Broadway Buying Guide: August 14, 2023

Looking for the best deals on Broadway shows? Welcome to our new weekly guide to the most popular shows listed on BroadwayWorld.

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This Week's Top Broadway Shows

1) The Shark Is Broken Buy Tickets Tickets from: $48.50 - Martha’s Vineyard, 1974: shooting on ‘Jaws’ has stalled. The film’s lead actors – Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss – are stuck on a boat, at the mercy of foul weather and a faulty mechanical co-star. Awash with alcohol and ambition, three hammered sharks start to bare their teeth…Directed by Guy Masterson, THE SHARK IS BROKEN reveals the hilarious behind-the-scenes drama on one of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters.

2) Hamilton Buy Tickets Tickets from: $124 - A revolutionary story of passion, unstoppable ambition, and the dawn of a new nation. HAMILTON is the epic saga that follows the rise of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton as he fights for honor, love, and a legacy that would shape the course of a nation. Based on Ron Chernow’s acclaimed biography and set to a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and Broadway, HAMILTON has had a profound impact on culture, politics, and education. HAMILTON features book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, direction by Thomas Kail, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, and musical supervision and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire. In addition to its 11 Tony Awards, it has won Grammy®, Olivier Awards, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and an unprecedented special citation from the Kennedy Center Honors.

3) Here Lies Love Buy Tickets Tickets from: $83 - From Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award winner David Byrne (concept, music and lyrics) and Grammy Award® winner Fatboy Slim (music), Here Lies Love re-defines the musical theater experience, turning the rise and fall of a dictator and his wife into an exuberant party. Developed & directed by Tony Award winner Alex Timbers, with choreography by Olivier Award nominee Annie-B Parson, Here Lies Love transforms the Broadway Theatre into a nightclub where the audience is literally immersed in the story, witnessing history up close. While some audience members stand and move with the actors, others enjoy from traditional theater seating. Everyone is close to the action.

4) Sweeney Todd Buy Tickets Tickets from: $40 - Attend the tale! Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's landmark musical tells the tale of a resourceful pie shop owner and a vengeful barber out for blood. After he's sent away by a corrupt judge, Sweeney returns to London years later seeking his long-lost family, and forms an unlikely partnership with Mrs. Lovett, who serves up pies underneath his former shop. Together, they wreak havoc on Fleet Street and serve up the hottest - and most unsettling - pies in London. Director Thomas Kail helms the return of this musical thriller starring Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford.

5) Purlie Victorious Buy Tickets - Tony & Grammy Award winner and Academy & Emmy Award nominee Leslie Odom, Jr. will star in a new Broadway production of the classic American comedy Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch by the legendary Ossie Davis. Purlie Victorious will be staged by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon who directed the critically acclaimed productions of Ohio State Murders by Adrienne Kennedy and Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog earlier this season. This play, scheduled to begin in late summer 2023, will mark Odom’s return to Broadway after winning the Tony for his iconic performance as “Aaron Burr” in Hamilton.

6) Back to the Future: The Musical Buy Tickets Tickets from $79 - Welcome to Hill Valley! Marty McFly is a rock 'n' roll teenager who is accidentally transported back to 1955 in a time-travelling DeLorean invented by his friend, Dr. Emmett Brown. But before he can return to 1985, Marty must make sure his high school-aged parents fall in love in order to save his own existence. Based on the beloved film of the same name, Back to the Future is directed by John Rando. Set your destination time, New York and get ready to make musical theater history.

7) Moulin Rouge! Buy Tickets Starting at $79 - Enter a world of splendor and romance, of eye-popping excess, of glitz, grandeur, and glory! A world where Bohemians and aristocrats rub elbows and revel in electrifying enchantment. Pop the champagne and prepare for the spectacular spectacular. Baz Luhrmann’s revolutionary film comes to life onstage, remixed by director Alex Timbers and choreographer Sonya Tayeh in a new musical mash-up extravaganza. A celebration of Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and — above all — Love, Moulin Rouge! is more than a musical — it is a state of mind.

8) Wicked Buy Tickets Tickets from: $112 - Before Dorothy, before the flying house, and before the yellow brick road, there was Elphaba and Galinda. Born with emerald-green skin, Elphaba is smart, fiery, misunderstood and possesses extraordinary talent. When circumstances force her to room with the bubbly blonde and exceptionally popular, Galinda, their initial rivalry turns into the unlikeliest of friendships. From the first electrifying note to the final breathtaking moment, Wicked tells the story of Oz that you've never heard.

9) Funny Girl Buy Tickets Tickets from $69 - With music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill and book by Isobel Lennart, Funny Girl has become one of the most beloved Broadway classics, famous for skyrocketing Barbra Streisand to stardom. This bittersweet comedy is the story of the indomitable Fanny Brice, a girl from the Lower East Side who dreamed of a life on the stage. Everyone told her she'd never be a star, but then something funny happened-she became one of the most beloved performers in history, shining brighter than the brightest lights of Broadway. Michael Mayer's bold new production marks the first time Funny Girl has returned to Broadway since its debut 58 years ago.

10) Hadestown Buy Tickets Tickets from: $61.50 - In Hadestown, a song can change your fate. This Tony-winning new musical by Anaïs Mitchell and innovative director Rachel Chavkin is a love story for today, and always. Intertwining two mythic Greek tales - that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and of King Hades and his wife Persephone - Hadestown invites you on a journey to the underworld and back. Mitchell's alluring melodies and Chavkin's poetic imagination pit industry against nature, doubt against faith, and fear against love, with art perhaps being the one thing that can save it all. Hadestown is a haunting and hopeful theatrical experience that grabs you and never lets go.

