Broadway's Best Shows

By Jordan Levinson

The annual celebration of St. Patricks Day marks the anniversary of the death day of the most prominent patron saint and national apostle of Ireland; he is notably credited with bringing Christianity to its people. It is an international holiday today, but the Irish have observed St. Patrick’s Day as a religious observance since around the 9^th or 10^th century — over 1,000 years by now. Through parades, parties, and food aplenty, people around the world love celebrating their Irish heritage on this day. It notably takes place in the middle of Lent, the period commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert fasting, so there are strict dietary rules and restrictions to follow. However, since St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Friday in 2023, the rules are a bit laxer — observers are more than welcome to eat meat on March 17 only (Shepherd’s Pie and corned beef and cabbage are traditional dishes for the holiday).

It has long been known that the Irish have a way with words and use them to tell the most wonderful stories, so seeing as St. Patrick’s Day is an international appreciation and celebration of Irish culture, this article will shine a light on some successful Irish playwrights who have seen their work take shape on Broadway’s stages:

Early in the 20th century, Dublin-born John Millington Synge — a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival (which saw a renewed interest in aspects of Celtic writing) — wrote many plays about Irish rural life before his 1909 death. His most notable play is The Playboy of the Western World, which has been seen eight times on Broadway in a 60-year span (1911-1971). It is centered on Christy Mahon, a young man who runs away from his farm and pretends that he has committed patricide. When it first premiered in Ireland in 1907, it was the subject of public controversy amongst republicans, as they claimed the play’s message and themes were an insult to the nation. The Playboy Riots broke out on its opening night before press opinion eventually turned against the rioters. Other Synge plays that came to Broadway include his first play, The Shadow of the Glen, Riders to the Sea, and The Well of the Saints; all of these had multiple runs throughout the 20^th century.

Orlagh Cassidy, Rachel Pickup, Aedin Moloney and Annabel Hägg in “Dancing at Lughnasa,” at the Irish Repertory Theater in 2011 (Carol Rosegg)

Brian Friel, known to some as “the Irish Chekhov”, is considered one of the greatest English-language dramatists, and his work was compared favorably to some of his fellow contemporaries. Friel’s plays were all written in the second half of the 20^th century. 14 of them take place in a fictional town he liked to call Ballyweg (Irish for “small town”), one being Dancing at Lughnasa, which won him the 1992 Tony for best play. A memory play, it follows narrator Michael Evans, who recalls a summer he spent with his mother and her four sisters in a cottage when he was seven. Dancing at Lughnasa was adapted into a 1998 movie, directed by Irishman Pat O’Connor, and starring Meryl Streep as one of the sisters. Other works include Faith Healer (last seen on Broadway in 2006 with Ralph Fiennes and Cherry Jones), Translations (which got a 2007 Roundabout Theatre Company revival), and the two-sided relocation comedy Philadelphia, Here I Come!

Brian Bedford, Dana Ivey, David Furr, and Santino Fontana in Roundabout Theater Company’s 2011 The Importance of Being Earnest (Sara Krulwich)

In the late 19^th century, a young man named Oscar Fingal O’Fflahertie Wills Wilde rose to fame as an avid spokesperson for aestheticism, making him one of the most striking personalities of his day. One of his most notable dramatic pieces — and the final comedy he wrote — is The Importance of Being Earnest, a farce where the protagonists adapt fictitious personas just so they can escape burdensome social obligations. The play’s premiere was successful, and it has been revived many times ever since. The original Broadway production opened in 1895 at the Empire Theatre and was produced by Charles Frohman; it most recently received a Roundabout remount in 2011, starring Tootsie Tony winner Santino Fontana. Oscar Wilde is also known for the Biblical legend dramatization Salome, the upper-class comedy Lady Windermere’s Fan, and the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.

One of the key figures in the mid-20^th century Theatre of the Absurd era, Samuel Beckett made himself known with his minimalist plays that focused on tragicomic life experiences, coupled with lots of nonsense. His Waiting for Godot tracks two men who have a variety of conversations under a leafless tree as they wait for the titular Godot, who never arrives. After first opening in France in 1953, it came to Broadway three years later and quickly became one of Beckett’s best-known works, with Bert Lahr — the Cowardly Lion in the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz” — receiving praise for his turn as Estragon. Another popular Beckett play is the post-apocalyptic Endgame, a revival of which is currently playing through April 9 at New York’s Irish Repertory Theatre, starring Bill Irwin and John Douglas Thompson. 

