The 2022-23 Broadway season marked a return to normalcy for New York theater; attendance and revenue figures were once again comparable to pre-pandemic levels. According to The Broadway League (TBL), approximately 12.3 million seats were sold to Broadway plays and musicals. Attendees brought in $1.58 billion in revenue during the season, which ran from May 23, 2022, until May 21, 2023. Charlotte Martin, president of TBL, was enthusiastic about the recovery of the industry and the diverse range of productions.
“Broadway continues to present robust and diverse productions ranging from beloved classics to groundbreaking debuts, attracting an array of audiences who are keeping the Theatre District bustling with excitement,” Martin said in a press release.
In addition to the 35 holdover productions from the prior season, Broadway theaters showed 40 new productions in 2022-23, including 27 original plays and musicals and one special engagement. Kimberly Akimbo and Leopoldstadt, which won the Tony for Best Musical and Best Play, respectively, were among the notable productions to debut last season. Others included Aaron Sorkin’s Camelot, August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, and Tom Kitt and Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous.
Similarly, the 2023-24 Broadway season features a mix of classic productions, revivals, and original plays and musicals. Below is a look at five must-see debut productions this year.
1. The Notebook
Nicholas Sparks’ The Notebook is a novel that tells the story of young lovers (Allie and Noah) in the 1940s from different social classes and the progression of their romance over time. It was made into a film in 2004 starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as the actors depicting the main characters.
In the film, Gosling’s Noah is retelling the story of his relationship with McAdams’ Allie decades later at a nursing home, a task he does almost daily because she has dementia. The film made more than $115 in box office revenue, earned several awards, and is considered one of the best romance movies of the 21st century.
Beginning in February 2024, The Notebook will receive the musical treatment, when it opens for previews at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. It officially opens on March 14, 2024. Bekah Brunstetter, a writer and supervising producer on NBC’s award-winning series This Is Us wrote the book for the musical, while Ingrid Michaelson, who has written original songs for hundreds of films and TV series, penned the music and lyrics. Four-time Tony nominee Michael Greif and Schele Williams are directing. The cast will be announced later.
The Chicago Shakespeare Theater showed a world premiere engagement of The Notebook in the fall of 2022.
2. Mary Jane
While the cast for The Notebook has yet to be announced, McAdams is unlikely to reprise her role as Allie. She’s set to star in Amy Herzog’s Mary Jane, which begins previews at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre April 2, 2024. The play was previously shown off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop in 2017. Anne Kauffman (The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window) is directing Mary Jane.
Making her Broadway debut, McAdams is playing the title character, a single mother who strives to overcome “an impossible family situation” with help from her found family and staunch sense of hope.
3. Water for Elephants
Another musical adaptation of a novel-turned-film, Water for Elephants begins previews on February 24, 2024, at the Imperial Theatre and opens on March 21. Written by PigPen Theatre Co. (music and lyrics) and Rick Elice (book), the musical premiered at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta this past summer. Writer Sara Gruen wrote the novel in 2006. A film adaptation starring Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon premiered in 2011.
The cast has yet to be announced for the musical, but Tony-nominated director Jessica Stone (Kimberly Akimbo) is directing. Peter Schneider, Jennifer Costello, and Frank Marshall are among the producers. The story involves a young man who jumps aboard a train and ends up working for a traveling circus.
4. The Outsiders
The Outsiders, opening in March 2024 at Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, is another debuting musical based on a novel and film of the same name. S.E. Hinton wrote the novel, published in 1967, detailing conflict between rival gangs—the “Greasers” and “Socs.” Francis Ford Coppola directed and produced the film adaptation in 1983.
The musical adaptation premiered at La Jolla Playhouse in 2023. Jamestown Revival wrote the music and lyrics, while Adam Rapp wrote the book. Justin Levine also contributed. Danya Taymor is directing the musical.
5. An Enemy of the People
In addition to Mary Jane, Herzog wrote a revival of Henrik Ibsen’s play An Enemy of the People, which will be shown on Broadway in a 16-week limited engagement in spring 2024. Sam Gold is directing the revival, which was previously shown on Broadway in 2012.
Jeremy Strong, an Emmy and Golden Globe winner known for HBO’s Succession, is cast to play lead character Dr. Thomas Stockmann. He faces backlash from those in power after he alerts citizens of a small Norwegian spa town that the spa’s water is poisoned. Strong previously worked with Herzog in the off-Broadway production The Great God Pan in 2013.