Broadway Buying Guide: October 7, 2024- ELF Arrives for the Holiday Season

Looking for the best deals on Broadway shows? Welcome to our new weekly guide to the most popular shows listed on BroadwayWorld.

This Week's Top Broadway Shows

1) Elf The Musical Buy Tickets - Elf The Musical is the hilarious and heartwarming tale of Buddy (Tony Award® nominee Grey Henson), a young orphan whose life is changed forever when he mistakenly crawls into Santa’s sack of toys one Christmas Eve. Raised by elves at the North Pole, Buddy’s enormous size and limited toy-making abilities make him realize he may not quite fit in! When he discovers he is actually human, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father, and in turn, helps the Big Apple and the people he meets rediscover the true meaning of Christmas. Hailed by Time Out as “a slickly irresistible and fizzily enjoyable confection of a show” that will “whirl you up in a technicolor dream of Christmas,” this modern-day holiday classic returns home to Broadway in an acclaimed new, record-breaking production that “has the magic to send you out of the theatre smiling and singing” (The Times of London).

2) Gypsy Buy Tickets - According to The New York Times, “Audra McDonald has become to the American theater what Meryl Streep is to film — a star of unstinting polish and versatility. Ms. McDonald embosses any production in which she appears with a good-value guarantee.” GYPSY reunites George C. Wolfe, whom The New Yorker calls “a titan of the American theatre,” with Audra McDonald, after their collaboration on the 2016 Tony-nominated production of Shuffle Along, or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed. The Tony Awards Administration Committee recently announced that this June, George C. Wolfe will receive the 2024 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre. Since GYPSY premiered on Broadway in 1959, starring Ethel Merman, many of the greatest performers in Broadway history have taken on the iconic role of “Rose”: Angela Lansbury in 1974, Tyne Daly in 1989, Bernadette Peters in 2003, and Patti LuPone in 2008. Now… it’s Audra’s turn.

3) Hamilton Buy Tickets from: $129 - A revolutionary story of passion, unstoppable ambition, and the dawn of a new nation. HAMILTON is the epic saga that follows the rise of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton as he fights for honor, love, and a legacy that would shape the course of a nation. Based on Ron Chernow’s acclaimed biography and set to a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and Broadway, HAMILTON has had a profound impact on culture, politics, and education. HAMILTON features book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, direction by Thomas Kail, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, and musical supervision and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire. In addition to its 11 Tony Awards, it has won Grammy®, Olivier Awards, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and an unprecedented special citation from the Kennedy Center Honors.

4) Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club Buy Tickets - Willkommen. Bienvenue. Welcome to the Kit Kat Club. Home to an intimate and electrifying new production of CABARET. Experience this groundbreaking musical like never before. The denizens of the Kit Kat Club have created a decadent sanctuary Inside Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre, where artists and performers, misfits and outsiders rule the night. Step inside their world. This is Berlin. Relax. Loosen up. Be yourself. London’s hottest ticket arrives on Broadway this Spring with Academy® and Tony Award® winner Eddie Redmayne reprising his Olivier Award-winning performance as the Emcee, and introducing Gayle Rankin as the Toast of Mayfair, Sally Bowles. CABARET has music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Joe Masteroff – based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood.

5) Romeo + Juliet Buy Tickets - The youth are f**ked. Left to their own devices in their parents’ world of violent ends, an impulsive pair of star-crossed lovers hurtle towards their inescapable fate. The intoxicating high of passion quickly descends into a brutal chaos that can only end one way. Emmy Award winner Kit Connor (“Heartstopper”) and Golden Globe Award winner Rachel Zegler (Spielberg’s “West Side Story”) star as Romeo and Juliet in Tony Award-winning director Sam Gold’s (Fun Home, An Enemy of the People) visceral and visionary production. Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy now belongs to a new generation on the edge.

6) McNeal Buy Tickets from: $129 - Good writers borrow, great writers steal. Jacob McNeal (Robert Downey Jr.) is a great writer, one of our greatest, a perpetual candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. But McNeal also has an estranged son, a new novel, old axes to grind and an unhealthy fascination with Artificial Intelligence. Pulitzer Prize-winner Ayad Akhtar’s new play is a startling and wickedly smart examination of the inescapable humanity – and increasing inhumanity – of the stories we tell.

