18 Revivals That Returned to the Show’s 1st Broadway Theatre | Playbill

Special Features 18 Revivals That Returned to the Show’s 1st Broadway Theatre

From Chess to Mamma Mia, here are revivals that returned to where they first premiered.

Mamma Mia, Chess, and Chicago

For some revivals, there’s truly no place like home. Here’s a look at 18 Broadway shows with revivals that played the same theatre as the original production—including three that are on the boards right now (and one upcoming)!

Harvey Fierstein in the original Broadway production of Torch Song Trilogy and Ward Horton and Michael Urie in the 2018 Broadway revival


1. Torch Song Trilogy

The Helen Hayes Theatre in 1982 and 2018
Writer and performer Harvey Fierstein became a major force in Broadway and Hollywood with his play Torch Song Trilogy, about a gay drag queen in New York navigating the murky waters of love, parenthood, and family. Fierstein himself starred in the play’s Broadway premiere at the Little Theatre, winning Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Play as well as Best Play. The play, now titled Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song, came back to Broadway for its first revival in 2018, again at the Little Theatre—now named the Helen Hayes.


2. Joe Turner's Come and Gone

The Ethel Barrymore Theatre in 1988 and 2026
Joe Turner's Come and Gone, the 1910s entry in August Wilson's Century Cycle, has come and gone from Broadway twice so far, with another return planned for spring 2026. And that new revival—set to be directed by Debbie Allen and starring Taraji P. Henson and Cedric "The Entertainer"—will come back to the Barrymore Theatre on Broadway, where the play made its Broadway premiere in 1988.


3. Miss Saigon

The Broadway Theatre in 1991 and 2017
Loosely based on Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, this musical from Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil premiered on Broadway at the Broadway Theatre in 1991. It enjoyed an astonishing 4,092-performance (10-year) run. The show returned to the Broadway Theatre in 2017 in a new production that ran for 340 performances.


4. Mamma Mia!

The Winter Garden Theatre in 2001 and 2025
Here we go again! This ABBA jukebox musical—arguably the beginning of the modern age of Broadway's jukebox musical obsession—has always capitalized on nostalgia, so how fitting that its Broadway return lets us be nostalgic not only for the music of ABBA, but Mamma Mia! itself! Eager to not let our beloved memories of the show slip through our fingers, audiences are once again dancing in the aisles to "Dancing Queen," "Super Trouper," "Voulez Vous," and more at the Winter Garden Theatre, where the West End transfer played the first 12 years of its run 2001-2013 (the show moved to the Broadhurst for the final two years of its run). The encore bow has become a reliable top grosser, too, making for an especially happy homecoming.

Judy Kuhn and David Carroll in the original Broadway production of Chess and Lea Michele in the 2025 Broadway revival


5.Chess

The Imperial Theatre in 1988 and 2025
The writers of this musical (which include Tim Rice, Richard Nelson, and, ironically, Mamma Mia! songwriters Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus) might just be happy to be back the Imperial for the show's first-ever Broadway revival, because they've got scores to settle. The original production infamously ran for just 16 performances in 1988. In the years since, a dedicated cult fanbase has developed around the musical, thanks to cast albums and some starry concert stagings. The current revival—starring Aaron Tveit, Nicholas Christopher, and Lea Michele—only just recently began previews on Broadway. But based on how tickets have been selling in those first weeks, it's probably safe to assume this revival will stick around a lot longer than the original production. We love a comeback kid!


6.The Gin Game

The John Golden Theatre in 1977 and 2015
D.L. Coburn’s Pulitzer Prize-winning two-hander about an elderly man and woman playing gin in their retirement home while coming to grips with their old age first came to Broadway in 1977, in a production that starred Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy and played the John Golden Theatre. The work’s second Broadway revival, starring James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson, returned to the Golden for a three-month run in 2015.


7. The Elephant Man

The Booth Theatre in 1979 and 2014
Bernard Pomerance’s drama about the life of John Merrick, a man severely disfigured by a rare disease, made its Broadway premiere in 1979 at the Booth, winning the Tony Award that year for Best Play and enjoying a run of 916 performances. The play’s second and most-recent revival, starring Bradley Cooper and Patricia Clarkson, returned to the Booth for a limited run of 83 performances beginning in 2014.


8. Golden Boy

The Belasco Theatre in 1937 and 2012
Clifford Odets’ Golden Boy tells the story of a young gifted violinist who has to decide whether to pursue a career in music or the potentially more lucrative world of prize fighting. The original production opened at Broadway’s Belasco in 1937, running for 250 performances. The work’s second Broadway revival returned to the Belasco 75 years later in 2012, in a production that starred Danny Burstein and Tony Shalhoub.


