Which shows on Broadway are the best? Check out our list!
What's the best show on Broadway? What are the hardest tickets to get on Broadway?While the answer to those questions will be different for every kind of theatregoer, there are indeed qualifications that make some Broadway shows stand out above others.
Below, we've rounded up ten Broadway shows to see in November 2024 that have earned critical acclaim, gained audience praise, and of course... earned Tony Awards.
Playing on Broadway at the St. James Theatre
About: Haunted by her memories and dreams, movie star Norma Desmond yearns to return to the big screen. A struggling screenwriter who can't sell his scripts to the Hollywood studios may be her only hope, until their dangerous and compelling relationship leads to disaster. Drenched in champagne and cynicism, Sunset Blvd. focuses the lens of ambitions and frustrations of its characters and puts their intoxicating need for fame and adoration in stark close-up.
Why It's One of the Best: Nicole Scherzinger and Tom Francis return to play their Olivier Award-winning roles in this acclaimed new revival from the brilliant mind of Jamie Lloyd.
You'll Especially Love It If: If musical thriller is the genre for you, this part-camp, part horror spin on a classic is for you.
Playing on Broadway at the Golden Theatre
About: An up-and-coming rock band recording a new album finds itself suddenly on the cusp of superstardom. The ensuing pressures could spark their breakup — or their breakthrough. In Stereophonic, Adjmi invites the audience to immerse themselves—with fly-on-the-wall intimacy—in the powder keg process of a band on the brink of blowing up.
Why It's One of the Best: This new play has already enjoyed a smash hit world premiere engagement at Playwrights Horizons, and features songs by Academy Award nominee and Grammy Award winner Will Butler, formerly of Arcade Fire. Plus, it is the reigning Best Play of 2024!
You'll Especially Love It If: If you have a penchant for 70s rock and an stories that leave you on the edge of your seat, this one's for you.
Playing on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
About: In Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1967, Ponyboy Curtis, his best friend Johnny Cade and their Greaser family of “outsiders” battle with their affluent rivals, the Socs. This thrilling new Broadway musical navigates the complexities of self-discovery as the Greasers dream about who they want to become in a world that may never accept them.
Why It's One of the Best: Not only was The Outsiders nominated for 12 Tony Awards, but it is the reigning Best Musical of 2024 and not to be missed!
You'll Especially Love It If: If you have any kind of relationship with the classic book or the beloved movie, this is a story to revisit.
Playing on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre
About: Oh, Mary! follows a miserable, suffocated Mary Todd Lincoln in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Unrequited yearning, alcoholism and suppressed desires abound in this one act play that finally examines the forgotten life and dreams of Mrs. Lincoln through the lens of an idiot.
Why It's One of the Best: The Broadway run comes following a sold out, twice extended world premiere run at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Written by and starring Cole Escola and directed by Sam Pinkleton, the New York Times Critic’s Pick will only run through January 2025.
You'll Especially Love It If: If you love dark comedy and live for 80 minute run-times, this one will check both boxes!
Playing on Broadway at the Broadway Theatre
About: The story follows eccentric and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby, who will stop at nothing in the pursuit of the lost love of his youth, Daisy Buchanan.
Why It's One of the Best: Big Broadway is back with The Great Gatsby, which is roaring on and bringing audiences to their feet eight times a week.
You'll Especially Love It If: You love glitzy, vibrant musicals and show-stopping vocal performances, this musicals is for you!
Playing on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre
About: Willkommen. Bienvenue. Welcome to the Kit Kat Club. Home to an intimate and electrifying new Cabaret. The denizens of the Kit Kat Club have created a decadent sanctuary where artists and performers, misfits and outsiders rule the night. Step inside their world. This is Berlin. Relax. Loosen up. Be yourself.
Why It's One of the Best: This much buzzed-about revival already has a proven track record. Now starring music superstar Adam Lambert and Moana's Auli'i Cravalho, this version of Cabaret is still the talk of the town in London, where it opened in 2021.
You'll Especially Love It If: If you love seeing a thrilling, new take on a beloved classic, this is the show for you!
Playing on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre
About: It’s 1913 and the women’s movement is heating up in America, anchored by the suffragists — “Suffs,” as they call themselves — and their relentless pursuit of the right to vote. Reaching across and against generational, racial, and class divides, these brilliant, flawed women entertain and inspire us with the story of their hard-won victory in an ongoing fight.
Why It's One of the Best: Following a sold-out, extended run at The Public Theater, Shaina Taub’s new musical arrived on Broadway and earned Tonys for both Best Book of a Musical and Best Score.
You'll Especially Love It If: History buffs will love watching this key moment in American democracy unfold onstage. And if you call yourself a feminist, you'll find this story impossible to resist.
Playing on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre
About: Hamilton is the story of America then, told by America now. Featuring a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B and Broadway, HAMILTON has taken the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton and created a revolutionary moment in theatre—a musical that has had a profound impact on culture, politics, and education.
Why It's One of the Best: No musical has had as big an impact on pop culture in this century as Hamilton. Not only is it the only Pulitzer Prize winning musical on Broadway right now, but it is perhaps the most celebrated and certainly most talked about piece of theatre in years.
You'll Especially Love It If: This musical deserves all of the hype you've already heard. Yes, you can watch a full version on Disney+, but there is nothing like seeing it live.
Playing on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre
About: Following two intertwining love stories — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone — Hadestown invites audiences on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. Anaïs Mitchell’s beguiling melodies and Rachel Chavkin’s poetic imagination pit industry against nature, doubt against faith, and fear against love.
Why It's One of the Best: Following acclaimed runs off-Broadway, in Canada, and the UK, Hadestown finally made it to Broadway at swept awards season on its arrival. The Tony winning Best Musical of 2019 is still a hit of mythic proportions.
You'll Especially Love It If: No musical on Broadway sounds quite like Hadestown. Mitchell spent over a decade crafting this musical, and it shows.
Playing on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre
About: There’s a place where the rhythm of the city is music, where every corner has a story, and every window is a kaleidoscope. Where a girl can step out of her apartment and find the world. That’s Hell’s Kitchen.
Why It's One of the Best: Straight from its acclaimed run off-Broadway at The Public Theatre, the new musical, conceived by the innovative mind of 15-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys, and was nominated for the most Tony Awards of the season- 13.
You'll Especially Love It If: If you love stories about mother-daughter relationships and feel like New York City is the most magical place on earth, this is the show for you.
Want more show recommendations? Check out what's coming to Broadway in 2024 and what's up next in 2025.
Looking fro more advice about what basic Broadway FAQs? Find answers to questions like:
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