Playwright and political activist George Bernard Shaw became the leading writer of his generation, as he wrote more than 60 dramatic works from the 1880s until his 1950 death. Much of Shaw’s work highlights his uncanny ability to contrast reality with conventional wisdom. The most known Shavian play is Pygmalion, about an English phonetics professor who changes the speech of a Cockney flower girl and passes her off as a duchess. The reality here, for instance, is that the lower class is just as smart as the upper class. Pygmalion received the musical treatment in the lush, “loverly” My Fair Lady, and the play has also been adapted into countless films and TV shows. Other Shaw plays include Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Saint Joan, and Man and Superman. 

David Patrick Kelly, David Abeles, Erikka Walsh, Andy Taylor, Paul Whitty, Carlos Valdes, J. Michael Zygo in Once on Broadway (Joan Marcus)

Another native Dubliner, Enda Walsh has written musicals, straight plays, radio plays, art installations, and even an opera in his theatrical career so far. Walsh himself has stated that his works are all about “some kind of love and need for calm and peace.” He is best known for writing the Tony-winning book for the stage adaptation of the indie film Once, which also won the 2012 Tony for best musical and ran for three years on Broadway. Walsh collaborated with David Bowie on the 2015 musical Lazarus, which played New York Theatre Workshop right before Bowie died. He also adapted the unabashedly Irish coming-of-age story Sing Street for the stage; after a successful run at NYTW, it was set to open on Broadway in April 2020, which never happened due to the pandemic shutdown. After a second tryout at Boston’s Huntington Stage in the summer of 2022, however, there could be a bright future in sight for the title. 

Todd Almond, center, and the ensemble of “Girl From the North Country.” (Sara Krulwich)

Like Walsh, Conor McPherson has also instilled himself as one of the great contemporary Irish playwrights. His 2006 play The Seafarer, about an alcoholic who lives with his aging brother during the holiday season and tries to stay sober, marked McPherson’s National Theatre debut; a Broadway production opened in late 2007 and garnered a best play Tony nomination. McPherson wrote the book for the Bob Dylan jukebox musical Girl from the North Country, which garnered raves in the West End and became the final Broadway production to officially open before the COVID shutdown; a national tour will begin in fall 2023. The Duluth, Minnesota-set piece was filmed on Broadway for a future proshot release; a more traditional film adaptation is also in the works and is set to star Olivia Colman, Woody Harrelson, and Chloe Bailey. 

Finally, Martin McDonagh has made his mark in dark comedy, both for the screen and the stage. His first six plays are separated into two trilogies, and they all take place around where he spent his holidays as a child. McDonagh fictionalized the perils of totalitarianism in The Pillowman, his first non-Irish play. The United States was the location of A Behanding in Spokane, about a mysterious man searching for his left hand for over 25 years. The Pillowman and A Behanding in Spokane both received Broadway runs, with lead actor Christopher Walken winning a Tony for the latter in 2010. Also making it to the Main Stem were The Lieutenant of Inishmore, in 2006, and the Tony-nominated best play Hangmen, which opened in 2022 after over a two-year delay. 

By Jordan Levinson

Irish theatre has a long and storied history on Broadway, dating back to the early 20th century. From the works of great Irish playwrights like George Bernard Shaw and Sean O’Casey to contemporary productions like “The Ferryman,” and “Hangmen” Irish theatre has made a significant impact on the Broadway stage.

One of the earliest examples of Irish theatre on Broadway was George Bernard Shaw’s “John Bull’s Other Island,” which premiered in 1904. The play tells the story of an Englishman who travels to Ireland to build a hydroelectric power plant, but finds himself at odds with the locals and their way of life. The play was a success and helped establish Shaw as one of the leading playwrights of his time.

Another notable Irish playwright who made an impact on Broadway was Sean O’Casey. His plays, including “Juno and the Paycock” and “The Plough and the Stars,” dealt with the struggles of working-class Irish families during the early 20th century. These plays were praised for their realistic depictions of life in Ireland and helped introduce American audiences to the political and social issues of the time.

