Debate over the sustainability of the Broadway musical’s economic model intensified in 2025, but there was plenty of ambitious, charming, hilarious theater to be found.

Honorable mentions: “Beau: The Musical,” “Bat Boy,” “Love Life,” “English,” “The Harvest,” “I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan”

10. “Operation Mincemeat” (Broadway): One of the smartest stagings and librettos of the year. Jak Malone’s “Dear Bill” transcends.

9. “Urinetown” (City Center): A satirical comedy skewering corporate greed and corrupt politics… in 2025!? A hit with a loaded City Center cast.

8. “Evita” (West End): Big, bright, loud…Jamie Lloyd. Rachel Zegler made this a must-see, especially if you caught the balcony scene outside.

7. “Buena Vista Social Club” (Broadway): The book was lacking, but Natalie Venetia Belcon and the otherworldly band made this an electric night of theater.

6. “Slam Frank” (Asylum): The controversial final scenes don’t diminish one of the smartest satires, best scores and most talented casts in recent memory.

5. “The Porch on Windy Hill” (Urban Stages): Top-notch storytelling and a trio of multi-instrumentalists elevated this bluegrass tale of race and family.

4. “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)” (Broadway): The charming two-hander might be this year’s “Maybe Happy Ending”, Best Musical Tony included, despite not having quite the same small-wonder magic.

3. “Ragtime” (Broadway): The minimalist staging was more effective at City Center, with the orchestra backdrop, than the Vivian Beaumont’s massive thrust stage, but this revival still soars behind Joshua Henry and Caissie Levy, plus the monumental score.

2. “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (New World Stages): Fresh, hysterical and utterly sweet. This revival’s cast of misfit spellers is one of the year’s best, and Jasmine Amy Rogers as Olive, after her run in “Boop,” proved herself the theater star of 2025.

1. “The Seat of Our Pants” (Public Theater): This Thornton Wilder adaptation was wild, head-scratching and thought-provoking in the best ways. And it was taken to new heights behind a decorated cast and Ethan Lipton’s gorgeous score.

(Published: Dec. 28, 2025)