Poll: Best and Worst Broadway Show of 2024?

Poll: Best and Worst Broadway Show of 2024?

What did you think was the best of the forty-four shows that opened on Broadway in 2024? Which was the worst? Take the two polls. Judge the quality of the show as you see it, not how it did at the box office.

Left on Tenth - worst play 

Tammy Faye - worst musical 

 

I voted for "Stereophonic" which I saw and absolutely loved!! I voted for "Tammy Faye" as the worst due to the critic reviews and comments from people posting on this board.

This was not the strongest year of my theatergoing life so I'm going to expand it to theatre in general.

BEST:

• Follies Concert at Carnegie Hall
• Sunset Boulevard
• CATS
• Maybe Happy Ending
• Oh Mary
• Stereophonic
• Jelly's Last Jam

 

WORST:

• Ghost of John McCain
• The Wiz
• Lempicka
• Safety Not Guaranteed
• Strike Up the Band
• Corruption
• All of Me

I deliberately skipped a lot of the shows with poor buzz.

Lots of other shows with select elements that really stood out to me...the staging & design of The Lonely Few, Rachel McAdams & Michael Stuhlbarg's performances, aspects of Illinoise, the inventiveness of Dungeons & Dragons, a special prize to Suffs for not being perfect but greatly improving the show after its Public run.

 

Updated On: 12/14/24 at 01:27 PM

My top shows of the year (alphabetical):

The Counter
Here There Are Blueberries
Job
Mary Jane
McNeal
Mother Play
The Outsiders

ACL2006 Apologies for the pie chart. If you place your cursor on one of the shows on the  list at the right, you'll see it highlights a slice of the pie. If you then place your cursor on the highlighted slice, it will then tell you the number of voters and the percentage. 

 

If somebody can instruct me on the step by step to changing the default pie chart to a bar chart on Google forms, I'll happily listen. (I couldn't figure it out.)

Best: Dead Outlaw, Lempicka, Appropriate

Worst: Water for Elephants, Stereophonic, Left on Tenth

 

Melissa25 said: "Best: Dead Outlaw, Lempicka, Appropriate

Worst: Water for Elephants, Stereophonic, Left on Tenth"

I thought I was the ONLY person on this board that absolutely loathed Stereophonic - glad to see I'm not completely alone. I also loved Lempicka... Sounds like we may have similar taste!

 

Zeppie2022 said: ""I thought I was the ONLY person on this board that absolutely loathed Stereophonic - glad to see I'm not completely alone."

The show won Tony Award for Best Play, the critics loved it and rarely have I read somebody really disliking it. You loathed it and that is your opinion. This almost sounds to me like the people that said years ago "Hamilton" was awful just trying to be different and get reaction from people. When you say that you loathe something, it would be nice if you provided some detail as to why you hated it. Was it too long? Did you not like the premise of the show? Was the cast awful? etc."

I'm not trying to be "different" and get any sort of "reaction". I was merely agreeing with another poster who had a similar opinion. Also, I wasn't aware I needed to elaborate, but happy to do so. I found the show a slog to sit through. I, personally, am not a fan of the "fly in the wall" in the wall in a recording studio premise (same reason I did not like Daisy Joes and the Six). I thought the cast was great and enjoyed the music, but other than that, it was not for me.

Some of the shows under best I'm surprised to see. On the flipside, on the worst end I can guarantee the dogpiling on Tammy Faye is only because it closed recently and nobody saw the worse shows (Patriots anyone? Most of the shows we've forgotten by now). If Lempicka closed recently I guarantee that would be the one getting all the hate. Not that I'm defending Tammy, it definitely wasn't the best but it doesn't jump out anywhere close to the worst shows I've seen as of lately. Now if Walking with Ghosts was on here... That can take the bottom spot.

Also a rather light 2024 for me with the theatergoing.

LEMPICKA was my favorite Broadway show of the year and I will die on that hill. Brilliant performances all around, they finally fixed the second act, and what was merely a good show became an excellent one. (And I finally got to meet Matt Gould in person.)

I also really enjoyed SUFFS (again, great work + revisions put into that... I only had minor tics), THE OUTSIDERS (exciting seeing this youthful, extremely physical show early on via comp), DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES (Kelli + BDJ acting masterclass), and to a lesser extent, MAYBE HAPPY ENDING (cute... stunning design elements) and THE NOTEBOOK (meh writing but the older couple made the show). My opinion has soured a bit on CABARET although Redmayne, Skybell, and Neuwirth were fantastic.

I hope to see more Broadway shows in 2025, and I always love hearing all of your thoughts when new shows start up!

 

 

 

Best: Days of Wine and Roses, Illinoise, Ragtime. 

Disappointment: How to Dance in Ohio, Water for Elephants, Tommy, Outsiders. 

Performance highlights: Bebe Neuwirth and Steve Skybell in Cabaret, Hells Kitchen cast vocals (Moon, Lewis, Bean, BVD, etc), Maria Friedman concert, Heather Headley concert.

Saw 32 performances in NYC this year, which is lower than my average number from past years.  Various factors determined the number of shows I saw in 2024 including: budget, low interest, word of mouth, Show Score membership program discontinued. 

Looking forward to 2025! 

Best:

Ragtime at City Center (I know it's not broadway o well)

Maybe Happy Ending (best new musical in years)

Lempicka (I loved it, I admit its imperfect)

Worst: 

Probably Water for Elephants tho i didn't see many of the "worst" things

Updated On: 12/15/24 at 08:25 PM