April 27th was the Tony Awards cutoff that officially marks the end of the 2022-23 Broadway season, but next season is already heating up, with several major shows set to open over the summer. The first new show of the 2023-24 season opens in May. That’s Grey House, which begins preview performances at the Lyceum Theatre this weekend. With the feeling of a haunted Catholic elementary school, it’s the ideal venue for Levi Holloway’s horror drama about a couple seeking shelter from a blizzard in an isolated cabin in the mountains. Two-time Tony winner Laurie Metcalf returns to Broadway for the first time since her very brief run in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The first new musical of the season will be the Britney Spears jukebox Once Upon a One More Time. Previews start May 13th, and I am genuinely excited as a homosexual millennial, despite the obvious warning signs. It’s premised on a book club for fairytale heroines who set aside their usual reading by the Brothers Grimm to crack open Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique. Naturally, the lessons learned within are best expressed through the music of Britney Spears. The cast features funny ladies Jennifer Simard, Justin Guarini, and Adam Godley.
The David Byrne-Fatboy Slim collaboration Here Lies Love begins performances on June 17th and is poised to be the most significant Broadway musical in years. On June 30th, Back to the Future: The Musical begins performances at the Winter Garden. Based on the popular 1985 sci-fi movie about a teenage rocker and his mad scientist friend who builds a time machine, it was well-received in London, where it won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Musical. Tony winner Roger Bart reprises his role as Doc Brown opposite Casey Likes (Almost Famous) as Marty McFly. Nostalgia is the obvious selling point, but this new music might just win over a new crop of fans. All around there are many shows to look for on Broadway this coming season.
