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The State of Broadway: January 2021

Get the scoop on which shows are expected to re-open, which shows are not returning, and more!

by BWW News Desk Jan. 13, 2021

It's no secret that the state of the world has had a major impact on the theatre industry over the past year. Broadway, which usually brings in $14 billion to New York City's yearly revenue, has been shuttered since last March, leaving the futures of many artists and shows in limbo. While many of those productions move forward with plans to reopen when Broadway officially returns, some have already announced that they will not open again.

We've rounded up all of the latest news on the current state of Broadway for January 2021:

Which Broadway shows are not coming back?

Earlier this week it was announced that Mean Girls will not reopen as a result of the continued shut down. The production's final performance was Wednesday evening March 11, 2020, having played 805 performances and 29 previews in a record-setting run at the August Wilson Theatre.

The State of Broadway: January 2021

The show joins other previously announced closures, including Frozen, as well as Hangmen and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf- both of which never officially opened.

A Soldier's Play, Beetlejuice and The Inheritance have also played their final performances, as all three had previously announced closing dates for late Spring 2020.

Which Broadway shows are expected to return?

Roundabout Theatre Company still plans to open Jeanine Tesori and Tony Kushner's CAROLINE, OR CHANGE at Studio 54, As well as Alice Childress's TROUBLE IN MIND, directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, at the American Airlines Theatre. Coming to Broadway in Spring 2022 will be 1776, directed by Jeffrey L. Page and Diane Paulus. Plans for Noah Haidle's Birthday Candles, starring Debra Messing, are still to be determined.

In the winter of 2022, Manhattan Theatre Club will present the Broadway premiere of Skeleton Crew, written by Tony Award nominee Dominique Morisseau and directed by Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. MTC's planned 2021-2022 season also includes the Broadway premiere of Lackawanna Blues, written, performed, and directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson with original music by Bill Sims Jr. in Fall 2021 and the Broadway premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-winning How I Learned to Drive, written by Paula Vogel and directed by Mark Brokaw in Spring 2022 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

Lincoln Center Theater has also announced that the new musical Flying Over Sunset will open at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in the fall of 2021.

David Byrne's American Utopia plans to return to Broadway on September 17, 2021.

Tracy Letts' The Minutes has been rescheduled to open on March 15, 2022.

The State of Broadway: January 2021

As of June 2020, The Lehman Trilogy was still hoping to open on Broadway, but in a different theatre.

As of August 2020, Sing Street will now begin performances between Winter 2021 and 2022 at a Shubert theater to be announced.

As of October 2020, the premiere of MJ The Musical has been postponed until Fall 2021.

Many shows are expected to return, but have not yet made official announcements, including: Ain't Too Proud, Aladdin, The Book of Mormon, Chicago, Come From Away, Company, Dear Evan Hansen, Diana, Girl from the North Country, Hadestown, Hamilton, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Jagged Little Pill, The Lion King, Moulin Rouge!, Mrs. Doubtfire, The Music Man, The Phantom of the Opera, Plaza Suite, Six, Take Me Out, Tina, To Kill a Mockingbird, West Side Story, and Wicked.

Which Broadway theatres are vacant?

August Wilson Theatre (former home of Mean Girls)
Barrymore Theatre (former home of The Inheritance)
Booth Theatre (former home of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)
Cort Theatre (planned renovations)
Golden Theatre (former home of Hangmen)
Lyceum Theatre (former home of Sing Street)
Nederlander Theatre (former home of The Lehman Trilogy)
Palace Theatre (planned renovations)
St. James Theatre (former home of Frozen)