7) Chicago Buy Tickets from: $78 - Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, Chicago is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago's slickest criminal lawyer to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today's tabloids. A true New York City institution, Chicago is the longest running American musical in Broadway history.

8) Wicked Buy Tickets from: $124 - Before Dorothy, before the flying house, and before the yellow brick road, there was Elphaba and Galinda. Born with emerald-green skin, Elphaba is smart, fiery, misunderstood and possesses extraordinary talent. When circumstances force her to room with the bubbly blonde and exceptionally popular, Galinda, their initial rivalry turns into the unlikeliest of friendships. From the first electrifying note to the final breathtaking moment, Wicked tells the story of Oz that you've never heard.

9) The Roommate Buy Tickets from: $47 - Sharon’s never had a roommate before. In fact, there’s a lot Sharon’s never done before, but Robyn’s about to change all that. Jen Silverman’s The Roommate shatters expectations with its witty and profound portrait of a blossoming intimacy between two women from vastly different backgrounds, as they navigate the complexities of identity, morality, and the promise of reinvention. Being bad never felt so good as it does in this riveting one-act about second acts.

10) & Juliet Buy Tickets from: $60 - What if Juliet didin't die? That should almost be the start of the play! & Juliet is a multi-generational story of self-discovery, empowerment and love, imagining what would happen next if Juliet hadn't ended it all over Romeo, and got a second chance at life and love - on her terms. Juliet's new story bursts to life through a playlist of pop anthems as iconic as her name, all written by Max Martin and his collaborators. The musical features a book by David West Read, direction by Luke Sheppard and choreography by Jennifer Weber.

This Week's Top Off-Broadway Shows

1) Drag: The Musical Buy Tickets - In DRAG: The Musical, two Drag Houses, both alike in indignity, vie for supremacy in a wig-snatching journey of fashion, family, and forgiveness. After a bitter split, two estranged queens bring their already simmering tensions to a boiling point when they open competing clubs. In this queen-eat-queen tale of spite and survival, there’s only one rule: No Lip Synching Allowed. Entertainment Weekly calls it, “drag at its best” and BroadwayWorld raves, “They hit the ball out of the park. Rowdy fun with the glamor of a Broadway musical.” The “epic cast of drag, theater, and LGBTQ+ icons” (Entertainment Tonight) features Alaska Thunderf*ck (through 1/11/25), Jujubee, Jan Sport, Lagoona Bloo, J. Elaine Marcos and features New Kids on the Block’s, Joey McIntyre (through 11/24/24).

2) The Big Gay Jamboree Buy Tickets from: $55 - From the Oscar-nominated producer of BARBIE and the delulu creator of the Off-Broadway hit TITANIQUE comes THE BIG GAY JAMBOREE, a big new musical comedy that’s pushing the envelope…and the gay agenda. Help! Stacey’s fallen into a musical and she can’t get out. Last night, she got a little bit blackout drunk. This morning, she woke up in some b*tch ass Music Man world where everybody keeps bursting into song & dance, and where gay still just means happy. Maybe it’s a dream. Maybe it’s an allergic reaction to her birth control. Or maybe it’s Maybelline (don’t sue us! sponsor us? we’ll talk later). But if Stacey’s truly trapped inside a Golden Age musical, there’s only one way out: sing out! Or find the stage door. Whatever gets the most applause. Starring one of Vanity Fair’s “brightest stars of New York theatre” and the world’s second favorite Celine Dion, Marla Mindelle, The Big Gay Jamboree is here to make you laugh, make you cry laughing, and make you laugh crying.

