What to Watch on New Year's Eve - Sara Bareilles, Reneé Rapp, & More

As 2025 approaches, Broadway fans can close the curtain on 2024 with some Broadway and music favorites!

Countdown to midnight with names like Sara Bareilles, Sting, Meghan Trainor, Alanis Morissette, Carrie Underwood, Reneé Rapp, Laufey, and more. Additionally, the Wicked movie is now available on digital and fans could do a lot worse than start the new year with the musical blockbuster.

BroadwayWorld has rounded up streaming and TV options for your 2024 New Year's festivities. Check them out below!

Sara Bareilles: New Year's Eve with the National Symphony Orchestra & Friends 

In September, Tony Award-nominated performer Sara Bareilles performed three orchestral shows with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. The performances were filmed for PBS' Next at the Kennedy Center program and air on Tues., Dec. 31, 2024 at 8/7c on PBS. 

From her first smash hit "Love Song" to her Broadway songwriting and later performing debut with the musical "Waitress," Bareilles' amazing artistry has been recognized with multiple Grammy and Tony awards and nominations.

Performed live with the National Symphony Orchestra, Rufus Wainwright, Emily King, David Ryan Harris, the special also features appearances from Ben Folds, Madison Cunningham, and Renée Elise Goldsberry, and is conducted by Steven Reineke. Read BroadwayWorld's interview with Bareilles about the concert here.

CNN’s “New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen"

Airing live on CNN on Tuesday, Dec. 31, at 8pm ET, join Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen as they return to ring in the New Year, along with CNN reporters providing live coverage of celebrations across the country. The special will also be available to stream on Max.

The show will feature music, comedy and some surprise guests, including Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, live from his residency at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Sting, Meghan Trainor, Shania Twain, Diplo, Roy Wood Jr., Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black from CNN’s Have I Got News For You, Lil Jon, Mickey Guyton who will perform “Imagine” live from Times Square, Patti LaBelle, and comedians Whitney Cummings, Amy Sedaris, Sasheer Zamata, Ziwe, Adam Devine, and more. 

“Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2025”

“Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2025” will air Tuesday, Dec. 31, live on ABC beginning at 8 p.m. EST and stream next day on Hulu. 

Ryan Seacrest, marking his 20th year as host, will return alongside co-host Rita Ora to lead the festivities from New York’s Times Square, with an all-star roster of artists including Carrie Underwood, Megan Moroney and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

The Jonas Brothers will kick off the group’s 20th anniversary celebrations with a thrilling, career-spanning medley performance from New York’s iconic Times Square, airing just after midnight.

Performances from the West Coast Party will include Alanis Morissette, with special guest Reneé Rapp, Dasha, DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live! starring Ja Rule, Fat Joe, Slick Rick & Doug E. Fresh, Ernest, HARDY, Kesha, Laufey, Natasha Bedingfield, and T-Pain.

Bonus: Wicked Movie

Ring in the New Year with the Wicked movie! Amid its record-breaking box office run, the thrillifying musical adaptation is now available on digital platforms to own or rent in time for New Year’s Eve celebrations. Along with the theatrical version, fans can enjoy a bonus Sing-Along version, a 40-minute journey through Oz that celebrates the film’s transformative on-screen magic, deleted & extended scenes and more on the official digital release. Watch an exclusive behind-the-scenes clip here.

The Wicked film adaptation stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Ariana Grande as Glinda, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Ethan Slater as Boq, and Marissa Bode as Nessarose. The first part was released on November 22, 2024, with Wicked: For Good hitting theaters on November 21, 2025.