This Week's Top Off-Broadway Shows

1) The Play That Goes Wrong Buy Tickets - Co-written by Mischief company members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, The Play That Goes Wrong is a riotous comedy about the theatre. The play introduces The 'Cornley University Drama Society' who are attempting to put on a 1920s' murder mystery, but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong...does, as the accident-prone thespians battle on against all odds to get to their final curtain call.

2) Blue Man Group Buy Tickets - Blue Man Group combines music, technology and comedy to create a form of entertainment that defies categorization and appeals to people of all ages. Blue Man Group's shows have been described by critics as "innovative," "energetic" and "wildly entertaining." But the only way to truly understand Blue Man Group's global popularity is to see the show for yourself.

3) The Great Gatsby Buy Tickets - You are invited to one of Jay Gatsby's infamous parties. As invites go, this is the hottest ticket in town. A world of red-hot rhythms, bootleg liquor, and pure jazz age self-indulgence awaits. Spend the evening dancing and clinking glasses with Nick Carraway, Daisy and Tom Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, and Jay Gatsby himself. As the champagne flows, all the drama unfolds. Dress to the nines and immerse yourself in this heart racing adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s seminal tale. Welcome back to the roaring twenties!

4) Drunk Shakespeare Buy Tickets Tickets from: $15 - With more performances of Shakespeare than any other company in New York! Also, more drinking! One professional actor has 5 shots of whiskey and then attempts to perform in a Shakespearean play. There is a hidden library on the 2nd Floor of a building on 43rd and 8th. With over 15,000 books, The Drunk Shakespeare Society meets every night to drink... knowledge of Shakespeare is not required.

5) Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground Buy Tickets - Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground is a candid and fascinating fictional eavesdropping on President Dwight D. Eisenhower at his Gettysburg, Pennsylvania farm. It is 1962 and New York Magazine has published its first list ranking the American Presidents in order of greatness. Pondering his placement on the list, Eisenhower looks back on his life - his Kansas upbringing, his decorated Army career, his victories in World War II, and his two terms as President – contemplating the qualities and adversities that make an American President great. Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground is adapted from a vast array of General Eisenhower's memoirs, speeches, and letters, with the support of the Eisenhower Foundation and permission from David and Susan Eisenhower and the Eisenhower family.

6) Sesame Street the Musical Buy Tickets - The hit musical returns to New York City! Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, Grover, Rosita, Ernie, Bert, The Count, Gabrielle and a whole host of Honkers, Martians and other Sesame Street favorites have ventured onto the stage to appear in their very own musical – starring… well, themselves. Featuring classic Sesame Street songs and new numbers by Broadway’s brightest songwriters. Directed by Jonathan Rockefeller and produced by Rockefeller Productions.

7) Here We Are Buy Tickets - Here We Are, legendary composer Stephen Sondheim’s final musical, features a book by Tony Award–nominee David Ives. It is inspired by Luis Buñuel’s films The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Exterminating Angel. Here We Are is directed by Tony Award–winner Joe Mantello. The cast will include Francois Battiste, Tracie Bennett, Bobby Cannavale, Micaela Diamond, Amber Gray, Jin Ha, Rachel Bay Jones, Denis O’Hare, Steven Pasquale, David Hyde Pierce, and Jeremy Shamos. The understudies for Here We Are are Bradley Dean, Adam Harrington, Bligh Voth, Adante Carter, Mehry Eslaminia, and Lindsay Nicole Chambers. Produced by Tom Kirdahy, its executive producers are Sue Wagner, John Johnson, and Jillian Robbins. Co-presented by The Shed. Performances begin in September 2023.

8) Rock & Roll Man Buy Tickets Tickets from: $61.50 - ROCK & ROLL MAN is the original musical about a musical original. Alan Freed was a Cleveland DJ who heard the future—and knew he had to let it sing. He named the genre “Rock & Roll,” bringing music to the masses and integrating artists and audiences on the airwaves and in concerts for the first time in history. Along the way, he became an icon to the nation’s youth—and a target for the nation’s establishment.

9) Flex Buy Tickets Tickets from: $61.50 - FLEX tells the story of a girls’ high school basketball team from Plainnole, Arkansas. It’s 1997, and the women of the Lady Train team are inspired by the successes of the WNBA. With aspirations of going pro, they must first navigate the pressures of being young, Black, and female in rural Arkansas. Will their fouls off the court tear their team apart? Or can they keep their pact to stick together through hell or high water? This powerful new play by Candrice Jones celebrates the fierce athleticism of women’s basketball with all the adrenaline and swagger of a four-quarter game. Directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz (The Skin of Our Teeth, Pipeline, Marys Seacole).

10) Little Shop of Horrors Buy Tickets Tickets from: $61.50 - Seymour is a down-on-his-luck florist with a crush on his co-worker Audrey. When he discovers a mysterious – and voracious – plant, suddenly Seymour and Audrey are thrust into an epic battle that will determine the fate of the entire human race. Little Shop of Horrors made its highly-anticipated return home to Off-Broadway, in an intimate new production directed by Michael Mayer that offers an unprecedented opportunity to get close — maybe too close — to an incredible plant with an insatiable appetite.

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