The best Broadway shows to see for Mother's Day

Treat your mom to a show that tells a mother/daughter or mother/son story, an emotional family drama about moms, or a fun musical with songs your mom will love.

Gillian Russo
Written byGillian Russo
Hell's Kitchen
Conversations With Mother
Gypsy
MJ The Musical
Redwood
Six
& Juliet
BOOP! The Musical
Real Women Have Curves

Hell's Kitchen

Broadway
Jukebox musical
Award winner

Alicia Keys's musical Hell's Kitchen is a mother/daughter story above all else. It's about a 17-year-old named Ali and her overprotective single mother, Jersey, loosely inspired by Keys and her own mother. Throughout the show, the headstrong Ali learns to accept her mother's tough love, and Jersey learns not to hurt others in the name of protecting Ali.

New York Theatre Guide's critic wrote, "Hell's Kitchen depicts mother/daughter relationships in all its love and messiness alike. (My mother, with whom I attended the show, teared up three separate times.)"

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Hell's Kitchen

Conversations With Mother

Off-Broadway
Play
Stars on stage

Conversations With Mother ends its Off-Broadway run on Mother's Day, but it's a great option if you want to get her an early gift! The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Caroline Aaron and Company Tony Award winner Matt Doyle play a larger-than-life mother and her wayward son, whose relationship grows and changes over the course of a lifetime. It's the kind of play that will make you want to call your mom — or hug her as she sits beside you.

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Conversations With Mother

Gypsy

Broadway
Musical
Stars on stage
Classic show

Momma Rose is not just one of the most iconic mothers, but one of the most iconic characters, in Broadway theatre. Granted, she's not a perfect mom: She goes to extreme — sometimes obsessive and even cruel — lengths to make her two daughters famous. But the story of how all three women search for themselves, with and without each other, is one of the greatest mother-daughter tales of all time.

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Gypsy

MJ The Musical

Broadway
Jukebox musical
Award winner

Among the many showstopping moments in MJ The Musical, about the life and artistry of Michael Jackson, is the number "I'll Be There." In the show, Jackson's mother sings it to remind him she'll always support him, even as the pressures of stardom and growing up increase. The rest of the time, your mom can rock out to all the other Michael Jackson hits she may have listened to in her own youth.

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MJ The Musical

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09:00

Breakfast at Liberty Bagels

Regularly named one of the city’s best bagel shops, the unassuming Liberty Bagels is the perfect spot to get a classic NYC breakfast sandwich.

10:00

Macy’s Herald Square

One of the world’s largest stores, Macy’s is a sight to behold, especially when it’s decked out for the holidays.

Redwood

Broadway
Musical
Stars on stage

Redwood explores both the highs and lows of motherhood, centering on a grieving mother (Tony Award winner Idina Menzel) who seeks comfort and healing among the California redwood trees. Bring your tissues if you see this poignant, original musical with your mom — but it's sure to make you grateful to have her in your life.

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Redwood

Six

Broadway
Musical
Award winner

Six is one of Broadway's best "girl's night" shows — so why can't that mean you and your mom? Six reimagines the six wives of Henry VIII as a girl group giving a concert, where they sing about their marriages — and themes like motherhood, childhood, and sisterhood — with pop flair. It's fun, it's energetic, and it's 80 minutes long, so your mom can get home early if she wants!

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Six

& Juliet

Broadway
Jukebox musical

In this unofficial sequel to Romeo & Juliet, in which Juliet doesn't die, her nurse, Angelique, acts as a kind of mother figure. Angelique shepherds Juliet as she travels the world in search of new friends and new loves — and even stumbles into a romance of her own.

That storyline notwithstanding, & Juliet is a fun show packed with pop hits that your mom will enjoy grooving along to, like "I Want It That Way," "Oops!...I Did It Again," and "Since U Been Gone."

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& Juliet

BOOP! The Musical

Broadway
Musical
Screen to stage

Have a night of pure fun with your mom at BOOP! The Musical, centered on the iconic cartoon character Betty Boop. Maybe your mom even watched her cartoons back in the day! The fun, flirty flapper Betty takes a day off from fame to go on a new adventure in the city, and you and your mom can expect old-fashioned Broadway spectacle, catchy tunes, tap dancing, and more.

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BOOP! The Musical

Real Women Have Curves

Broadway
Musical
Screen to stage

When you and your family have different goals for your life, whose do you choose? Eighteen-year-old Ana Garcia grapples with that question in Real Women Have Curves, the musical adaptation of the acclaimed play and America Ferrera film. At the center of the story are Ana (Broadway newcomer Tatianna Córdoba) and her mom, Carmen (One Day at a Time's Justina Machado), who learn to better love each other, learn from each other, and let each other dream.

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Real Women Have Curves