Something's Coming... What Does 2020 Have in Store For Broadway?
By: Stephi Wild Dec. 28, 2019
2019 has come and gone, which means it's time to get excited for the new shows coming in 2020! This year will bring anticipated revivals of Company, West Side Story, and The Music Man, fan favorite Six, brand new musicals Diana, Mrs. Doubtfire, and MJ, and many more.
BroadwayWorld is giving you a look at all of the shows to get excited for. Mark your calendars now!
West Side Story
Broadway Theatre
Currently in Previews
Opening Night: 2/6/20
When four theatrical giants - Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim - created WEST SIDE STORY, it was immediately hailed as an "indisputable, boundary-busting masterpiece" (The New York Times). Now, three of the most daring theater-makers of our time: director Ivo van Hove (A View From the Bridge and The Crucible), choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, and designer Jan Versweyveld, offer a radical, thrilling new interpretation of this iconic work, with extraordinary dancing, breathtaking vision, and 23 young, brilliantly gifted performers all making their Broadway debuts. Don't miss this opportunity to see a landmark in musical theater history as if for the very first time.
Grand Horizons
Hayes Theatre
Currently in Previews
Opening Night: 1/23/20
Bill and Nancy have spent fifty full years as husband and wife. They practically breathe in unison, and can anticipate each other's every sigh, snore and sneeze. But just as they settle comfortably into their new home in Grand Horizons, the unthinkable happens: Nancy suddenly wants out. As their two adult sons struggle to cope with the shocking news, they are forced to question everything they assumed about the people they thought they knew best. By turns funny, shocking and painfully honest, Bess Wohl's new play explores a family turned upside-down and takes an intimate look at the wild, unpredictable, and enduring nature of love.
A Soldier's Play
American Airlines Theatre
Currently in Previews
Opening Night: 1/21/20
1944. A black Sergeant is murdered on a Louisiana Army base, and one tenacious investigator must race against his white leadership to unravel the crime before they unravel him. A hair-raising drama that reverberates with the "authentic and exciting pulse" (Ben Brantley, The New York Times) of mystery, Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece rockets onto Broadway for the first time, directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun).
My Name is Lucy Barton
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
Previews Begin: 1/6/20
Opening Night: 1/15/20
Four-time Emmy winner, two-time Golden Globe winner, three-time Academy Award and four-time Tony nominee Laura Linney returns to Broadway in a haunting new solo play adapted by Rona Munro from the bestselling novel by Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout. A sold-out sensation originally produced by the London Theatre Company at the Bridge Theatre in London, Ms. Linney was hailed as "luminous" by the The New York Times, "genuinely phenomenal" by Time Out, and the play was called "deeply affecting and heartbreaking" by The Observer.
Linney plays Lucy Barton, a woman who wakes after an operation to find - much to her surprise - her mother at the foot of her bed. They haven't seen each other in years. During their days-long visit, Lucy tries to understand her past, works to come to terms with her family, and begins to find herself as a writer. This spellbinding story is directed by five-time Olivier Award winner Richard Eyre "with a keen-eyed compassion." - The New York Times
Girl From the North Country
Belasco Theatre
Previews Begin: 2/7/20
Opening Night: 3/5/20
1934. A time-weathered guesthouse in the heartland of America. Only a song can shake off the dust for one group of wayward souls-and old dreams may hold the promise of new beginnings. As they pass in and out of each other's lives, their stories awaken with passion, fury and extraordinary beauty. Reimagining the music of Bob Dylan as roof-raising ensemble pieces and soul-stirring solos, celebrated playwright Conor McPherson (The Weir, The Seafarer) writes and directs this heartbreaking and universal story about family and love.
Six
Brooks Atkinson Theatre
Previews Begin: 2/13/20
Opening Night: 3/12/20
Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. From Tudor Queens to Pop Princesses, SIX the wives of Henry VIII take the mic to reclaim their identities out of the shadow of their infamous spouse-remixing five hundred years of historical heartbreak into an exuberant celebration of 21st century girl power. The female cast are backed by an all-female band, the "Ladies in Waiting." Songs from the studio album are streamed on average 300,000 per day making it the second highest streaming cast recording in the world.
The Minutes
Cort Theatre
Previews Begin: 2/25/20
Opening Night: 3/15/20
A town's proud history, the legend of a local hero, the coveted privilege of reserved parking: nothing is sacred during the town council meeting at the heart of Tracy Lett's new play. This razor-sharp comedy turns from hilarious to chilling as petty policy matters give way to the truth roiling just beneath the surface of the town's historical mythology.
Hangmen
John Golden Theatre
Previews Begin: 2/28/20
Opening Night: 3/19/20
Martin McDonagh's Hangmen, which the New York Times hailed in their "Critic's Pick" review as a "triumphant return for Martin McDonagh," marks McDonagh's seventh play to be produced on Broadway and his return to the stage following his BAFTA and Golden Globe Award-winning and Oscar-nominated film Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri.