9. American Buffalo

The Belasco Theatre in 1977 and 2008
This David Mamet-penned play about a junk shop owner and his cronies attempting to steal a valuable coin collection premiered on Broadway in 1977 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, before moving to the Belasco Theatre in a production that starred Robert Duvall. The work’s second Broadway revival in 2008 returned to the Belasco with an all-star cast that included Cedric the Entertainer, John Leguizamo, and Haley Joel Osment.


10. Awake and Sing!

The Belasco Theatre in 1935 and 2006
Clifford Odets’ play about a Jewish family living in the Depression-era Bronx premiered on Broadway in 1935 in a production that starred real-life siblings Stella and Luther Adler. The play returned to Broadway for its fourth revival in 2006, again at the Belasco Theatre, in a production that starred Ben Gazzara, Mark Ruffalo, Lauren Ambrose, and Zoë Wanamaker.


11. I'm Not Rappaport

The Booth Theatre in 1985 and 2002
Herb Gardner’s I’m Not Rappaport centers on two octogenarian retirees who regularly share a Central Park bench. The original production, which ran for 891 performances at the Booth, won Judd Hirsch his first Tony Award, for Best Actor in a Play. The show came back to Broadway in 2002 again at the Booth with much of original production’s creative team, and Hirsch recreating his Tony-winning performance.

Dorothy Loudon and Amy Wright in the original Broadway production of Noises Off and Jane Curtin in the 2001 Broadway revival


12. Noises Off

The Brooks Atkinson Theatre in 1983 and 2001
Before The Play That Goes Wrong, there was Noises Off, Michael Frayn’s three-act farce about a second-rate British touring company and everything that goes wrong with their production. The show made its Broadway premiere in 1983 in a production starring Victor Garber and Dorothy Loudon; it ran 553 performances. Noises Off returned to Broadway in 2001 again at the Brooks Atkinson in an all-star revival featuring Patti LuPone, Peter Gallagher, Faith Prince, Edward Hibbert, and Katie Finneran. Finneran won a Tony for her performance as Brooke Ashton.


13. A Streetcar Named Desire

Ethel Barrymore Theatre in 1947 and 1992
The original production of Tennessee Williams’ legendary play about an unstable Southern belle made stars of nearly its entire original cast, including Jessica Tandy, Marlon Brando, and Kim Hunter. Nearly 50 years later, the play returned to Broadway for its sixth revival, in a production starring Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange. This production also returned to the play’s first Broadway home, the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Though it has been revived two more times, neither of those productions were housed at the Barrymore.


14. Chicago

The Richard Rodgers Theatre in 1975 and 1996
Broadway theatregoers going to the current long-running revival of Chicago today have to head to the Ambassador theatre. But that’s actually this production’s third venue; this long-running revival first opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, then played the Shubert from February 1997 to January 2003, and then moved to the Ambassador. Until 1990, the Richard Rodgers was known as the 46th Street Theatre, where the original production of Kander and Ebb’s Chicago premiered in 1975.


15. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

The Richard Rodgers Theatre in 1961 and 1995
Frank Loesser, Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert’s hilarious and Pulitzer-winning satire of the corporate business world premiered on Broadway in 1961 at the 46th Street Theatre, now known as the Richard Rodgers. The show received its first Broadway revival in 1995, in a production starring Matthew Broderick, Megan Mullally, and Victoria Clark that also played the Richard Rodgers Theatre.


16. The Trip to Bountiful

The Stephen Sondheim Theatre in 1953 and 2013
Horton Foote’s play about a widow who leaves her family to return to the small Texas town where she grew up originally starred Lillian Gish and premiered on Broadway at Henry Miller’s Theatre in 1953. Beginning in the 1970s, the theatre became a movie house and then a disco and was later re-claimed as a Broadway house, but with a completely re-built interior, and opened in 2009. The venue was re-christened the Stephen Sondheim Theatre in 2010 and became home to The Trip to Bountiful’s first Broadway revival in 2013, a production that starred Vanessa Williams, Cicely Tyson, Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Condola Rashad.


17. The Caine Mutiny Court-Marshall

The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in 1954 and 2006
Playwright and author Herman Wouk adapted his novel The Caine Mutiny, about a Marine officer put on trial for seizing command of his ship during a typhoon, as The Caine Mutiny Court-Marshall. The play premiered on Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre in 1954. The work’s second Broadway revival brought it back to its original Broadway home—now re-named for Shubert Organization chairman Gerald Schoenfeld—in 2006, a production that starred David Schwimmer and Željko Ivanek.


18. Show Boat

The Ziegfeld Theatre in 1927 and 1946
Known for his elaborate Follies, producer and impresario Florenz Ziegfeld knew that Show Boat could be his crowning artistic achievement when Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern played the score for him. Ziegfeld premiered the work at his then-newly built and self-named Broadway theatre in 1927, and when Hammerstein and Kern produced a revival in 1946, they brought it back to the show’s first Broadway home. The theatre has since been razed for a skyscraper.

 
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