NYC Spring Arts 2016: The 5 hottest musicals coming to Broadway

The new theater season is already off to a spectacular start with the opening of Seth Rudetsky’s Disaster! which lampoons ’70s disaster movies) and Eclipsed, starring Lupita N’yongo, which follows Fun Home and Hamilton as the latest transfer from the Public Theater. And that’s before we’ve even set the clocks ahead, so there’s still a lot of hot new shows hitting the Great White Way in the coming months. Here are our five top picks.

Previews begin: March 24
Opening night: April 21

Remember when Brett Easton Ellis’ gratuitous novel about a 1980s Wall Street serial killer was turned into a gratuitous (but far more darkly humorous) movie back in 2000? Bet you also thought the next logical step would be an American Psycho musical on Broadway. No? Well it’s happening, with Benjamin Walker (“Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson”) as titular psycho Patrick Bateman, and a score by Duncan Sheik (“Spring Awakening”). It comes straight from a sold-out run in the West End.

Previews begin: March 31
Opening night:April 26

Unstoppable showman Casey Nicholaw, director of Broadway’s Aladdin, is back this season with the musical adaptation of Natalie Babbitt’sTuck Everlasting. You probably remember the bittersweet young adult novel about 11-year-old Winnie Foster and the life lessons she learns from the mysterious Tuck family. A new score will amplify the sweeping saga about learning how to live life to its fullest — don’t forget to bring tissues.

Previews begin: April 16
Opening night:May 25

Sure, you might have seen Cirque du Soleil before. But you’ve never seen it on Broadway. Breaking new ground in circus arts and visceral storytelling, Paramour is one of the most anticipated shows of the spring. The story follows a rising actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood who is torn between fame and true love. With inventive multimedia and multisensory elements, “Paramour” will take you back to the wonder you experienced at your first Cirque.

Previews begin: March 15
Opening night:April 28

Fully titled Shuffle Along, or the Making of the Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, this star-packed musical features the beloved songs of its breakout hit inspiration Shuffle Along, but primarily focuses on how the Eubie Blake-Noble Sissle masterpiece was made. Broadway heavyweights Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Billy Porter lead the cast in a show that blends black history and theater trivia. You can expect this one to rack up the Tonys in June.

Previews begin: March 25
Opening night:April 24

In 2007, Keri Russell starred in a cute little movie about a small-town waitress. Nearly 10 years later, that feel-good gem is coming to the stage with Tony Award winner Jessie Mueller (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) as the pregnant piemaker who wants to break away from her abusive husband, now with an original score by indie music darling Sara Bareilles. Directed by the formidable Diane Paulus (of the recent Pippin revival), Waitress received warm reviews when it debuted in Boston last year.