The most common question I’m asked by parents visiting New York City is, “What Broadway shows should I see with my teen.”
It’s a good question. Theater tickets are expensive these days, even off-Broadway. And if you see only one play while you’re in the city, you want it to be memorable for all the right reasons. So choosing a show requires some careful consideration.
My family loves theater. We go to see plays for all of our birthdays and at the holidays and whenever we see a good deal on tickets for something on our want-to-see list. We like Broadway, of course, but we’re also open to off-Broadway shows, too, which often have seasoned Broadway actors in the cast.
Shows often end their runs over the winter and new shows open in early spring, hoping to pick up momentum before the summer, when visitors flock to the city. So this list is a bit short at the moment. Look for me to add to it as some very cool shows with big stars raise their curtains in 2025.
This is a round-up of shows that the Teen Traveler and other NYC teens we know have liked and loved. I hope it will give you a sense of what appeals to the sensibilities of kids in the 12-18YO range. And maybe I’ll steer you toward some wonderful shows you would not have thought of.
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9 Top Broadway Shows Teens Love
On Broadway – Musicals & Dramas
Hadestown
An updated telling of a Greek myth set to a 1930s jazz-inflected score might not be the first thing you would take your kid to see, but NYC teens absolutely love Hadestown. Teen Traveler has friends who haven’t seen it yet but know all the songs. She describes this play as “awesome” and it gets constant play on her phone.
We had no idea what it was about when we got tickets, but several people with teens had recommended it to us as something parents and kids both like.
It’s the story of Orpheus and Eurydice set in the Great Depression. The staging is interesting. Hermes, the narrator, looks like a Harlem jazz club band leader in a silver lamé suit. The band is on stage during the show and there is only one set. Persephone is glamorous and resigned to her below-ground fate. Hades has a voice like Barry White. The music pulls you along.
We really hoped it would end differently than the original myth, but Hermes understands human nature too well for that to happen. If your kids don’t know the story, you might want to give them a synopsis.
If you are looking for the razzle-dazzle of Phantom or The Lion King, or want the happy ending of Mama Mia, this might not be the play for you. But if you want something interesting, well-done and not your typical musical, hop on the train to Hadestown.
Harry Potter & The Cursed Child
The Cursed Child has impressively cool sets and choreography and special effects that wowed us. The staging is a prime example of the magic Broadway can conjure when a show has serious money behind it.
It’s also a moving play that pulled us along. Plus, the time-travel element allows favorite Harry Potter characters — even dead ones — to make an appearance.
In my opinion, and Teen Traveler’s, The Cursed Child is not a children’s play. It deals with middle-age angst, complicated life choices, teen identity, living in the shadow of a parent’s legacy and more nuanced issues that will go over the heads of anyone under 11.
They’ve condensed the New York show so that you can now see it as a single play rather than two consecutive ones, which makes tickets way more affordable. But it’s still a very pricey ticket. Think twice before bringing your youngest Potter fans.
And yes, it’s okay to wear your Hogwarts apparel. Teen Traveler (then 13) wore muggle-wear on the first night, but when she saw others, she donned her Ravenclaw robes and headband for night two.
MJ the Musical
I saw a 45-minute version of MJ: the Musical at an event I went to this fall. You have to take the dramatized story of Michael Jackson’s rise and fall with a grain of salt. But the dancing is the reason you go. I was very aware that I was watching someone imitating Jackson rather than the icon himself. But the choreography is energetic and highly appealing.
I think this falls into the category of musicals that parents want to see that teens will like. Your kids will know more of the music than you might expect. And they might actually know more of the Jackson 5 hits, which is now classic wedding and prom tunes, than Michael’s solo stuff. And they’ll like the dancing.
Wicked
Teen Traveler saw Wicked without us when she was in middle school. She enjoyed it, but it never became a favorite for her. She actually liked the movie more, partly because it had scenery, effects and choreography that went far beyond what they can do on a stage.
But she thought at the time that it was a good choice for families because the pop-music score and teen-melodrama plot appeal to a wide age range of kids and teens. The movie will no doubt boost interest in the stage musical and bring in an even younger audience.
I hear that these days even 5-year-olds are playing “Popular” and other songs from the movie on a loop. So your kids will head into the theater already knowing all the songs — you might as well — which will add to the excitement of seeing it.
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Off-Broadway
Many off-Broadway shows these days have big name stars and high production value and tickets can be as in-demand for popular off-Broadway shows as on-Broadway. And sometimes you’ll see something headed to Broadway before it gets there.
Don’t feel like you’re skimping on a great theater experience by looking beyond Times Square for a great play. The only thing you might be missing out on are the high ticket prices. Some off-Broadway tickets can be expensive but nowhere near the prices you’ll pay for the big Broadway musicals or dramas with big stars.
