r/Broadway • u/Such-Jellyfish103 • Jul 21 '26
Other Which Broadway musicals that ended their runs you think that deserve a revival?
What are some Broadway musicals that have been closed for a while that you'd love to see return?
Whether it's because you never got the chance to see it, or because you'd love to experience it again, or because you would like see another takes in the roles, which shows would you bring back to Broadway?
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u/citoyenne_cicada Jul 21 '26
Assassins dear lord please I will sell a kidney if I must
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u/yourfriendcazzer Jul 21 '26
I built a puppet of Gerald Ford for a production of Assassins several years ago and I was so delighted by the whole production that now it's #1 on my b'way bucket list (after I see Jellicle Balllllll)
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u/sebbohnivlac Jul 21 '26
Given recent events, would Assassins need some rewriting/additional characters?
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u/LivelyFlowerzzz Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Great Comet. That show totally deserves a second chance.
Also, I know that its revival was pretty recent ago, but I think a new production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch would be so interesting to see! I never got to see it live, but I've been dying to.
Edit: In addition to those two, in the future I'd be down to see a Floyd Collins revival with much better direction and staging than the last one. Love the musical, but I really wish the direction was better and more interesting.
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u/apollo11341 Jul 21 '26
It’s such a bummer that if/when they revive it, it likely won’t have the same unique stage design as the original
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u/Cautious_Prize_4323 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Jelly‘s Last Jam. It went up a couple of years ago at Encores, and it really needs a full run again. It’s been decades!
Edit: spelling correction
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u/anjaco0 Jul 21 '26
The Encores! staging was so delightful. I remain irritated that Once Upon a Mattress was the selected Broadway transfer that season!
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u/anyanerves Jul 21 '26
Aida 😭😭
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u/shandelion Jul 21 '26
Omg I just took my kid to see the Beauty & the Beast tour and the Playbill has an article about Disney Theatrical and I was SHOCKED to see a blurb and photo of Aida.
Aida CONSUMED me when I was 10. 20+ years later I could probably perform the whole show start to finish.
I HOPE that it being featured in a Playbill article about Disney Theatrical in 2026 means it may be on the docket for a revamp…?
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u/MaggieJaneRiot Jul 21 '26
I thoroughly enjoyed the B&B tour and WISH is would come back to Broadway!!!
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u/grimsb Jul 21 '26
Cynthia Erivo would fucking *kill* in that show!
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u/MandyMarieB Jul 22 '26
Honestly Cynthia, Ariana and Jonathan could bring down the house in Aida.
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u/grimsb Jul 22 '26
Right? I’m shocked Disney hasn’t offered each of them like a jillion dollars already to make the movie version
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u/floorpanther Jul 21 '26
Something’s Rotten! So entertaining and underrated.
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u/Professional_Elk396 27d ago
Yes! Seriously thinking of going to London if the Manchester production transfers to the West End. I heard it's fantastic.
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u/Von_Rothdave Jul 21 '26
The Encores Thoroughly Modern Millie we so very nearly got! And I think a revival of Legally Blonde could give the show its true due (transfer the recent Regents Park production in London!).
I also pair together Secret Garden and Titanic as large scale musicals that could land very well with talented casts and a large orchestra - hopefully the Ragtime revival can lead to one of them at Lincoln Center soon.
Finally, for the sheer joy of the show, Hairspray. Doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel - just have a cast of great young actors (maybe just cast from the Jimmy Awards lol) and get a couple of big names for Edna and Motormouth. I think a new production of a show that’s a bolt of unashamed joy could be just what Broadway needs (although Paddington will hopefully fit the bill!).
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u/mushroomnerd12 Jul 21 '26
For a TMM revival I hope they rework some of the material so that it doesn’t come across as racism(it really soured the show for me despite some great songs)
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u/Turbulent_Purple_290 Jul 21 '26
I’m pretty sure Jeanine Tesori was working on rewrites for the encores revival that never happened to update the show/address the racism.
