Broadway and Off-Broadway are setting the stage for an ambitious 2025 lineup that ranges from reimagined classics to unlikely musicals about cave explorers and carnival oddities, with plenty of well-known performers involved. Here’s a look at ten productions that are already making waves.
Urinetown: Following an unusually strong 2024 season, the Encores! series at City Center will kick off its 2025 season with a new production of the dark and dystopian 2001 musical comedy, which imagines a future society where citizens must pay a tax each time they use the bathroom, with Rainn Wilson (“The Office”), Taran Killam (“Saturday Night Live”), Jordan Fisher (“Sweeney Todd”), Keala Settle (“The Greatest Showman”) and Jeff Hiller (“Somebody Somewhere”). Begins performances on Feb. 5 at City Center, nycitycenter.org.
Othello: Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal will square off as Othello and Iago, respectively, in a new production of Shakespeare’s majestic tragedy directed by Kenny Leon. Begins previews on Feb. 24 at the Barrymore Theatre, othellobway.com.
A Streetcar Named Desire: Irish actor Paul Mescal (“Normal People,” “Gladiator II”) will make his U.S. theater debut in a new production of Tennessee Williams’ classic 1947 drama about the tragic encounter between faded southern belle Blanche DuBois and the brutish Stanley Kowalski. Begins previews on Feb. 28 at BAM Harvey Theater, bam.org.
Glengarry Glen Ross: David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning depiction of a ruthless, unscrupulous, and desperate pack of Chicago real estate salesmen will return with Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”), Kieran Culkin (“Succession”), Bill Burr and Michael McKean. Begins previews on March 10 at the Palace Theatre, glengarryonbroadway.com.
Good Night, and Good Luck: George Clooney will play legendary broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow in a stage adaptation of the 2005 black-and-white film that pits Murrow against Senator Joseph McCarthy and explores the role of journalism in American society. Begins previews on March 12 at the Winter Garden Theatre, goodnightgoodluckbroadway.com.
Floyd Collins: Adam Guettel and Tina Landau’s unlikely musical drama about a young cave explorer in 1925 Kentucky who becomes trapped underground, which is widely regarded as one of the best musicals of the last 30 years, will make its overdue Broadway debut at Lincoln Center. Begins previews on March 27 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, lct.org.
Stranger Things: The First Shadow: Just as the final season of “Stranger Things” will be released on Netflix, 2025 will also feature the Broadway debut of an action-packed stage prequel to the teen horror/fantasy series set in 1959 Hawkins, Indiana, when adult characters such as Jim Hopper and Joyce Byers were teenagers and Henry Creel was a child. Begins previews on March 28 at the Marquis Theatre, broadway.strangerthingsonstage.com.
Dead Outlaw: This unlikely musical about an early 20th-century criminal whose dead body became a dummy used for carnival sideshows, will transfer to Broadway following an acclaimed Off-Broadway run. Begins previews on April 12 at the Longacre Theatre, deadoutlawmusical.com.
Twelfth Night: The Delacorte Theatre, home of Shakespeare in the Park, will reopen following extensive physical renovations with a starry new production of “Twelfth Night” with Peter Dinklage, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Lupita Nyong’o and Sandra Oh. Summer, Delacorte Theatre, publictheater.org.
Waiting for Godot: Thirty-five years after portraying the high school slackers Bill and Ted, Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves will reteam as the two tramps waiting endlessly for the mysterious Mr. Godot to arrive in a new production of Samuel Beckett’s existentialist tragicomedy directed by Jamie Lloyd (“Sunset Boulevard”). Fall, godotbroadway.com.
Five Bonus Recommendations: “Old Friends” (Stephen Sondheim tribute with Bernadette Peters), “Just in Time” (Jonathan Groff playing Bobby Darin), “John Proctor is the Villain” (Sadie Sink plays a teen who reexamines Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”), “The Last Five Years” (Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren lead Broadway debut of Jason Robert Brown’s two-hander musical) and “Vanya” (an adaptation of Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” in which Andrew Scott plays all the roles).
