Broadway Buying Guide: March 20, 2023

Top-selling shows this week include Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, and more!

By: Mar. 20, 2023
Enter Your Email to Unlock This Article

Plus, get the best of BroadwayWorld delivered to your inbox, and unlimited access to our editorial content across the globe.




Existing user? Just click login.

Looking for the best deals on Broadway shows? Welcome to our new weekly guide to the most popular shows listed on BroadwayWorld.


This Week's Top Broadway Shows

Broadway Buying Guide: March 20, 2023 1) Sweeney Todd Buy Tickets - Attend the tale! Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's landmark musical tells the tale of a resourceful pie shop owner and a vengeful barber out for blood. After he's sent away by a corrupt judge, Sweeney returns to London years later seeking his long-lost family, and forms an unlikely partnership with Mrs. Lovett, who serves up pies underneath his former shop. Together, they wreak havoc on Fleet Street and serve up the hottest - and most unsettling - pies in London. Director Thomas Kail helms the return of this musical thriller starring Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford.

2) Merrily We Roll Along Buy Tickets - Spanning three decades in the entertainment business, Merrily We Roll Along charts the turbulent relationship between composer Franklin Shepard and his two lifelong friends - writer Mary and lyricist & playwright Charley. An inventive, cult-classic ahead of its time, Merrily We Roll Along features some of Stephen Sondheim's most celebrated and personal songs. Directed by Maria Friedman, Merrily We Roll Along features music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a book by George Furth, and is based on the original play by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart.

Broadway Buying Guide: March 20, 2023 3) The Phantom of the Opera Buy Tickets Tickets from: $124 - Based on Gaston Leroux's horror novel, The Phantom of the Opera tells the enticing story of a disfigured Phantom who haunts the depths of The Paris Opera House. Mesmerized by the talents and beauty of the young soprano Christine, The Phantom lures her as his protégé and falls fiercely in love with her. The Phantom's obsession sets the scene for a dramatic turn of events where jealousy, madness and passions collide. Audiences are in for a thrilling night of spectacle and romance, accompanied by Broadway's most unforgettable score by Andrew Lloyd Webber, including "Music of the Night," "All I Ask of You," and "Masquerade." Directed by the late Harold Prince and produced by Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Group, the musical opened on Broadway on January 26, 1988. It won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and became the longest-running show in Broadway history on January 9, 2006.

4) Parade Buy Tickets - Leo and Lucille Frank are a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in the old red hills of Georgia. When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice and devotion. Riveting and gloriously hopeful, Parade reminds us that to love, we must truly see one another. Direct from its acclaimed run at New York City Center, Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry's Tony-winning musical is under the visionary direction of Michael Arden.

Broadway Buying Guide: March 20, 2023 5) Bob Fosse's Dancin' Buy Tickets - Bob Fosse's Dancin' is Fosse's full-throated, full-bodied celebration of the art form he loved, practiced, and changed forever. Transformed by director Wayne Cilento for 21st-century audiences, Dancin' brims with Fosse's warmth, emotion, color, and endlessly influential style rarely seen in modern interpretations of his work. Featuring an eclectic score that spans a multitude of musical genres and an extraordinary cast of Broadway's most accomplished dancers, Dancin' delivers the quintessential Broadway experience for Fosse fans and first-timers alike. You've never seen Dancin' like this.

6) Peter Pan Goes Wrong Buy Tickets - The team behind the global hit, The Play That Goes Wrong, brings their trademark comic mayhem to the J.M. Barrie classic Peter Pan. Peter Pan Goes Wrong is a highly physical comedy packed with finely-tuned and inspired slapstick, delivered with split-second timing and ambitious daring. The play sees the 'Cornley Drama Society' back on stage battling technical hitches, flying mishaps and cast disputes as they attempt to present J.M Barrie's much-loved tale. But will they ever make it to Neverland?

Broadway Buying Guide: March 20, 2023 7) Camelot Buy Tickets - Camelot comes to vibrant life once again with a new version of the classic tale, reimagined for the 21st century by Aaron Sorkin and Bartlett Sher. Based on The Once and Future King by T.H. White, Camelot is a story about the quest for democracy, striving for justice, and the tragic struggle between passion and aspiration, between lovers and kingdoms. This epic and timely tale features the iconic characters King Arthur, Queen Guenevere, and Sir Lancelot as well as the beloved original score with lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe.

Broadway Buying Guide: March 20, 2023 8) Funny Girl Buy Tickets Tickets from $69 - With music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill and book by Isobel Lennart, Funny Girl has become one of the most beloved Broadway classics, famous for skyrocketing Barbra Streisand to stardom. This bittersweet comedy is the story of the indomitable Fanny Brice, a girl from the Lower East Side who dreamed of a life on the stage. Everyone told her she'd never be a star, but then something funny happened-she became one of the most beloved performers in history, shining brighter than the brightest lights of Broadway. Michael Mayer's bold new production marks the first time Funny Girl has returned to Broadway since its debut 58 years ago.

9) A Doll's House Buy Tickets Tickets from: $57.50 - A Doll's House thrust drama firmly into the modern age when it premiered in 1879. Now, nearly a century-and-a-half later, Tony Award nominee Jamie Lloyd and acclaimed playwright Amy Herzog will make freshly relevant a story that shocked audiences and brought forth a new era of theater. One of the most acclaimed actors of her generation, Jessica Chastain will inhabit one of the theater's most iconic roles, re-energizing the play for a whole new generation.

