Justin McCallum’s top 10 for 2025:

10. “Indulgence” (Triad Theater): Comedienne and magician Lucy Darling may be TikTok famous, but her show had to be seen in-person to be believed.

9. ”Heathers” (New World Stages): More than a decade after its initial Off-Broadway run, “Heathers” felt fully realized with a new cast of Broadway ingenues.

8. “Oh, Mary!” (Broadway): The brilliantly stupid “Oh, Mary!” has proved its versatility with new casts’ takes on Cole Escola’s writing. But the version that debuted in 2025 with Jinkx Monsoon and Michael Urie rivaled the original.

7. “Saturday Church” (New York Theatre Workshop): Strong new musicals were hard to come by in 2025, which made “Saturday Church” shine even brighter. This story that intertwines religious and queer communities deserves a larger stage.

6. “Hold Me in the Water” (Playwrights Horizons): Created with radical inclusivity at its core, Ryan J. Haddad’s work is everything that theater should be: personal, heart-stirring and designed for everyone.

5. “John Proctor Is the Villain” (Broadway): Kimberly Belflower has written one of the great modern plays in “Proctor,” a work both incisive and explosive. It’s a crime it failed to win Tony’s Best Play honor.

4. “Ragtime” (Broadway): Equally epic and intimate, “Ragtime” has been THE Broadway production to see in 2025. It ought to sweep the Tonys.

3. “Nothing Can Take You From the Hand of God” (Playwrights Horizons): Jen Tullock’s solo performance piece is extraordinarily impressive. But as you sit with it, the engrossing storytelling transcends to almost religious epiphany.

2. “We Had a World” (New York City Center Stage II): Joshua Harmon’s unflinchingly raw, mostly autobiographical play made me feel almost uncomfortably seen. But you needn’t be a queer, Jewish 30-something to find yourself caught up in this story.

1. “A Knock on the Roof” (New York Theatre Workshop): Khawla Ibraheem’s tragically timely dramatization of everyday life for Palestinians left you breathless. Chronicling a mother’s preparation for her family to be inevitably bombed, the play is never preachy, with earnest emotions and surprising levity amidst the harrowing storytelling.

(Published: Dec. 30, 2025)