12 Must-See Broadway Shows This Spring & Summer 2026

From vampire musicals to Pulitzer Prize revivals, there are several Broadway shows you simply cannot miss in NYC right now.

Broadway’s Spring and Summer 2026 season is stacked. Planning a trip to NYC and want to know which Broadway shows are playing right now? Your choices have never been better, or more stacked with Hollywood stars. From Tony Award winners to Emmy-winning television favorites making their stage debuts, the Great White Way is living up to its name this season.

Whether you’re a lifelong theater fan planning a trip to New York City or a last-minute ticket hunter looking for the best deals on Broadway, this is your essential guide. Below, we’ve rounded up 12 must-see Broadway musicals and plays running this spring and summer, complete with theater locations, running dates, and ticket links.

Want to know the best ways to save on theater tickets? Don’t miss our section at the bottom on how to find cheap Broadway tickets on TickPick.

Cats: The Jellicle Ball

Broadhurst Theatre, 235 W 44th St

Open Run (Through September 6, 2026)

Forget everything you think you know about Cats. This is not your grandmother’s Jellicle Ball. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s legendary, sometimes controversial mega-musical has been completely reimagined as a queer Harlem ballroom spectacular. Critics and audiences have been losing their minds over this production since its sold-out premiere at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in 2024.

On a runway stage, fierce dancers compete for ballroom supremacy while delivering those iconic Tim Rice lyrics with new electricity and force. Tony winner André De Shields commands the stage as Old Deuteronomy, and Hamilton‘s Sydney James Harcourt brings heat as Rum Tum Tugger. Co-directed by Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, this is the reinvention Broadway didn’t know it needed but now can’t stop talking about.

If you’ve ever dismissed Cats, this production is your second chance. If you’ve always loved it, consider this a revelation. Either way, it’s one of the hottest tickets of the season.

Buy Cats: The Jellicle Ball Tickets

Beaches

Majestic Theatre, 245 W 44th St

Runs April 22 through September 6, 2026

Grab the tissues because Beaches has arrived on Broadway and it is everything fans of the beloved 1988 film could have hoped for. Kelli Barrett and Jessica Vosk star as Cee Cee and Bertie, the lifelong friends whose roller-coaster relationship anchors one of the most emotionally resonant stories in popular culture.

The new musical adaptation is helmed by the original novel’s author Iris Rainer Dart herself, with music from Grammy winner Mike Stoller. With sweeping ballads, big laughs, and an ending that will wreck you in the best possible way, Beaches is the kind of Broadway show that is out for hearts and acclaim. Tickets will sell out fast. Now running through Labor Day weekend, it’s a perfect summer theater date.

Get Beaches Tickets

Proof

Booth Theatre, 222 W 45th St

Closes July 19, 2026

Proof is the most star-studded Broadway debut of the season. Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) and Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda) are both making their Broadway debuts in this revival of David Auburn’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award–winning play. Edebiri plays Catherine, a daughter grappling with grief, fear of mental illness, and a mathematical discovery she may (or may not) have made.

Cheadle is her complicated, cryptic genius of a father. Directed by the legendary Thomas Kail (Hamilton) with original music by Kris Bowers, this production has been described as the kind of event that makes you remember why live theater is so important.

Find Proof Play Tickets

Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 243 W 47th St

Closes July 26, 2026

August Wilson’s towering classic returns to Broadway and will be headlined by two major television stars making their stage debuts. Taraji P. Henson and Cedric “The Entertainer” star in this soulful drama. Set in a Pittsburgh boarding house in 1910, Come and Gone follows a man still carrying the wounds of forced labor and separation while searching for his family and his identity.

Wilson’s language is brought to life, and full richness, through this star-packed production. We couldn’t think of two better performers to deliver it. This is a limited engagement you’ll be telling people about for years.

Find Joe Turner’s Come and Gone Tickets

The Lost Boys, A New Musical

Palace Theatre, 1564 Broadway

Opening April 26, 2026

Vampires have come to Broadway, and they’ve never looked cooler. The Lost Boys, A New Musical is adapted from the beloved 1987 supernatural horror-comedy film, with music by The Rescues, and directed by two-time Tony Award winner Michael Arden (Maybe Happy Ending, Parade).

The story follows a family that relocates to a California beach town only to discover it’s populated by a gang of teenage vampires. Moody, fun, and dripping in ’80s atmosphere, this one is already generating major Tony buzz. If you loved the film, this adaptation is essential viewing. If you’ve never seen it, you’re in for one seriously wild ride.

Get The Lost Boys Tickets

Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show

Studio 54, 254 W 54th St

Closes July 19, 2026

Let’s do the Time Warp again, but this time at one of NYC’s most legendary venues. The cult-favorite rock musical is back on Broadway at the iconic Studio 54, and the combination of the show’s anarchic energy at this storied venue is nothing short of magical.

Richard O’Brien’s gender-bending, sexuality-celebrating, science-fiction–infused musical is as delightfully strange and subversive as ever, and audiences are showing up in full costume. If you’ve never experienced The Rocky Horror Show live, this revival at Studio 54 is the definitive way to do it. Don’t be a wallflower, buy your tickets now.