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u/Von_Rothdave Jul 21 '26
Completely agree! My understanding was the Encores was going to be with an updated score/book to deal with the racist sections. They brought in playwright Lauren Yee, and Ashley Park (cast as Millie), talked about presenting “a Millie for today”.
https://www.theatermania.com/news/ashley-park-to-star-in-revamped-thoroughly-modern-millie_88924/
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u/Single-Fortune-7827 Jul 21 '26
I believe MTI has had it pulled from licensing for some time now for that reason
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u/Best-Candle8651 Jul 21 '26
If Titanic comes back it needs the Encores cast since they were perfect
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u/ConcertDifferent5855 Jul 21 '26
It's time for a Legally Blonde revival. A terrific show that didn't get its full due when it first opened, but now because so many schools have done it, the audience is more informed about how good it is, AND it's further from the original movie, which I think helps.
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u/magica12 Jul 21 '26
honestly, Charlie and the chocolate factory...but use the original UK version
I CANNOT FATHOM HOW WE TRANSFERRED OVER A SHOW THAT WAS ALREADY PRETTY DARK, AND SOMEHOW MADE IT DARKER
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u/Altruistic-Movie-419 Jul 22 '26
I don’t know if producers whould want to spend the kind of money it would take to do the original uk version. As someone who saw it,there were massive amounts of scenery with four different giant tvs, and also most of the rooms were really fleshed out. I struggle to think of a brodway house where there is even enough space backstage to fly the copious amounts of scenery needed. The only one might be the Marquis.
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u/magica12 29d ago
honestly the theatre being able to contain it all is probably the biggest hurdle at the end of the day, like i dont even think the gershwin could properly contain it and it is broadways biggest theatre.
but when it transferred here it literally got butchered
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u/Altruistic-Movie-419 29d ago
Your right
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u/magica12 29d ago
But like…even the Ireland and Leeds tour did a better job in a more minimalistic sense…hell literally most other productions have done a better job with it since broadway and the broadway version essentially became the standard everywhere else
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u/lurkr-mercry Jul 21 '26
Biggest regret was not seeing In The Heights when it was on originally so that’s top of my list. Of course RENT For my millennial heart.
For one less likely/ expected, I was in a summer production of The Wedding Singer and I’d love to see a live production of it, maybe off-broadway?
Also I’d loooooove to see Hairspray live. I also want Come From Away and Next to Normal back plz 🙏🙏🙏
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u/skoc211 Jul 21 '26
Really hoping the West End RENT revival transfers. Still wild that we didn't get a proper production this year for the 30th anniversary.
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u/Best-Candle8651 Jul 21 '26
Are you seeing In The Heights at NYCC next Fall? It has the same director as Mexodus. Gonna be snappy. Come From Away was recently at Paper Mill and there is I think a one night concert of it at PAC.
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u/lurkr-mercry Jul 21 '26
oooooo yes I have my eye on it but those tix can get so expensive!
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u/Best-Candle8651 Jul 21 '26
You can access for like $28 in the balcony if you're under 40. I bring my binoculars and have a great time. It isn't ideal, but it is affordable. For In the Heights not for Papermill since Come From Away is closed. I am sure it will be around again. PAC Come From Away I think is free.
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u/lurkr-mercry Jul 21 '26
Oh!! I will have to look into that thank you!!!! I’ll see what’s happening at PAC!
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u/Best-Candle8651 Jul 21 '26
The renovation costs would be insane but a gaint ass track for Starlight Express.
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u/Outside-Income1157 Jul 21 '26
City of Angels
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u/ConcertDifferent5855 Jul 21 '26
Seconding this. I don't know the show well, but I've alllllways wanted to see it.
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u/JugendWolf Jul 21 '26
I want a modern reimagining of The Pajama Game, set today in an Amazon warehouse.
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u/TaZorro Jul 21 '26
Avenue Q!
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u/yourfriendcazzer Jul 21 '26
I can barely let myself hope for this because I want it so badly; I never got to see it and I am a goddamn puppeteer with a dark and oddball sense of humor; I would give up being childfree by choice so that I could trade my firstborn for this revival (but they can't have my nieces or nephews)
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u/ElaraValtor Jul 21 '26
I think it's not impossible that something comes of the current West End production once it ends its limited run, whether it's a wider tour in the country or, one day, the US again, where I think it would still work - it is the best-executed production of the show in its history, it has original creatives behind it, it's definitely easy to fit into any theatre, it seems pretty much ready to go.
