The new Broadway season may not have (so far) as many Hollywood names on theatre marquees as the last one, but it has no shortage of stars, variety, or entertainment value. The 2025 season opened with Call Me Izzy, a solo tour-de-force from six-time Emmy Award winner Jean Smart (Hacks), which just concluded an acclaimed run. Already underway are a new solo comedy show and the return of a hit musical from the 2000s, with musical revivals from 1988 and 1998 on the horizon. Between now and year’s end, we can also look forward to star-studded revivals, a reinvigorated Greek tragedy, four new plays, and two new musicals. Here is what’s in store — see you at the theatre!
Mamma Mia!, Winter Garden Theatre
Opened August 14
This romantic musical comedy crafted from ABBA’s irresistible pop songs, which premiered on Broadway in 2001, is credited with launching the modern jukebox-musical craze. An international hit that ran for 14 years in New York is back for a return engagement as part of a 25th anniversary North American tour. Music and lyrics are by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, with a book by Catherine Johnson. The production is directed by Phyllida Lloyd and choreographed by Anthony Van Laast.
Take a Banana for the Ride, Nederlander Theatre
Opened August 18, open until September 28
Stand-up comedian Jeff Ross, nicknamed “Roastmaster General” for his raucous celebrity roasts, reveals a warmhearted side to his insult comic public persona in this autobiographical solo show, which arrives on Broadway following an eight-city summer tour. Blending uncensored jokes, painful memories, uplifting stories, songs, and even some live roasting of intrepid volunteers, Ross reflects on his life and family legacy. His lesson: “If you can find a way to laugh at the hardest things in life, you might thrive.”
Art, Music Box Theatre
Opens September 16
Yasmina Reza’s 1998 Tony Award winner returns in a star-studded revival directed by multiple Tony nominee Scott Ellis. Actors love Reza’s work for the juicy roles she provides them — she also wrote the 2009 Tony Award winner God of Carnage. The current production stars two-time Tony Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Bobby Cannavale, Tony and Emmy Award winner Neil Patrick Harris, and Tony and Emmy Award winner James Corden. Translated from the French by Christopher Hampton (a 1995 Tony Award winner for Sunset Boulevard), Reza’s caustic comedy, charts the explosive unraveling of a 15-year-old friendship — triggered, ostensibly, by a disagreement over a painting. When Serge (Harris) buys an outrageously expensive artwork that Marc (Cannavale) deems worthless, their mutual friend Yvan (Corden) is reluctantly drawn into the fray.
Punch, Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
Previews start September 9, opens September 29
A searing new drama from James Graham (2019 Tony nominee for Ink), based on the memoir Right From Wrong by Jacob Dunne. At 19 years old, during a drunken night out, Dunne delivered a fatal punch to a total stranger in an unprovoked attack. After serving his prison sentence, he found redemption through a restorative justice program and the extraordinary forgiveness of his victim’s parents. Originally staged at the Nottingham Playhouse, the production — directed by Adam Penford — enjoyed two critically acclaimed runs in London and now transfers to the West End for a third, concurrent with its American premiere. The New York production stars Broadway newcomer Will Harrison as Jacob Dunne and two-time Tony Award winner Victoria Clark as the victim’s mother. Directed once again by Penford, the Manhattan Theatre Club production cast also includes Camila Canó-Flaviá, Cody Kostro, Piter Mark, Sam Robards, and Lucy Taylor, all of whom play multiple roles.
Waiting for Godot, Hudson Theatre
Previews start September 13, opens September 28
Keanu Reeves, star of The Matrix and John Wick movie series, will reunite with his longtime friend Alex Winter to star in the fourth Broadway revival of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. The two as collaborators, of course, are best known for Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (and its sequels), the goofy science-fiction comedy that solidified their film careers in 1989. Since its Broadway premiere in 1956, Beckett’s absurdist existentialist tragi-comedy — about two tramps passing the time while waiting for someone who might give them purpose — has become a modern classic. Three-time Tony Award nominee Jamie Lloyd (Sunset Blvd., A Doll’s House, Betrayal), who directs the production, describes the play as an exploration of companionship, love, and friendship in the face of dire circumstances. Lloyd hopes to harness the chemistry of the stars’ own 40-year friendship in his staging. Reeves and Winter will be joined by Obie Award winner Brandon J. Dirden (The Piano Lesson) and Michael Patrick Thornton.
