Special Reports

The 11 Best Broadway Debuts of 2024

We pick out this year’s Broadway breakout stars.

David Gordon

David Gordon

Pete Hempstead

Pete Hempstead

Rosemary Maggiore

Rosemary Maggiore

Zachary Stewart

Zachary Stewart

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December 16, 2024

Over the past year, Broadway welcomed a range of remarkable debuts, showcasing performers who excelled in both comedic and dramatic roles. TheaterMania’s editorial team has compiled an alphabetical list of the standout debuts from 2024, celebrating the talents that left a lasting impression on audiences.

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Kit Connor
(© Matthew Murphy)

Kit Connor as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet
Oh, Romeo! So many have played you on Broadway. But this year Kit Connor brought a fresh and exciting take to the role, and on the fly he created one of the most memorable balcony scenes I’ve ever witnessed. It’s not just his chiseled physique that audiences walk away remembering. Connor also proves he’s a formidable Shakespearean, delivering lines with sensitivity and confidence. Is Hamlet in his future? Let’s hope. — Pete Hempstead

Zoey Deutch as Emily Webb in OUR TOWN Photo by Daniel Rader
Zoey Deutch
(© Daniel Rader)

Zoey Deutch as Emily Webb in Our Town
Thornton Wilder’s Our Town is my favorite play, but I was not terribly bowled over by Kenny Leon’s fast and furious revival. However, there was one bright spot that brought me to tears: Zoey Deutch as heroine Emily Webb, who realizes the beauty of life when it’s too late to appreciate it. Subtly neurotic and deeply vivacious, she makes a big impact with her modern and wholly original take, and it left me extremely moved. — David Gordon

LCTMcNEAL #193 Robert Downey Jr. is Jacob McNeal. Credit to Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman (1)
Robert Downey Jr.
(© Matthew Murphy)

Robert Downey Jr. as Jacob McNeal in McNeal
Robert Downey Jr. takes on the role of an aging writer who at one time may have seemed to be a genius and now is struggling to stay relevant in a world of technology. It particularly hits home in today’s evolving opinion on how much we value original thought. His portrayal makes me sympathize with an otherwise disreputable character. — Rosemary Maggiore

Adrian Blake Enscoe as Little Brother. Photo by Emilio Madrid scaled
Adrian Blake Enscoe
(© Emilio Madrid)

Adrian Blake Enscoe as Little Brother in Swept Away
Adrian Blake Enscoe so fully embodies the younger brother in Swept Away that you want to wrap your arms around him and protect him like his older brother (Stark Sands) does.  He’s impish and delightful, with a beautiful voice that makes your heart want to weep along with him. — Rosemary Maggiore

Cole Escola 9027 in Oh, Mary! Photo Credit Emilio Madrid
Cole Escola
(© Emilio Madrid)

Cole Escola as Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary!
A longtime star of the downtown cabaret scene, Cole Escola made a momentous double Broadway debut as both the playwright and lead actor of Oh, Mary!, the outrageous historical comedy about Mary Todd Lincoln. It rode a wave of acclaim from off-Broadway’s Lucille Lortel Theatre to the Lyceum, where it is reliably grossing over $1 million every week. That’s extraordinary for a play with no household name actors, but Escola has gatecrashed the A-list, showing up to the party clad in a hoop skirt, bratty curls, and a maniacal grin. It should make this year’s Tony race for Best Leading Actor in a Play (a category widely expected to include Escola, but also the likes of Denzel Washington, George Clooney, and Robert Downey Jr.) very interesting. — Zachary Stewart

CABARET Adam Lambert as Emcee photo by Julieta Cervantes
Adam Lambert
(© Julieta Cervantes)

Adam Lambert as the Emcee in Cabaret
Adam Lambert’s portrayal of the Emcee in Cabaret is a remarkable one. His haunting vocals on signature songs like “I Don’t Care Much” and “Tomorrow Belongs to Me,” combined with the surprising emotional depth he finds throughout, highlight the duality of the role in Rebecca Frecknall’s divisive production. Lambert’s nuanced arc—balancing survival with gradually suppressed queerness—adds profound resonance to the character​. — David Gordon

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Rachel McAdams
(© Matthew Murphy)

Rachel McAdams as Mary Jane in Mary Jane
As a father, I dreaded seeing Amy Herzog’s heartbreaking parenting drama Mary Jane. It’s the story of a mother using kindness and good humor to move through the world with a chronically ill child, and I didn’t know if I could stomach it. But I’m so glad i did, chiefly because of Rachel McAdams’s unsung hero of a performance. Nominated—but unrewarded—during award season, McAdams’s turn was filled with uncommon dignity and grace. She just got it. — David Gordon

6 Hells Kitchen Broadway Production Photos 2024 HR Final Credit Marc J Franklin (1)
Maleah Joi Moon
(© Marc J Franklin)

Maleah Joi Moon as Ali in Hell’s Kitchen
Maleah Joi Moon made her Broadway debut in Hell’s Kitchen at the tender age of 21 playing Ali, a character loosely based on Alicia Keys. She won a Tony Award for her performance and it’s easy to see why. Moon wears the perspective of her character like a glove, both looking back reflectively on the questionable choices she made at 17 while also endowing that story with the full range of operatic teenage emotion it requires. Also, what a voice! Moon delivers recording-perfect performances of “The River,” “Kaleidoscope,” and “Empire State of Mind” eight times a week, demonstrating at uncommon level of control over her instrument at such a young age. If this is her debut, I cannot wait to see what she does next. — Zachary Stewart

110 Sarah Pidgeon in STEREOPHONIC Photo by Julieta Cervantes
Sarah Pidgeon
(© Julieta Cervantes)

Sarah Pidgeon as Diana in Stereophonic
Sarah Pidgeon gave one of the most nuanced performances on Broadway this year, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her as she played the play’s the emotionally shredded band member Diana. One scene in particular, in which Diana nervously tries to lay a track and sings off-key time after time, struck me for it’s ultra-realism, and broke my heart in the process. — Pete Hempstead

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Nicole Scherzinger
(© Matthew Murphy)

Nicole Scherzinger as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard
Nicole Scherzinger brings authenticity to the role that only a fellow woman of a certain age would recognize. It’s just the right amount of insanity and denial in a performance that is truly disturbing in the best way possible. All that, on top of the fact that her voice and beauty are unmatched. — Rosemary Maggiore

Helen J Shen
(© Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman)

Helen J Shen as Claire in Maybe Happy Ending
I was utterly charmed by Helen J Shen and her performance as Claire, a series 5 HelperBot who falls in love with a series 3 named Oliver (played by Darren Criss) in the delightful new musical Maybe Happy Ending. Her performance is anything but robotic, conveying a being of high emotional intelligence, however artificial. Claire holds her cards close to her chest, and Shen’s poker face, interrupted by furtive smiles and frowns, makes us lean in hoping to learn what she knows. She may be delivering a remarkably restrained performance, but I was grinning ear-to-ear as Claire and Oliver’s romance blossomed. This is one you feel in your throat. — Zachary Stewart

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