3) Teeth Buy Tickets - *Teeth* is a sharp tale of revenge and transformation that tears through a culture of shame and repressed desire one delightfully unhinged song at a time. The musical follows Dawn O’Keefe, an evangelical Christian teen struggling to be an exemplar of purity amongst her community of fellow Promise Keeper Girls. Her stepbrother, Brad - alienated by his repressive upbringing in the community led by his fanatical Pastor father and intrigued by the online camaraderie of the Truthseeker men’s support group—is haunted by an indelible incident from his and Dawn’s past. As Dawn’s desires become tested and twisted by the men in her life, she discovers a deadly secret not even she understands: when men violate her, her body bites back—literally. Crackling with irrepressible desire and ancient rage, *Teeth* is a dark horror comedy conjuring the legend of one girl whose sexual curse may also be her salvation.

4) Distant Thunder Buy Tickets - A child is taken from his Blackfeet tribe and returns as a young attorney with an opportunity that unwittingly sets off a firestorm. Pop-rock merges with native drumming and dancing, fusing cultures in this ultimately joyful first-of-its-kind musical.

5) Good Bones Buy Tickets from: $111 - After winning the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for his play *Fat Ham*, playwright James Ijames' new production explores gentrification and the growing price of the American dream in his sharp and funny play, GOOD BONES. A work opportunity to revitalize the blighted neighborhood she grew up in has led Aisha and her chef husband Travis to buy and renovate a charming old house. But as everyone knows, renovation is expensive and stressful—both for buildings and the communities that surround them. Aisha’s young contractor Earl grew up in the area too, but his memories are of more than just dangerous streets and hollowed-out homes. When their purely professional relationship gives way to heated debate about who gets to stay and who has to go, Aisha is forced to reckon with the choices she’s made to get ahead and the painful, joyful, complicated ghosts that haunt her dreams…and her dream house. The Public’s Associate Artistic Director and Resident Director Saheem Ali directs this world premiere play about community, change, and the soul of our cities.

6) Ragtime Buy Tickets - Ragtime follows three fictional families in pursuit of the American Dream at the turn of the 20th century: Black pianist Coalhouse Walker Jr. (Joshua Henry) and his sweetheart Sarah, a wealthy white family led by Mother (Caissie Levy), and Latvian immigrant Tateh (Brandon Uranowitz) along with his Little Girl. This gala production is led by Tony-nominated Encores! Artistic Director Lear deBessonet (Once Upon a Mattress, Into the Woods).

7) Babe Buy Tickets - From grunge to femme punk hits, Abby (Marisa Tomei) and Gus have produced it all. Their work marriage is legendary and Gus has the platinum records to prove it. But when Katherine, a fresh A&R hire, calls Abby out on the compromises she’s made in her work union, Abby must face the music and fight to survive.

8) Ghost of John McCain Buy Tickets from: $70 - As McCain contemplates a wonderful afterlife, he instead finds that “heaven” is inside within Trump's brain where, a "Greek Chorus" of iconic figures, including Hillary Clinton, Roy Cohn, Eva Peron, Teddy Roosevelt, Robert Jordan, and Lindsey Graham, rebel against the President's relentless demands for affirmation.

9) Little Shop of Horrors Buy Tickets from: $90 - Seymour is a down-on-his-luck florist with a crush on his co-worker Audrey. When he discovers a mysterious – and voracious – plant, suddenly Seymour and Audrey are thrust into an epic battle that will determine the fate of the entire human race. Little Shop of Horrors made its highly-anticipated return home to Off-Broadway, in an intimate new production directed by Michael Mayer that offers an unprecedented opportunity to get close — maybe too close — to an incredible plant with an insatiable appetite.

10) Safety Not Guaranteed Buy Tickets from: $49 - An inventive musical reimagining of the cult-classic film hits the BAM Harvey stage, featuring music by Ryan Miller of Guster. When Darius, an entry-level journalist, sets out to report her first story about a classified advertisement offering the opportunity to go back in time, she begins an odd and endearing relationship with Kenneth, the eccentric man who placed the ad. From two-time Obie Award-winning theater director Lee Sunday Evans (Home, Farmhouse/Whorehouse, Dance Nation, Oratorio for Living Things) comes a unique live interpretation of the beloved indie movie, adapted for the stage by Nick Blaemire (Glory Days, Space Dogs).