Poll: Best and Worst Broadway Show of 2024?

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 12/13/24 at 9:50am

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.

[Sauja]

Posted: 12/13/24 at 10:53am

A tight race for me between Stereophonic; Oh, Mary; and Sunset Blvd for best of the year, with The Outsiders and Maybe Happy Ending as (very) honorable mentions. 

[spicemonkey]

Posted: 12/13/24 at 11:32am

Left on Tenth - worst play 

Tammy Faye - worst musical 

 

[Lot666]

Posted: 12/13/24 at 2:23pm

For me, best was Sunset Blvd and worst was Tammy Faye.

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 12/14/24 at 12:39pm

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.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 12/14/24 at 1:23pm

That circle graph is nearly impossible to read due to the amount of shows. @mods can it be changed to a bar graph instead?

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 12/14/24 at 1:27pm

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

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 12/14/24 at 1:44pm

Off the top of my head and in no particular order...

BEST

• Sunset Boulevard
• Ragtime
• Suffs
• Job
• Illinoise
• An Enemy of the People
• Appropriate

WORST

• Hell's Kitchen
• Water for Elephants
• The Wiz

Updated On: 12/15/24 at 01:44 PM

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 12/14/24 at 1:45pm

My top shows of the year (alphabetical):

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

[Skip23]

Posted: 12/14/24 at 2:16pm

My top “things” of 2024

 

- JOB

- APPROPRIATE

- SWEPT AWAY

- Lesli Margherita in GYPSY

- Choreography of SUNSET BLVD

- Autumn Hurlbert in TAMMY FAYE

- ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE

- Daniel Breaker and Nikki Renee Daniels in MATTRESS

- the Set for MAYBE HAPPY ENDING

- GUYS AND DOLLS and THE MOUSETRAP in London

 

Updated On: 12/14/24 at 02:16 PM

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 12/15/24 at 8:00am

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.)

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 12/15/24 at 8:51am

Best: Sunset Blvd/Cats/Lempicka

Worst: Heart of Rock n Roll/Cabaret

Show that made all wrong choices but it was still fun: The Wiz

Updated On: 12/15/24 at 08:51 AM

[Melissa25]

Posted: 12/15/24 at 9:16am

Best: Dead Outlaw, Lempicka, Appropriate

Worst: Water for Elephants, Stereophonic, Left on Tenth

 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 12/15/24 at 9:37am

NewYorkTheater said: "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 aslice 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.)"

Thanks. Hard to do so when viewing on my phone.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 12/15/24 at 9:51am

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]

Posted: 12/15/24 at 10:11am

"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.

Updated On: 12/15/24 at 10:11 AM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 12/15/24 at 10:17am

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.

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 12/15/24 at 11:20am

For those of you having trouble reading the results of the polls, I list the top 10 results for Best Broadway Show for 2024 at the bottom of the post (which mostly lists and aggregates the choices by theater critics)

 

Top 10 lists of Top NYC Theater in 2024: Maybe Happy Ending Oh Mary, Cats

Updated On: 12/15/24 at 11:20 AM

[dearalanaaaa]

Posted: 12/15/24 at 11:48am

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.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 12/15/24 at 11:53am

WORST:

-MAYBE HAPPY ENDING

-DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES

-THE NOTEBOOK

-THE OUTSIDERS

-OH MARY

-THE GREAT GATSBY

-TAMMY FAYE

-TEETH (OFF BROADWAY)

BEST:

-WATER FOR ELEPHANTS

-ONCE UPON A MATTRESS

 

I ENJOYED:

-THE WIZ

-DEATH BECOMES HER

-HEART OF ROCK AND ROLL

-SUNSET BLVD

-LEMPICKA

-THE WHO'S TOMMY

-CABARET

-HELL'S KITCHEN

Updated On: 12/18/24 at 11:53 AM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/15/24 at 7:33pm

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!

 

 

 

[willep]

Posted: 12/15/24 at 7:42pm

dearalanaaaa said: "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."


Patriots was one of my favorite this year, to each their own.

[SingOutLouise3]

Posted: 12/15/24 at 8:11pm

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! 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 12/15/24 at 8:23pm

Figure that I only saw 15 performances in NYC this year, so clearly a limited perspective.  That said, 

Favorite Play: The Hills of California

Favorite Musical: Sunset Blvd

Worst:  Tammy Faye.  The only one I saw this year that would even qualify for 'worst' consideration.  The other 14 productions ranged from solidly good (and entertaining) to extraordinary.  Tammy Faye was in a category all its own...even worse to me than last season's Harmony, which I hated.

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 12/15/24 at 8:25pm

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