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The Best Theater of 2024: Shows that Ruled the Year

Which Broadway (and off-Broadway) shows were the best of 2024? Find out!

By: Dec. 14, 2024
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As 2024 comes to a close, New York City's top theatre critics have been taking stock of this theatre season- deciding on their personal choices for their favorite productions of the year. The season has been full of so many stellar plays, musicals, revivals and new works, both on Broadway and off.

Be sure to check back later for new additions as they're released!

Note: Some lists include productions that were performed regionally.


The Best Theater of 2024: Shows that Ruled the Year  Image
Scene from The Hills of California

New York Times

Jesse Green:

Appropriate
Terce: A Practical Breviary
Dead Outlaw
Mary Jane
Illinoise
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Oh, Mary!
The Hills of California
Our Town
Maybe Happy Ending

Read the full list.

Laura Collins-Hughes:

Dead Outlaw

Maya Phillips:

Ragtime
One Upon a Mattress

Alexis Soloski:

Swept Away
Romeo + Juliet

Michael Paulson:

The Outsiders

Elisabeth Vincentelli:

Sunset Blvd
The Hills of California

Scott Heller:

Mary Jane

Read the full list.


The Best Theater of 2024: Shows that Ruled the Year  Image
Scene from Oh, Mary!

Vulture

Sara Holdren:

Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists
Terce: A Practical Breviary
Give Me Carmelita Tropicana!
We Are Your Robots
The Wind and the Rain
Grief Hotel
The Following Evening
The Marriage of Figaro
Illinoise
On Set With Theda Bara

Jackson McHenry:

Oh, Mary!
Dead Outlaw
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Jelly’s Last Jam
you don’t have to do anything
Usus
Maybe Happy Ending
Jonah
An Enemy of the People (as interrupted by Extinction Rebellion)
Yellow Face

Read the full lists.


The Best Theater of 2024: Shows that Ruled the Year  Image
Scene from Sunset Blvd.

Wall Street Journal

Charles Isherwood:

Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Sunset Blvd.
Maybe Happy Ending
Here There Are Blueberries
Our Class
Little Bear Ridge Road
Macbeth
An Enemy of the People
Prayer for the French Republic
Mary Jane
Brooklyn Laundry
Philadelphia, Here I Come!

Read the full list.


The Best Theater of 2024: Shows that Ruled the Year  Image
Scene from Cats: The Jellicle Ball

Washington Post

Naveen Kumar:

The Comeuppance
Oh, Mary!
Hamlet … The Rest Is Silence
Maybe Happy Ending
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
The Art of Care
Mary Jane
Suffs
Romeo & Juliet
The 22+ Weddings of Hugo

Read the full list.


The Best Theater of 2024: Shows that Ruled the Year  Image
Scene from Kimberly Akimbo

LA Times

Charles McNulty:

The Birthday Party: A Theatrical Catastrophe
The Brothers Size
Company
Fat Ham
Fatherland
Funny Girl
Henry 6
Kimberly Akimbo
Pacific Overtures
Primary Trust
Waiting for Godot

Read the full list.


The Best Theater of 2024: Shows that Ruled the Year  Image
Scene from One Man, Two Guvnors 

Toronto Globe and Mail

J. Kelly Nestruck and Aisling Murphy

Dana H.
The Inheritance
Women of the Fur Trade
Age Is a Feeling
One Man, Two Guvnors 
Salesman in China
Life of Pi 
Wonderful Joe
I Was Unbecoming Then
Big Stuff

Read the full list.




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