After Merrily We Roll Along, you can enjoy these nine top-notch Broadway shows from the comfort of your own home. Broadway might be many miles and hundreds of dollars out of reach, but it’s more accessible than ever thanks to proshots, or professionally filmed stage productions that use multiple cameras and post-production to enhance the show.
The long-awaited proshot of Merrily We Roll Along has quickly gained popularity, allowing audiences to see iconic actors Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe on Broadway from the couch. Proshots are available on most popular streaming services, even if they don’t get as much attention as movies and TV shows.
It’s just a matter of knowing which shows are worth watching and where to find them. As a resident musical theater lover and Broadway fanatic, I’m here to be your guide. I’ve selected nine award-winning musicals for you to watch next.
Some will be similar to Merrily We Roll Along, while others will be nothing alike. These modern musicals span different subgenres and styles. You’ll find a good mix of realistic dramas, like Waitress: the Musical, and campy rock musicals, like The SpongeBob Musical, since there’s no single style of phenomenal Broadway musicals. By the end of this list, you’re bound to find your next Broadway obsession.
If you somehow missed the global phenomenon that was Hamilton, now is the perfect time to check out Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical. The show centers on Alexander Hamilton, a Founding Father, following him from the Revolutionary War to his famous death.
Though the musical is a hagiography, its killer soundtrack and cast make this a must-watch. Even I, as a person who doesn’t particularly enjoy the musical, think that everyone who wants to get into Broadway musicals should watch it at least once. It’s a modern classic.
What’s more, it’s a great choice after watching Merrily We Roll Along because Jonathan Groff plays King George III in Hamilton. The actor’s two characters are nothing alike. Franklin Shepard is a deeply unlikable but still compelling main character. King George III is essentially comedic relief. Unsurprisingly, the modern Broadway legend nails both, showing his versatility.
The proshot of* Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical* is available on Disney+, and it’s a great palette cleanser after the bittersweetness of Merrily We Roll Along. The Broadway musical shares the same premise as the Disney movie but includes additional scenes and music.
You might be tempted to skip this proshot if you’ve seen the animated movie, but Disney is actually known for transforming and expanding their stories on the stage. It’s not a cash grab. They also famously include jaw-dropping sets that effectively utilize the medium.
Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical makes several changes that deepen Elsa’s emotional journey and incorporate more Scandinavian folklore. Plus, the new music is absolutely killer, and the songs fit right in since they were also written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.
The proshot of* Billy Elliot the Musical* was released for streaming in 2018, four years after its theatrical release, and it’s now available for VOD. Billy Elliot The Musical centers on the titular motherless boy who discovers a love for ballet and pursues his passion, defying societal expectations during the 1984 to 1985 miners’ strike in County Durham, North East England.
This musical is an absolute classic, and it’s popular all around the world. It ran on the West End and Broadway, plus Australia and at least four other countries. The songs are written by Elton John and Lee Hall, so the style of Billy Elliot the Musical is vastly different, but just as catchy as that of* Merrily We Roll Along*. Actor Elliott Hanna was an absolute delight as the title character.
After seeing the 2007 movie of the same title, musician Sara Bareilles wrote the entire soundtrack for the Broadway musical *Waitress, *which tells the same story. It seems only fitting that the proshot of *Waitress: The Musical *features the singer (and occasional actress) who envisioned the entire musical.
The story follows a baker and waitress named Jenna Hunterson who wants to escape her abusive husband, Earl. However, this becomes difficult when she gets unexpectedly pregnant. She starts an affair with her OBGYN, making a mess of things further. At her friends’ encouragement, Jenna enters a pie-baking contest that could give her the money to break free.
*Waitress: The Musical and Merrily We Roll Along *are two proshots with truly perfect casting. Having seen *Waitress *with a few different castings, I’ve never experienced someone as perfect for the role of Jenna as Bareilles.
Daniel Radcliffe and Jonathan Groff will be familiar faces to theater lovers and movie and TV fanatics alike, as they’ve made a name for themselves across the mediums. Lindsay Mendez might be more of a theater actor, but she will also be a familiar face. After enjoying these multi-talented actors, the perfect next option is Newsies, which stars Jeremy Jordan.
Inspired by the real-life newsboy strike of 1899, *Disney’s Newsies: The Broadway Musical *tells the story of Jack Kelly, a seasoned newsie who befriends Davey and Les, boys who are trying to keep their family afloat. When Joseph Pulitzer raises the price of newspapers, the three motivate the newsies to go on strike.
As much as I enjoy the *Newsies *movie, the proshot is the far superior version of the story. Jeremy Jordan is just as compelling onstage as he is onscreen, and his voice is powerful and emotional.
After watching the grounded and emotional production of Merrily We Roll Along, you might want to go pedal to the metal in the opposite direction with a larger-than-life style of Broadway musical by watching *The SpongeBob Musical *proshot, which is a complete fever dream.
The story centers on SpongeBob and his friends as they try to save Bikini Bottom from a volcano. *The SpongeBob Musical *is a musical that, in concept, shouldn’t exist, but it does.
The costuming feels like it was made for a high school production. Gary is on a skateboard. The sets aren’t particularly remarkable. By all accounts, *The SpongeBob Musical *shouldn’t have been good, but it is extremely entertaining. The musical features original songs from David Bowie, Panic at the Disco, and a myriad of other high-profile musicians. It’s truly an enigma.
Merrily We Roll Along doesn’t shy away from heavy topics like addiction and trauma. Similarly, the musical *Trevor: The Musical *navigates heavy themes surprisingly well, considering it centers on middle schoolers. The story follows a Diana Ross-obsessed 13-year-old boy named Trevor Nelson who navigates school, his crush on a boy, and his dreams of showbiz in 1981 America.
Trevor: The Musical, unfortunately, did not have a Broadway run, but it’s included here as an honorary member of the Broadway musicals. The show ran Off-Broadway for one month before being cut short due to COVID-19-related closures. This prevented a possible Broadway transfer.
However, before it closed, they recorded a proshot of the stage production, which is now available on Disney+. Holden Hagelberger was perfect as the protagonist, and his performance deserves far more appreciation.
Merrily We Roll Along feels like a time capsule in many ways because it’s set between 1957 and 1978. Similarly, Come From Away harkens back to September 11, 2001.
Rather than centering on the twin towers, the story focuses on the passengers who were grounded at Gander International Airport and the locals who housed them in Newfoundland, Canada. The writers interviewed local folks, and the events in the musical are inspired by real stories.
The musical is simultaneously highly acclaimed and extremely obscure. Luckily, *Come From Away *opened the story up to a much wider audience. It’s an emotional and moving story just like Merrily We Roll Along, and it’s definitely one of the best proshots out there.
The last proshot that folks should watch after Merrily We Roll Along is the Pulitzer Prize-winning rock Broadway musical Next to Normal. The story centers on a suburban mother named Diana Goodman, living with worsening bipolar disorder with psychotic symptoms. The musical navigates the experiences of her and her family as she tries to get treatment.
The show has run on Broadway, on the West End, and in many other places across the world. It tackles extremely difficult subjects about life with mental illness, and it’s grounded in a similar way to Merrily We Roll Along. What’s more, relationships are at the heart of everything.
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George Furth, Moss Hart, George S. Kaufman, Stephen Sondheim