ENGLAND 1965 - What is Britain's (second most) famous executioner to do now that hanging has been abolished? The simple answer is a lot more than he bargained for. In his small pub in the northern English town of Oldham, Harry is something of a local celebrity and the cub reporters and pub regulars are dying to hear Harry's reaction to the news, while his old assistant Syd and the mysterious Mooney lurk with very different motives for their visit.
Diana
Longacre Theatre
Previews Begin: 3/2/20
Opening Night: 3/31/20
The new musical based on the incredible real life story of an icon to end all icons, Diana.
Tony Award-winning director Christopher Ashley (Come From Away) and the wrtiers behind the Tony Award-winning musical Memphis (Joe DiPietro and David Bryan) bring us face-to-face with one of the 20th century's most compelling figures in this landmark musical event, featuring an epic and sweeping contemporary score.
Company
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
Previews Begin: 3/2/20
Opening Night: 3/22/20
Company will come home to New York this season. The production, directed by Marianne Elliott, will not be a replica of the version that recently ran in London's West End. It will feature an American cast, and some updates.
At Bobbie's 35th birthday party all her friends are wondering why she isn't married; why she can't find the right man and why she hasn't settled down to have a family. The multi-award winning musical comedy about life, love and marriage includes Stephen Sondheim's iconic songs, "The Ladies who Lunch," "Being Alive," "Side by Side," and "You Could Drive a Person Crazy."
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Booth Theatre
Previews Begin: 3/3/20
Opening Night: 4/9/20
Two-time Tony Award and three-time Emmy Award winner Laurie Metcalf and Rupert Everett star on Broadway in Edward Albee's seminal and perpetually astonishing drama Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello, this production also stars Russell Tovey and 2019 Olivier Award winner Patsy Ferran.
In 1962, when Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? stunned its first Broadway audiences with its radical, provocative, and unflinching portrait of a marriage, Edward Albee instantly became the most important American playwright of his
generation. Next spring, a new company of theatrical powerhouses takes on this landmark drama, nearly sixty years after its legendary Broadway premiere.
The Lehman Trilogy
Nederlander Theatre
Previews Begin: 3/7/20
Opening Night: 3/26/20
Ben Brantley of The New York Times calls THE LEHMAN TRILOGY "a ticket worth cashing in your gilt-edged securities for. Behold it with wonder, humble theatergoer." This New York Times Critic's Pick comes to Broadway direct from three sold-out engagements at The National Theatre, the Park Avenue Armory and London's West End. Directed by Academy Award, Tony and Golden Globe winner Sam Mendes, THE LEHMAN TRILOGY follows three brothers from their arrival in America in search of a new life, to the collapse of the firm they established, to the resulting financial crisis - the largest in history. The New York Post calls THE LEHMAN TRILOGY "the must-see event of the year," adding, "It is epic in every conceivable way. You dare not miss it. Do anything you can to get a ticket." As The Wall Street Journal says, "You should crawl across broken glass to see it."
Mrs. Doubtfire
Stephen Sondheim Theatre
Previews Begin: 3/9/20
Opening Night: 4/5/20
Based on the 1993 Twentieth Century Fox film of the same title and the best-selling novel, "Alias Madame Doubtfire" by Anne Fine, MRS. DOUBTFIRE follows the journey of a struggling actor who will go to any length to be with his children after he loses custody in a bitter divorce, disguising himself as a matronly British woman and taking a job as their nanny, in his ex-wife's home.
Flying Over Sunset
Vivian Beaumont Theatre
Previews Begin: 3/12/20
Opening Night: 4/16/20
Set in the 1950's, Flying Over Sunset is a work of fiction inspired by the lives of three extraordinary and accomplished people - writer Aldous Huxley (to be played by Harry Hadden-Paton); playwright, diplomat, and congresswoman, Clare Booth Luce (Carmen Cusack); and film legend Cary Grant (Tony Yazbeck) - each of whom in real life experimented with the drug LSD. At a crossroads in their lives the three come together, and under the influence of the drug, take a trip and confront the mysteries of their lives and their world.
Caroline, or Change
Studio 54
Previews Begin: 3/13/20
Opening Night: 4/7/20
Direct from a smash-hit run on London's West End, this new production of Tony Kushner (Angels in America) and Jeanine Tesori's (Fun Home) explosive musical launches to "the titanic dimensions of greatness" (Ben Brantley, The New York Times). The "incandescent" (Holly Williams, Time Out London) Sharon D Clarke stars in an exhilarating, Olivier Award-winning performance as Caroline, an African-American maid whose world of 1963 Louisiana ripples with change both large and small. Erupting with transcendent songs and larger-than-life imagination, Caroline, or Change explores how, in times of great transformation, even the simplest acts shake the earth.
Plaza Suite
Hudson Theatre
Previews Begin: 3/13/20
Opening Night: 4/13/20
Two-time Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick and two-time Emmy Award winner Sarah Jessica Parker will return to Broadway in the first-ever New York revival of Neil Simon's classic comedy about marriage, Plaza Suite, in a production by Tony Award winner John Benjamin Hickey.
