This fall, Broadway returned to New York City with a bang, premiering dozens of new shows and old favorites. NYC’s revitalization continues this winter with an impressive lineup of Tony-nominated plays like Jeremy O’Harris’ Slave Play, hit musicals like The Music Man and star-studded new productions like Macbeth.
If you’re after a feel-good singalong, a moody drama or some good old-fashioned campy fun, you’ll find what you’re looking for. Read on for details, and book your tickets now for the shows that will soon be the talk of the town.
Please check with the box office in advance to make sure your performance will be taking place. Note that Broadway theaters require vaccinations for audience members through February 2022. Attendees are also required to wear a mask inside theaters. For more information, visit broadway.org. For accessibility information about individual shows, visit Theatre Access New York City.
Slave Play. Photo: Jenny Anderson
Slave Play
August Wilson Theatre, 245 W. 52nd St., through January 23
Jeremy O’Harris’ thought-provoking drama, which centers around race, sex and relationships, was nominated for a record 12 Tony Awards in 2020 but came away empty-handed. Despite the snub, Slave Play remains one of the most talked-about performances of the last decade. Those who missed it can get tickets for this limited run.
For fans of: incendiary drama, palpable tension, gender politics
Courtesy, MJ: the Musical
MJ: The Musical
Neil Simon Theatre, 250 W. 52nd St.; in previews now, opens February 1
Originally set to open in 2020, MJ gives audiences a backstage pass to the life of Michael Jackson. Myles Frost will debut as the king of pop in this story centered around the preparation for Michael Jackson’s 1992 Dangerous World Tour. Featuring around 25 of Michael Jackson’s greatest hits, MJ carefully avoids the darker sides of his story. But both the show’s book writer, Lynn Nottage, and the musical director and choreographer, Christopher Wheeldon, have aimed to portray Jackson fairly and for audiences to leave with a better understanding of the man behind the music.
For fans of: jaw-dropping choreography, dazzling costumes, jukebox musicals
Dear Evan Hansen. Photo: Matthew Murphy
Dear Evan Hansen
Music Box Theatre, 239 W. 45th St., opens December 11
Oscar-winning songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (you may know their work from La Land) penned the pop score for this coming-of-age musical, which was recently adapted into a feature film. The acclaimed stage show, which won the Tony for best musical, focuses on the title character and the ups and (very low) downs of adolescence.
For fans of: catchy tunes, teen angst, matters of the heart
The Music Man. Photo: Julieta Cervantes
The Music Man
Winter Garden Theatre, 1634 Broadway; previews begin December 20, opens February 10
Originally debuting on Broadway in 1957, The Music Man was set for a revival in 2020 before its prolonged postponement. Starring Hugh Jackman as Professor Harold Hill and Sutton Foster as Marian Paroo, the show is a farcical love story about a con man (Jackman) who intends to make money by starting a fake band. When he falls in love with a local librarian (Foster), his plans go wonderfully awry.
For fans of: old-school musicals, Hollywood star power, big-hearted characters
Skeleton Crew. Courtesy, Manhattan Theater Club
Skeleton Crew
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th St.; previews begin December 27, opens January 19, closes February 20
Set in Detroit in 2008, Skeleton Crew takes us inside an automotive factory on the brink of closure. Funny, poignant and moving, the show stars six-time Emmy nominee Phylicia Rashad. Written by MacArthur Fellow Dominique Morisseau and directed by Tony winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Skeleton Crew premiered Off-Broadway in May 2016 with the Atlantic Theater Company. Read our interview with Morisseau.
For fans of: Off-Broadway sensibilities, family drama, small casts
Plaza Suite. Photo: Joan Marcus
Plaza Suite
Hudson Theatre, 141 W. 44th St.; previews begin February 25, opens March 28, closes June 26
Starring real-life couple Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite is the story of a relationship in three acts. The two actors play three characters—a different couple in each act—navigating those relationships in a suite at the Plaza Hotel.
For fans of: art imitating life, classic Broadway pairings, one-act plays
Courtesy, Mr. Saturday Night.
Mr. Saturday Night
Nederlander Theatre, 201 W. 41st St.; previews begin March 1, opens March 31
Adapted from the 1992 film of the same name, this musical tells the story of Buddy Young Jr., a 75-year-old stand-up comedian whose heyday was decades ago, during the golden age of television. Billy Crystal reprises his role as Young, a character who’s making one final run at the spotlight while learning he can’t always hide behind his comedy.
For fans of: outrageous humor, second chances, the legendary Billy Crystal (of course!)
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf
Booth Theatre, 222 W. 45th St.; previews begin April 1, opens April 20
Having made its Broadway debut at the Booth in 1976, this “choreopoem” penned by playwright and poet Ntozake Shange returns to the same stage in March. The Obie Award–winning and Tony-nominated play focuses on seven Black women, each telling her story of survival through movement and poetry. Camille A. Brown will be the first Black woman to both direct and choreograph a Broadway production in more than 65 years.
For fans of: trailblazing artists; performance poetry
The Little Prince
Broadway Theatre, 1681 Broadway; previews begin March 29, opens April 11, closes August 14
One of the most widely known stories in modern history, The Little Prince is being adapted for the Broadway stage. Expect dance numbers and acrobatics to help bring this beloved tale to life. The author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, was a commercial and military pilot who was in NYC in exile during World War II and penned the tale while splitting time between Manhattan and Long Island.
