaptation of the 1985 Robert Zemeckis film won Best New Musical at the 2022 Olivier Awards and features Tony winner Roger Bart as Doc Brown. New songs by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard join music from the movie, including classics like “Johnny B. Goode” and “Earth Angel,” plus a few Huey Lewis tunes. This show is participating in NYC Broadway Week; for 2-for-1 tickets, click here.
For fans of: 1950s and 1980s nostalgia, rock ’n’ roll, plutonium
The Cottage. Photo: Joan Marcus
Through October 29
It’s a feat of theater physics that a cozy house in the English countryside can contain so many big names. The cast of this romantic comedy includes Will & Grace’s Eric McCormack, Hairspray’s Laura Bell Bundy, Spring Awakening’s Lilli Cooper, The Phantom of the Opera’s Nehal Joshi, Saturday Night Live’s Alex Moffat and Beetlejuice’s Dana Steingold. Directed by Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander from an original script by playwright Sandy Rustin, this raucous tale centers on a woman confessing her affair to both her husband and her lover’s wife. This show is participating in NYC Broadway Week; for 2-for-1 tickets, click here.
For fans of: 1920s England, behind-closed-doors drama, Clue
Courtesy, Shubert
Through November 19
This profound and funny play about the making of Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster film Jaws took the West End by storm before arriving on Broadway. Directed by actor-producer Guy Masterson and starring War Horse’s Ian Shaw as Quint (the role originated by his father, Robert), it’s also co-written by Shaw—so you know the tea is piping hot in this production. This show is participating in NYC Broadway Week; for 2-for-1 tickets, click here.
For fans of: Deuxmoi-level gossip, Hollywood blockbusters, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat”
Courtesy, Purlie Victorious
Previews begin September 7, opens September 27
This uproariously funny musical features Tony and Grammy Award winner Leslie Odom Jr. in the lead as a beloved preacher seeking to free his congregation from its overseer. Written by actor Ossie Davis and directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon, this rollicking story of breaking the shackles of Jim Crow America returns to Broadway for the first time since its original 1961 run (save a two-week engagement that began in late 1972). This show is participating in NYC Broadway Week; for 2-for-1 tickets, click here.
For fans of: American history, good triumphing over evil, Hamilton
Courtesy, Manhattan Theater Club
Previews begin September 12, opens October 3
Set over course of a hot summer in Harlem, this play centers on a hair-braiding salon and the lives, loves and ambitions of its West African immigrant employees and neighborhood clientele. Directed by Obie Award winner Whitney White and penned by Ghanaian American playwright Jocelyn Bioh, the story touches upon finding community while pursuing the American dream. This show is participating in NYC Broadway Week; for 2-for-1 tickets, click here.
For fans of: salon vibes, tributes to the people of New York City, Beauty Shop
Previews begin September 14, opens September 28, runs through November 19
You know the song that inspired the title—now you can delve beyond its lyrics into the life of its creator, singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge. This searingly honest intimate event with the Grammy and Academy Award–winning rock star combines storytelling and music, touching upon everything from Etheridge’s childhood to her career successes and pitfalls.
For fans of: confessional monologues, raspy vocals, LGBTQ+ stories
Gutenberg! The Musical!. Photo: Mandee Johnson
Previews begin September 15, opens October 12, runs through January 28, 2024
This comedic musical follows two oblivious theater composers pitching an inaccurate show about printing press inventor Johannes Gutenberg to investors. The Book of Mormon stars (and Hollywood bigs) Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells team up alongside Anthony King and Scott Brown, co-writers of Beetlejuice, and Moulin Rouge! director Alex Timbers for a satirically hilarious good time.
For fans of: Drunk History, Upright Citizens Brigade, The Producers
Merrily We Roll Along. Photo: Joan Marcus
Opens September 19, runs through March 24, 2024
This Olivier Award–winning revival featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim is a decades-spanning story about composer Franklin Shepard and his longtime friends Mary, a writer, and Charley, a lyricist and playwright. The show, which stars Jonathan Groff as Franklin, Daniel Radcliffe as Charley and Lindsay Mendez as Mary, moves backward to poignantly underscore and chart the strains that success has on Franklin’s closest relationships.
For fans of: classic Sondheim, stories about the entertainment business, The Last Five Years
Previews begin October 13, opens November 2
On the heels of his Tony-nominated performance in 2017’s The Price (which was his Broadway debut), Danny DeVito returns to the stage for a pared-down play that co-stars his daughter Lucy DeVito (The Diary of Anne Frank) and Ray Anthony Thomas (The Crucible). The Bernhardt/Hamlet team of playwright Theresa Rebeck and director Moritz von Stuelpnagel weaves an emotional narrative about a shut-in forced to reckon with his hoarding propensities, which ultimately asks us to consider what in our lives is garbage and what’s gold.
For fans of: Marie Kondo, explorations of loneliness and love, Grief Hotel
Courtesy, Harmony
Previews begin October 18, opens November 13
This largely forgotten true story sheds light on the Comedian Harmonists, a group of six singers whose performances catapulted them from the subway tunnels of Berlin to international fame. The musical features an original score by superstar singer-songwriter Barry Manilow and direction and choreography from Tony Award winner Warren Carlyle.
For fans of: 1920s and 1930s nostalgia, rags-to-riches stories, “Copacabana”
Courtesy, Spamalot
Previews begin October 31, opens November 16
This Tony Award–winning musical—“lovingly ripped off” from the classic comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail—returns to Broadway, featuring the medieval yarn’s trademark killer rabbits, flying cows and Lady of the Lake. The stacked cast includes theater favorites Christopher Fitzgerald (Young Frankenstein), James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin) and Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer (Beetlejuice), plus a book, lyrics and music by Monty Python member Eric Idle.
For fans of: Arthurian legend, British humor, “It’s only a flesh wound”
Previews begin November 15, opens December 10
This moving musical based on Alexandra Shiva’s HBO documentary of the same name follows seven autistic young adults as they get ready for a formal dance, pushing their personal and emotional boundaries to hilarious and heartrending effect. The production features a cast of autistic actors (all making their Broadway debuts) and is dedicated to the memory of longtime theater director and producer Harold “Hal” Prince, who was attached to the project prior to his death in 2019.
For fans of: neurodiverse stories, new talent, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Previews begin November 29, opens December 18, runs through February 11, 2024
It took two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Branden Jacobs-Jenkins to bring Sarah Paulson back to the stage after a 13-year hiatus, and her role in this darkly comic drama is appropriately meaty. Paulson plays the eldest of three siblings returning to clear out their ancestral Arkansas estate after their father’s passing. The trio, each of which has separate motivations for their stay, unearth long-buried secrets that force them to grapple with their past.
For fans of: Gloria, complicated family dynamics, acting royalty
Prayer for the French Republic
Previews begin December 19, opens January 9
This play examines five generations of a French Jewish family as they grapple with the fallout of World War II and anti-Semitism through the years. Written by Drama Desk Award winner Joshua Harmon and directed by Tony Award winner David Cromer, the stirring drama explores the ideas of family, safety and faith with poignancy and humor.
For fans of: Paris during WWII, Jewish identity, Leopoldstadt
Note: These were all the shows with opening dates announced for the season as of publication time. More shows will likely be announced and premiere during fall 2023; for information on those, please see our Broadway page. For all shows taking part in NYC Broadway Week, which runs September 4–17, click here.
