The New Vanguard

Hamilton

Lin-Manuel Miranda · 2015

Lin-Manuel Miranda's revolutionary sung-and-rapped-through musical traces the meteoric rise of Alexander Hamilton, an orphaned immigrant from the Caribbean who becomes George Washington's trusted aide and the nation's first Secretary of the Treasury. Driven by ambition and haunted by his past, Hamilton's relentless pursuit of legacy and influence ultimately leads to his downfall in a fateful duel with Aaron Burr. This electrifying fusion of hip hop, R&B, and classical musical theatre transforms the Founding Fathers into a contemporary narrative of ambition, love, betrayal, and the struggle to shape one's place in history.

Hadestown

Anaïs Mitchell · 2016

Anaïs Mitchell's Tony-winning folk opera reimagines the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice as a haunting love story set against the backdrop of Hades' industrial underworld. When the idealistic musician Orpheus falls in love with Eurydice, he must navigate a world of economic despair and divine power to reclaim her, guided by the enigmatic Hermes. A meditation on love, loss, and the transformative power of art, Hadestown weaves ancient mythology into a contemporary tale of hope and heartbreak.

A Strange Loop

Michael R. Jackson · 2019

A Strange Loop is a meta-theatrical musical that follows Usher, a Black, queer aspiring musical theatre writer working as a Broadway usher, as he navigates the labyrinth of his own consciousness. His inner thoughts materialize as six ensemble members who embody both his self-criticism and the various characters in his life, creating a dizzying, hilarious, and deeply moving exploration of identity, desire, and creative ambition. The musical collapses the boundary between performer and audience, between art and life, as Usher grapples with the impossible task of writing a musical about writing a musical. A groundbreaking work that won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Musical.

Dear Evan Hansen

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul · 2015

Evan Hansen, a high school senior paralyzed by social anxiety, becomes entangled in a devastating lie when a troubled classmate's suicide is misattributed to a deep friendship between them. As Evan navigates the murky terrain between truth and deception, he must confront the consequences of his fabrication while grappling with genuine human connection and the weight of unintended harm. A poignant exploration of adolescent isolation, digital communication, and the desperate human need to matter.

Come From Away

Irene Sankoff and David Hein, Irene Sankoff and David Hein · 2015

When 38 planes are diverted to the remote town of Gander, Newfoundland, on September 11, 2001, nearly 7,000 stranded passengers arrive with nowhere to go. The welcoming residents of this tight-knit community open their hearts and homes to these unexpected visitors, forging profound human connections in the aftermath of tragedy. Over the course of one transformative week, strangers become friends, and a small town demonstrates the extraordinary power of compassion and community.

SIX

Toby Marlow, Lucy Moss · 2017

Six wives of Henry VIII take the stage as a modern pop girl group, each commanding a spotlight to reclaim her narrative from the shadow of their shared ex-husband. Through electrifying solo performances and satirical ensemble numbers, these Tudor queens transform their historical tragedies into a defiant celebration of survival, wit, and female empowerment. Catherine Parr ultimately disrupts the competition itself, redirecting the conversation from their relationship to Henry toward their own identities and agency. A witty, energetic, and deeply human reimagining of power, love, and legacy.

Kimberly Akimbo

Jeanine Tesori · 2021

Fire Shut Up in My Bones

Terence Blanchard · 2019

Terence Blanchard's groundbreaking opera traces the harrowing journey of Charles M. Blow from a traumatized child in rural Louisiana to a man confronting the ghosts of sexual abuse and violence that shaped his identity. Through a visceral blend of jazz, gospel, and orchestral music, the work explores how one man's survival becomes an act of defiance, as he navigates family dysfunction, spiritual searching, and the path toward healing and self-discovery. A searing meditation on race, masculinity, and resilience in contemporary America.

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs

Mason Bates · 2017

A contemporary opera tracing Steve Jobs's evolution from counterculture seeker to tech visionary, exploring innovation, ambition, and the intersection of art and technology.

Dead Man Walking

Jake Heggie · 2000

Based on Sister Helen Prejean's transformative memoir, this searing opera follows a Catholic nun's spiritual journey as she becomes the spiritual advisor to Joseph De Rocher, a death row inmate convicted of a brutal double murder. Heggie's score weaves gospel, jazz, and contemporary idioms into a profound meditation on redemption, justice, and the power of human connection in the face of capital punishment. The opera confronts the families of both the victims and the condemned, laying bare the moral complexities that capital punishment inflicts on all who touch it.

Champion

Terence Blanchard · 2013

An opera about boxer Emile Griffith's struggle to overcome guilt and tragedy after a fatal knockout in the ring.

Woolf Works

Max Richter · 2015

Max Richter's audacious triptych ballet reimagines Virginia Woolf's literary consciousness as pure movement, choreographing the interior lives of her most iconic characters across three acts inspired by Mrs Dalloway, Orlando, and The Waves. Rather than narrative, the work captures the fractured temporality, fluid identity, and emotional intensity of Woolf's prose—where a single day contains multitudes, a figure transcends gender and centuries, and voices emerge and dissolve like waves. Featuring orchestral music interwoven with electronics and spoken-word recordings of Woolf herself, this is modernist literature made visceral and kinetic.

The Cellist

Philip Feeney · 2020

Like Water for Chocolate

Joby Talbot · 2022

The Lehman Trilogy

Stefano Massini · 2013

An epic chronicle spanning 164 years, *The Lehman Trilogy* traces the rise and catastrophic fall of the Lehman Brothers empire through the eyes of three German Jewish immigrant brothers and their descendants. Beginning with Henry Lehman's arrival in Alabama in 1844, the play follows the family's transformation from dry goods merchants to titans of American finance, navigating the Civil War, the Great Depression, and the postwar boom. Performed by three actors embodying multiple generations, this sweeping narrative culminates in the firm's spectacular 2008 collapse, exposing the human cost of unchecked financial ambition.

Leopoldstadt

Tom Stoppard · 2020

Tom Stoppard's sweeping drama traces the arc of a prosperous, assimilated Jewish family in Vienna across five decades, from the confident belle époque of 1899 through the gathering darkness of Nazi occupation to the fractured aftermath of 1955. Through intimate family gatherings and private moments, the play captures how love, ambition, and the illusion of belonging collide with the inexorable forces of history, asking whether assimilation can ever truly protect those deemed outsiders by their own blood.

Fleabag

Phoebe Waller-Bridge · 2013

A sharp-witted Londoner breaks the fourth wall to hilariously and heartbreakingly navigate love, family chaos, and self-sabotage.

Slave Play

Jeremy O. Harris · 2018

Stereophonic

David Adjmi · 2023

Set in a California recording studio between 1976 and 1977, Stereophonic immerses audiences in the painstaking, year-long creation of a second album by a British-American rock band on the cusp of superstardom. The play unfolds the volatile interpersonal dynamics, creative tensions, and personal crises that emerge as five musicians and two engineers navigate the intricate process of capturing lightning in a bottle—revealing the human cost of artistic ambition and the fragile bonds that hold a legendary ensemble together.