Once Upon a Mattress
Where: Hudson Theatre
When: Through November 30
What It Is: A revival of the classic musical spin on The Princess and the Pea.
Why It's Worth a Look: Once Upon a Mattress has routinely been a vehicle for the most talented Broadway women to show off their knack for physical and vocal comedy. Carol Burnett and Sarah Jessica Parker are among the fabulously funny stars who have played the protagonist Winifred. Now, Sutton Foster stars in a revamped version that also features new jokes from Gilmore Girls scribe Amy Sherman-Palladino. The result is delightful.
Death Becomes Her
Where: Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
When: Previews opening October 23
What It Is: A musical based on the 1992 film about warring women who go to extreme lengths to maintain their beauty, starring Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn.
Why It's Worth a Look: Seeing divas going at it is one of the great pleasures of Broadway, and Death Becomes Her delivers on it. This adaptation of Robert Zemeckis's flick stars Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard, Tony nominees who have big personalities and even bigger voices. (You probably remember Hilty's show-stopping moments in Smash.) Michelle Williams, of Destiny's Child fame, also appears as the enchantress originally played by Isabella Rossellini on screen. What more could you want?
The Hills of California
Where: Broadhurst Theatre
When: Through December 22
What It Is: A decades-spanning family drama about four sisters in a seaside British town and their stage mom.
Why It's Worth a Look: Playwright Jez Butterworth is known for his epics, including Jerusalem, which came to New York in 2011, and The Ferryman, which arrived in 2018. His latest is the very moving The Hills of California. As the play opens, three of the adult Webb sisters have gathered at their family boarding house in the 1970s where their mother, Veronica, is dying in an upstairs room. One of their siblings, Joan, remains missing, having been delayed coming from California. Why? Well that will become clearer as the play unfolds, jumping back in time to the 1950s to reveal Veronica's dreams of turning her girls into singing stars like the Andrews Sisters. Laura Donnelly is astounding playing both Joan and Veronica, and the play is a heartbreaker about trauma and memory.
Our Town
Where: Barrymore Theatre
When: Through January 19
What It Is: A trip to Thornton Wilder's Grover's Corners. You'll remember this one from high school.
Why It's Worth a Look: This new version of Wilder's slice of Americana features a lot of familiar faces, among them Jim Parsons, Katie Holmes and Zoey Deutch. Perhaps that's reason enough for you to go, but you are also going to want to check out what venerated theater director Kenny Leon does with material that will undoubtedly make you cry.
Oh, Mary!
Where: Lyceum Theatre
When: Through January 19
What It Is: Cole Escola's brilliant ahistorical comedy about Mary Todd Lincoln. Sort of.
Why It's Worth a Look: Arguably the biggest story of the Broadway season has been the success of Oh, Mary!, which transferred from a celebrated run off-Broadway. The genius comedian Escola plays Mary, Honest Abe's wife who really just wants to be a cabaret performer and has no idea that there's a war going on. Escola's performance is the highlight here, a perfectly calibrated concoction of zaniness, but everyone is incredible, including Conrad Ricamora as the not-so-secretly gay president.
Sunset Boulevard
Where: St. James Theatre
What It Is: The sexy revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical based on the 1950 film about a fading silent movie star.
Why It's Worth a Look: Two words: Nicole Scherzinger. The former Pussycat Doll gives a performance as Norma Desmond that was the talk of London. Now she brings her belt to New York. (And is signing autographs at the stage door still covered in blood.) Meanwhile, the production is directed by Jamie Lloyd, the innovative British director, who has stripped down the material and incorporated video elements, some of which even take the action onto the New York streets.
Romeo + Juliet
Where: Circle in the Square Theatre
When: Through February 16
What It Is: The latest take on Shakespeare's tale of young love gone oh-so-wrong, this time with songs from Jack Antonoff.
Why It's Worth a Look: You know what Romeo and Juliet is about, of course, but this production promises a Gen Z spin on the material with vaping and cans of Celsius on the stage. It comes from director Sam Gold, who has been a staple on- and off-Broadway with his inventive interpretations of classics, and features buzzy stars including Rachel Zegler of Steven Spielberg's West Side Story and Kit Connor of the Netflix show Heartstopper. There are also songs by Antonoff, the producer behind the likes of Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey, which give Zegler the chance to show off her impressive pipes. Footage of the production has been circulating on social media—specifically the moment where Connor does a pull-up for a kiss—but you have to see it for yourself.
Tammy Faye
Where: Palace Theatre
What It Is: A musical about the life of Tammy Faye Bakker.
Why It's Worth a Look: This bio-musical about the iconic televangelist features songs with music by the legendary Elton John and lyrics by Jake Shears of the band Scissor Sisters. That means that this is certainly a very queer take on the life of the woman who was also recently the subject of an Oscar-winning biopic. The show stars Katie Brayben who won an Olivier for her work in London, as well as Broadway vets Christian Borle and Michael Cerveris.
Yellow Face
Where: Todd Haimes Theatre
When: Through November 24
What It Is: David Henry Hwang's play about identity and art.
Why It's Worth a Look: Hwang is one of the most incisive writers working today, especially when it comes to the subject of race and entertainment. This semi-autobiographical play—which now stars Daniel Dae Kim as the Hwang stand-in—first premiered in 2007, but remains as relevant as ever. It's about a writer not so coincidentally named David Henry Hwang (Kim) who protests the casting of a non-Asian actor in an Asian role—which Hwang himself did—only to accidentally cast a white actor in an Asian role in one of his own plays. From there it spins out into a somewhat true tale that extends beyond the initial satire of its premise.
