Broadway Buying Guide: October 9, 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 Wiz Buy Tickets - Based on L. Frank Baum's children's book, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", The Wiz takes one of the world's most enduring (and enduringly white) American fantasies, and transforms it into an all-Black musical extravaganza for the ages. Featuring a book by William F. Brown and a Tony Award-winning score by Charlie Smalls (and others), this entirely reimagined revival is directed by Schele Williams, choreographed by JaQuel Knight, additional material by Amber Ruffin, and music supervision, orchestrations, and music arrangements by Joseph Joubert.

2) Six Buy Tickets from: $59 - Have you met the ex-wives? Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. From Tudor queens to pop princesses, in this exciting new musical experience, the six wives of Henry VIII take the mic to reclaim their identities and finally move out of the shadow of their infamous spouse. Creators Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss remix five hundred years of historical heartbreak into a 21st century musical celebration about girl power and bring to life (with an all-female cast and band) one of the most popular and viral scores of the decade in an exciting and thrilling stage show unlike anything else you've ever experienced on Broadway.

3) Jaja's African Hair Braiding Buy Tickets - This dazzling world premiere from Jocelyn Bioh welcomes you into Jaja’s bustling hair braiding salon in Harlem where every day, a lively and eclectic group of West African immigrant hair braiders are creating masterpieces on the heads of neighborhood women. During one sweltering summer day, love will blossom, dreams will flourish and secrets will be revealed. The uncertainty of their circumstances simmers below the surface of their lives and when it boils over, it forces this tight-knit community to confront what it means to be an outsider on the edge of the place they call home.

4) A Beautiful Noise Buy Tickets from: $87 - The story of the legendary Neil Diamond comes to life on stage in a gripping and uplifting new musical featuring a score of his most beloved songs. With his first break into songwriting in the 1960s and his meteoric rise in the 1970s, and plenty of crushing disappointments and heart-stopping triumphs along the way, Neil Diamond has maintained an almost unthinkable level of superstardom for five straight decades. How did a poor Jewish kid from Brooklyn become one of the most universally adored showmen of all time? There's only one way to tell it: a musical set to his era-defining smash hits that entranced the world.

5) Hamilton Buy 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.

6) Merrily We Roll Along Buy Tickets from: $17.50 - Spanning three decades in the entertainment business, Merrily We Roll Along charts the turbulent relationship between composer Franklin Shepard and his two lifelong friends — writer Mary and lyricist & playwright Charley. An inventive, cult-classic ahead of its time, Merrily We Roll Along features some of Stephen Sondheim’s most celebrated and personal songs. Directed by Maria Friedman, Merrily We Roll Along features music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a book by George Furth, and is based on the original play by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart.

7) Gutenberg! The Musical! Buy Tickets from $49 - The original stars of The Book of Mormon together again, in a hilarious new musical about an unintentionally hilarious new musical! Need we say more? Okay we will! Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells – who became pretty famous on Broadway and then extremely super famous out in Hollywood – are coming back to their musical theater roots, putting on a show together because they just love each other so damn much. And what did they pick? A hilarious new musical from the guys who wrote Beetlejuice and the guy who directed Beetlejuice and Moulin Rouge. It’s the story of two best pals named Bud and Doug who put on a show together because they just love each other so damn much. It’s art imitating life imitating art! And it’s the funniest thing to come to Broadway since 1448! (Which is the year the printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg, who is the subject of the musical that Bud and Doug write, but that’s not important right now.)

8) Sweeney Todd Buy 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.

9) Chicago Buy Tickets - Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, Chicago is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago's slickest criminal lawyer to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today's tabloids. A true New York City institution, Chicago is the longest running American musical in Broadway history.

