It is impossible to know in advance which shows will ultimately hit or miss in 2020. In fact, many upcoming Broadway and Off-Broadway shows have also yet to even be officially announced.
Nevertheless, below are the eight of the most highly-anticipated Broadway shows of 2020 at this point in time.
West Side Story
Take a deep breath. Whether you like or loathe the idea, experimental European director Ivo van Hove (“A View from the Bridge,” “Network”) is making major changes to “West Side Story,” including cuts to the score, live video sequences and new dance choreography. Opening night was recently pushed back due to a knee injury sustained by leading man Isaac Powell.
Currently in previews at the Broadway Theatre, 1681 Broadway. Westsidestorybway.com.
Girl from the North Country
Following an Off-Broadway premiere one year ago, this haunting and enigmatic musical (written and directed by Irish playwright Conor McPherson and built around songs by Bob Dylan) will transfer to Broadway. Unlike your typical jukebox musical, “Girl from the North Country,” is a Depression-era kitchen-sink drama set in a boarding house in Dylan’s hometown of Duluth, Minnesota.
Begins previews Feb. 7 at the Belasco Theatre. Northcountryonbroadway.com.
Six
This new electro-pop musical (which has won acclaim in prior international and regional runs) reimagines the six wives of Henry VIII as fierce 21st century pop stars. Its young writers devised the concept while attending Cambridge University.
Begins previews Feb. 13 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. Sixonbroadway.com.
Hangmen
Two years after its smash Off-Broadway debut, Martin McDonagh’s black comedy about the fate of England’s second-best professional hangman after the abolition of capital punishment will finally be seen on Broadway. “Downton Abbey” actor Dan Stevens recently joined the cast.
Begins previews Feb. 28 at the John Golden Theatre. Hangmenbroadway.com.
Company
Tony winner Katrina Lenk (“The Band’s Visit”) will lead a new version of Stephen Sondheim’s groundbreaking 1970 musical in which the ambivalent and intimacy-scared protagonist, Bobby, is turned into a female, Bobbie. Patti LuPone will play the acerbic Joanne, who sings The Ladies Who Lunch.” Opening night will coincide with Sondheim’s 90th birthday.
Begins previews March 2 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. Companymusical.com.
The Lehman Trilogy
As unlikely as it sounds, one of the most popular shows of 2019 was a 3 1/2-hour, three-actor, monologue-heavy drama about how Lehman Brothers evolved from a small cotton goods store run by three German-Jewish immigrants into an elite financial firm that eventually perished in 2008 amid the subprime mortgage crisis. It previously played a sold-out limited run at the Park Avenue Armory.
Begins previews March 7 at the Nederlander Theatre. Thelehmantrilogy.com.
MJ the Musical
Needless to say, a bio-jukebox musical about Michael Jackson is sure to generate intense reactions and plenty of controversy. It will have direction and choreography by Christopher Wheeldon (“An American in Paris”) and a book by Pulitzer-winning playwright Lynn Nottage (“Sweat”) and feature many of Jackson’s best-known pop hits. The title was recently changed from “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” to simply “MJ.”
Begins previews July 6 at the Neil Simon Theatre. Mjthemusical.com.
The Music Man
In what is surely the hottest ticket of the fall, Hugh Jackman will play Professor Harold Hill in Meredith Willson’s beloved 1957 musical, alongside Sutton Foster as Marian Paroo. It is being helmed by many of the same people behind the recent Broadway revival of “Hello, Dolly!”
Begins previews on Sept. 9 at the Winter Garden Theatre. Musicmanonbroadway.com.
