If you’re asking what the best show in New York is right now, you’re not just looking for a recommendation-you’re looking for an experience that sticks with you long after the curtain falls. The city’s theatre scene is alive, loud, and constantly shifting. There’s no single answer that fits everyone, but one show is pulling ahead in tickets sold, buzz, and emotional impact: Hadestown.

Why Hadestown is the standout right now

Hadestown isn’t just another musical. It’s a haunting blend of folk, jazz, and blues that retells the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice as a story about love, labor, and survival in a crumbling world. The set looks like a post-industrial hellscape lit by flickering lanterns. The actors don’t just sing-they growl, whisper, and scream their way through songs that feel like prayers. Anaïs Mitchell’s score doesn’t just accompany the story-it drives it, like a train rolling through a tunnel you can’t see the end of.

Since its Broadway debut in 2019, Hadestown has won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical. But it’s not just awards that keep people coming back. It’s the fact that audiences leave crying-not because of sadness, but because they felt something real. A woman in the row behind me last month turned to her friend after the final note and said, ‘I didn’t know I needed this.’ That’s the kind of reaction you don’t get from a flashy spectacle. You get it when a show makes you feel seen.

Other top contenders in New York theatre

Hadestown leads, but it’s not alone. The Broadway landscape is crowded with strong options, each pulling a different crowd.

• The Book of Mormon is still packing houses with its irreverent humor and killer songs. If you want to laugh until your ribs hurt, this is your show. It’s been running since 2011 and shows no signs of slowing down.
• Kimberly Akimbo won the Tony for Best Musical in 2023. It’s about a 16-year-old girl with a rare aging condition who falls in love and tries to outrun time. It’s tender, funny, and quietly devastating. The lead actress, Victoria Clark, gives a performance so layered it feels like watching someone breathe.
• MJ the Musical brings Michael Jackson’s life and music to the stage with jaw-dropping choreography. If you grew up listening to Thriller, this is a nostalgic trip with modern production values. The dancer who plays MJ doesn’t just imitate-he channels the spirit.
• Leopoldstadt is a quieter, heavier play. It follows a Jewish family in Vienna across five decades, from the early 1900s to the Holocaust. It’s not a musical. There’s no dancing. But it’s one of the most emotionally powerful plays to hit Broadway in years. You’ll leave silent, needing time to process.

Each of these shows has its own audience. The Book of Mormon draws the party crowd. Kimberly Akimbo pulls in theatre lovers who crave depth. MJ brings in fans of pop culture. Leopoldstadt attracts those seeking historical weight. Hadestown? It pulls them all in.

What makes a show ‘the best’ in New York?

There’s no official metric. Box office numbers? They matter, but not everything. Critics? They’re loud, but often out of touch with what regular audiences feel. The real answer is simpler: the best show is the one that makes you feel something you didn’t expect.

Some people think ‘best’ means biggest budget. But some of the most moving shows in New York have minimal sets and small casts. Leopoldstadt, for example, uses just a few chairs and a single changing light to tell a story that spans generations. The power comes from the writing, the acting, the silence between words.

Others think ‘best’ means the most popular. But popularity doesn’t always mean quality. A show can sell out for months and still feel hollow. Hadestown works because it’s not trying to impress you with pyrotechnics. It’s trying to connect with you. That’s why it’s still selling tickets two years after it won every award.

How to get tickets without paying crazy prices

Let’s be real-Broadway tickets aren’t cheap. A seat in the orchestra for Hadestown can run over $300. But you don’t need to pay that much to have a great experience.

• Check the TKTS booth in Times Square. They sell same-day tickets at 20-50% off. Go early-lines form by 10 a.m.
• Use the Lottery apps. Hadestown, Kimberly Akimbo, and Leopoldstadt all offer digital lotteries. You can enter for $10 tickets. You won’t win every time, but if you’re flexible, you’ll get lucky.
• Look for Rush tickets. Some shows release a few seats at the box office two hours before curtain. No app needed. Just show up.
• Buy seats in the upper balcony. The view is still great, and you’ll save $100+.

Don’t let price stop you. The right show is worth the effort.

What to expect when you go

Going to a Broadway show isn’t like watching a movie. It’s an event. The lights dim. The silence builds. The first note hits-and suddenly, you’re not in New York anymore. You’re in a world where a man sings to his dead lover, and the earth trembles.

Arrive early. The theatres are beautiful old buildings with marble staircases and gilded ceilings. Take a moment to look around. Drink in the history. Most of these theatres have been running for over 100 years. You’re sitting in the same seats as people who saw Ethel Merman, Marlon Brando, and Julie Harris.

Turn off your phone. Seriously. The last thing you want is to miss the moment when the whole audience gasps together because something unexpected just happened on stage. That collective breath? That’s theatre magic.

What’s next after this season?

Theatre doesn’t stand still. By summer, new shows will debut. A revival of Company is scheduled for June with a gender-swapped cast. A musical adaptation of Little Women is set to open in the fall. And there’s buzz about a new play by Jackie Sibblies Drury, who wrote the Pulitzer-winning Fairview.

But right now, in early 2026, Hadestown is still the one people are talking about. Not because it’s the loudest or the flashiest. But because it’s the most human. It asks you to believe in love, even when the world is falling apart. And in a time when so much feels uncertain, that’s exactly what people need.