New York City is one of the most fascinating cities in the world. It is home to the world famous Broadway theater. Broadway officially began halfway through the 1700s with one theater. Most of the shows were works of William Shakespeare. Since then, the Broadway scene has grown into more than 35 theaters scattered around Manhattan. Tourists and locals can enjoy either a musical or a play at the various theaters NYC has to offer. With over 30 shows currently on Broadway, there is certainly something for everyone to enjoy.
Of course, tickets for various shows can be more on the expensive side, but there are ways to get discounted tickets. In the middle of Times Square, there is a ticket booth where anyone can wait in line and get cheaper tickets to shows. There are limited tickets put into a lottery where people can go online and put their names in for discounted tickets. Lottery ticket links are typically on the performances' official website. Other than purchasing regularly priced tickets, it's the best way to see some of your favorite shows on Broadway! Here are 8 Broadway Shows Worth Checking Out In New York City:
8 Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Eddie Perfect wrote the music for the Broadway musical that is based on the 80's horror comedy film of the same name. Alex Brightman plays “Beetlejuice,” a comedic ghost that causes mayhem to whoever shouts his name three times.
Stars of the show performed the songs featured in the successful musical “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” and “The Whole Being Dead Thing” at the 2019 Tony Awards. The horror show was also nominated for 8 awards that night. See Beetlejuice at the Winter Garden Theater throughout 2019 to January 2020.
7 Phantom Of The Opera
The Phantom Of The Opera takes home the longest running musical on Broadway with over 13,000 performances. The musical takes place at an opera house in Paris in the 1800's. The opera house is haunted by a mysterious Phantom who falls in love with Christine, who wants nothing more than to become a star of an opera.
Christine and the Phantom meet and form a relationship. He helps Christine get a big part in an Opera performance by haunting the people that run the opera house. The Phantom Of The Opera is open at The Magestic Theater now through 2020.
6 Harry Potter And The Cursed Child
Relive the magic in NYC in a brand new adventure in the Harry Potter universe. J.K. Rowling created a brand new broadway play that has everyone talking. The play shows Harry, Ron and Hermione 19 years into the future that brings new magical experiences for the trio. The show is broken up into two different parts, attendees will need to purchase tickets to part one and two to experience the entire Harry Potter story. Relive the magic at the Lyric Theater. Shows run throughout 2019 and 2020.
5 Waitress
Sara Bareilles (known for her chart topping 2004 hit Love Song) wrote the music and helped write (with the help of Jessie Nelson) the Tony and Grammy nominated musical Waitress.
The Broadway play gets inspiration from the 2007 film starring Keri Russell. Bareilles played the lead role of in the musical, now, Shoshana Bean plays as Jenna, a young woman working as a waitress with big dreams and aspirations. YouTube star Colleen, also known as Miranda Sings, will be playing the role of Dawn starting on August 20th for a limited time only. See Waitress at the Brooks Atkinson Theater throughout 2019.
4 Hamilton
Hamilton is the very entertaining, yet very expensive rap-based musical written by Lin-Manuel Miranda who played the role of Alexander Hamilton. The musical is based around the forgotten tale of Alexander Hamilton and his life as an orphan to one of America's Founding Fathers. The musical has won over 11 Tony Awards, a Pultzier Prize, and one Grammy Award; no wonder it's a big hit around the world.
Hamilton is performed at the Richard Rogers Theater and showings continue throughout 2019 and into 2020. The show is also going on a tour that hits major cities.
3 Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
See Grammy nominated artist, Vanessa Carlton (singer of the hit song A Thousand Miles), in the musical based on the life of Carole King. This musical follows the life of King and how she got to where she is today, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and winner of four Grammy awards.
Catch the musical production of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at the Stephen Sondheim Theater through 2019 and see Carlton now through September 1st.
2 Wicked
A Broadway classic that has been around for years. In an alternate universe, based on the characters of The Wizard of Oz, Wicked tells the story of how two girls, most famously known as The Wicked Witch Of The West and Glinda The Good, meet and how they became the characters that we know and love in The Wizard of Oz. It is the ninth longest running musical. Famous celebrities that played Glinda and The Wicked Witch Of The West are Krisin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel (shown in picture above).
Wicked is performed at the Gershwin Theater, the biggest theater holding more than 1,900 seats, and showtimes run all through 2019 and the first two months in 2020.
1 Mean Girls
Return to North Shore high school in the musical version of the iconic 2000's teen movie, Mean Girls. Just like the movie, the musical was also written by Tina Fey. Cady Heron just moved to Chicago from Kenya. Having never been to a real school before, she must face the ups and downs of high school as she meets friends and frenemies and gets into a bit of drama.
Mean Girls is located at the August Wilson Theater and it is being played through 2020. The musical will also be on tour in 2019 and 2020 in other major cities including Philadelphia, Orlando, Las Vegas, and more.