Broadway Buying Guide: March 20, 2023 10) Bad Cinderella Buy Tickets Tickets from: $61.50 - In the exceptionally beautiful kingdom of Belleville, the fields are idyllic, the prince is charming, and the townsfolk are ravishing. Only one stubborn peasant stands in the way of absolute perfection: Cinderella. To the flawless residents and royals of Belleville, this damsel IS the distress. She finds herself and her prince in new circumstances, which causes them to rethink what "happily ever after" really means. From composer Andrew Lloyd Webber comes bad Cinderella, featuring an original story and book by Emerald Fennell and lyrics by David Zippel.

This Week's Top Off-Broadway Shows

1) Regretfully, So the Birds Are Buy Tickets - Arson. Affairs. Incest. Murder... are only the beginning of problems for the Whistler siblings. Mora's gotta find her birth mother, Neel's gotta find himself, and Illy's gotta keep her piece of the sky... but the birds have other plans. Julia Izumi's Regretfully, So the Birds Are is a wild, farcical tragedy that gleefully flips the human quest for self-discovery on its head. Special thanks to the 21st Century ILGWU Heritage Fund for its generous support of this production.

2) Zephyr Buy Tickets - Throwing all caution to the wind, the adrenaline-driven daredevils of Cirque Mechanics are back at the New Victory Theater with an all-new mechanical masterpiece: a 20-foot-tall windmill powered by sheer strength! Set on a rotating turntable, there's practically nothing in Zephyr that won't spin-including your head-as acrobats brazenly balance atop the windmill's blades and fearlessly face the Wheel of Destiny. A turbine tug of war between man, nature and machine, Zephyr is a whirlwind of circus that'll blow you away. "High-flying, free-wheeling fun" - Omaha World-Herald

3) The Harder They Come Buy Tickets Tickets from: $119 - Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and The Public's Writer-in-Residence Suzan-Lori Parks brings to The Public a new musical adaptation of the 1972 movie, THE HARDER THEY COME. Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the breakthrough film, produced and directed by Perry Henzell and co-written with Trevor Rhone, tells the story of Ivan, a young singer who arrives in Kingston, Jamaica eager to become a star. After falling in love and cutting a record deal with a powerful music mogul, Ivan soon learns that the game is rigged, and as he becomes increasingly defiant, he finds himself in a battle that threatens not only his life, but the very fabric of Jamaican society. Featuring Jimmy Cliff's Grammy Award-winning hits, such as "You Can Get It If You Really Want," former Artistic Director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre Tony Taccone directs this new musical, with co-direction by Tony Award winner Sergio Trujillo and choreography by Edgar Godineaux.

4) The Play That Goes Wrong Buy Tickets Tickets from: $74 - Co-written by Mischief company members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, The Play That Goes Wrong is a riotous comedy about the theatre. The play introduces The 'Cornley University Drama Society' who are attempting to put on a 1920s' murder mystery, but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong...does, as the accident-prone thespians battle on against all odds to get to their final curtain call.

5) Naked Boys Singing Buy Tickets - The title says it all in this campy musical revue! After a record breaking twenty one year run Off-Broadway, and a recent highly publicized Las Vegas residency, the boys are back in New York City at the newly renovated AMT Theater. Naked Boys Singing is a traditional musical revue, in the vein of vaudeville and high-camp musical theater, that celebrates the male form with a lot of laughs and no costuming! With song titles ranging from "The Bliss of a Briss" to the culinary inspired "I Beat My Meat", Naked Boys Singing is 60 minutes of non-stop music and laughter!

6) Little Shop of Horrors Buy Tickets Tickets from: $61.50 - Seymour is a down-on-his-luck florist with a crush on his co-worker Audrey. When he discovers a mysterious - and voracious - plant, suddenly Seymour and Audrey are thrust into an epic battle that will determine the fate of the entire human race. Little Shop of Horrors made its highly-anticipated return home to Off-Broadway, in an intimate new production directed by Michael Mayer that offers an unprecedented opportunity to get close - maybe too close - to an incredible plant with an insatiable appetite.

7) black odyssey Buy Tickets - Obie-winning playwright Marcus Gardley blends classic mythology, African-American history, and modern theatricality to create the poetic black odyssey. This vibrant reimagining of the Odysseus saga is set in modern-day Harlem, telling the epic tale of Ulysses Lincoln, a soldier facing the most daunting of voyages to reunite with his family. While fate may seem in control of Ulysses' destiny, his ancestors and their buried history will help guide his journey home.

8) The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window Buy Tickets Tickets from $195 - Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan star in Lorraine Hansberry's sweeping drama of identity, idealism, and love. With direction by Anne Kauffman, BAM's production marks the first major New York revival since the original Broadway run. Hansberry invites us into Greenwich Village in the 60s, crafting a razor-sharp portrait of a diverse group of friends whose progressive dreams can't quite match reality. At the center are Sidney and Iris Brustein, fighting to see if their marriage-with all its crackling wit, passion, and petty cruelty-can survive Sidney's ideals.

9) White Girl in Danger Buy Tickets Tickets from: $74 - Tune in to the epic and viciously funny new musical from Michael R. Jackson, the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning creator of A Strange Loop. It's a fever dream mashup of classic daytime and primetime soap operas, Lifetime movies, and red-hot melodrama. The citizens of the soap opera town Allwhite face high-stakes drama and intrigue all the days of their lives. But Keesha Gibbs and the other Blackgrounds have been relegated to backburner stories of slavery and police violence for all of theirs. Keesha is determined to step out of the Blackground and into the center of Allwhite's juiciest stories.

10) Dog Man: The Musical Buy Tickets Tickets from: $43.50 - A Hilarious Heartfelt Family Adventure Based On The Worldwide Bestselling Series! Best buds George and Harold have been creating comics for years, but now that they're in 5th grade, they figure it's time to level up and write a musical based on their favorite character, Dog Man, the crime-biting sensation who is part dog, part man, and ALL HERO!



Videos