A new generation of Irish playwrights emerged, including Brian Friel and Conor McPherson. Friel’s “Dancing at Lughnasa” (1991) tells the story of five unmarried sisters living in rural Ireland in 1936, while McPherson’s “The Weir” (1999) is a ghost story set in a remote Irish pub. Both plays were critical and commercial successes on Broadway, and helped establish Ireland as a major force in contemporary theatre.

In recent years, Irish theatre has continued to make an impact on Broadway. In 2012, “Once,” a musical based on the 2006 film of the same name, premiered on Broadway and went on to win eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The show, which tells the story of a Dublin street musician and a Czech immigrant who fall in love, was praised for its heartfelt music and authentic portrayal of life in Dublin.

Another recent Irish production that made waves on Broadway was “The Ferryman,” a play by Jez Butterworth that premiered in 2018. Set in rural Northern Ireland during the Troubles, the play tells the story of a family caught up in the conflict. “The Ferryman” was praised for its powerful performances and gripping storytelling, and won four Tony Awards, including Best Play.

You cannot write a piece about Irish theatre without playwright Martin McDonagh, a renowned Irish playwright and screenwriter who has made significant contributions to Broadway. He is best known for his dark comedies and exploration of human nature through his works. McDonagh made his Broadway debut in 1998 with “The Beauty Queen of Leenane,” which was critically acclaimed and won four Tony Awards, including Best Play. He followed this up with “The Lonesome West” and “The Pillowman,” both of which were also well-received by audiences and critics. McDonagh’s works have brought a unique voice to Broadway, with their dark humor and complex characters. His contributions to the world of theater have helped to shape and define the modern stage, and his influence continues to be felt in productions around the world.

Irish theatre on Broadway has also provided a platform for Irish actors to showcase their talent. Actors like Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne, and Saoirse Ronan have all appeared in Irish productions on Broadway, helping to raise the profile of Irish theatre in the United States.

Irish plays have captivated audiences with their poignant storytelling and authentic depictions of Irish life. As long as there are talented Irish playwrights and actors, Irish theatre will continue to thrive on the Broadway stage.

By Robyn Roberts

What does that look like in the days of so-called “wokeness” and cancel culture when it comes down to some of the most celebrated storytelling for over a century on the stage. Do Broadway theatre plays and musicals of yore like Oklahoma! and Peter Pan stand a chance for survival after a revival?

We’ve grown up with these beloved stories. Our grandparents handed them down to our parents who then shared them with us. In our hearts and minds we’ve flown to Neverland with Wendy and danced with Laurey on her Oklahoma! farm. These stories have been shared across the globe, told through picture books, through TV and film and live on stage, much to our immense pleasure wrapped in that thing that everyone eventually loves and comes to rely on—nostalgia. 

Meanwhile, kids and adults a little different than us have seen the same stories unfold on their TVs and before them on stage only to be left with feelings of pain and disappointment. Political correctness is a delicate dance and topic of serious contention today in the Internet Age of access. Even broaching the subject in a small group setting of peers needs to be delicately handled and sincerely considered prior to even a hint of execution. 

It’s true that you can’t please them all, but if Corporate America has taught us anything in the past decade it’s that money talks and is forever the loudest voice in the room and if the majority of spenders demand a small edit of a dated piece of art then by all means give it to them. Dollars aside, for such an inclusive space as the theatre and Broadway are forever meant to be, then light tweaks and edits must take shape on stage to sustain momentum. The theatre is also the perfect place for reinvention, is it not? We’re artists after all, and it’s our duty to shapeshift into the colorful reflections of the wide audience before us, and to do so responsibly. We aren’t taking these stories away from the masses nor are we aiming to revise history. Rather, we’re simply giving them a fresher, improved story version that’s a little less sloppy than its former self. And who doesn’t love a strong comeback? 

Follow along, as we delve into some of Broadway’s most celebrated plays and musicals to-date, and how they’ve been perfected (or should be) to be a little less problematic and a lot more accurate. 

