2022 Broadway spring season preview of musicals: Past classics revived and potential new classics arrive

COVID has caused a lot of uncertainty around Broadway. Several shows have had to suspend performances, go on hiatus, or close permanently. And the American Theatre Wing hasn’t announced key dates for this year’s Tony Awards yet. Though with that being said, we are now about halfway through the Broadway season, and there are six productions of musicals (four new, two revivals) set to open this spring. Could we see any of them contend at the next Tonys? Below is a look at the plot of each musical as well as the awards history of their authors, casts, and directors, plus the opening and (where applicable) closing dates.

“MJ the Musical” (previews began December 6, 2021; opened February 1)

This jukebox musical follows the life and career of singer Michael Jackson. Centered around the making of his 1992 Dangerous World Tour, the show offers a rare look at the creative mind and collaborative spirit that catapulted Jackson into legendary status.

With a book by Tony nominee Lynn Nottage (“Sweat”), the production stars newcomer Myles Frost, Quentin Earl Darrington (“Once on This Island,” 2018), Whitney Bashor (“The Bridges of Madison County,” 2014), Gabriel Ruiz, Antoine L. Smith, and Joey Sorge. It’s directed by Tony-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon (“An American in Paris,” 2015).

“The Music Man” (previews began December 20, 2021; opens February 10)

In the third Broadway revival of Meredith Wilson’s 1957 classic, fast-talking traveling salesman Harold Hill arrives in River City, Iowa, to con the townspeople into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys’ band that he vows to organize, despite the fact that he doesn’t know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans are foiled when he falls in love with Marian Paroo, the librarian, who transforms him into a respectable citizen.

The original production starring Robert Preston won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The show received a film adaptation released in 1962 that starred Preston and received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. This production stars Tony winner Hugh Jackman (“The Boy From Oz,” 2004), two-time Tony winner Sutton Foster (“Thoroughly Modern Millie,” 2002; “Anything Goes,” 2011), Tony winner Shuler Hensley (“Oklahoma!,” 2002), Tony winner Jefferson Mays (“I Am My Own Wife,” 2004), Tony winner Jayne Houdyshell (“The Humans,” 2016), and Tony winner Marie Mullen (“The Beauty Queen of Leenane,” 1998). It’s directed by four-time Tony winner Jerry Zaks.

“Paradise Square” (previews begin March 15; opens April 3)

This original musical — with a book by Christina Anderson, Obie Award winner Marcus Gardley (“The House That Will Not Stand,” 2019), three-time Tony nominee Craig Lucas (“Prelude to a Kiss,” 1990; “The Light in the Piazza,” 2005; “An American in Paris”), and Larry Kirwan — is set in New York in the year 1863 when free Black and Irish immigrants live and love together in the dangerous streets and tenements of Manhattan’s Five Points.

With a score by Jason Howland (“Little Women,” 2005), Nathan Tysen (“Tuck Everlasting,” 2016), and Masi Asare, the production stars Tony nominee Joaquina Kalukango (“Slave Play,” 2020), Chilina Kennedy (“Jesus Christ Superstar,” 2012), Tony nominee John Dossett (“Gypsy,” 2003), Sidney DuPont, Drama Desk nominee A.J. Shively (“Bright Star,” 2016), Matt Bogart (“The Civil War,” 1999), Nathaniel Stampley, Gabrielle McClinton, Kevin Dennis, and Jacob Fishel. It’s helmed by two-time Tony nominated director (for “I Am My Own Wife”) and playwright (for “33 Variations,” 2009) Moisés Kaufman.

“Funny Girl” (previews begin March 26; opens April 24)

This first Broadway revival of Isobel Lennart, Jule Styne, and Bob Merrill’s 1964 classic follows real-life actress, singer, and comedian Fanny Brice from her humble beginnings as a struggling stage performer who dreams of making it big with the famed Ziegfeld Follies. She defies the odds and becomes one of the greatest stars of her generation.

The original production starring Barbra Streisand earned eight Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical, but ended up losing to “Hello, Dolly!” The show received a film adaptation released in 1968 that starred Streisand and received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. With a revised book by four-time Tony winner Harvey Fierstein, this production stars SAG Award nominee Beanie Feldstein (“Lady Bird,” 2017), Tony nominee Ramin Karimloo (“Les Misérables,” 2014), five-time Emmy winner Jane Lynch, and Jared Grimes (“A Soldier’s Play,” 2020). It’s directed by Tony winner Michael Mayer (“Spring Awakening,” 2007).

“A Strange Loop” (previews begin April 6; opens April 26)

This original musical written by Michael R. Jackson explores the thoughts of Usher, a Black, queer writer writing a musical about a Black, queer writer writing a musical.

This show originally premiered Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons back in the summer of 2019, where became the most recent musical win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This production stars Jaquel Spivey, Antwayn Hopper, L Morgan Lee, John-Michael Lyles, James Jackson Jr., John-Andrew Morrison, and Jason Veasey. It’s directed by Stephen Brackett, who won a Drama Desk Award for helming the Off-Broadway production.

“Mr. Saturday Night” (previews begin March 29; opens April 27)

In this stage musical adaptation of Billy Crystal’s 1992 Academy Award-nominated film of the same name, Buddy Young Jr. is an outrageous and outspoken comedian who found fame, if not fortune, in the early days of television. Now, decades after his TV career flamed out, Buddy seeks one more shot at the spotlight, and one last shot at fixing the family he fractured along the way.

The musical features a book by the film’s original screenwriters Billy Crystal, Lowell Ganz, and Babaloo Mandel, and a score by two-time Tony-winning songwriter Jason Robert Brown (“Parade,” 1999; “The Bridges of Madison Country,” 2014) and Tony nominee Amanda Green (“Hands on a Hardbody,” 2013). The cast includes Billy Crystal and Oscar nominee David Paymer reprising their roles from the original film alongside Tony winner Randy Graff (“City of Angels,” 1990), Shoshana Bean, and Chasten Harmon. The production is directed by Tony winner John Rando (“Urinetown,” 2002).

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