CNN
—
Broadway babies, we’ve reached that spectacular segment of the theatrical season in which musicals and plays open in droves and vie for a chance to win a Tony Award – or 11.
There are tigers and murderous barbers and cookouts and corn-centric fables opening on Broadway this year, and those are just the ones that will open early enough to be considered for a 2023 Tony. Later in the year, the music of Britney Spears gets its due and a DeLorean will delight fans of a certain ’80s franchise.
All that to say, we devotees of the stage are in for several theatrical treats this year. Here are a few of the musicals and plays set to premiere in 2023 that already have Broadway fans buzzing.
Yann Martel’s beloved novel gets the theatrical treatment this spring, and it continues the new Broadway tradition cemented by “Into the Woods” of an animal puppet stealing the show out from under its human co-stars. How will Pi’s sea-set journey with Richard Parker the Bengal tiger translate on stage? If its London reviews are to be believed, it works effortlessly.
Performances begin: March 9
Officially opens: March 30
Who knew? It took seven people to bring the Richard Parker puppet to vivid life in the West End production, all of whom shared the Olivier Award for best actor in a supporting role. There are actors crouched underneath his spine and head who walk for him, another who provides his voice and more who control his limbs and tail.
Doc Brown’s DeLorean is careening onto Broadway this summer. A hit in London’s West End, “Back to the Future: The Musical” promises sci-fi spectacle, ’80s nostalgia and attempted unintentional incest. The musical retains all the signature moments from the original…