In a year marked by political unease, cultural whiplash, and an industry still recalibrating its sense of purpose and underlying economics, New York theater often looked backward even as it searched for new ways forward. This list reflects the ten best Broadway and Off‑Broadway shows that opened in 2025. Thus, it does include shows that were part of the 2024-2025 season but opened in 2024, including “Maybe Happy Ending” and “Sunset Boulevard.”
The list is dominated by musical revivals—some revelatory, some restorative, some simply executed at an exceptionally high level. Alongside them sit a galvanizing youth‑driven new play, a sharply realized film‑to‑stage adaptation, an offbeat rock musical that burned brightly before closing early, and a multimedia star turn that pushed at the edges of theatrical form.
1. Ragtime: In a year crowded with revivals, “Ragtime” distinguished itself by feeling not merely relevant but necessary. Expanding last year’s City Center concert into a fully realized Lincoln Center production, the musical’s portrait of early‑20th‑century America—riven by racism, antisemitism, inequality, and political radicalization—landed with startling immediacy. Lear deBessonet’s clear‑eyed staging, the restored orchestration, and towering performances—especially Joshua Henry’s galvanizing Coalhouse—made the revival feel both artistically complete and morally urgent.
2. Dead Outlaw: One of the year’s boldest originals, “Dead Outlaw” began as a critically acclaimed Off‑Broadway oddity before transferring to Broadway the following year. The darkly comic, bourbon‑soaked musical turned the bizarre afterlife of early‑20th‑century outlaw Elmer McCurdy into a sharp meditation on American mythmaking, powered by a gritty, genre‑blending score and wickedly smart book. Its early Broadway closure, despite major awards and strong reviews, underscored how precarious daring new work remains.
3. John Proctor Is the Villain: Kimberly Belflower’s sharp, youth‑driven dark comedy arrived on Broadway feeling both bracingly contemporary and overdue. Set in a Georgia high school classroom during the height of the #MeToo era, the play interrogates “The Crucible” not to cancel it, but to wrestle with its blind spots, reframing John Proctor through the lived experiences of young women finding their voices. Anchored by Sadie Sink, it emerged as one of the year’s most necessary plays.
4. Good Night, and Good Luck: George Clooney’s Broadway debut arrived as both star turn and sober warning. Adapting his film about Edward R. Murrow’s stand against McCarthyism, the production used sleek multimedia staging and Clooney’s quiet authority to examine the cost of speaking truth to power—then and now. In a season heavy on spectacle, it stood out for its urgency and restraint.
5. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee: This buoyant 20th‑anniversary revival reminded audiences just how perfectly engineered—and sneakily profound—”Spelling Bee” remains. Playing Off‑Broadway in an intimate setting, its blend of razor‑sharp wit, genuine pathos, and communal joy landed with renewed force, its portrait of anxious, overachieving kids feeling newly resonant. Funny, humane, and deceptively wise, it proved that great writing doesn’t age—it waits.
6. Heathers: Once a cult curiosity, “Heathers” returned Off‑Broadway sharper, sleeker, and more unsettlingly timely than ever. This polished revival leaned fully into the show’s dark satire of cruelty, conformity, and teenage despair, with a pop score strengthened by years of revision and fan devotion. Electrifying for a younger audience, it confirmed its place as a defining high‑school musical.
7. Mamma Mia!: Returning to Broadway at another moment of national unease, “Mamma Mia!” proved once again that escapism can be a virtue. This limited engagement—essentially a polished stop on the 25th‑anniversary tour—offered the same sun‑drenched ABBA joy that made the show a post‑9/11 phenomenon. Light, communal, and unabashedly optimistic, it remains one of Broadway’s most reliable mood lifters.
8. Floyd Collins: The Lincoln Center revival marked the long‑awaited Broadway arrival of Adam Guettel’s haunting musical. Jeremy Jordan delivered a quietly devastating performance as Floyd, capturing both optimism and the slow terror of entrapment with remarkable control. With its folk‑inflected score and restrained staging, the production became a chilling meditation on spectacle and obsession.
9. Pirates! The Penzance Musical: Roundabout’s high‑octane reboot of Gilbert & Sullivan’s operetta landed as one of the season’s purest blasts of fun. Reimagined as a jazz‑soaked, New Orleans–inflected carnival, “Pirates!” embraced theatrical excess with fearless glee, powered by Warren Carlyle’s show‑stopping choreography and a fine cast led by David Hyde Pierce, Ramin Karimloo, and Jinkx Monsoon.
10. The Picture of Dorian Gray: Sarah Snook’s bravura solo turn transformed Oscar Wilde’s gothic fable into a dizzying multimedia spectacle. Playing 26 characters while interacting with live and prerecorded versions of herself, Snook delivered a feat of virtuosity that was thrilling to watch.
Honorable mentions: “Marjorie Prime,” “English,” “We Had a World,” and “Gospel at Colonus.”
