The current Broadway season kicked off on a giddy high note with the sublime silliness of Oh, Mary! (Lyceum Theatre), which has proven to be a runaway hit beyond expectations. After carrying the show through several extensions, writer and star Cole Escola will be relinquishing Mary Todd Lincoln’s ringlets to Betty Gilpin, who takes over the role from January 21 through March 16. The show is now scheduled to run through June 28.
Broadway has fully rebounded this season with — for a short, shining span — all 41 houses fully lit and shows ready to move in as planned limited runs ending. There were, of course, some lows — a couple of high-profile premature closings. But the “fabulous invalid,” as Kaufman and Hart dubbed this singular showbiz art form, is still alive and well. Producers are now shrewdly marketing their shows to more diverse and younger audiences; Gen Z and TikTok-ers, this means you.
Among other shows that opened earlier in the season, Romeo + Juliet (Circle in the Square), Sunset Boulevard (St. James Theatre), A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical (Studio 54), Maybe Happy Ending (Belasco Theatre), Death Becomes Her (Lunt-Fontanne Theatre) all seem to have found their groove. These productions continue into this second half of the season, along with last month’s openings, Cult of Love (Hayes Theater), Eureka Day (Samuel J. Friedman Theatre), All In: Comedy About Love (Hudson Theatre), and Gypsy (Majestic Theatre).
As far as the rest of the season goes, there are 19 shows announced so far, a bumper crop of 10 new musicals, six new plays, and a few star-studded revivals, all slated to open before the April 27 cutoff to qualify for this year’s Tony Awards. The glamorous awards ceremony that showcases the best of Broadway is scheduled for June 8 and will return to Radio City Music Hall for the first time since 2022.
Here’s what you can expect:
English, Todd Haimes Theatre
Previews started January 3, opens January 23
Iranian American playwright Sanaz Toossi makes her Broadway debut with an award-winning comedy about a diverse group of students in Iran enrolled in an English language course. They discover — along with their dedicated teacher — how becoming fluent in a dominant foreign language can shape their futures and perhaps even their identities. The insightful work received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2023 following the play’s acclaimed Off-Broadway world premiere the previous year. The Roundabout Theatre Company production, directed by Knud Adams, features Tala Ashe, Ava Lalezarzadeh, Pooya Mohseni, Marjan Neshat, and Hadi Tabbal — all newcomers to Broadway.

Redwood, Nederlander Theatre
Previews start January 24, opens February 13
Wicked Tony Award winner Idina Menzel, last seen on Broadway a decade ago in If/Then, makes her highly anticipated return in a new musical that has been her personal passion project for more than 15 years. After learning of the true story of an environmentalist who lived in a giant redwood tree to protest the logging of ancient forests, Menzel developed the new story of this musical with Tony-nominated book writer and director Tina Landau (SpongeBob SquarePants, Mother Play). The musical, with a score by Kate Diaz, follows a grief-stricken woman who leaves behind her successful life in search of spiritual peace in the majestic forests of Northern California. The cast features De’Adre Aziza, Michael Park, Zachary Noah Piser, and Khalia Wilcoxon. Given the arboreal setting, audiences can expect stunning “vertical movement and choreography” created by the aerial dance company BANDALOOP.
Operation Mincemeat, Golden Theatre
Previews start February 15, opens March 20
Hailing from across the pond with a chorus of acclaim — and the 2024 Olivier Award for Best Musical — comes a production that’s equal parts spy-thriller, anarchic comedy, and musical. Created by SplitLip, a cheeky British comedy troupe, it offers an irreverent take on a hard-to- believe yet true-life World War II covert operation that may have played a key role in helping the Allies to defeat the Nazis in Europe. The production is directed and choreographed by Olivier Award nominees Robert Hastie and Jenny Arnold, respectively. Its nimble cast members — David Cumming, Claire-Marie Hall, Natasha Hodgson, Jak Malone, Zoë Roberts — are masters at gender-swapping and slapstick humor while at the same time delivering emotional poignancy. The talented ensemble also collaborated to write the book, music, and lyrics along with fellow SplitLip member Felix Hagan.
Buena Vista Social Club, Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
Previews start February 21, opens March 19
The popular 1997 Grammy award-winning album of the same name is brought vividly to life in a new musical that memorably evokes the vibrant colors and pulsing rhythms of Old Havana. Written by Cuban American playwright Marco Ramirez, an Outer Critics Circle Award winner for The Royale, the musical features music and lyrics by the legendary band Buena Vista Social Club. Set against the political upheaval of the Cuban Revolution, the story spans 40 years, starting in the 1950s, and follows four musicians and performers who reunite after decades of separation to record an album that could recapture the glory of their music for posterity. Directed by Tony nominee Saheem Ali (Fat Ham), the production showcases choreography by Patricia Delgado and two-time Tony Award winner Justin Peck (Carousel, Illinoise). The musical, which made its Off-Broadway debut at the Atlantic Theater Company in 2023, features a dynamic cast that includes Natalie Venetia Belcon, Julio Monge, Mel Semé, Jainardo Batista Sterling, Isa Antonetti, Da’Von T Moody, Wesley Wray, and Leonardo Reyna. Complementing their performances is a sensational live Afro Cuban band that brings an infectious energy to the stage.