Two world-class actors play three hilarious couples in this uproarious and piercing look at love and marriage from legendary playwright and Pulitzer Prize winner Neil Simon. This new production will mark the first revival of a Neil Simon play following his passing last August at the age of 91. He is remembered as one of the most celebrated, successful and beloved writers in Broadway history having written more than 30 plays and musicals.
American Buffalo
Circle in the Square Theatre
Previews Begin: 3/24/20
Opening Night: 4/14/20
Emmy and Tony Award winner Laurence Fishburne, Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Sam Rockwell and Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner Darren Criss will star in the Broadway revival of David Mamet's American Buffalo- winner of the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play. Mamet will reunite with director Neil Pepe (Speed-the-Plow, A Life in the Theatre) for the production.
Ben Brantley of The New York Times hails it as, "David Mamet's most affecting and gripping play," and Frank Rich of The New York Times declares, "AMERICAN BUFFALO is one of the best American plays of the last decade."
"David invented a new language in American Buffalo - raw, intense, shocking, original. It's amazing how quickly the audience becomes fluent in it. One of the highest compliments I've ever received to as a Mamet actor." - Patti LuPone
How I Learned to Drive
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
Previews Begin: 3/27/20
Opening Night: 4/22/20
The thrilling Broadway premiere of Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece How I Learned to Drive reunites the two original stars with their award-winning director for a new production. Tony Award® winner Mary-Louise Parker (Proof) and Tony nominee David Morse (The Iceman Cometh) head the cast of this remarkably timely and moving memory play about a woman coming to terms with a charismatic uncle who impacts her past, present and future life. Directing is Mark Brokaw (Heisenberg).
Take Me Out
Hayes Theatre
Previews Begin: 4/2/20
Opening Night: 4/23/20
In this Tony Award-winning Best Play, playwright Richard Greenberg celebrates the personal and professional intricacies of America's favorite pastime. When Darren Lemming (Jesse Williams), the star center fielder for the Empires, comes out of the closet, the reception off the field reveals a barrage of long-held unspoken prejudices. Facing some hostile teammates and fraught friendships, Darren is forced to contend with the challenges of being a gay person of color within the confines of a classic American institution. As the Empires struggle to rally toward a championship season, the players and their fans begin to question tradition, their loyalties, and the price of victory.
Birthday Candles
American Airlines Theatre
Previews Begin: 4/2/20
Opening Night 4/21/20
Debra Messing (Will & Grace) returns to the stage as Ernestine Ashworth, who spends her 17th birthday agonizing over her insignificance in the universe.
Soon enough, it's her 18th birthday. Even sooner, her 41st. Her 70th. Her 101st. Five generations, dozens of goldfish, an infinity of dreams, one cake baked over a century. What makes a lifetime into a life?
MJ the Musical
Neil Simon Theatre
Previews Begin: 7/6/20
Opening Night: 8/13/20
MJ is the new musical that celebrates the artistry of Michael Jackson, featuring a book by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage (Sweat, Ruined) and directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Christopher Wheeldon (An American in Paris).
The show takes audiences behind the scenes as Michael prepares for the 1992 Dangerous Tour, providing an in-depth look at his process. As Michael and his collaborators rehearse their epic setlist, we are transported to pivotal creative moments from his career.
Featuring over 25 of Michael Jackson's biggest hits, MJ combines the singular talent of a cultural icon with the powerful storytelling of contemporary theatre.
The Music Man
Previews Begin: 9/9/20
Opening Night: 10/22/20
Two-time Tony Award, Grammy Award, and Emmy Award winner Hugh Jackman will make his highly anticipated return to Broadway in what is widely agreed to be the greatest role ever created for an actor in the history of musical theater: Professor Harold Hill in Meredith Willson's beloved classic, The Music Man. Two-time Tony Award-winning musical comedy superstar Sutton Foster will star as Marian Paroo. The production, directed by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks, with choreography by Tony Award winner Warren Carlyle, will begin performances on September 9, 2020, and officially open on October 15, 2020.
One of the most universally cherished treasures of the American musical theater, The Music Man was an instant smash hit when it premiered on Broadway on December 19, 1957. It went on to win five Tony Awards, including the prize for Best Musical, and ran for 1,375 performances. The Smithsonian Institution ranks The Music Man as one of the "great glories" of American popular culture.
Lempicka
Dates and Theatre TBA
Fleeing the Russian revolution and leaving behind a world of opulence and wealth, aristocrat Tamara de Lempicka and her beloved husband Tadeusz are forced to make a new life.
In the rising tide of fascism, Tamara takes to painting to survive, and when she meets the free-spirited Rafaela, a prostitute on the fringes of Parisian society, she's torn between the life she cherishes with her husband and the passion, ambition, and possibility awoken in her by her new muse.
Inspired by the life of the artist who transformed herself from penniless refugee to star of the art world when the world itself teetered on chaos, Lempicka looks at the beauty and danger of one painter pursuing it all.
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