For fans of: stories with heart, whimsy and magic
Take Me Out. Photo: Catherine Wessel
Take Me Out
Hayes Theater, 240 W. 44th St.; previews begin March 10, opens April 4
Take Me Out first ran on Broadway in 2003, winning the Tony for Best Play. The show returns with Jesse Williams starring as Darren Lemming, a Major League Baseball player who navigates racism, homophobia and toxic masculinity after coming out as gay to his teammates and the public.
For fans of: pro sports, Grey’s Anatomy, gender politics
Paradise Square
Barrymore Theatre, 243 W. 47th St.; previews begin March 15, opens April 3
This ambitious new musical tells the story of a saloon in Manhattan’s Five Points neighborhood in the 1860s. Against the backdrop of the Civil War, the show tackles issues of race, class and immigration, and asks what it means to be an American. Pulling from Irish and African American music and dance traditions, Paradise Square transports audiences to the streets and tenement houses of Lower Manhattan during the time leading up to the so-called draft riots of 1863.
For fans of: period dramas, tap dance routines
Birthday Candles. Courtesy, Polk & Co.
Birthday Candles
American Airlines Theatre, 227, W. 42nd St.; previews begin March 18; opens April 10, closes May 29
Debra Messing stars in Noah Haidle’s play about one woman’s reflections and realizations over a lifetime of birthdays. While Ernestine Ashworth (played by Messing) bakes a cake onstage, time moves incrementally from her 17th birthday to her 101st. As her life changes and her world expands and contracts, the only constant is the cake. It’s a profound and thoughtful exploration of one woman’s life.
For fans of: character-driven plays, (largely) one-woman shows
The Minutes. Photo: Michael Brosilow
The Minutes
Studio 54, 254 W. 54th St.; previews begin April 2, opens April 17
From the creative team behind August: Osage County comes this riveting story of a small town with big drama. Writer Tracy Letts and director Ann D. Shapiro take audiences inside a city council meeting, where a memorable cast of characters navigate politics, power and prejudice with explosive drama, smart humor and high-stakes tension.
For fans of: 90-minute plays, comedy
American Buffalo. Photo: Matthew Murphy
American Buffalo
Circle in the Square Theatre, 1633 Broadway; previews begin March 22, opens April 14
Laurence Fishburne, Sam Rockwell and Darren Criss bring David Mamet’s American Buffalo to Broadway for its latest revival (the last was in 2008). The drama, which takes place in a junk shop, revolves around the greed, avarice and disloyalty provoked by the sale of a valuable coin. The Pulitzer Prize–winning Mamet is one of the best-known American playwrights, and American Buffalo, named best play by the NYC Drama Critics’ Circle, is one of his most acclaimed works.
For fans of: intimate dramas, intense dialogue
Funny Girl. Photo: Matthew Murphy
Funny Girl
August Wilson Theatre, 245 W. 52nd St.; previews begin March 26, opens April 24
A Broadway classic returns this year with Funny Girl, which debuted in 1964 with Barbra Streisand as the star. This time around, Beanie Feldstein takes the lead as vaudeville performer Fanny Brice, who reflects on her life at Ziegfeld Follies while she awaits the release of her husband from prison. Both humorous and sad, the campy musical will satisfy your Broadway nostalgia.
For fans of: leading ladies, classic musicals
How I Learned to Drive. Photo: Jason Bell
How I Learned to Drive
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th St, previews begin March 29; opens April 19
Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize–winning work returns to the stage starring Mary Louise-Parker as Li’l Bit and David Morse as Uncle Peck, Li’l Bit’s charismatic uncle—and abuser. Heartbreaking and horrifying, the play covers themes of incest, pedophilia and misogyny using the car and act of driving as a metaphor for sex.
For fans of: psychosexual dramas, dysfunctional families, horror
Macbeth
Longacre Theatre, 220 W. 48th St.; previews begin March 29, opens April 28, closes July 10
Shakespeare’s classic tale of deceit, witchcraft and distrust is expected to be the theatrical event of the season. Starring Ruth Negga (Preacher and Loving), who makes her Broadway debut, and Daniel Craig, this spooky and hair-raising tragedy is one of the creepiest shows on Broadway.
For fans of: Shakespeare, horror
The Skin of Our Teeth
Beaumont Theater, 150 W. 65th St.; previews begin April 1, opens April 25
Winner of the 1943 Pulitzer Prize for drama, Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth is a complicated allegory of mankind’s origins set in New Jersey. Using a suburban family as stand ins, the play references the murder of Cain, the myth of Lilith, Sodom and Gomorrah and various creation stories amidst the backdrop of an impending apocalypse.
For fans of: magical realism, survival dramas
Beetle Juice. Photo: Matthew Murphy
Beetlejuice
Marquis Theatre, 210 W. 46th St,; previews begin April 8
Based on the popular 1988 film, Beetlejuice is a campy and hysterical musical take on Tim Burton’s weird, wacky and utterly original haunted house story. After Lydia Deetz moves to a small town with her parents, she discovers that their new house has supernatural inhabitants—and befriends the ghosts and the mischievous demon who acts as their guide to the afterlife. The show resumes its Broadway run, which started in 2019.
For fans of: Tim Burton, slapstick comedy
