Special Reports

6 Broadway Debuts to See This Fall (When You Can't Get Bruce Springsteen Tickets)

From Amy Schumer to Uma Thurman, these are the debuts to look out for.

This fall, Bruce Springsteen makes his Broadway debut, and to say that it's highly anticipated is putting it mildly. Springsteen on Broadway is selling out quickly, but fear not: If you can't get tickets to this new solo show, there are plenty of other Broadway debuts to see on stages along the Great White Way. Here are six that we're looking forward to most, in alphabetical order.

1. Brooke BloomTime and the Conways

(photo provided by Polk & Co.)

Brooke Bloom is a two-time Drama Desk nominee (You Got Older, Cloud Nine) with an extensive list of TV and film credits dating back to 1999. And yet, the Roundabout revival of J.B. Priestley's Time and the Conways, now in previews at the American Airlines Theatre, marks her first time on a Broadway stage. Her last production — Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins's Everybody, which ran earlier this year — had her picking one of seven roles at random for every performance. So taking on a single role in a British period play should be no sweat for her.


2. Jin HaM. Butterfly

(© Huan Nguyen)

In May 2016, Jin Ha matriculated from the graduate acting program at New York University's Tisch School for the Arts. That September, he opened in his first major production, the Chicago mounting of Hamilton, where he understudied (and went on for) the title role. This October, Ha makes his Broadway debut as the mysterious Chinese opera diva Song Liling in Julie Taymor's new production of David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly. With a career trajectory like that, we know that Ha will knock our socks off.


3. Hailey KilgoreOnce on This Island

(© Jeffrey Mosier)

So far, Broadway knows almost nothing about Hailey Kilgore, who was cast to play the lead in the upcoming revival of Once on This Island. What we do know is that the über-talented 18-year-old hails from Happy Valley, Oregon, and that she was cast by Tony-nominated director Michael Arden after a worldwide search for the right actor. Arden was last represented on Broadway with the lauded 2016 revival of Spring Awakening, which featured no fewer than 18 Broadway debuts, so he knows how to pick 'em, which is why we can't wait to see what he and Kilgore have in store.


4. Itamar MosesThe Band's Visit

(© David Gordon)

The deeply felt plays and exuberant musicals of writer Itamar Moses have been seen throughout New York City's various off-Broadway theaters: New York Theatre Workshop (Bach at Leipzig), Manhattan Theatre Club (The Four of Us and Back Back Back), Playwrights Horizons (Completeness), and the Public (The Fortress of Solitude), among others. Last fall, he earned perhaps his greatest acclaim to date at the Atlantic Theater Company with The Band's Visit, which he cowrote with David Yazbek. When this beautiful production transfers to the Barrymore Theatre, Moses will make his Broadway book-writing debut, and it will be a well-earned one at that.


5. Amy SchumerMeteor Shower

(© Mark Seliger)

Let's be honest: This is the Broadway debut you're really thinking about. Amy Schumer is one of America's favorite comedians, having kept audiences in stitches with her television show, Inside Amy Schumer, and with her blockbuster movie, Trainwreck. Outspoken and unabashed in her stand-up comedy, she's a lady plenty of folks love to hate, but even more just plain love. She's playing a character named Corky in Steve Martin's newest play, Meteor Shower, which as far as we can tell is about a foursome that goes horribly awry during an actual meteor shower. If anyone is going to make an already funny premise even more hilarious, it's Schumer.


6. Uma ThurmanThe Parisian Woman

(© David Gordon)

Every Broadway season, Hollywood makes at least one offering to the Broadway gods, sending its shiniest stars to the stage where acting chops are tested in their rawest form. Uma Thurman is leading this year's charge, making her Broadway debut in the brand-new political drama The Parisian Woman, coming to the Hudson Theatre this November. Not only is she making dreams come true for the fans who have been with her since the days of Pulp Fiction (her Oscar-nominated role), but she'll be presenting the first Broadway work by Beau Willimon, the writer responsible for our weekend Netflix binges of House of Cards. Throw in the incendiary political climate and it’s a combination of talent and substance that could lead to some onstage fire.

Featured In This Story

Time and the Conways

Closed: November 26, 2017

Once on This Island

Closed: January 6, 2019

The Band’s Visit

Closed: April 7, 2019

M. Butterfly

Closed: December 17, 2017