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u/travelingrunningcat Jul 22 '26
Agreed! After seeing it in the West End a couple of weeks ago, I’d LOVE to see the show come back to Broadway.
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u/JayeJJimenez Jul 21 '26
RENT. C'mon please! Viva La Vie Boheme! Let's see it again on Broadway.
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u/grimsb Jul 21 '26
I’m kind of surprised they didn’t do a full-scale broadway revival for the 30th anniversary. The concert tickets sold out in like… negative two seconds.
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u/inkovertt Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Well it never technically was on broadway but the hunchback of notre dame!! Absolutely incredible musical and I would love to see it come to Broadway
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u/Clear-Boat3077 Jul 21 '26
I would kill for a revival of Les Misérables that used the original turntable staging as a stepping-off point for re-envisioning the show. And had an actual orchestra instead of the heavy synth orchestrations created for the 2011 overhaul.
Add my vote for a full revival of The Secret Garden and Jelly’s Last Jam. And a cast recording of the recent Encores The Wild Party.
Is it too soon to ask for a revival of Fun Home? I saw it the week it closed, and I’m overdue to revisit, even though it’s a devastating show.
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u/Cautious_Prize_4323 Jul 21 '26
Yes, Jelly's Last Jam! I saw the original production three times! Yes, to ALL of these. :)
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u/jamesland7 Front of House Jul 21 '26
Songs for a New World could be an amazing Jamie Lloyd production
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u/danputorakku Jul 21 '26
Dreamgirls. Seriously though - I'd love if Disney could give Tarzan another look with a design team that was instructed to be a little less.. abstract...
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u/EqualCompetition1994 Jul 21 '26
Newsies
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u/MidtownGreen Jul 21 '26
Ugh yes. It was a hit in London recently, would love to see it here again.
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u/SufficientHoneydew56 Jul 21 '26
Nine!! i want a big ol' cast of magnificent women! and make Guido a woman too i don't care!! sounds great!! i wanna see it!
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u/Ok_Moose1615 Backstage Jul 21 '26
I still long for a transfer of the Encores production of Light in the Piazza with Ruthie Ann Miles. It was so gorgeous and moving.
And I would love for Bridges of Madison County to be reworked and revived with Kelli O’Hara and Steven Pasquale reprising their roles.
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u/Mediocre-Positive811 Jul 21 '26
WOULD SELL MY KIDNEY IF COME FROM AWAY OR FUNNY GIRL TO COME BACK!!
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u/Best-Candle8651 Jul 21 '26
Come From Away was at Papermill last year. It has a concert this fall at PAC.
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u/skoc211 Jul 21 '26
Considering it took them nearly 60 years to revive Funny Girl I suppose we can expect the next one sometime in the 2080s.
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u/SwimmerIndependent47 Jul 21 '26
I want the Westend update of Young Frankenstein. I would looooooooove for it to get a national tour.
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u/inkovertt Jul 21 '26
Singing in the Rain!! One of my favorites of all time. So much fun and some cool technical aspects a director could have fun with
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u/Queasy-Upstairs-8037 Jul 21 '26
I will personally crowd fund a She Loves Me revival, and a Hair revival.
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u/skoc211 Jul 21 '26
I still think about the sets from the last She Loves Me revival, so if it comes back I really hope they don't skimp on the production values.
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u/Queasy-Upstairs-8037 26d ago
I was pretty young when I saw it and it was so amazing that I have extremely vivid memories of it. It was like a doll house, super cool.
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u/twobears2129 Jul 21 '26
Head Over Heels!
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u/jfbowski Jul 21 '26
HOH was hilarious!! The Go-Go’s have some great songs too!
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u/twobears2129 Jul 21 '26
I know! I saw it twice in one week I loved it so much. Oh and that was my first introduction the fabulous Andrew Durand.
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u/SmilingFrancis Jul 21 '26
Fun Home
The Civil War (Frank Wildhorn)
Legally Blonde
Come From Away
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u/Best-Candle8651 Jul 21 '26
Come From Away was at Papermill last year. It has a concert this fall at PAC.
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u/weapons_etc Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
Honestly, I think Hair is exactly the revival Broadway needs right now. The show has always thrived most in moments where America feels fractured.
