The Best Broadway Shows of 2024

Many audiences come to The Great White Way to avoid the real world. But some of the best live theater this year superbly weaved together truth and fantasy.

With the world perpetually on fire and all, audiences can sometimes gravitate more toward escapist entertainment on Broadway than the type of fare that more honestly reflects our bleak reality. But this year, gearing up to what ended up being an anticlimactic presidential election result, The Great White Way offered a plethora of stories that mirrored our deepest fears and ills and confronted our most cherished ideals.

And they did so with compassion — and sometimes with pitch-perfect deadpan, a live orchestra and choreography to boot.

Big Hollywood names like Alicia Keys and Darren Criss lit up the stage with longtime theater faves and newer stars alike to entertain, engage or comfort viewers at a time when much is uncertain. Often gliding between frustration, hope and curiosity, some of the best in live theater this year made us want to dance in the aisles, hug a loved one a little more tightly or throw our hands up in despair. The point is, they made us feel something and that in and of itself is useful.

From stories of abuse and faith to cultural conflict and delightfully subversive fairy tales, Broadway served an audience that was often in a state of turmoil. And for two hours (or more — often more, actually), the theater got audiences to sit with these sometimes difficult feelings and hopefully come away better for it.

“The Wiz”