The state of Broadway & West End theatre in 2024

I don't know what you consider "weird" but Broadway is starting into an absolute bumper season with 12 musicals (so far) announced and an eclectic mix for everyone - jukebox, movie/book adaptations, revivals and brand-new stuff. Also thematically a huge variety from a drippy love story like Notebook to introducing strong women like Tamara de Lempicka to a broader audience and adaptations of well-known classics like The Outsiders and The Great Gatsby. Not all of them will be GREAT, but surely the choice alone is amazing and certainly an improvement over the last years when so much rubbish aimed at teenagers was brought to Broadway (before Covid).

As for London, the mix is far less eclectic and interesting for me personally, but still quite a few new shows coming in, both great stuff (Hadestown) and meh stuff (MJ/Mean Girls) from Broadway, some big and very different revivals like Hello Dolly and Starlight Express and quirky new English shows as per the Observer's article.

So, not sure what's there to moan about really, especially when it comes to Broadway.

I went to NYC last autumn and really struggled to find things I wanted to see, especially at the prices they were asking. New York itself wasnt also quite the city it used to be.

To be honest the west end is similar. The days of feeling like I have to see everything have gone, its just too expensive to do that now.

I tend to wait for tours now, especially as the difference in quality between London shows and their respective tours isn't all that different. In some cases they've been better.

Great post and I wholeheartedly agree.

I think, creatively, both the West End and Broadway are on a roll given the wide diversity of shows being produced in the coming year (especially in New York where there are twice as many theatres to fill).

I would imagine the incredible output this year/next year is the result of creativity during covid where a lot of writers had the time to work on their craft and, having done the usual slow route to getting a show mounted, are starting to see the results now that the pandemic is (mostly) in the past and audiences are starting to show up again.

The only drawback are the increasing prices, especially in New York, where union costs and other factors (includung greed) have made ticket prices beyond unreasonable.

For me 2024 is looking a pretty strong year for WE theatre based on the recent programmes that have been announced. With the RC and OAT still to announce stuff up to the summer there is certainly a lot to get excited about. It would be nice to get the train strikes sorted so I can start booking more on my list of stuff to see.