Othello, Ethel Barrymore Theatre
Previews start February 24, opens March 23
Tony Award winner Denzel Washington (Fences) takes on the role of the quick-tempered and passionate commander Othello, who is driven to murder under the manipulation of his jealous, conniving lieutenant, Iago, played by Tony nominee Jake Gyllenhaal (Sea Wall/A Life). Molly Osborne plays Othello’s wife, Desdemona, while Andrew Burnap, a Tony Award winner for The Inheritance, plays Cassio — both hapless victims of Iago’s schemes. It’s been 40 years since the last Broadway production of Wiliam Shakespeare’s tragedy, which played in 1982 with James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer in the leads. The current production is directed by Kenny Leon, a Tony Award winner for A Raisin in the Sun, marking his third Broadway project for this season following his revivals of Home and Our Town.
Purpose, Hayes Theater
Previews start February 25, opens March 17
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, a two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee and winner of last year’s Best Revival of a Play Tony Award for his thrilling and subversive comedy Appropriate, returns with an explosive new play. The latest work, which premiered at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company last spring, sees Jacobs-Jenkins putting his own inimitable stamp on the dysfunctional family drama — a hallmark of the Steppenwolf company, done memorably in productions such as August: Osage County. Set in Chicago, the Jacob-Jenkins play centers on a politically prominent and affluent Black family who comes together for a celebratory dinner. The gathering includes five family members and an unexpected guest, setting the stage for shocking twists and dark comedy. As secrets tumble out, the younger generation challenges their parents’ Civil Rights–era faith-based legacy, creating an emotionally charged and thought-provoking narrative. The production marks the Broadway directorial debut of Phylicia Rashad, a Tony Award winner for A Raisin in the Sun and Skeleton Crew. The cast includes two-time Tony Award nominee LaTanya Richardson Jackson (To Kill a Mockingbird, A Raisin in the Sun), Harry Lennix, Jon Michael Hill, Glenn Davis, Alana Arenas, and Tony Award winner Kara Young (Purlie Victorious, The Cost of Living).

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Music Box Theatre
Previews start March 10, opens March 27
Following a spectacular success in London’s West End, Sarah Snook makes her Broadway debut reprising her Olivier Award–winning solo tour de force in a multimedia adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s 1890 novel. The story follows Dorian Gray, a handsome young man who trades his soul for eternal youth and beauty. As Dorian indulges in a scandalous life of excess, only his portrait bears evidence of his growing moral decay. Snook, an Australian actress best known for her Emmy and Golden Globe Award–winning performances in Succession, is center stage throughout the entire production. She is supported by a dynamic blend of video screens, live camera feeds, and even Instagram filters. At times she interacts with prerecorded, digitized versions of her own performance, which adds a contemporary dimension to Wilde’s Victorian tale. In a remarkable feat of acting, Snook embodies 26 different characters, including the dangerously beautiful Dorian Gray. The innovative production, which originated at the Sydney Theatre Company, is adapted and directed by Kip Williams.
Glengarry Glen Ross, Palace Theatre
Previews start March 10, opens March 31
It’s been 40 years since David Mamet first unleashed his foul-mouthed, desperate characters — real-estate salesman, of course — on Broadway, winning the Pulitzer Prize and earning a Tony nomination for Best Play of 1984. This black tragicomedy lays bare the underbelly of American capitalism featuring fast-talking, profane hucksters who deliver a distinctive “Mamet-speak” while pursuing their version of the American dream. The current Broadway revival (the third since its U.S. premiere) is directed by playwright/director Patrick Marber (Tony Award winner for his direction of Leopoldstadt). The cast includes Emmy, SAG, Golden Globe, and Critics’ Choice winner Kieran Culkin (This Is Our Youth, A Real Pain, HBO’s Succession) alongside Michael McKean, Donald Webber Jr., Howard W. Overshown, and Broadway newcomers Bill Burr, Bob Odenkirk, and John Pirruccello.

