Broadway

The family's all here! Take a first look at [*Mother Play*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/31354-mother-play-on-broadway) on Broadway, a new [family drama](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/learn-about-all-the-family-dramas-on-broadway-this-season) starring [Jessica Lange](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/all-the-times-jessica-lange-did-theatre), [Jim...

See photos of Jessica Lange, Jim Parsons, Celia Keenan-Bolger in 'Mother Play'

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The world-premiere family drama by Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel is currently playing on Broadway at the Hayes Theater for a limited run through June 16.

Oh, Broadway! Following its critically acclaimed, extended run off Broadway this spring, [Cole Escola](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/cole-escola)’s [*Oh, Mary!*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/37743-oh-mary) will play a limited Broadway engagement this summer. Performances will run at the [Lyceum Theatre](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/lyceum-theatre-ny) from June 26 to September 15, with opening night on July 11.

*Oh, Mary!* is a wacky, largely...

‘Oh, Mary!’ to transfer to Broadway this summer

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The critically acclaimed play, written by and starring comedian Cole Escola, puts a humorous spin on the story of former First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln.

Every rom-com needs a great song list. In the Huey Lewis and the News jukebox musical [*The Heart of Rock and Roll*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/36584-the-heart-of-rock-and-roll), the band's hit songs from the '80s are seamlessly threaded into the lighthearted love story of coworkers Bobby (Corey Cott) and Cassandra (McKenzie Kurtz), who team up to make their dreams of success come true.

“The Power of Love,” “Stuck With You,” “If This Is It,” and more fan-favorite ear candy appears...

All the Huey Lewis songs in 'The Heart of Rock and Roll' on Broadway

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The critically acclaimed jukebox musical rom-com rocks with dozens of Huey Lewis and the News hits including "The Power of Love" and "Stuck With You."

April 23 is World Book Day, and Broadway is a feast for book lovers this season. There are numerous [new play and musical adaptations of novels](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/from-page-to-stage-how-bestselling-books-became-broadway-blockbusters) on stage this season: [*The Wiz*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/27115-the-wiz-tickets), [*The Great Gatsby*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/38749-the-great-gatsby-on-broadway), [*Water for...

Broadway shows to see based on your favorite book

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We're celebrating World Book Day by providing play and musical recommendations for fans of hot new bestsellers, classic novels, and popular authors.

Nominees for the 2024 Outer Critics Circle Awards have been announced. The annual awards ceremony honors the best of both Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre, with both types of shows competing against each other in many categories.

The Off-Broadway musical *Dead Outlaw* received the most nominations with nine. Tied for second, with seven awards each, are the Off-Broadway musical *The Connector* and the currently running Broadway play...

2024 Outer Critics Circle nominations announced

Outer Critics Circle

The annual awards honor the best of both Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre from the previous years, and numerous currently running shows were recognized.

Step right up and see [*Water for Elephants*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/34684-water-for-elephants-on-broadway) on Broadway! Circus and theatre meet in the stage adaptation of Sara Gruen's bestselling historical romance novel, which captivated audiences on the page and screen and now does so live.

*The Flash*'s [Grant Gustin](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/grant-gustin) stars as Jacob Jankowski, who runs away with the Benzini Bros. Circus and falls in love with...

Everything you need to know about 'Water for Elephants' on Broadway

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Grant Gustin and Isabelle McCalla currently star in the critically acclaimed musical adaptation of Sara Gruen's bestselling circus-themed novel from 2006.

The circus is staying in town! *Water for Elephants* on Broadway has released a new block of tickets for performances through February 2, 2025 at the [Imperial Theatre](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/imperial-theatre). Get [*Water for Elephants* tickets](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/34684-water-for-elephants-on-broadway) now.

Adapted from the [bestselling 2006 book by Sara...

'Water for Elephants' tickets now on sale through February 2025

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The critically acclaimed, circus-themed Broadway musical, which stars *The Flash*'s Grant Gustin, is based on the bestselling 2006 novel by Sara Gruen.