1776

The year marks the time when 13 American colonies severed ties from Great Britain to claim their independence. The 1969 Broadway musical based on the book by Peter Stone tells the story in the lead up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The 2022 Broadway revival production includes an excerpt of Abigail Adams’ March 1776 letter to John Adams, known for its “remember the ladies” statement for women’s rights. The show received mixed to negative reviews, with Jesse Green of The New York Times criticizing its casting of female, trans, and binary actors, writing that it “intensifies and complicates the argument.” Green also wrote of the overall production that despite “underlining one’s progressiveness a thousand times, as this 1776 does, [it] will not actually convey it better; rather it turns characters into cutouts and distracts from the ideas it means to promote.”

Oklahoma!

A Rodgers and Hammerstein musical debuted on Broadway in 1943. In the 2019 Broadway adaptation, the production’s most important tonal change involved the character of Jud Fry. Instead of the sinister brooding and threatening (ahem—rapist) Jud of the original production, in the revival he is depicted in a positive, sympathetic light, and his death came, not as an accident, but as an intended act at the hands of Curly, followed by a sham trial to clear Curly of the blame. Ali Stroker as Ado Annie won Best Featured Actress in a Musical Award, making her the first wheelchair bound artist to win a coveted Tony. Critics and audiences are loving the West End Revival currently running.

Carousel

Another Rodgers and Hammerstein musical from 1945. By the 2018 Broadway revival, most of the reviewers agreed that while the choreography and performances (especially the singing) were excellent, characterizing the production as sexy and sumptuous, O’Brien’s direction did little to help the show deal with modern sensibilities about men’s treatment of women, instead indulging in nostalgia. A missed opportunity. However, songs such as “There’s nothin’ so bad for a woman” were cut from production. 

Finian’s Rainbow

A 1947 Broadway musical that has faced several revivals since. Forget the leprechaun of this Irish-American inspired musical, it’s the bigoted U.S. Senator who’s turned Black by witchcraft and is taught that it doesn’t matter what “his outside looks like—being Black—only the inside counts” that’s a bit problematic. 

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

A 1961 Broadway musical. Critics would say the Broadway play objectifies women in the office/business culture of male dominance. Songs like “ How to Keep His Dinner Warm” and a scantily clad “World Wide Wicket Treasure Girl”, whatever that means, are just some of the reasons. In 2011, Charles McNulty of the Los Angeles Times opined that the musical “is hampered by a dated book” and that its “episodic structure now seems as belabored as a sitcom plucked from a rusty time capsule”, while “all the romantic brouhaha with moony secretaries is beyond retro.”

Peter Pan

Misogyny, unhinged Native American portrayals, and gender roles. Broadway’s first Native American playwright, Larissa FastHorse, says: “I’m adapting a musical that already exists that toured for 30 years nonstop. It’s something that works. So we just have to make it so it’s not harmful and try not to screw that up. You know what I mean? We don’t have to make a new thing, we just have to take away the harm of the old thing and make it hopefully even better in some ways.” In a recent interview about her Thanksgiving play, FastHorse also said, “The traditional “Peter Pan” puts Native Americans in that realm of the fantastical, as if we were extinct. But we’re here, alive and creative, not better or worse than anyone else.”

The cherished fable was recently revived for a smaller stage production by another Native American writer and was received positively. “The Neverland,” a modern-day adaptation of “Peter Pan,” premiered at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in (The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) Illinois in April 2022. The theatre department premier reimagined “Peter Pan” centered on Indigenous identity. Playwright Madeline Sayet is the executive director of the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program and a citizen of the Mohegan Tribe in Connecticut. She often reimagines classic stories in her work.

There are many Broadway stories ripe for upgrades, and the aforementioned are merely a few. Miss Saigon has been faulted for its portrayals of Asian characters, while the Minneapolis Musical Theatre’s production of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson last summer at the New Century theatre drew protests.

Nationally, Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre drew condemnation for passing along Kipling’s racialist and misogynistic views, while La Jolla Playhouse’s musical adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Nightingale was skewered for being set in China but featuring a cast whose leading characters were not Asian-American. If off-off Broadway is showing little mercy to such obvious innuendos then Broadway should certainly pay close attention. 

Devoted fans of centuries-old stories and fables and productions will have the ultimate say in what’s successful on stage now, and in the future. In the meantime, it’s far more responsible to continue to address dated or flat-out wrong representation in the arts, rather than leave it be as it sits. It’s simply improvement—not erasure. Besides, the Broadway stage is the perfect setting for a stunning revival. 

