TDF Stages

A guide to 16 upcoming productions (and one that recently opened)

The Broadway season is about to kick into high gear with 16 new productions opening between now and the end of April. The incoming stage incarnations of Frozen, Mean Girls, and Harry Potter may have garnered the most buzz so far, but there are also star-studded mountings of iconic dramas, high-end revivals of classic musicals, and new tuners with familiar songs. Our guide helps you navigate what's coming. Happy theatregoing!

NOTE: Within each category, shows are listed in first preview date order.

MUSICALS

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Escape to Margaritaville
Marquis Theatre, 1535 Broadway at 46th Street

Previews February 16. Opens March 15. Open run.

Get ready to sing and drink along to this escapist tuner featuring the hit songs of Jimmy Buffett ("Come Monday," "Volcano," "Cheeseburger in Paradise"). Directed by Come From Away Tony winner Christopher Ashley, this jukebox musical is a breezy Mamma Mia!-type confection set on a tropical isle rife with romantic complications. TDF member tickets available as of this writing!

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Frozen
St James Theatre, 246 West 44th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues

Previews February 22. Opens March 22. Open run.

Just when you were finally starting to get "Let It Go" out of your head, Disney's stage adaptation of the 2013 blockbuster arrives on Broadway. Oscar-winning songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez have expanded the score, and Tony-winning director Michael Grandage guides this familial love story about two royal sisters torn apart by secrets.

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Carousel
Imperial Theatre, 249 West 45th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues

Previews February 28. Opens April 12. Open run.

Rodgers and Hammerstein's powerful musical drama returns to Broadway after a 23-year absence. Tony winner Jessie Mueller and Tony nominee Joshua Henry star as Julie and Billy, a troubled couple whose love transcends this mortal coil. Opera diva Renée Fleming, Tony nominee John Douglas Thompson, and fan favorite Lindsay Mendez round out the cast, and three-time Tony winner Jack O'Brien directs.

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Mean Girls
August Wilson Theatre, 245 West 52nd Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenues

Previews March 12. Opens April 8. Open run.

Tina Fey transforms her wickedly funny 2004 comedy about high-school hierarchies into a Broadway musical. Book of Mormon Tony winner Casey Nicholaw directs the gleeful nastiness as the new girl in town falls under the spell of the Plastics. It's a good sign that reviews for last fall's Washington, D.C. tryout were so fetch -- but if you're googling that expression you may want to watch the movie first.

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My Fair Lady
Vivian Beaumont Theater, 150 West 65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue

Previews March 15. Opens April 19. Closes September 2.

Tony winner Bartlett Sher is a master at directing breathtaking mountings of iconic musicals such as South Pacific and The King and I. He returns to Lincoln Center Theater once again for this revival of the Lerner and Loewe classic, based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. Lauren Ambrose stars as Eliza Doolittle, the impoverished Cockney flower girl professor Henry Higgins (Harry Hadden-Paton) molds into his idea of a lady. Two-time Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz costars as Eliza's tricky father, and Dame Diana Rigg -- in her first Broadway appearance in 24 years -- plays the prof's mum.

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Rocktopia
Broadway Theatre, 1681 Broadway at 53rd Street

Previews March 20. Opens March 27. Closes April 29.

This limited-run theatrical concert celebrates the music of classical and rock 'n' roll greats. Mozart, Queen, Beethoven, Journey, Handel, U2, Tchaikovsky, and Pink Floyd are just some of the composers represented as six vocalists (including Train frontman Pat Monahan) belt out familiar melodies from the past four centuries backed by a 40-person choir and a 20-piece orchestra.

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Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 205 West 46th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue

Previews March 28. Opens April 23. Open run.

Tony winner Des McAnuff directs this bio-musical about the late great disco diva Donna Summer. Featuring hit songs including "Love to Love You, Baby," "Bad Girls," and "Hot Stuff," Summer comes directly from California's La Jolla Playhouse and features three different actresses portraying the chanteuse at different points in her life, including Tony winner LaChanze.

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PLAYS

John Lithgow: Stories by Heart
American Airlines Theatre, 227 West 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues 

Already open. Closes March 4.

Two-time Tony winner John Lithgow stars in this solo show, which interweaves his family history with dramatic recitations of Ring Lardner's "Haircut" and P.G. Wodehouse's "Uncle Fred Flits By." Tony winner Daniel Sullivan directs the intensely personal piece. TDF member tickets available as of this writing!

