Every so often, a Broadway show transforms the the theater that houses it, immersing the audience in the world of the production and bringing the story directly to their seats. From Starlight Express to this season's Oklahoma! revival, here are eight productions that went the extra mile and altered the houses in which they ran.
It was the first Broadway revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical.
The legendary musical introduced such favorites as "Broadway Baby" and "Losing My Mind" and gave Michael Bennett his first directing credit.
The starry cast also included LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Anika Noni Rose.
Two-time Olivier winner Tracie Bennett portrayed the late entertainment icon.
From Shakespeare's Devil to an upcoming Modern Major-General, Playbill lights up the marquee for Broadway's brightest born in April.
James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, John Larroquette, Candice Bergen, and Eric McCormack were in the starry cast.
The beloved memory play, and Williams' most-revived work on Broadway, turns 80.
The "dance play" became one of the most unlikely Best Musical winners in Tony Award history.
The score introduced such favorites as "Getting to Know You," "Shall We Dance," "Something Wonderful," and "Hello, Young Lovers."
The Tony-winning Neil Simon play was the second in his autobiographical Eugene Trilogy.
The play is a part of Wilson's Century Cycle, which documents each decade in 20th century through various depictions of African-American life.
The musical and subsequent film would make an international star of Barbra Streisand.
Currently enjoying an all-star revival, the David Mamet play won the Pulitzer and the Tony when it debuted.
Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning drama celebrates its 70th anniversary.
The adaptation of the Verdi opera made a star of Heather Headley, and the rare Disney stage musical to not be based on one of their films.
This true Broadway legend gave us groundbreaking musicals like Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, and West Side Story.
Ziegfeld Jr. was a powerful showman, with his eponymous Follies defining early 20th century Broadway.
David Henry Hwang's Tony-winning Best Play launched the Broadway careers of the playwright and actor BD Wong.
The Tony-winning revival, directed by Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall, forever changed the Kander and Ebb musical.
Celebrate a true living Broadway legend as he turns 98 today.
Starring Tim Curry, Hank Azaria, Sara Ramirez, and more, the Monty Python comedy enjoyed a Broadway revival in 2023.
Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards' historical musical introduced Broadway audiences to Betty Buckley and inspired Hamilton.
The Andrew Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe musical opened at the Gershwin Theatre in New York after premiering in London's West End.
Starring David Hyde Pierce, Kristine Nielsen, Sigourney Weaver, the Christopher Durang play went on to win the Best Play Tony Award.
Audiences at the Ziegfeld heard such Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe classics as "Almost Like Being in Love" and "Come to Me, Bend to Me."
March 12 also marks the 38th anniversary of the Broadway opening of Les Misérables.
Hansberry's seminal drama about the experiences of a Black family in Chicago opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
Playbill looks back at Rocky Horror's well... rocky New York history, ahead of its 2026 Broadway revival.
The landmark Leonard Bernstein-Stephen Sondheim-Arthur Laurents musical opened September 26, 1957.
In 2018, the Broadway revival of Tony Kushner's Angels in America opens.
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In 2012, the musical Once opens on Broadway.
In 2005, Monty Python's Spamalot opens on Broadway.
In 1969, the original Broadway production of 1776 opens.
In 1970, Purlie opens on Broadway starring Melba Moore and Cleavon Little.
In 1947, Brigadoon premieres on Broadway.
In 1959, Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun opens on Broadway.
In 2019, Be More Chill opens on Broadway.
In 2008, In the Heights opens on Broadway.
In 2015, Helen Mirren stars in The Audience on Broadway.
Happy birthday to Godspell, Pippin, and Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz.
Girl From the North Country becomes the final Broadway show to open before theatres are closed in 2020.
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