The Best Broadway Shows Right Now

Buster McDermott
Updated August 12, 2023 8.2K votes 1.3K voters 21.5K views
Over 1.3K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Best Broadway Shows Right Now
Voting Rules
Musicals and plays. Vote up the best shows currently running on Broadway

This list contains all of the hottest Broadway shows currently playing, including plays and musicals. You might also be interested in the longest running Broadway musicals and celebrities who starred on Broadway. Some are for kids, some are adult-only, but they’re all shows that Broadway fans must be sure not to miss. A few of these shows, in fact, are so amazing that they’ve already won Tony Awards. Which current Broadway shows are the best?

In August 2015, Hamilton made its Broadway debut to critical acclaim, winning 11 Tony Award, including Best Musical. Created by and starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton is currently the must-see Broadway musical.  

Fans of Broadway, film, and even television are in luck when it comes to the best Broadway shows playing now. Cynthia Nixon, who’s most popular for her role as Miranda on Sex and the City is in The Real Thing, along with co-stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and Ewan McGregor, a fantastic cast and part of what makes The Real Thing one of the best shows on Broadway.

Not all film and television actors star in Broadway productions and simply act, however. Neil Patrick Harris, famous for his roles on both Doogie Howser, M.D. and How I Met Your Mother, takes the stage on Broadway in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. In it, Harris reminds audiences not only that the show is amazing but also that he can sing. It's one of the most sensational and talked about shows currently on Broadway.

This list contains all of the greatest shows on Broadway at the moment. Many feature great Hollywood stars, while others showcase some of the hottest Broadway talents, such as Sutton Foster. No matter which stars they showcase or how long they’ll ultimately run, these are all definitely the hottest shows on Broadway right now.

Most divisive: Kinky Boots
Ranked by
  • Hamilton
    1

    Hamilton

    Lin-Manuel Miranda
    726 votes

    The smash hit Hamilton will be showing at the Richard Rodgers Theater until December 30, 2018. 

    Hamilton: An American Musical is a sung- and rapped-through musical about the life of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, with music, lyrics and book by Lin-Manuel Miranda, inspired by the 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton by historian Ron Chernow. Notably incorporating hip-hop, rhythm and blues, pop music, soul music, traditional-style show tunes and color-conscious casting of non-white actors as the Founding Fathers and other historical figures, the musical achieved both critical acclaim and box office success.
  • Dear Evan Hansen
    2

    This heartbreaking musical airs at the Music Box Theater until December 30, 2018. 

    Dear Evan Hansen is a musical with music and lyrics by Pasek and Paul, and a book by Steven Levenson. The title character, Evan Hansen, is a high school senior with a social anxiety disorder who finds himself amid the turmoil that follows a classmate's death.
  • Wicked
    3

    Wicked

    Stephen Schwartz, Winnie Holzman
    652 votes
    • Characters: Wicked Witch of the West, The Wizard, Glinda the Good Witch, Boq, Doctor Dillamond

    The popular musical Wicked will be playing at the Gershwin Theater until December 30, 2018. 

    Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, an alternative telling of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic 1900 story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The musical is told from the perspective of the witches of the Land of Oz; its plot begins before and continues after Dorothy's arrival in Oz from Kansas and includes several references to the 1939 film and Baum's novel. Wicked tells the story of two unlikely friends, Elphaba and Glinda the Good, who struggle through opposing personalities and viewpoints, rivalry over the same love-interest, reactions to the Wizard's corrupt government, and, ultimately, Elphaba's public fall from grace. Produced by Universal Studios in coalition with Marc Platt and David Stone, the Joe Mantello–directed and Wayne Cilento–choreographed original production of Wicked premiered on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre in October 2003, after completing pre-Broadway tryouts at San Francisco's Curran Theatre in May 2003.
  • Waitress
    4

    Waitress

    367 votes

    Sara Bareilles composed the music. You can catch it at Brooks Atkinson Theater until January 28, 2018. 

    Waitress is a musical with music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles, and a book by Jessie Nelson. Based on the 2007 film of the same name, written by Adrienne Shelly, the musical tells the story of Jenna Hunterson, a waitress in an unhappy marriage to her husband Earl. When Jenna unexpectedly becomes pregnant she begins an affair with her gynecologist Dr. Jim Pomatter. Looking for ways out she sees a pie contest and its grand prize as her chance.
  • The Lion King
    5

    The Lion King

    Mark Mancina, Elton John, Jay Rifkin
    479 votes
    • Characters: Scar, Simba, Mufasa, Pumbaa, Nala

    The hit musical based on the Disney film will play at the Minskoff Theater until December 30, 2018. 

    The Lion King is a musical based on the 1994 Walt Disney Animation Studios' animated feature film of the same name with music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice, and book by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi, along with additional music and lyrics by Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taymor, and Hans Zimmer. Directed by Taymor, the musical features actors in animal costumes as well as giant, hollow puppets. The show is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions.
  • The Phantom of the Opera
    6

    The Phantom of the Opera

    Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe, Andrew Lloyd Webber
    585 votes
    • Characters: Erik, Christine Daaé, Carlotta, Viscount Raoul de Chagny, Madame Giry

    You can catch The Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theater until December 30, 2018. 

    The Phantom of the Opera is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Charles Hart. Richard Stilgoe and Lloyd Webber wrote the musical's book together. Stilgoe also provided additional lyrics. Based on the French novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux, its central plot revolves around a beautiful soprano, Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, disfigured musical genius living in the subterranean labyrinth beneath the Paris Opéra House.The musical opened in London's West End at Her Majesty's Theatre in 1986, and on Broadway in 1988. It won the 1986 Olivier Award and the 1988 Tony Award for Best Musical, and Michael Crawford (in the title role) won the Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical. It is the longest running show in Broadway history by a wide margin, and celebrated its 10,000th Broadway performance on 11 February 2012, the first production ever to do so. It is the second longest-running West End musical, after Les Misérables, and the third longest-running West End show overall, after The Mousetrap.With total estimated worldwide gross receipts of over $5.6 billion and total Broadway gross of $845 million, Phantom was the most financially successful entertainment event until The Lion King surpassed it in 2014. By 2011, it had been seen by over 130 million people in 145 cities across 27 countries, and continues to play in London and New York.