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Angels in America
Neil Simon Theatre, 250 West 52nd Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue

Previews February 23. Opens March 25. Closes June 30.

The first Broadway revival of Tony Kushner's two-part, 1993 Pulitzer Prize-winning "Gay Fantasia on National Themes" comes from London's National Theatre, where it earned enthusiastic reviews. Two-time Tony winner Marianne Elliott directs Tony winner Nathan Lane as the closeted Roy Cohn and Tony nominee Andrew Garfield as the ailing Prior Walter in this epic meditation on AIDS and its cultural impact.

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Three Tall Women
John Golden Theatre, 252 West 45th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues

Previews February 27. Opens March 29. Closes June 24.

Edward Albee's 1994 Pulitzer Prize-winning play gets its first Broadway mounting. Tony winner Joe Mantello directs a trio of veteran actresses -- Tony nominee Alison Pill, Tony winner Laurie Metcalf, and two-time Oscar winner Glenda Jackson returning to Broadway after 30 years -- in this surreal examination of one lady's long and complicated life.

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Lobby Hero
Helen Hayes Theatre, 240 West 44th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues

Previews March 1. Opens March 26. Closes May 13.

Second Stage inaugurates its new Broadway venue with a mounting of Kenneth Lonergan's 2001 chamber drama about four disparate New Yorkers brought together by a murder investigation. Captain America himself, Chris Evans, makes his New York stage debut in this production, which also stars Michael Cera.

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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Lyric Theatre, 213 West 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues

Previews March 16. Opens April 22. Open run.

What can we tell you about this two-part juggernaut that you haven't already read elsewhere? Probably not much. J.K. Rowling's Olivier Award-winning stage continuation of her Harry Potter saga comes to Broadway from its sold-out run in London, and you'll need some of your own wizard magic to snag seats. Look out, Hamilton, you're no longer the hardest ticket in town. But if you're a TDF member, you can try to win a pair by entering our spring raffle!

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Children of a Lesser God
Studio 54, 254 West 54th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues

Previews March 22. Opens April 11. Closes September 9.

After a well-reviewed production at the Berkshire Theater Group last summer, this revival of the Tony-winning drama transfers to Broadway. Newcomer Lauren Ridloff stars as a deaf woman with a troubled past who becomes romantically involved with a hearing teacher, played by Joshua Jackson from TV's The Affair. Tony winner Kenny Leon directs.

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The Iceman Cometh
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, 242 West 45th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue

Previews March 22. Opens April 26. Closes July 1.

Make sure you nap and eat first! Tony and two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington leads this revival of Eugene O’Neill's groundbreaking four-hour drama about hope and disillusionment. Five-time Tony winner George C. Wolfe guides the 18-member ensemble, including Tony winners Frank Wood and Bill Irwin.

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Travesties
American Airlines Theatre, 227 West 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues

Previews March 29. Opens April 24. Closes June 17.

Four decades after winning the Tony, Tom Stoppard's history-inspired romp returns to Broadway courtesy of London's Menier Chocolate Factory. Modernist writer James Joyce, communist revolutionary Lenin, and Dada founder Tristan Tzara all collide in 1917 Zurich in this über-intellectual play, which will have you Wikipediaing for hours afterward.

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Saint Joan
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 West 47th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue

Previews April 3. Opens April 25. Closes June 10.

Condola Rashad stars in Manhattan Theatre Club's revival of George Bernard Shaw's examination of Joan of Arc's life. If anyone can do justice to the icon's fiery legacy it's this three-time Tony nominee, under the direction of Tony winner Daniel Sullivan.

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The Boys in the Band
Booth Theatre, 222 West 45th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue

Previews April 30. Opens May 31. Closes August 11.

Despite its out, loud, and proud celebrity cast, this inaugural Broadway mounting of Matt Crowley's seminal gay play won't be winning any Tonys this June because it opens after the eligibility cutoff date. But we still expect wrenching performances from the starry ensemble, including Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, and Tony nominees Andrew Rannells and Robin De Jesús, under Tony winner Joe Mantello's direction.

Raven Snook is the Editor of TDF Stages. Follow her at @RavenSnook. Follow TDF at @TDFNYC.