10) Shucked Buy Tickets from: $61.50 - What do you get when you pair a semi-neurotic, New York comedy writer with two music superstars from Nashville? A hilarious and audacious farm-to-fable musical about the one thing Americans everywhere can't get enough of: corn. Shucked is the new musical comedy that proves sometimes tearing down a few walls, rather than growing them, is the only way to preserve our way of life. Shucked is about to turn Broadway on its ear and offer a kernel of hope for our divided nation. The new original musical comedy features a book by Robert Horn and score by the Nashville songwriting team of Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally.

This Week's Top Off-Broadway Shows

1) Hell's Kitchen Buy Tickets from: $144 - Grammy Award-winning artist Alicia Keys and Pulitzer Prize finalist playwright Kristoffer Diaz bring their exhilarating coming-of-age musical HELL’S KITCHEN to The Public this fall. In a cramped apartment hanging off the side of Times Square, 17-year-old Ali is desperate to get her piece of the New York dream. Ali’s mother is just as determined to protect her daughter from the same mistakes she made. When Ali falls for a talented young drummer, both mother and daughter must face hard truths about race, defiance, and growing up. Ali feels trapped, until the sound of a neighbor playing piano opens the door to an unexpected friendship and a radically different future. Choreographed by Tony Award nominee Camille A. Brown and directed by Tony Award nominee Michael Greif, HELL’S KITCHEN is an unforgettable new show featuring both newly created music and the soulful, iconic songs of New York’s own Alicia Keys.

2) 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.

3) 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.

4) 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.

5) Little Shop of Horrors Buy 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.

6) Once Upon a Mattress Buy Tickets - In 1959, two as-yet-untested stars made their Broadway debuts: Mary Rodgers, with a gorgeous score that put her on the map, and Carol Burnett, in her first stage role as the brassy, loveable Princess Winifred the Woebegone—or “Fred” to her friends. More than six decades later, musical theater legend Sutton Foster (The Music Man) returns to the City Center stage alongside an all-star creative team to recapture that same infectious energy and joy. Led by Encores! Artistic Director Lear deBessonet (Into the Woods, Lionel Bart’s Oliver!) and with a new concert adaptation by Amy Sherman-Palladino (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Once Upon a Mattress sets an unapologetic free spirit loose in a repressed kingdom, reveling in Fred’s ability to charm and transform with willpower, honesty, and a little bit of help from her friends. Full of gloriously catchy melodies like “Shy” and “In a Little While,” this uproarious update of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea” promises both classic charms and new delights.

7) Sabbath's Theater Buy Tickets - When his secret life of debauchery comes to a heartbreaking end, disgraced puppet maker Mickey Sabbath plunges into increasingly mad and maddening encounters with people from his wild and wicked past. Part ghost story, part love story, Sabbath’s Theater unleashes Roth’s power to shock and amaze in this profound meditation on mortality and juicy celebration of life.

8) Infinite Life Buy Tickets - Atlantic Theater will welcome back both Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Baker (Body Awareness) and Obie Award winning director James Macdonald (Cloud Nine). Five women in Northern California sit outside on chaise lounges and philosophize. A surprisingly funny inquiry into the complexity of suffering, and what it means to desire in a body that’s failing you.

9) The Gardens of Anuncia Buy Tickets from: $67 - THE GARDENS OF ANUNCIA is inspired by the early life story of an icon of the American stage: Broadway legend Graciela Daniele. Anuncia (Priscilla Lopez) tends the garden of her country house as she reflects on her life, looking back on her girlhood in Juan Perón’s Argentina and paying homage to the family of women whose love and sacrifices allowed her to become an artist. This funny, poignant, and beautiful musical features a beguilingly romantic and tango-infused score filled with the exuberant sounds of women reveling in the joys of being alive. THE GARDENS OF ANUNCIA marks the fifth collaboration between Graciela Daniele and Michael John LaChiusa at Lincoln Center Theater following Hello Again (1994), Chronicle of a Death Foretold (1995), Marie Christine (1999), and Bernarda Alba (2006).

10) Drunk Shakespeare Buy 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.

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