The leaves are turning, the nights are shorter and Broadway is about to get busier. Fourteen productions are set to open, a lineup that mixes fresh plays, splashy revivals and stars bright enough to rival the harvest moon. Autumn in New York isn’t complete without a night on Broadway.
ART
Art isn’t easy, as Sondheim reminds us, and neither is friendship for the trio in Yasmina Reza’s Tony-winning play Art. Starring Tony winners James Corden and Neil Patrick Harris and two-time Tony nominee Bobby Cannavale, the one-act comedy follows three longtime friends whose relationship is tested by the purchase of an all-white painting with an eye-popping price tag. The acquisition cracks open their witty banter to reveal simmering tensions and fragile ties.
Previews August 28 / Opens September 16 / Music Box Theatre
WAITING FOR GODOT
Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, forever linked by Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, reunite in Jamie Lloyd’s revival of Beckett’s existential classic. Two companions wait on a bare stage, filling the hours with looping conversations while peculiar visitors drift in and out. The reunion of Reeves and Winter brings a pop-culture spark to Beckett’s spare world, making this Godot one of the fall’s most intriguing waits.
Previews September 13 / Opens September 28 / Hudson Theatre
PUNCH
Punch tells the story of Jacob, a young man from Nottingham whose bravado, alcohol and drugs fuel one reckless night that changes the course of two families. A single impulsive punch sends him to prison, where an unexpected bond with the victim’s parents reshapes his future. Adapted from Jacob Dunne’s memoir Right from Wrong, James Graham’s play premieres on Broadway with newcomer Will Harrison as Jacob and two-time Tony winner Victoria Clark as the grieving mother.
Previews September 9 / Opens September 29 / Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
RAGTIME
The landmark musical from Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, returns to tell the sweeping story of turn-of-the-century America. An Upper East Side family, a Jewish immigrant and his daughter and a Harlem musician see their lives intersect in a nation bursting with upheaval and possibility. With ragtime rhythms and soaring ballads, the show explores love, justice and the ever-elusive American dream.
Previews September 26 / Opens October 16 / Vivian Beaumont Theater
LITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD
Laurie Metcalf has captivated Broadway audiences in six separate productions in the last decade, winning two Tony Awards for her efforts. Now she’s back in a riveting family drama set in smalltown Idaho—and she has a worthy sparring partner in Micah Stock. Samuel D. Hunter’s play centers on an acerbic aunt and her estranged nephew who reunite after a death in the family. By all accounts, Metcalf and Stock’s partnership is raw, real and blisteringly funny.
Previews October 7 / Opens October 30 / Booth Theatre
BEETLEJUICE
Beetlejuice refuses to stay buried. The wisecracking ghost returns for a third Broadway haunting, transforming Tim Burton’s cult-classic film into a gleefully twisted musical comedy, as the living and the dead collide in increasingly outrageous ways. The story follows the Deetz family, one recently deceased couple and a poltergeist with panache. Part comedy, part chaos, Beetlejuice proves audiences love a bad influence.
Opens October 8 / Palace Theatre
LIBERATION
History has a habit of circling back. In Liberation, Bess Wohl, the Tony-nominated playwright of Grand Horizons, moves between 1970s Ohio and the present as Lizzie gathers women to talk about change and, 50 years later, her daughter finds herself asking the same questions. The play traces progress and resistance through two generations, showing how some revolutions do not end but linger from one generation to the next.
Previews October 8 / Opens October 28 / James Earl Jones Theatre
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES
Kristin Chenoweth plays Jackie Siegel, a woman with a simple dream—to live in a 90,000-square-foot mansion with nine kitchens, 14 bedrooms, 30 bathrooms, a 150-person dining hall, a 35-car garage, a 20,000-bottle wine cellar and a bowling alley. Based on the documentary of the same name, what could have been a schadenfreudian tale about financial excess becomes a human story about personal aspiration colliding with economic reality. Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz provides the suitably rich score.
Previews October 8 / Opens November 9 / St. James Theatre
CHESS
Yes, it’s really about chess—specifically, an American champion facing off with his Russian rival at an international competition during the height of the Cold War. But it’s real draw is a powerhouse score from ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaus (Mamma Mia!) with songs like “One Night in Bangkok” and “I Know Him So Well” and an intense love triangle being played out by three of Broadway’s brightest: Tony winner Aaron Tveit as the hot-headed American, rising star Nicholas Christopher as the enigmatic Russian and Glee and Funny Girl star Lea Michele as the woman who comes between them.
Previews October 15 / Opens November 16 / Imperial Theatre
ROB LAKE MAGIC WITH SPECIAL GUESTS THE MUPPETS
The Muppets finally made it to Broadway! Kermit the Frog and more of the Muppet clan are the special guests of Rob Lake, a grand illusionist who consulted on Adele’s Las Vegas residency as well as Broadway shows Aladdin and Death Becomes Her, and in 2008 became the youngest magician to receive the Merlin Award, the industry equivalent of an Oscar. Lake is known for making very large things suddenly disappear. But would he dare saw Miss Piggy in half?
Previews October 28 / Opens November 6 / Broadhurst Theatre
OEDIPUS
Robert Icke directs and adapts Sophocles’ great tragedy, lending a work from the 5th century B.C.E. the nerve-shredding immediacy of a modern thriller. The production is set in a campaign office as a charismatic leader awaits some election results—which arrive with a devastating realization. Olivier winners Mark Strong and Lesley Manville star in this harrowing contemplation of the heavy hand of fate. Best not bring your mom to this one.
Previews October 30 / Opens November 13 / Studio 54
TWO STRANGERS (CARRY A CAKE ACROSS NEW YORK)
Dougal, a bright-eyed Brit, flies to New York for a wedding. The bride’s disaffected sister, Robin, picks him up at JFK. Together, they go off to collect the wedding cake. Romantic, comedic and musical delights ensue. Sam Tutty, an Olivier winner for starring in Dear Evan Hansen in London, plays Dougal, while Christiana Pitts, last seen on Broadway in that classic Manhattan love story King Kong, plays Robin.
Previews November 1 / Opens November 20 / Longacre Theatre
MARJORIE PRIME
When Jordan Harrison’s play was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist 10 years ago, the concept—the ability to communicate with A.I. versions of loved ones—felt like far-off sci-fi. Well, reality has caught up. Cynthia Nixon, June Squibb and Danny Burstein star in this family drama about memory, both real and synthetic, and what makes us human. Adapted into a 2017 film starring Jon Hamm and Geena Davis, the play makes a welcome return to the New York stage.
Previews November 20 / Opens December 8 / Hayes Theater
BUG
A drifter. A long-suffering cocktail waitress. A seedy Oklahoma motel room. Millions of malicious, microscopic insects. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts’ sinisterly sexy psychological thriller will finally get under the skin of Broadway audiences. First staged in London in 1996 and later adapted into a 2006 film, the play was most recently produced in Chicago in 2021. Namir Smallwood and Letts’ wife Carrie Coon reprise their roles from that production under the direction of David Cromer.
Previews December 17 / Opens January 8, 2025 / Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
