Broadway's 10 best musicals and plays of 2023, including 'Merrily We Roll Along'
"Jaws," Johannes Gutenberg, Britney Spears and one bad Cinderella.
In some form or another, they all graced Broadway stages in 2023. It was the year that gifted us a Tony Awards sweep for “Kimberly Akimbo,” a bittersweet musical dramedy about a rapidly aging teen. We celebrated star-making performances from young actors like Amelia Fei (“How to Dance in Ohio”), Kolton Krouse ("Dancin'") and Casey Likes (“Back to the Future”). And New Yorkers discovered that something good does, in fact, exist at Hudson Yards: Stephen Sondheim’s posthumous show “Here We Are,” which premiered Off-Broadway this fall.
There's plenty more to look forward to in the spring, including hotly anticipated revivals with Eddie Redmayne ("Cabaret") and Steve Carell ("Uncle Vanya"), as well as musical adaptations of "The Notebook," "Water for Elephants" and "Days of Wine and Roses." But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Of the more than two dozen shows we saw on Broadway these last 12 months, here's our ranking of the best plays and musicals that opened this year.
10. ‘Shucked’
Our first time getting “Shucked,” we didn’t quite know what to make of this scrappy, ballad-heavy musical about the daffy denizens of a small-town corn haven. But upon repeat visits, we surrendered to the show's earnest heart and punny one-liners, delivered with delightful peculiarity by Kevin Cahoon. And Tony-winning powerhouse Alex Newell, as the independently owned Lulu, is worth the price of admission alone.
Closing Jan. 14 at the Nederlander Theatre, with a North American tour to follow in fall 2024.
9. ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’
It’s not the scariest “Sweeney” you’ll ever see, but it’s certainly the splashiest. It’s hard not to get swept up in the sheer scope of Thomas Kail’s reverently rendered production, headlined by the vocally exquisite Josh Groban and a feverishly great Annaleigh Ashford. But the lush orchestrations are the real star of this Stephen Sondheim revival, which gets fresh blood with Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster starting Feb. 9.
Now playing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
8. ‘Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch’
Leslie Odom Jr. (“Hamilton”) returns to Broadway in this sparkling revival of Ossie Davis’ 1961 satire, following a dynamic Black preacher who cooks up a scheme to reclaim his church — as well as his rightful inheritance — from a two-faced white landowner (Jay O. Sanders). The entire cast is aces, but it’s Kara Young who runs away with the show in the year’s most wonderfully go-for-broke performance, playing a down-home Eliza Doolittle tasked with winning back Purlie’s money.
Now playing at the Music Box Theatre through Feb. 4.
7. ‘Here Lies Love’
Not everything worked about this neon-drenched immersive musical, which charted the rise of Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos (Jose Llana) and his disco-loving first lady, Imelda Marcos (Arielle Jacobs). But it’s exactly the sort of high-concept material that you only wish more Broadway producers would take a gamble on, using David Byrne’s infectious pop score to illustrate how everyday people can be lulled into complicity.
Closed at the Broadway Theatre Nov. 26.
6. ‘A Doll’s House’
Turns out, all you need for a spellbinding night of theater is Jessica Chastain and a chair. Seated for the play’s 100-minute duration – with virtually no sets, props or costumes – the Oscar winner led a stellar ensemble in this revival of Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 classic, about a woman’s journey to enlightenment and freedom. Even if you knew it was coming, the final image of Chastain walking out onto the bustling New York City streets was electrifying to behold.
Closed June 10 at the Hudson Theatre.
5. ‘Fat Ham’
In his Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, playwright James Ijames cleverly transports “Hamlet” to a Southern family barbecue, where a young Black man (Marcel Spears) is visited by his father’s ghost (Billy Eugene Jones) and pressured to avenge his death. Ijames seamlessly weaves modern sensibilities into Shakespeare’s text, grappling with themes of queerness, toxic masculinity and generational trauma. Spears' stunning, mid-show rendition of Radiohead’s “Creep” was also an unexpected highlight of our theatergoing year.
Closed at the American Airlines Theatre July 2.
4. ‘Alex Edelman: Just For Us’
"A Jew walks into a neo-Nazi meeting" is the wild-but-true premise of this brilliantly conceived one-man show, which confronts antisemitism and whiteness with razor-sharp punchlines. Edelman is charisma personified: using thorny topics as springboards for ingenious tangents about Christmas, his Olympian brother and a sign-language-savvy gorilla. He somehow sticks the landing with all the poise of Sully Sullenberger, gifting us a standup act that is equal parts hilarious, thoughtful and moving.
Closed at the Hudson Theatre Aug. 19, with a North American tour ongoing through Feb. 24.
3. ‘Jaja’s African Hair Braiding’
In a brisk 90 minutes, playwright Jocelyn Bioh managed to create an endlessly captivating universe within the four walls of an immigrant-owned hair-braiding shop in Harlem. Featuring a revolving door of richly drawn characters, the comedy follows a day in the life of stylists and their clientele: all with their own hopes, dreams, wisecracks and complaints. Zenzi Williams, as the scene-stealing Bea, should start clearing her mantel for Tony season. But awards voters shouldn’t forget Dominique Thorne, who deftly anchored the finale's devastating twist.
Closed at the Friedman Theatre Nov. 19.
2. ‘Parade’
This year’s Tony winner for best musical revival, Michael Arden’s tremendous and thrilling production told the harrowing true story of Leo Frank (Ben Platt), a Jewish man who was wrongfully imprisoned and lynched by a mob. Platt brought remarkable complexity to Leo, a bundle of nerves who achingly refused to unravel. And Micaela Diamond was equally mesmerizing as Leo’s resourceful wife, Lucille. Together, singing Jason Robert Brown’s ravishing score, they sounded absolutely heavenly.
Closed Aug. 6 at the Jacobs Theatre, with a North American tour launching in January 2025.
1. 'Merrily We Roll Along'
It was less of a sail than a climb, but Stephen Sondheim’s legendary 1981 flop is now Broadway’s hottest ticket. That’s thanks in large part to Maria Friedman’s shrewd direction, giving her actors generous room to explore the story's vast emotional terrain. Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez are a sensational trio, exuding easy chemistry as old pals whose friendship sputters at the crossroads of success.
Carried by their heartbreaking performances, no other musical has more effectively captured the pains of growing up, drifting apart and watching as dreams slip through your fingers. Forty years ago, the show's bitter pill proved tough for many critics to swallow. But as Sondheim writes, "yesterday is done," and this "Merrily" meets its moment as the very best that Broadway has to offer.
Now playing at the Hudson Theatre through July 7.