By Patrick Jones

Although it is no longer President’s Day, there are so many shows with Presidents that we had to keep the celebration going. Here are 7 more plays and musicals that feature POTUS.  

In 2010, composer Michael Friedman and librettist-director Alex Timbers headbanged their way to Broadway with the hard rocker of a musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, a satirical examination of the seventh President. Imagining Jackson as the rock star of his day, the musical follows his life and career, both in and out of the Oval Office. Highlighted throughout are the rise of populism, his relationship with his wife, and the signing of the Indian Removal Act, just to name a few. There are also some other U.S. Presidents who pop up throughout the show, including George Washington, Martin Van Buren, John Quincy Adams, and James Monroe. 

A one-man show proved to be an effective vehicle for James Whitmore, who played President Harry S. Truman in the biographical play Give ‘em Hell, Harry! The title comes from a remark one of Truman’s supporters made while he was giving a speech as part of his victorious 1948 Presidential campaign. Written by Samuel Gallu, Give ‘em Hell, Harry! premiered at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. in 1975. 

Stephen Sondheim got in on the Presidential act with 1990’s Assassins. Utilizing the framing device of a sinister carnival game, the tuner looks at a group of deranged individuals who attempted — successful or not — to kill various U.S. Presidents, a list that includes John Wilkes Booth, Charles Guiteau, and Lee Harvey Oswald. Though very few Presidents are actual characters in Assassins, the musical tells audiences a lot about them, and how they became the target of the various assassins singing and being sung about. It took 14 years for Assassins to finally reach Broadway, opening in a stacked 2003-04 season yet winning five Tonys, including best musical revival. More recently, John Doyle directed an acclaimed Off-Broadway production at Classic Stage Company, which was delayed due to the COVID-19 shutdown and finally ran towards the end of 2021. 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s long battle with polio was dramatized in the 1958 Dore Schary play Sunrise at Campobello, named after the island that served as FDR’s summer home in New Brunswick, Canada. When it opened on Broadway, Ralph Bellamy played the disease-stricken President, and Broadway newcomer James Earl Jones was featured as Edward, the butler. The winner of four 1958 Tonys, including best play, Sunrise at Campobello was also turned into a successful film adaptation in 1960, also starring Bellamy.

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue served as Leonard Bernstein’s last original Broadway score. The 1976 tuner — written for America’s bicentennial — parades through the early history of the White House and its inhabitants from 1800 to 1900. It also looks at the influence of several First Ladies and includes additional commentary from White House servants. 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue ran a grand total of seven performances, but it gave Bernstein one more well-regarded collection of music. 

While set in a period before the executive office existed, the Sherman Edwards-Peter Stone musical 1776 focuses on future Presidents John Adams and Jefferson, taking audiences inside the making of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 1776 shows Adams as the leading champion of said independence, as he persuades his colleagues to sign the document that he has coaxed Jefferson to draft. 1776 premiered on Broadway in 1969 and won three Tonys, including best musical; it was revived in 1997, before a 2022 production at Roundabout Theatre Company broke new ground for the title by highlighting an all-female, non-binary, and transgender cast. That production is currently on a national tour following its recent January 8 Broadway closing. 

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 2015 hip-hop, non-stop juggernaut of a magnum opus Hamilton (still running at the Richard Rodgers Theatre) chronicled the life of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton and the birth — and “afterbirth” — of our nation. Hamilton served alongside then-General George Washington as his “Right Hand Man” during the Revolutionary War, before Washington appointed him to his Cabinet after becoming the first President. Soon after, Thomas Jefferson arrives overseas after serving as France’s ambassador (“What’d I Miss”), and Hamilton gains two more political enemies in both Jefferson and James Madison, who are ideologically alike. In addition to Hamilton’s Broadway production, various national tours, and countless international mountings, a proshot featuring the original Broadway cast can now be streamed on Disney+ (featuring Tony winner Leslie Odom, Jr., soon to be seen on Broadway in a revival of Purlie Victorious).

By Jordan Levinson

Today is Presidents’ Day, one of eleven permanent federal holidays in the United States. The executive office is no stranger to the Broadway stage. In fact, several are prominent characters in both plays and musicals alike. This article — presented in two parts — will salute just a few of them:

Robert Sherwood had one of the earliest works of Broadway theatre to feature a Presidential character, as his three-act bioplay Abe Lincoln in Illinois opened at the Plymouth Theatre (now the Gerald Schoenfeld) in 1938 and ran for over a year. The work chronicles Honest Abe’s personal life and career, from humbling Illinois businessman to 16^th President of the United States.  