Ragtime, Vivian Beaumont Theatre
Previews start September 26, opens October 16
In this epic musical adapted from E.L. Doctorow’s sweeping novel set in early 20th century New York, three personal stories — that of a Black pianist in Harlem, a Jewish Latvian immigrant, and an upper-class white suburban housewife — intertwine with real-life historical figures such as Emma Goldman, Booker T. Washington, and Harry Houdini, as they confront the forces shaping the new century. When it premiered in 1998, the critically acclaimed musical earned Tony Awards for Stephen Flaherty (music), Lynn Ahrens (lyrics), and Terrence McNally (book). It also received a slew of Tony nominations for its subsequent Broadway revival in 2009. The current production, which originated as a gala concert event at New York City Center last year, is directed by Lear deBessonet, new artistic director of Lincoln Center Theater, and stars Tony Award nominee Joshua Henry as Coalhouse Walker Jr., Olivier and Grammy Award nominee Caissie Levy as Mother, and Tony Award winner Brandon Uranowitz as Tateh.
Little Bear Ridge Road, Booth Theatre
Previews start October 7, opens October 30
Two-time Tony Award winner Laurie Metcalf (Three Tall Women, A Doll’s House, Part 2) returns to Broadway in an emotionally powerful play that was specifically commissioned for her by Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre. This bleakly funny and poetic chamber drama, written by Broadway newcomer Samuel D. Hunter — best known for his Off-Broadway successes The Whale and A Bright New Boise — is set, once again, in the author’s native Idaho. Metcalf plays a prickly loner who invites her estranged gay nephew (played by Micah Stock) to stay with her in her rural home while he settles the affairs of his recently deceased drug-addicted father. Directed by Metcalf’s longtime collaborator, two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello, and produced for Broadway by Barry Diller and Scott Rudin, the production also features John Drea and Meighan Gerachis from the original Chicago cast.
Beetlejuice, Palace Theatre
Opens October 8
All those fans who just couldn’t get enough of the sleazy “bio exorcist” after his last two manifestations on Broadway in 2019 and 2022 have been chanting his name — and now the musical based on Tim Burton’s goth comedy movie is back for a limited engagement, after touring for more than two years across the country. Music and lyrics are by Eddie Perfect with a book by Scott Brown and Anthony King. The production is directed by Tony Award winner Alex Timbers (Moulin Rouge!) with choreography by Connor Gallagher.
Liberation, James Earl Jones Theatre
Previews start October 8, opens October 28
Bess Wohl’s moving new drama, which received accolades from the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and New York Drama Critics Circle when it premiered Off-Broadway last year, makes a highly anticipated move to Broadway with its original award-winning ensemble cast intact. Witty and theatrically innovative, Liberation — subtitled “A Memory Play About Things I Don’t Remember” — travels between the present to 1970s Ohio, when the playwright’s mother was active in the second wave of the women’s liberation movement. Placing a stand-in for herself on stage, Wohl — whose comedy Grand Horizons received a Tony nomination for Best Play in 2020 — blends memory, fact, and fiction as she explores her personal relationship with her mother against the political repercussions of the women’s movement. The production is once again directed by Tony Award nominee Whitney White (Jaja’s African Hair Braiding) and features Betsy Aidem, Audrey Corsa, Kayla Davion, Susannah Flood, Kristolyn Lloyd, Irene Sofia Lucio, Charlie Thurston, and Adina Verson.
The Queen of Versailles, St. James Theatre
Previews start October 8, opens November 9
Tony Award winner Kristen Chenoweth makes her long-awaited return Broadway, teaming again with Stephen Schwartz in his first new musical since the phenomenally successful Wicked in 2003. With music and lyrics by Schwartz and a book by Lindsey Ferrentino, the show is inspired by a 2012 documentary of real events by Lauren Greenfield. Chenoweth stars as the indomitable Jackie Siegel who, alongside her billionaire husband, David (portrayed by Academy Award and Golden Globe Award winner F. Murray Abraham), embarks on an ill-fated quest to build the largest private home in America — a mega-mansion in Orlando, Florida, modeled after King Louis XIV’s lavish Palace of Versailles in France. The couple’s grandiose ambitions have devastating consequences. The production is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Michael Arden (Maybe Happy Ending, Parade).
Chess, Imperial Theatre
Previews start October 15, opens November 13
Two chess grandmasters — one American and the other Russian — compete for the World Championship title in the 1970s, at the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Tony Award winner Aaron Tveit (Moulin Rouge!) stars as Freddie Trumper, the brash American contender; Nicholas Christopher (Sweeney Todd) plays his formidable Russian rival; and Lea Michele (Funny Girl) portrays Florence Vassey, the Hungarian-born woman who is entangled romantically with both men. The show is a personal favorite and labor of love for Tim Rice (Tony Award winner for Evita), who conceived the story and wrote the lyrics to the score composed by ABBA’s Benny Andersson. Chess returns to the same theatre where it premiered on Broadway in 1988. Although the dramatic musical has a somewhat checkered history undergoing book revisions since its 1986 West End debut, its melodic score has acquired a devoted cult following. This revival, directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening), features a new book by Emmy Award winner Danny Strong (Dopesick).