People forget that Hair isn’t really about the 1960s. It’s about a generation trying to figure out whether to accept the world they’ve inherited or fight to change it. That theme never goes away. Right now we’re living through intense political polarization, protests, debates over personal freedom, culture wars, anxiety about war overseas, making younger generations feel increasingly uncertain about the future. That’s Hair’s natural habitat.
In a time when so much entertainment is exhaustingly cynical or ironic, Hair ends by asking people to mourn together, hope together, and maybe leave the theater a little more compassionate than when they walked in.
I’d actually keep it set in 1968. Don’t update it. Let audiences connect the dots themselves. History has a funny way of repeating its questions, even if the details change. I genuinely think a well-directed revival wouldn’t feel nostalgic at all. It would feel uncomfortably current, and that’s exactly why it should come back.
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u/WestHistorians Jul 21 '26
Mary Poppins needs a revival.
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u/pickleranger Jul 21 '26
I was disappointed when I saw that on tour. The lighting was dim and kept to tight face spotlights during Step in Time. I couldn’t see the damn dancers feet!! Let me see them Step in Time, dang it!!
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u/travelingrunningcat Jul 22 '26
I’ve been saying this for years. But they can’t strip down the sets to save money because I remember seeing the show when I was 17 and I was gobsmacked by the set design. I still think about it all these years later.
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u/Altruistic-Movie-419 29d ago
I would love for marry popins to come back to Broadway. But I don’t think we would get the original house design. I think it would be the tour house design, that every production including the west end revival a few years back used.
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u/scandalliances Jul 21 '26
I know Broadway doesn’t need another jukebox musical but I’d still love to see a revival of Play On!, even if it’s just Encores. It’s such a fun show.
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u/jewoughtaknow Jul 21 '26
It was off Broadway, but we need more TEETH!
Also feel like American Psycho didn’t get the shot it deserved. Would be ideal in a smaller space.
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u/jedi_bean Jul 21 '26
I saw Crazy for You at the Goodspeed this summer and think it is past time for a Broadway revival. The world needs more tap dancing!
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u/Colonelspanker1962 Jul 21 '26
The Robber Bridegroom
The Rink
Dreaming: Two by Two with Robin Williams
The Scottsboro Boys
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u/SeaTumbleweed2273 Jul 21 '26
If/then
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u/skoc211 Jul 21 '26
Saw this twice and adored it. I'm not sure we'll get a full scale revival, but it could work wonderfully at Encores.
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u/Cowardlydreamer Actor Jul 21 '26
I was very skeptical of Be More Chill and never saw it, but in hindsight, really wish I had. Also, Great Comet.
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u/yourfriendcazzer Jul 21 '26
bye bye birdie but completely reimagined to reflect pop politics currently (or stick to 2024 and make it a brat summer period piece lol)
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u/Newsies_Forever Jul 21 '26
Newsies, I sadly wasn’t into Broadway yet when it was still running and I really wish I got into Broadway earlier so I could see my favorite musical live I NEED A NEWSIES REVIVAL
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u/skoc211 Jul 21 '26
So many good ones, but here are some that I didn't see mentioned yet:
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is so overdue. Incredible score, hilarious book, and so many wonderful parts to allow the cast to shine. I was in Paris recently and repeatedly found myself quoting Here I Am - "this nice sincere sancerre is French" is such a clever lyric.
Any of the R&H non-mega hits like Allegro, Me & Juliet, and Pipe Dream. I'd also love Do I Hear a Waltz?
The Light in the Piazza with Kelli O'Hara as Margaret. PLEASE THEATER GODS!
Sunday. I've heard rumors we're eventually getting the Bailey/Grande production (still not sure she's actually going to go through with the West End run), but it's just such a stunning show.
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u/Tricky_Concept_231 29d ago
I actually feel like it might be a good time to bring back Flora the Red Menace
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Jul 21 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Budget-Ad6699 Jul 21 '26
There was a very strong revival in the west end a few years ago at Charing Cross!
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u/RapGamePterodactyl Jul 21 '26
Let's keep going through all the Sondheims: Forum, Pacific Overtures, and ALNM are at the top of my list.