Also in the late 1930s, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s I’d Rather Be Right was a Great Depression-era political satire set in New York City. Since this was about the Depression, there was a high chance Franklin Delano Roosevelt would be a part of the show — and indeed he was, lively played by the entertainer George M. Cohan, who sang such songs as “We’re Going to Balance the Budget” and “Off the Record” while solving a couple’s marriage dilemma. I’d Rather Be Right played nearly 300 performances on Broadway. 

The 1987 musical Teddy & Alice played the Minskoff Theatre and featured music adapted from John Philip Sousa’s catalogue, with other new songs by Richard Kapp and lyrics by Hal Hackady. The show is a fictionalized account of the relationship between Teddy Roosevelt and his daughter during his tenure in the White House. Though Teddy is the lead here, his Presidential successor, William Howard Taft, also makes an appearance in the musical. The cast featured several Tony winners and nominees, including Len Cariou, Karen Ziemba, Beth Fowler, Ron Raines, and Nancy Opel. 

Gore Vidal’s 1960 play The Best Man is also fictional, as it follows two candidates — Senator Joe Cantwell and Secretary of State William Russell — with opposing values who compete for the Presidency and vie for the support of the soon-to-be-former President Arthur Hockstader. The Best Man was nominated for six Tony Awards, including best play, and Vidal adapted his play into a 1964 film. The original production starred Melvyn Douglas who had previously starred in The Gangs All Here, a play loosely based on the presidency of Warren G. Harding. The Best Man has also received two Broadway remounts as of this writing (2001 and 2012). The 2012 production starred James Earl Jones as Hockstader, as well as John Larroquette, Eric McCormack, Jefferson Mays, and Angela Lansbury.  

On the more recent front, David Mamet’s November premiered in 2008 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. A comedy about the lengths people go to win, it focuses on a fictional President’s day in the life, beleaguered just days before his second election. Low on money, threatened by imminent nuclear war, and facing atrocious approval ratings, the President decides to pardon some turkeys before they get slaughtered for Thanksgiving dinners, hoping he can win back the public’s affection. The original five-person cast of November was led by Nathan Lane, Dylan Baker, and Laurie Metcalf. You can catch Nathan Lane this season in the new play Pictures From Home, playing at Studio 54. 

Winner of the 2014 Tony for best play, Robert Schenkkan’s All the Way takes audiences from November 1963 to November 1964 — after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson becomes President of the United States, determined to end American racial injustice by passing a landmark civil rights bill. The play follows Johnson’s journey to a successful reelection campaign, and its title comes from his 1964 campaign slogan: “All the Way with LBJ.” “Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston played Johnson, winning a Tony for his performance. All the Way became a TV film in 2016 starring Cranston, and it even spawned a stage sequel, The Great Society, which continues Johnson’s story into his second term of office as the Vietnam War begins to spiral out of control. In its 2019 Broadway run at Lincoln Center Theatre, Brian Cox led the company as Johnson.

Many presidents also receive a passing reference in the groundbreaking peace-love-and-rock-and-roll musical Hair, living proof of the hippie subculture and sexual revolution of the 1960s. The song “Initials” links LBJ with several acronyms, including the IRT, the FBI, the CIA, and LSD. Lincoln, Washington, Calvin Coolidge, and Ulysses S. Grant also make appearances during a wild extended second-act acid trip sequence, in which one of the hippies has a vision that he has skydived from a plane into wartime Vietnam.

By Patrick Jones

A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters follows two childhood sweethearts whose correspondence begins with notes and postcards to each other. A performance favorite for big-name actors and actresses, Love Letters is unique in that it requires little to no preparation, and the lines do not have to be memorized. The couple’s notes, letters, and cards make up the entire script, and the actors often sit side by side at tables, reading the letters out loud. The play has seen various rotating casts both in its 1989 Broadway premiere and a 2014 revival; notable performers have included Stockard Channing, Swoosie Kurtz, Elizabeth McGovern, Lynn Redgrave, Elaine Stritch, John Rubinstein, Richard Thomas, Mia Farrow, Alan Alda, and Carol Burnett.  

Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick caught the love bug when they wrote the score for 1963’s She Loves Me. Based on a Hungarian play from the 1930s, the tuner is set in a European perfumery, where two feuding shop clerks have no idea they are in love. They exchange love letters after they both respond to a lonely-hearts ad in the newspaper, unaware that they are each other’s pen pal. The original production — starring Barbara Cook and directed by an on-the-rise Hal Prince — played 301 performances. The star-studded 2016 remount, which starred Laura Benanti, Zachary Levi, Jane Krakowski, and Gavin Creel, became the first-ever Broadway production to be livestreamed; it was broadcast on the BroadwayHD service in late June that year and has since aired several times on PBS’s “Great Performances.” This was partially because the story was modernized in the beloved 1998 rom com “You’ve Got Mail”, fronted by Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Bock and Harnick’s lovely score includes such standouts as “She Loves Me”,“Tonight at Eight”, “Will He Like Me?”, and “Vanilla Ice Cream.”

Before Levi starred in She Loves Me, he ordered love in the 2013 musical First Date, his Broadway debut. With a score by newbies Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner and direction by Bill Berry, First Date follows Levi’s character on a blind date at a New York City restaurant, where a pleasant dinner with his partner (played by “Smash” alum Krysta Rodriguez) turns into a high-stakes evening. As the date unfolds —leading to musical numbers like “The Awkward Pause”, the three “Bailout” songs, and “The Check!” — the other patrons at the restaurant serve as the voices in both of their heads, playing disapproving parents, exes, supportive best friends, and much more. Though the show received mixed reviews, Levi received the bulk of its praise, and his sick burn of an 11 o’clock number, “In Love with You”, brought down the house nightly. 

In the 1960s, Neil Simon dramatized the relatability of the life of newlyweds learning to cope with each other in his romantic comedy Barefoot in the Park. Set over a four-day period, the play follows an optimistic Corie Bratter and her anxious husband Paul; Corie wants Paul to be more easygoing — and perform actions like running barefoot in the park — as they navigate life’s ups and downs. The original Broadway production ran for nearly four years and won a Tony for Mike Nichols’s direction. 

In late 2010, Roundabout Theatre Company presented Brief Encounter, a new melodrama that was a breakout hit in London two years before. This 90-minute play with music combines elements of the 1936 Noël Coward play Still Life, as well as Coward’s screenplay for the 1945 film “Brief Encounter” (which was adapted from Still Life). It adds up to a play about a suburban wife and a married doctor who have a chance encounter in late 1930s England and end up falling passionately in love, but they are never able to find fulfillment. The Broadway cast featured an onstage cast of nine, including future Tony winner Gabriel Ebert (Matilda) and future Tony nominee Damon Daunno (Oklahoma!), while a return engagement in London played a six-month run in 2018. 

Hadestown, resident of the Walter Kerr Theatre since spring 2019, is a jazz and folk-inflected Greek mythology modernization and the winner of eight Tony Awards, including best musical. Taking audiences on a journey down the road to hell, Hadestown intertwines the love stories of Orpheus and Eurydice and Hades and Persephone. Singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell composed Hadestown’s score, based off her concept album of the same name; highlights include “Way Down Hadestown”, “Wait for Me”, “Livin’ It Up on Top”, and “Our Lady of the Underground.”

Beyond Hadestown, there are ample opportunities to see love on Broadway this Valentine’s Day. Currently playing the Al Hirschfeld Theatre is the Tony Award winning jukebox musical, Moulin Rouge!, which tells the fictional story of a lovesick writer and a dazzling performer in Paris. & Juliet, playing at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, is a modern flip of the Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet featuring hits from pop songwriter Max Martin. Coming soon to Broadway are two reinvented retellings of classic fairy tale romances this year; Andrew Lowd Webber’s Bad Cinderalla, which opens at the Imperial Theatre in March, and Once Upon a One More Time, featuring the music of Britney Spears and begins performances in May. One of the world’s most famous love triangles will take the Vivian Beaumont stage in Lincoln Center Theater’s upcoming reimagined revival of Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot, which opens in April of this year under the direction of musical theater maestro, Bartlett Sher (The King and I, South Pacific, and currently running at Studio 54, the wonderful Pictures From Home). 