The Play that Goes Wrong
Tween Traveler was laughing so hard when we saw it that I’m surprised she could breathe. The Play That Goes Wrong begins as an Agatha-Christie-type parlor murder. But it soon devolves into an old-fashioned physical comedy with windows that stick, doors that open when they shouldn’t and a corpse that moves itself.
This comedy has been running for a while and it’s easy to find inexpensive tickets. Even if you want to see a big musical, consider seeing this as well.
If you go, make sure that you’re in your seat a good 15 minutes early. Things start to “go wrong” before the play even starts.
Little Shop of Horrors
Before writing the music and lyrics for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and other feel-good Disney hits, Alan Menken and Howard Ashman wrote Little Shop of Horrors, a musical based on a bad 1950s horror movie about a people-eating plant bent on world domination.
My Teen and several others we know loved the black humor, bad botanical puns and catchy songs. She downloaded the cast recording as soon as she got home and listened to nothing else for a few weeks.
I first saw the show when I was about her age, in its premier run down on the Bowery (the original Skid Row). I saw it on Broadway, too, where they made it a bit bigger and splashier.
I have to say I love the latest run, in a theater just west of the Broadway district. The B-horror-movie kitsch and exaggerated physical comedy work much better on a smaller stage.
Give one of the songs a listen with this video.
Though it’s off-Broadway, the tiny cast has been stellar and it hasn’t been an easy ticket to get. If you can score seats definitely go.
Overheard From Friends
These are plays we haven’t gotten to yet or are not our cup of tea. But they’re popular and should be on your radar, too.
Hell’s Kitchen
Hell’s Kitchen, the soulful hip hop show with music by Alicia Keyes, got 13 Tony nods and won for Best Actress and Best Featured Actress in a musical. The high energy and urban vibe has put it on Teen Traveler’s wish list. If your teen likes Keyes, hip hop or Lin Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights, this is the show you want tickets for.
Of all the pop-centered musicals on Broadway right now, I would choose this one. The Alicia Keyes music and hip-hop inspired choreography are cool and fun.
& Juliet
Shakespeare’s wife rewrites Romeo & Juliet and decides Juliet isn’t silly enough to kill herself over some guy. Instead, she escapes to Paris to become a club kid and find herself. & Juliet is a jukebox musical full of pop hits Max Martin has written for everyone from Katy Perry and Britney Spears to Justin Timberlake and Bon Jovi.
The word on the street is that the script is funny, the dance numbers are “Larger Than Life” and the whole play has been making audiences “Roar” during it’s run in London. It will give Six a run for its money. I know several teens hankering for tickets.
Six
Six garnered eight Tony nominations and is particularly popular with teenage girls. It has a strong Broadway-meets-pop sensibility fueled by costumes created by a designer who worked with the Spice Girls.
It’s not my teen’s scene at all, but it offers a good dose of girl power, and it’s a good pick for teens and tweens who generally prefer pop music to show tunes.
Tips for Discounts on Broadway Tickets
As expensive as box office tickets are for Broadway shows, there are ample opportunities to find discounts. It’s easy to find inexpensive tickets to some shows and almost impossible for others. You’ll find more discounts in mid-fall and deep winter than in the summer and in December. Here are some sources I’ve used to get a break on ticket prices.
• TKTS tickets are always exactly half-price and in my opinion they get the best seats of any discount dealer. I’ve always gotten center orchestra seats, no more than halfway back.
You have to go to one of two TKTS booths in Manhattan and buy tickets for the same day (or next-day matinées) and there are no guarantees of what they’ll have on any given day. I tend to keep an eye on TKTS live via the website or app to see what shows are showing up consistently.
If you have a few shows you’re interested in and can get to the booth promptly when it opens you have a good shot at tickets you want at a 50% discount.
• Today Tix offers discounts on a wider range of shows and allows you to buy tickets online. I’ve bought tickets this way once or twice, but I prefer TKTS. The discounts are usually only 30-40% and they don’t tell you what seats you have until after you’ve completed the purchase. I’ve gotten some pretty mediocre ones.
• Seatplan is an interesting and worthwhile website to check out. They offer discounts for select shows. But better still, for several popular plays, they have photos of the stage from different sections so you get a very real sense of the view you’d be paying for.
• I’ve only started using Seat Geek for Broadway tickets recently. It’s a verified reseller and tickets can sell at a discount or premium to face value, depending on demand. It’s the way to find seats to shows that you just can’t get tickets to otherwise, but you have to shop carefully.
Some shows use Seat Geek as their main ticket venue and they’ll discreetly lower prices on slower days. For a Wednesday matinée in early November I got orchestra seats for Hadestown for $69.
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Photos courtesy of the shows, via Trip Advisor. Feature Photo via Pixabay. Suffs and Sweeney Playbill photo by FamiliesGo!