The Verdict

The national tour of Mystic Pizza the musical could have used more time in the oven. After premiering at the Ogunquit Playhouse in 2021 and subsequently receiving professional runs in 2025, the stage version of Mystic Pizza finally embarked on its first national tour.

Look after this bear, London has. In arguably the most anticipated new musical of last season, Michael Bond's bear, Paddington, comes to life on the Savoy Theatre stage each night in front of nearly 1,200 people.

For the second summer in a row, the hottest West End ticket belongs to another Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber rock opera at the London Palladium: Jesus Christ Superstar, following in the flashy footsteps of last summer's Evita—a comparison that becomes impossible to ignore.

🌟VERDICT’S PICK🌟 Lovers of Golden Age musicals such as Oklahoma!, The Music Man, and The Sound of Music would probably relish being dropped into a world where life is a musical. Meanwhile, the idea of a world such as this would make other people turn on their heel and run as far away as they can.

I admit, I’m a bit late to the party on this one! Cole Escola’s absolutely deranged farce, Oh, Mary!, is every bit as campy and hilarious as everyone says. Retelling the story of former First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln “through the lens of an idiot,” as Escola has said, this show characterizes her as a raging drunk and a former cabaret star.

🌟VERDICT’S PICK🌟 If you’re coming to Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) for an abundance of cake-carrying, you may be disappointed—but you’ll quickly find there’s something much sweeter on offer. What it lacks in cake, however, it makes up for tenfold in its brilliant wit and effervescent charm. The latest West End import in a seemingly unstoppable run of successes, Two Strangers is the kind of rom-com musical that pulls at your heartstrings while keeping a smile

Ten years ago, Hamilton opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre to some of the most unanimously effusive praise in Broadway history. Ten years later, it continues to remind audiences why it deserves every bit of that praise — and more.

“Why love?” is the question that bookends Maybe Happy Ending, and is the driving emotional force of the show. In what was one of the most crowded seasons in the history of new musicals opening on Broadway, Maybe Happy Ending, a new musical by Will Aronson and Hue Park, has stood out from the very beginning.

Bringing a new show directly to Broadway is a risky move. Many times, it results in an unpolished mess, but the rare exceptions can turn into unexpected gems. That rare gem is Just In Time, the brand new bio-jukebox musical telling the story of Bobby Darin that opened at the Circle in the Square this spring.

🌟VERDICT’S PICK🌟 God, this show is brilliant! Opening at the Golden Theatre in March, the highly anticipated, twelve-times-extended transfer of Operation Mincemeat is the most delightfully charming show on Broadway. Telling the true story of the MI5 deception plot of the same name which involved planting a corpse with fake documents in Spain to misdirect the German forces, it has become a sensation on both sides of the Atlantic.