Boop! The Betty Boop Musical, Broadhurst Theatre
Previews start March 11, opens April 5
The sassy animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer yearns to bust out of her black-and-white movie environment and experience real life in 21st century New York City in this joyous new musical. Written by Grammy Award–winning composer David Foster (“I Have Nothing,” “After Love Has Gone”), with lyrics by two-time Tony nominee Susan Birkenhead (Working, Jelly’s Last Jam), and a book by Tony Award Winner Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone, The Prom, and the upcoming Smash), the musical follows Betty’s adventures after she arrives in the Big Apple, aided by her eccentric inventor relative, Grampy. Along the way, she befriends a teenage fan, falls in love, and even gets tangled in New York City politics. The irrepressible 1930s sex symbol is brought to life by rising star Jasmine Amy Rogers, who received universal acclaim for her performance during the show’s Chicago premiere in the winter of 2023. The cast features Tony Award winner Faith Prince (Guys and Dolls), Ainsley Melham, Erich Bergen, Stephen DeRosa (who plays Grampy), Anastacia McCleskey, Angelica Hale, Aubie Merrylees, and marionette artist Philip Huber, who memorably animates Betty’s adorable white puppy, Pudgy. The production is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots, La Cage aux Folles).

Smash, Imperial Theatre
Previews start March 11, opens April 10
Ever since the television series about the making of a musical based on the life of screen icon Marilyn Monroe debuted on NBC in 2012, fans have been clamoring for a Broadway musical version. Like the series, this new musical centers on the creation of the fictional musical Bombshell, though its storyline may differ and its tone is expected to be more in the spirit of a farcical backstage comedy. However, the score remains in the hands of Marc Shaiman (music and lyrics) and Scott Wittman (lyrics), the Tony Award–winning duo behind Hairspray. The book is penned by Rick Elice, a Tony nominee for Water for Elephants, and Bob Martin, a Tony winner for The Drowsy Chaperone. The production is directed by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (Contact, Show Boat, Crazy for You, and two wins for The Producers). The cast includes Tony nominee Robyn Hurder (Moulin Rouge!), who’s slated to play Monroe in Bombshell, Tony nominee Brooks Ashmanskas (The Prom) as the director-choreographer of the show, two-time Tony nominee Kristine Nielsen (Gary, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike), who plays an acting coach, and Krysta Rodriguez and John Behlmann, who play the married creative team who wrote Bombshell.
Good Night, and Good Luck, Winter Garden Theatre
Previews start March 12, opens April 3
Hollywood star and celebrity activist George Clooney makes his Broadway stage debut in a story he has been passionate about for decades. Cowritten with Grant Heslov, the play features Clooney as Edward R. Murrow, the renowned radio and television journalist celebrated for his principled stand against Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. McCarthy, known for his virulently anti-Communist and anti-homosexual crusades, was infamous for his relentless pursuit of politicians and public figures who crossed him. The Broadway production is directed by David Cromer, who received a Tony Award for The Band’s Visit. Clooney and Heslov previously cowrote the 2005 film of the same name, which Clooney also directed. While Clooney starred in the film, he didn’t play Murrow. Perhaps prophetically given the climate in which the play now debuts, Clooney said at the time of movie release, “I thought it was a good time to raise the idea of using fear to stifle political debate.”

The Last Five Years, Hudson Theatre
Previews start March 18, opens April 6
The Last Five Years, an early work from Jason Robert Brown — two-time Tony Award winner for Parade and The Bridges of Madison County — makes a belated Broadway debut. The writer, composer, and lyricist describes his emotionally powerful and intimate musical as “a story about two people who want desperately to be together and can’t be.” A winner of Drama Desk Awards for music and lyrics in 2002, the two-character chamber work stars Nick Jonas, the youngest member of the band Jonas Brothers, and Adrienne Warren, a Tony Award winner for TINA – The Tina Turner Musical. They portray two New Yorkers who fall in and out of love over a period of five years. The emotional impact of their story is heightened by the unconventional structure of the narrative: His story moves chronologically forward while hers unfolds in reverse. The production is directed by Whitney White, a 2024 Tony Award nominee for Jaja’s African Hair Braiding.
John Proctor Is the Villain, Booth Theatre
Previews start March 20, opens April 14
Sadie Sink, star of the Netflix’s Stranger Things, is the marquee draw in this new comedic drama by Kimberly Belflower. Although Sink’s breakthrough came with the TV sci-fi series, she began her acting career on Broadway as a standby in the 2012 revival of Annie and as the young Queen Elizabeth in The Audience. Sink plays one of seven high school students in a small town in rural Georgia who are studying Arthur Miller’s The Crucible in their English literature class. As if their typical adolescent angst weren’t troubling enough for the young women, Miller’s 1953 classic about the 17th century Salem Witch Trials forces them to wrestle with issues that have echoes disturbingly close to home. Making her Broadway debut, playwright Belflower hails from Appalachian Georgia and shares the same small-town background as the characters in her play. Rereading The Crucible in the wake of the consciousness raised by the #MeToo movement, she says, led her to look at Miller’s still-powerful drama through a different lens. The production is directed by Danya Taymor, who received a Tony Award last year for The Outsiders.

Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
Previews start March 25, opens April 8
No Broadway season feels complete without a Stephen Sondheim show. The latest offering is a loving tribute to the legendary composer, who passed away in the winter of 2021. This production has been devised by Cameron Mackintosh, a four-time Tony Award–winning producer known for Broadway megahits like Cats, Les Misérables, and The Phantom of the Opera. Initially conceived by Mackintosh and Sondheim himself, the project was intended as a third musical revue to follow Side by Side by Sondheim (1977) and Putting It Together (1999). After Sondheim’s death, the unfinished project evolved into a one-night gala concert to celebrate the composer’s life. It was subsequently transformed into a fully staged musical show in London’s West End. This latest incarnation now arrives on Broadway with a powerhouse cast led by two-time Tony Award winner Bernadette Peters, who originated roles in Sondheim’s Into the Woods and Sunday in the Park With George, and Tony Award winner Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon). The company includes two-time Tony Award winner Beth Leavel, two-time Olivier Award winner Joanna Riding, Gavin Lee, and Jasmine Forsberg, among others. The production is codirected by Tony Award winner Matthew Bourne (Swan Lake) and Julia McKenzie.
Floyd Collins, Vivian Beaumont Theatre
Previews start March 27, opens April 21
A musical with a devoted following since its Off-Broadway debut in 1996, Floyd Collins makes its long-awaited Broadway debut. Written by Adam Guettel (music and lyrics), a Tony Award winner for The Light in the Piazza, and Tina Landau (book and additional lyrics), the haunting folk- and bluegrass-inspired musical is produced by Lincoln Center Theater and directed by Landau, a Tony nominee for SpongeBob SquarePants. In the musical, Jeremy Jordan, a Tony nominee for Newsies and most recently seen in The Great Gatsby, portrays a 1925 cave explorer in Kentucky who is driven by the dream of transforming a hidden cave into a public attraction. In a harrowing turn, he gets trapped 200 feet underground and struggles to survive. The disaster results in a frenzied media circus aboveground while the man’s life hangs in the balance. The tale is based on true events involving the real-life entrapment of Kentucky explorer Floyd Collins, a story that also inspired Billy Wilder’s film Ace in the Hole. The musical features an ensemble company that includes Jason Gotay, Sean Allan Krill, Marc Kudisch, singer-songwriter Lizzy McAlpine, Wade McCollum, Jessica Molaskey, Taylor Trensch, and Cole Vaughan.
Just in Time, Circle in the Square Theatre
Preview start March 28, opens April 23
Jonathan Groff, a Tony Award winner last season for Merrily We Roll Along, returns to Broadway in a new musical about Bobby Darin. Groff, also known for his Tony-nominated performances in Hamilton and Spring Awakening, portrays the versatile singer, songwriter, and performer best known for popular hits like “Dream Lover,” “Just in Time,” and “Beyond the Sea.” A worldwide success in the 1960s, this charismatic performer, who started his career as a baby-faced teen idol, was maturing into a crooner to rival Frank Sinatra. However, his life was cut short at the age of 37 in 1973, when he died following heart surgery. The book for the musical, which charts the great entertainer’s brief but brilliant career, was written by Warren Leight, a Tony Award winner for Side Man, and Isaac Oliver, author of the humor collection Intimacy Idiot. It is based on an original concept by Ted Chapin, a Special Tony Award recipient in 1993. The cast also features original Mean Girls on Broadway star Erika Henningsen, Gracie Lawrence of the band Lawrence, and Tony Award winner Michele Pawk. Directed and developed by Alex Timbers, a Tony Award winner for Moulin Rouge! The Musical, the production will transform the Circle in the Square theatre into an immersive nightclub space complete with a live big band on stage, capturing the intimate environment in which Darin thrived, thrillingly connecting with his audience.

Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Marquis Theatre
Previews start March 28, opens April 22
This 2024 Olivier Award–winning extravaganza is a theatrical prequel to the gripping Netflix television series Stranger Things. The sci-fi series, created by the Duffer Brothers, has become a global phenomenon since its debut on the streaming service in 2016. The show’s fifth and final season is set to premiere sometime in 2025. The stage play, written by Kate Tefrey, is based on a story by the Duffer Brothers, Jack Thorne (a Tony Award winner for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), and Tefrey herself. This origin story takes the narrative back to decades before the start of the first series, to 1959 in the small fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana. The plot centers on Henry Creel, a troubled teenager (who appears as an adult in season four of the TV series), as he becomes acquainted with supernatural powers and the events that ultimately led to the creation of the dreaded alternate dimension known as the Upside Down. Henry is portrayed by Louis McCartney, who reprises his award-winning performance from the London production, for which he earned the Most Promising Newcomer Award from the U.K. Critics Circle. The cast also includes Rosie Benton, Alex Breaux, Nicky Eldridge, Andrew Hovelson, Alison Jaye, T.R. Knight, Gabrielle Neevaeh, and Burke Swanson. The eye-popping set design is by Olivier Award winner and three-time Tony nominee Miriam Buether (Prima Facie, To Kill a Mockingbird, Three Tall Women). The production is codirected by three-time Tony Award winner Stephen Daldry (An Inspector Calls, Billy Elliott: The Musical, The Inheritance) and Justin Martin.
Real Women Have Curves, James Earl Jones Theatre
Previews start April 1, opens April 27
A critical and popular hit when it premiered at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, this new musical is a coming-of-age story about a young Mexican American woman in late-1980s Los Angeles. It was widely praised for its joyous and positive celebration of Latine women. The music and lyrics are written by Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez, with a book by Lisa Loomer and Nell Benjamin. The musical is based on a 1993 play by Josefina López, which was also adapted into an HBO movie in 2002. Set against the backdrop of a vibrant immigrant community, the story follows Ana, an 18-year-old on the brink of leaving for New York City to go to college. She is torn between pursuing her personal dreams and navigating a complicated relationship with her mother. Her mother insists that Ana’s responsibility is to work alongside the predominantly undocumented workers at their family-owned garment factory. The production is directed and choreographed by Sergio Tujillo, a Tony Award winner for Ain’t Too Proud and Tony nominee for On Your Feet!
Pirates! The Penzance Musical, Todd Haimes Theatre
Previews start April 4, opens April 24
As the title change might suggest, this musical is not going to look or sound like the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera that premiered in New York in 1879, and which has been revived 25 times since. Prepare for a reimagined version that will nevertheless retain the melodies, the wit, and fun of the Victorian original. This adaptation offers, as described by the producers, “a jazzy-bluesy vision of the crowd-pleasing classic with Caribbean rhythms and French Quarter flair.” The new adaptation for this Roundabout Theatre Company production is by Rupert Holmes, a Tony Award winner for The Mystery of Edwin Drood. The orchestrations, which evoke the sounds of New Orleans, are by Joseph Joubert and Daryl Waters. The revival is directed by Scott Ellis, a nine-time Tony Award nominee (She Loves Me, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Curtains) and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, a Tony Award winner for After Midnight. Bringing the colorful Gilbert and Sullivan characters to life (not to mention Gilbert and Sullivan as well) are Ramin Karimloo (2014 Tony nominee for Les Misérables) as the Pirate King, David Hyde Pierce (Tony Award winner for Curtains) as Gilbert/Major General Stanley, Jinkx Monsoon as Ruth, Nicholas Barasch as Frederic, Preston Truman Boyd as Sullivan/Police Sergeant, and Samantha Williams as Mabel Stanley.

Dead Outlaw, Longacre Theatre
Previews start April 12, opens April 27
The Tony Award-winning creators of The Band’s Visit (2017’s Best Musical) return with something completely different: a rip-roaring musical about a corpse. Dead Outlaw, which swept the top awards — including New York Drama Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle — during its Off-Broadway premiere last spring, is a rollicking and macabre delight. The music and lyrics are written by David Yazbeck and Erik Della Penna (a newcomer to the Band’s Visit team) and the book is by Itamar Moses. The production is directed by David Cromer (also represented this season with Good Night, and Good Luck). Based on the bizarre-but believe-it-or-not true story of Elmer McCurdy — a not-so-successful bandit fatally shot in Oklahoma in 1911 — the bluegrass, rockabilly-infused musical chronicles his posthumous journey to fame as a mummified carnival sideshow attraction. The tale concludes in the late 1970s when this forgotten tidbit of history comes to light. As the deadpan musical so roguishly illustrates, celebrity — even for corpses — can be fleeting.