The Verdict

Nearly forty years since its notoriously short and troubled original Broadway run, Chess is back in its first revival. With music by ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and lyrics by Ulvaeus and the legendary Tim Rice, the musical has long struggled under the weight of its dense, multi-layered Cold War plot, undergoing numerous revisions since its London premiere in 1986.

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.

How lucky are we that Lincoln Center has graced us with such a beautiful production! Lear deBessonet’s main-stem transfer of New York City Center’s 2024 Gala production of the stage adaptation of E. L. Doctorow’s seminal classic Ragtime, is perhaps the most anticipated opening of the 2025-26 Broadway season.

“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.