By Gianfranco Lentini

Pictures From Home—a new American play based on the late Larry Sultan’s photo memoir of the same name—celebrates both its Broadway bow and world premiere on Thursday, February 9th. Now playing at the landmark Studio 54, Pictures From Home vividly brings to life a heartfelt, tragicomic portrait of a family, all captured through the lens of a son’s camera. 

As the play dares to ask, “How do you capture a lifetime?” Well, we know you don’t have all day, so here is just a snapshot of the incredible and inventive work of the stars of Pictures From Home. 

Nathan Lane 

With a heavily-lauded career that has spanned stage, television, and film, Nathan Lane has become a household name. Currently playing Irving in Pictures From Home, Lane was last seen on Broadway in 2019 playing the titular character in Gary: A Sequel to Titus Adronicus. And prior to that, Lane deftly portrayed Roy M. Cohn in the Royal National Theatre’s Broadway transfer of Angels in America, which earned him his third Tony Award (the other two being for 2001’s The Producers and 1996’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum). But on a night indoors, turn on the TV and catch Lane as the indomitable Ward McAllister in HBO’s The Gilded Age (Season 2 coming soon) or as Ted Dimas in Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building (for which he won the 2022 Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series). 

Danny Burstein 

There’s zero argument about it: Danny Burstein is SPECTACULAR. Before assuming the role of Larry in Pictures From Home, Burstein dazzled as the boisterous Harold Zidler in the long-running Moulin Rouge! The Musical, assuring audiences that they, too, could “Can Can Can”! And that’s just what Burstein Did Did Did eight times a week, earning himself the IRNE Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical, the Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, and, last but not least, a Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Theater Album. 

Zoë Wanamaker 

After 17 years, Zoë Wanamaker makes her long-awaited return to the Broadway stage as Jean in Pictures From Home. But since her Tony-nominated performance as Bessie Berger in the 2006 Broadway production of Awake and Sing!, Wanamaker has been no stranger to the UK theater scene. Having taken the stage with many of London’s most premier and acclaimed theater companies—including The Young Vic, Bridge Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Royal

National Theatre, and Royal Shakespeare Theatre—Wanamaker has earned an impressive nine Olivier Award nominations, with two wins for 1998’s Electra and 1979’s Once in a Lifetime. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t also mention Wanamaker’s unforgettable work across pop culture fandoms, including her portrayals of Madam Hooch in 2001’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the evil villain Lady Cassandra in 2005’s Doctor Who, and Baghra in 2021’s Netflix adaptation of Shadow and Bone. 

Sharr White 

Pictures From Home marks the third Broadway play for playwright Sharr White in only a decade. His two other plays—The Other Place (starring Laurie Metcalf) and The Snow Geese (starring Mary-Louise Parker and Danny Burstein)—both took their bow at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in 2013. But White knows his way around Off-Broadway just as well. In 2014, his two-hander Annapurna premiered at The New Group, starring everyone’s favorite real-life couple, Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally. And after that, The True, another play premiered with The New Group in 2018, starred Edie Falco and Michael McKean. And as if that hasn’t kept White busy enough, his television career boasts a number of notable credits, including writing for Showtime’s The Affair, creating Netflix’s Halston, co-showrunning HBO Max’s Generation, and writing/executive producing Apple TV’s upcoming Mrs. American Pie. 

Bartlett Sher 

If you’ve ever been within shouting distance of Lincoln Center, you’ve heard his name. Bartlett Sher captains the dynamic, powerhouse team of Pictures From Home as their director at helm. With a Broadway career that has spanned nearly two decades, Sher’s direction has become as 

iconic as many of the theatrical titles he’s worked on. This includes, but certainly is not limited to, 2005’s The Light in the Piazza, 2008’s South Pacific, 2015’s The King and I, and 2018’s My Fair Lady and To Kill a Mockingbird. The 9 Tony Award nominations behind his name (including a win for Best Direction of a Musical for South Pacific) agree: there’s no such thing as too much Sher. And good news, there’s more! Sher’s revival of Camelot will open at Lincoln Center Theater in April 2023, AND, recently announced, Sher is set to direct the Broadway adaptation of the six-time Oscar-winning movie La La Land, with a premiere date yet to be revealed.