Take a first look at [Rachel McAdams](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/rachel-mcadams) on Broadway! The Oscar-nominated actress known for films like [*The Notebook*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/33744-the-notebook-the-musical), *Mean Girls*, and *Spotlight* is making her Broadway debut in the title role of [*Mary Jane*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/6955-mary-jane-tickets), playing at the [Samuel J. Friedman...

See photos of Rachel McAdams and the cast of 'Mary Jane' on Broadway

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The Academy Award nominee makes her Broadway debut in the title role in Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award nominee Amy Herzog's drama about a single mother.

Discover where [Alicia Keys](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/all-the-times-alicia-keys-did-theatre)'s own dreams were made. The 16-time Grammy Award-winning musician has been working on the new Broadway musical [*Hell's Kitchen*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/37579-hells-kitchen-broadway) for over a decade, but its origins reach back to the '90s.

[Loosely inspired by her formative...

How 'Hell's Kitchen' reflects and differs from Alicia Keys' life

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Keys's song catalog makes up this new musical about a young girl coming of age in Manhattan — a story inspired by, but not identical to, Keys's own upbringing.

Rock on! And on! And on! Broadway currently sports three very different shows featuring rock music, a diverse and exciting genre that never gets old. Not to mention, the shows feature rock legends like Pete Townshend, Huey Lewis, and (sort of) Fleetwood Mac.

These shows include the new musical [*The Heart of Rock and Roll*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/36584-the-heart-of-rock-and-roll) at the [James Earl Jones...

Rock music takes the stage in three Broadway shows this spring

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Songs by rock bands The Who and Huey Lewis and The News appear in high-energy musicals alongside a new play with music inspired by the 1970s rock scene.

The show is going on at [*Topdog/Underdog*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25558-topdog-underdog-tickets) on Broadway, and you can see for yourself. New photos have been released of the 20th-anniversary production of Suzan-Lori Parks's Pulitzer-winning play ahead of its official opening on October 20.

Emmy Award winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Tony nominee Corey Hawkins star as two brothers locked in a power battle. Lincoln works as an Abraham Lincoln impersonator, Booth wants to be a three-card monte card shark, and neither truly respects the other's hustle. Forced to live together as adults due to poverty and bad luck, their tensions soon explode as they struggle to survive, whatever it takes.

See photos below of Abdul-Mateen and Hawkins in *Topdog/Underdog*, at the [Golden Theatre](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/golden-theatre) through January 15.

[Get *Topdog/Underdog* tickets now.](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25558-topdog-underdog-tickets)

![topdog-1200x600-NYTG 1](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/6zut2tIadW4bi9Y1bXnvbf/582d86676c03d3b63c2a11d41a37f142/topdog-1200x600-NYTG_1.jpg)

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*Photo credit: Marc J. Franklin*

See photos of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Corey Hawkins in 'Topdog/Underdog' on Broadway

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Children under 4 are not permitted in the theatre.

Topdog/Underdog on Broadway - NYC

Genre: Play

Topdog/Underdog on Broadway

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122 Topdog Underdog Broadway Production Photos 2022 HR Final Credit Marc J Franklin

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Topdog/Underdog

*Topdog/Underdog* is a play about Lincoln and Booth, named after the 16th president and his assassin. Their father chose these names as a joke, but Lincoln ends up becoming an Abraham Lincoln impersonator at an arcade.

Lincoln used to run the street con Three-card monte, and wannabe pro Booth pressures him to get back in the game. Lincoln refuses, and brotherly quibbling gives way to real resentment as they rehash old wounds.

Topdog/Underdog had its world premiere at The Public Theater in 2001, starring Jeffrey Wright as Lincoln and Don Cheadle as Booth. Parks won an Outer Critics Circle Award, and Wright and director George C. Wolfe won Obie Awards. *Topdog/Underdog* transferred to Broadway the next year, with rapper Mos Def as Booth.