Rob Lake Magic with Special Guests The Muppets, Broadhurst Theatre
Previews start October 28, opens November 6, ends January 18
The tradition of magicians dazzling Broadway audiences with their illusions goes back a long way in Broadway history. Harry Houdini — one of the historical characters in Ragtime — was among the most famous in the 1920s. Other notable practitioners include David Copperfield, Penn & Teller, and Tony Award -nominated Doug Henning. Rob Lake, whose international career took off after his jaw-dropping illusions on the 2018 season of America’s Got Talent has since toured arenas, casinos and theaters around the world with his magic shows, now joins this distinguished list. Lake also has one prior Broadway credit, having contributed illusions to the current musical Death Becomes Her. His new holiday show will feature the beloved Kermit the Frog, joined by other Muppets (to be announced) as special guests. Bethany Pettigrew (associate director of Death Becomes Her) serves as creative consultant, with Kevin Zak (director of Ginger Twinsies, currently off Broadway) as script consultant.
Oedipus, Studio 54
Previews start October 30, opens November 13
The source may be a 2,500-year-old play, but in Robert Icke’s new adaptation, the classic Greek tragedy — about a king in search of truth and justice who discovers that he has unknowingly murdered his father and married his mother — unfolds with the immediacy of live television. Both adapter and director, Icke transforms Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex into a gripping political thriller, set in campaign headquarters on election night, when shocking revelations threaten to undo the front-runner. A hit in London last fall, the much-lauded production now transfers to Broadway starring its two Olivier Award–winning leads: Mark Strong as Oedipus and Lesley Manville as Jocasta. Strong earned a Tony Award nomination in 2016 for his performance in A View From the Bridge; Manville (Academy Award nominee for Phantom Thread) makes her Broadway debut.
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York), Longacre Theatre
Previews start November 1, opens November 20
In this new romantic comedy musical, a young Englishman travels to attend the wedding of his estranged father in New York, where he’s met at the airport by the bride’s sister. Both twentysomethings, he’s an exuberant first-time tourist in the Big Apple while she’s a hardworking native barista saddled with a slew of prewedding errands. The two-hander stars Broadway newcomer Sam Tutty — an Olivier Award winner for the London production of Dear Evan Hansen — and Christiani Pitts, last seen on Broadway in King Kong. Written by Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, the rom-com charmer arrives on Broadway following popular runs in London and, most recently, at the American Repertory Theater in Massachusetts. Soutra Gilmour’s ingenious set design has been singled out for praise on both sides of the Atlantic. The production is directed and choreographed by Tim Jackson, who also choreographed the recent Broadway revival of Merrily We Roll Along.
Marjorie Prime, Hayes Theatre
Previews start November 20, opens December 8
Playwright Jordan Harrison was shortlisted for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for this deeply moving and profound exploration of memory, identity, aging, and family dynamics. Set in a future somewhere in the middle of this century, Marjorie Prime envisions a technology in which AI creates humanoid companions to serve as caring aides for memory-impaired and lonely elders. The future conjured by Harrison — who is making his Broadway debut — is now closer to reality than it was when the play premiered Off-Broadway a decade ago. In the story, 85-year-old Marjorie, whose daughter dreads the inevitable loss of her mother, is provided with a youthful version of her late husband, who helps her retrieve and relive a past that is reconstructed from possibly unreliable memories. The part of Marjorie will be played by nonagenarian Academy Award nominee June Squibb (Thelma). The cast also includes two-time Tony Award winner Cynthia Nixon, Tony Award winner Danny Burstein and Chrisopher Lowell. Presented by Second Stage Theater, the production is directed by Tony Award nominee Anne Kauffman (Mary Jane).
Bug, Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
Previews start December 17, opens January 8, 2026
An unsettling skin-crawler from Tracy Letts – Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner for August: Osage County – that feels increasingly prescient with each new incarnation. First seen off-Broadway in 2004, following a 1996 London premiere, the play is a darkly comedic psychological thriller about a lonely cocktail waitress holed-up in a scuzzy Oklahoma motel room, trying to escape an abusive husband, whose life spirals out of control after she hooks up with a paranoid drifter. This Manhattan Theatre Club production, directed by Tony Award winner David Cromer (The Band’s Visit), struck a nerve when produced at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater in 2020 and 2021, both before and after the pandemic. Now making its Broadway debut (the second Steppenwolf transfer this season), Bug — with its anxieties about omnipresent surveillance, shadowy conspiracies and real or imagined infestations — feels more disturbingly relevant than ever. Leading the cast is 2012 Tony Award winner Carrie Coon (Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), also known for her TV star turns in The White Lotus and The Gilded Age — and who is married to the playwright. She is joined by Namir Smallwood, Randall Arney, Jennifer Engstrom, and Steve Key.