Buy Rocky Horror Show Tickets

Dog Day Afternoon

Virgina/ August Wilson Theatre, 245 W 52nd St

Closes July 12, 2026

The reunion no one knew they needed: The Bear‘s Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach are together on stage in one of this season’s most electrifying productions. Stephen Adly Guirgis, winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize, adapted Sidney Lumet’s gritty 1975 film about two amateurs who botch a bank robbery in New York City during the sweltering summer of 1972.

Bernthal steps into the role Al Pacino made famous. Directed by Rupert Goold, the production has been called raw, urgent, and deeply funny. It’s the kind of play that reminds you what live theater can do that no screen possibly can.

Buy Dog Day Afternoon Tickets

Giant

Music Box Theatre, 239 W 45th St

Closes June 28, 2026

Two-time Tony Award winner John Lithgow reprises his Olivier Award–winning performance as the cantankerous and complicated children’s author Roald Dahl in this smash-hit play.

Mark Rosenblatt’s drama explores the true scandal that shadowed Dahl’s later life and how a legendary storyteller’s legacy can be irrevocably complicated by the man behind it. It’s not child’s play. This is sharp, provocative, grown-up theater about genius, reputation, and accountability. See it before it closes at the end of June.

Buy Giant Tickets

The Fear of 13

James Earl Jones Theatre, 138 W 38th St

Closes July 12, 2026

Academy Award winner Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson star in Lindsey Ferrentino’s visceral new play. The Fear of 13 was inspired by the true story of Nick Yarris, a man who spent more than two decades on death row for a crime he did not commit.

The Fear of 13 is a gripping, haunting, and deeply human examination of the American justice system. The play is also about memory, survival, and what it means to fight for the truth when no one is listening. Brody delivers what audiences and critics are calling a career-defining stage performance. This limited engagement at the Hayes Theater is a must for theatergoers who want their Broadway experience to stay with them long after the curtain falls.

Buy The Fear of 13 Tickets

Schmigadoon!

Nederlander Theatre, 208 W 41st St

Closes June 28, 2026

The beloved Apple TV+ musical parody leaps from screen to stage, and the result is pure, unadulterated theatrical joy. Alex Brightman and Sara Chase star as a modern couple accidentally transported to a town where everyone is living inside a Golden Age musical. Schmigadoon! is complete with songs and styles from Oklahoma!, Carousel, The Sound of Music, and more.

Directed and choreographed by Tony winner Christopher Gattelli with a knockout ensemble cast including Ana Gasteyer, Brad Oscar, and Ann Harada, Schmigadoon! is the perfect Broadway outing for anyone who loves musical theater history with a side of hilarious self-awareness. Running through late June at Lincoln Center’s beautiful Vivian Beaumont Theater.

Get Schmigadoon! Tickets

Death of a Salesman

Winter Garden Theater, 1634 Broadway

Closes August 9, 2026

Two Broadway legends. One American masterpiece. Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf star as Willy and Linda Loman in Joe Mantello’s new revival of Arthur Miller’s essential American tragedy.

If you’ve ever studied Death of a Salesman in school, seeing it performed live by performers of this caliber will completely rewire how you understand it. Even if you’ve seen it before, Lane and Metcalf will make you feel it again for the first time. Running through August at the American Airlines Theatre, this is the kind of production that defines a Broadway season. Don’t wait, this one will sell out.

Get Death of a Salesman Tickets

Titanique

St. James Theatre, 246 W 44th St

Now Open (Open Run)

After a wildly successful downtown run that made it one of the hottest tickets in all of New York theater, Titanique has sailed its way to Broadway and it’s bringing every ounce of camp, chaos, and Céline Dion with it.

This outrageous, hilarious parody reimagines the story of the Titanic’s doomed voyage through the lens of Céline Dion’s iconic songbook, featuring hits like “My Heart Will Go On,” “The Power of Love,” and more. It’s absurd, it’s joyful, and it’s the most fun you’ll have in a Broadway theater this season. Perfect for groups, first-time theatergoers, bachelorette parties, and anyone who just wants to laugh until they cry.

Get Titanique Tickets

How to Find Cheap Broadway Tickets on TickPick

Broadway doesn’t have to break the bank. TickPick is the best place to find cheap Broadway tickets and last-minute theater deals. With no-fee ticket pricing, the price you see is always the price you pay.

From Tony Award winners to limited-run productions, TickPick has tickets to every show in the Theater District. Musicals, plays, and everything in between. Plus, with TickPick’s BestPrice Guarantee, you’re always getting the best available value for your Broadway tickets (or we’ll make it right).

Need tickets tonight? TickPick is the go-to platform for last-minute Broadway deals. Prices often drop as showtime approaches, and TickPick makes it easy to snag those seats.

Download the TickPick App for easy access to theater tickets, venue seating maps, and money-saving tools such as Flex. Never shopped with us before? Feel free to take $10 off with the link below.