The original 2002 Broadway production received widespread praise and two Tony Award nominations, including Best Play. Parks also became the first Black woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. 

Suzan-Lori Parks’s shows include *The America Play*, *Urban Zulu Mambo*, *Fucking A*, and the Pulitzer-nominated *Father Comes Home From the Wars, Parts 1, 2 & 3* and *In the Blood*. Her work is most often seen at The Public Theater, where she was the master writer chair.

*Topdog/Underdog* is the only one of Parks’s plays to appear on Broadway. She also wrote the book for the 2012 Broadway musical adaptation of *The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess*.

## What to Watch For

- The production marks the 20th anniversary of *Topdog/Underdog*, which had its Broadway premiere in 2002.
- *Topdog/Underdog* is a loose variation on the biblical legend of Cain and Abel, the human race's first brothers according to the Bible.
- The character of Lincoln is a variation on a character from Parks’s earlier work *The America Play*. That show features a Black gravedigger whose second job is as a Lincoln impersonator, and he charges a penny to let people reenact the president's assassination with him.
- A *Topdog/Underdog* companion album was released in 2002. In addition to original music from Mos Def and Jeffrey Wright, the album includes music by DMX, James Brown, Wu-Tang Clan, and more.
- Corey Hawkins has been on Broadway twice before, receiving a Tony nomination for *Six Degrees of Separation*. He more recently appeared in the big screen adaptations of *In the Heights* and *The Tragedy of Macbeth*. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is making his Broadway debut in *Topdog/Underdog*. He's best known for his Emmy-winning performance in HBO's *Watchmen*.
- Suzan-Lori Parks is busy this season. In addition to *Topdog/Underdog* on Broadway, her shows *Plays for a Plague Year* (a compilation of works she wrote during the pandemic) and *The Harder They Come* (a new musical) are going up off Broadway at The Public Theater.

Topdog/Underdog - NYC - TodayTix

Suzan-Lori Parks's Pulitzer-winning play&nbsp;Topdog/Underdog&nbsp;has its first Broadway revival in fall 2022, starring Corey Hawkins and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Get &nbsp;Topdog/Underdog&nbsp;tickets on New York Theatre Guide now.

## What is *Topdog/Underdog* about?

Topdog/Underdog&nbsp;is a play about two brothers, loosely based on the biblical brothers Cain and Abel. These two, Lincoln and Booth (so named by their father as a joke), had a harsh childhood and are still struggling with an equally harsh adulthood. Booth is out of work and uses his shoplifting skills to provide for himself and Grace, the woman he's trying to woo. He lives with Lincoln, who has a scamming skill of his own: he's a three-card Monte expert. However, he swore off that and now works as an Abraham Lincoln impersonator at an arcade, providing the household's only true income.Their cohabitation, after Lincoln's wife left him, was supposed to be temporary, but poverty forces the brothers to remain together. Throughout the course of the play, they clash as they discuss their own struggles with racism, romance, and work, until their relationship reaches a breaking point. As Parks herself has said of the play,&nbsp;Topdog/Underdog&nbsp;is about the effect of outside expectations of who a person can become, and "what it means to be family and, in the biggest sense, the family of man, what it means to be connected with somebody else."

## When does *Topdog/Underdog* take place?

Parks only lists the setting as "here" and the time as "now." The vague setting suggests that these brothers' struggle isn't unique to a specific place or time period, but that people still undergo their struggles today.

