Marc Shaiman – Broadway's Best Shows

Broadway’s Best “Broadway Week” Shows

The Mayor’s Office for Tourism and Conventions’ annual Broadway Week promotion is almost upon us, which means that you can now get 2-for-1 tickets to select Broadway shows for performances between September 4-17! (Yes, Broadway Week is actually two weeks long. Lucky us!)

Unlike TDF’s Half Price Ticket Booth, which only offers same-day discounts, the Broadway Week tickets can be purchased up to a month in advance. Use code BWAYWK23 to access this exciting offer today. Participating shows are also offering premium orchestra seats, usually $250-$400, for just $125 with code BWAYUP23. Check the official website for full details.

Here are some of the shows we recommend catching while this offer lasts:

HADESTOWN

The 2019 Best Musical Tony Award winner recently welcomed new cast member Solea Pfeiffer in the lead role of Euridyce! Betty Who and Philip Boykin join the company Sept. 5 as lovers Persephone and Hades, respectively. See them alongside Lillias White as Hermes and Reeve Carney as Orpheus.

SOME LIKE IT HOT

This toe-tapping big band musical is from Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman (the composer-lyricist duo behind Hairspray!, Catch Me If You Can, and Smash) and book writers Matthew López and Amber Ruffin. With direction and Tony Award-winning choreography by Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon, Aladdin, The Prom), this one is not to be missed!

KIMBERLY AKIMBO

Last season’s Best Musical stars two-time Tony Award winner Victoria Clark as Kimberly herself, with music by Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home, Caroline, or Change, Shrek: The Musical) and a book & lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire in an adaptation to his 2001 play of the same name.

PURLIE VICTORIOUS: A NON-CONFEDERATE ROMP THROUGH THE COTTON PATCH

Leslie Odom, Jr. (of Hamilton Tony-winning fame) stars as the titular role in this first ever revival of Ossie Davis’ landmark 1961 satire, directed by Kenny Leon. Two-time Tony Award nominee Kara Young co-stars as Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins. Performances begin Sept. 7!

HERE LIES LOVE

The immersive disco bio-musical with music by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim tells the life story of former Filipino first lady Imelda Marcos. Here Lies Love is a fascinating parable about fascism, the media, and the effects of 20th century American cultural dominance and empire on so-called “Third World” countries like the Philippines. We recommend using your Broadway Week discount to splurge on a Dance Floor ticket, where you’ll be inches away from the actors and part of the storytelling. Good luck getting the title song out of your head.

SIX

This UK export retells the story of the six ex-wives of King Henry VIII, with a pop concert twist. The Tony-winning score by Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow features pop-powered showtunes such as ‘Heart of Stone,’ ‘Don’t Lose Ur Head,’ and the iconic ‘Megasix’ encore to wrap it all up.

THE COTTAGE

Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) makes his directorial debut with this brand new England countryside-set comedy by Sandy Rustin. The cast features Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) in his Broadway return since appearing in 2012’s Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, Laura Bell Bundy in her Broadway play debut after leading the 2007 musical Legally Blonde, Lilli Cooper (POTUS, Spring Awakening), Nehal Joshi (Flying Over Sunset, All My Sons), Alex Moffat (Saturday Night Live), and Dana Steingold (Beetlejuice the Musical).

BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL

Time travel back to 1985 (and beyond) for this musical adaptation of the classic film, straight from its hit world premiere in London’s West End! Casey Likes (Almost Famous) is Marty McFly and Roger Bart (The Producers) is Doc Brown, reprising his acclaimed performance on the other side of the pond.

Broadway’s Best Comedy Shows

Blurring the lines between theater and standup, these virtuosic performances brought comedians to the Main Stem. Here are some of our favorite comedic offerings in recent Broadway memory.

Alex Edelman’s Just For Us

After multiple sold out Off-Broadway runs, Alex Edelman’s one-man-show, Just For Us, opened at the Hudson Theatre on June 26, 2023. Edelman recounts the true story of the time he, a Jewish man, attended a neo-Nazi meetup in Queens, NY because it called for people who are “curious about their whiteness.” This experience leads to a thoughtful and hilarious rumination on his Boston upbringing, his career in comedy, and the idea of being a “good person.” The show is scheduled to run through August 19, 2023.

Mike Birbiglia: The New One and The Old Man & The Pool

Often credited as the pioneer of the part-standup, part-monologue form, Mike Birbiglia has brought two of his specials to Broadway stages. The New One, about his experiences as a new father, played the Cort Theatre (since renamed the James Earl Jones) in 2018 and was eventually released as a Netflix special following the run. Years later, his pondrance on aging and mortality entitled The Old Man & The Pool, ran at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. That show is set to play the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe followed by the West End’s Wyndham Theatre in the fall.

Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me

Comedy icon Martin Short, who stars in Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, starred in his own Broadway musical in the 2006-2007 Broadway season. With music and lyrics by composing duo Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman (Some Like it Hot, Hairspray!), the semi-autobiographical work, in which Short played an exaggerated celebrity-obsessed version of himself, also featured Brooks Ashmanskas in the cast, earning him his first Tony nomination.

Oh, Hello on Broadway

Nick Kroll and John Mulaney brought their elderly alter-egos, Gil Faizon and George St. Geegland, to the Main Stem with the Broadway iteration of their two-hander, The Oh, Hello Show. Mulaney and Kroll had originated the characters on TV’s The Kroll Show. The two friends ramble about their pasts and ambitions, and the show eventually culminates in the serving of a dubious sandwich with “too much tuna” to a special guest (which included the likes of Tina Fey, Steve Martin, Ben Platt, Katy Perry, John Oliver and Alan Alda.) This too was eventually released for your streaming enjoyment on Netflix.

Dame Edna’s The Royal Tour, Back With a Vengeance & All About Me

After making his Broadway debut as Mr. Sowerberry (and the understudy for Fagin) in the original 1963 production of Oliver! Barry Humphries brought his iconic character Dame Edna to the Main Stem in three separate shows. In 1999, The Royal Tour opened at the Booth Theatre, followed by Dame Edna: Back With a Vengeance at the Music Box Theatre in 2004. Edna’s third Broadway outing came in spring 2010, when All About Me opened at Henry Miller’s Theatre. The latter musical, a double bill, saw Edna go toe-to-toe with singer Michael Feinstein, and every night was a competition over who got to be the star. It was Barry Humphries’ final appearance on Broadway as Edna before the storied performer passed away in February 2023.

Will Ferrell in You’re Welcome America

Just months after George W. Bush left the White House, Will Ferrell brought his impersonation of the early aughts president to the Broadway stage in You’re Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush. The character, which originally debuted on Saturday Night Live in 2000, took the opportunity to address the country one last time, regaling the audience with stories of his early life and political career. The play ran at the Cort Theatre in early 2009, and was broadcast on HBO the night before the play closed on March 15.