The premiere of&nbsp;Topdog/Underdog&nbsp;in New York took place off Broadway at <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/public-theater" target="_blank">The Public Theater</a> in 2001. Marvel Cinematic Universe star Don Cheadle and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/angels-in-america-a-gay-fantasia-on-national-themes" target="_blank">Angels in America</a>&nbsp;star Jeffrey Wright played the brothers, and George C. Wolfe directed. He also led the next two productions: at the <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theaters/ambassador-theatre" target="_blank">Ambassador Theatre</a> on Broadway in 2002 and at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 2003; both these productions featured Wright and rapper Mos Def in Cheadle's place.Topdog/Underdog&nbsp;was met with critical and awards success; it made Parks the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2002. (She was previously nominated for her play In the Blood, and had written 15 plays, won a MacArthur Genius Grant, and received a Guggenheim fellowship by the time she won for Topdog/Underdog.) The play also won&nbsp;an Outer Critics Circle Award for Playwriting and got Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations. Wright and Wolfe won Obie and&nbsp;Outer Critics Circle Awards for their work. In 2018, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/31/theater/best-25-plays.html" target="_blank">The New York Times named&nbsp;Topdog/Underdog&nbsp;the best American play</a> since Tony Kushner's 1993&nbsp;magnum opus,&nbsp;Angels in America.The two stars of&nbsp;Topdog/Underdog&nbsp;on Broadway in 2022 have lauded careers on stage and screen. Hawkins is known for his Tony-nominated stage role in&nbsp;Six Degrees of Separation,&nbsp;and for screen roles like&nbsp;Benny in In the Heights, Dr. Dre in&nbsp;Straight Outta Compton, and Heath in The Walking Dead.&nbsp;Abdul-Mateen won an Emmy Award for his role as Cal Abar on&nbsp;Watchmen, and he's also played acclaimed roles like&nbsp;Black Manta in&nbsp;Aquaman&nbsp;and Bobby Seale in&nbsp;The Trial of the Chicago 7.Get tickets to&nbsp;Topdog/Underdog&nbsp;on Broadway,&nbsp;on sale now.

Topdog/Underdog - NYC - New York Theatre Guide

Find dates and book tickets to see the show Topdog/Underdog on Broadway at Golden Theatre from New York Theatre Guide.

Topdog/Underdog on Broadway Tickets | Golden Theatre | New York Theatre Guide

See why The New York Times called Suzan-Lori Parks's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece *Topdog/Underdog* the best American play of the last 25 years. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Corey Hawkins star as feuding brothers Lincoln and Booth in this story of survival and hustle. Get tickets to see whether they can overcome the odds in this theatrical power struggle.

Ages 14+. Children under 4 are not permitted in the theatre.

Stereophonic on Broadway - NYC [29539]

Stereophonic on Broadway

Designed by Herbert J. Krapp for Irwin Chanin, the John Golden Theatre officially opened as the Theatre Masque on February 24, 1927 with the play *Puppets of Passion*. The Golden Theatre was purchased by impresario John Golden in 1937, who renamed the theatre after himself.

The building was used as a cinema in the late 1940s and 1950s before the Shubert Organization purchased and restored it to traditional theatre usage. The exterior of the Golden Theatre was used in the film adaptation of *A Chorus Line*.

## How to get to the Golden Theatre on Broadway

The Golden Theatre, on 45th Street between Eighth Avenue and Broadway, is closest to the 42nd Street - Port Authority subway stop on the A, C, or E line. The theatre is also accessible by bus, with the closest stops being 8th Ave/W 46th St. on the M20 and M104 lines; 7th Ave/W. 44th St. on the M104 line; and 8th Ave/W 43rd St. on the M20, M104, and M34A-SBS line.

Golden Theatre - NY

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Golden Theatre

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Succession's Jeremy Strong returns to Broadway for the first time since 2008 in Ibsen's drama about small-town scandal. A doctor publicizes poison in the water and is punished for daring to threaten the town's prosperity. Find out more about tickets to this thrilling revival.

An Enemy of the People on Broadway

Alicia Keys's soulful music scores this new coming-of-age musical about growing up with city-sized dreams. Inspired by Keys's own upbringing in the title NYC neighborhood, the show follows young Ali as she finds love, music, and all the possibilities — and hardships — the future holds.

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