25 Broadway People to Watch in 2025

As the new year begins, Broadway fans are looking ahead to the 2025 Broadway season, which is bound to be filled with countless star-making (and star-preserving) performances. And while there are plenty of big names on their way, we would be remiss not to applaud the many understudies, swings and standbys whose herculean efforts keep Broadway going.

Who should you keep your eye on as the spring season begins and awards season approaches? Check out our list of just 25 performers and creatives to watch out for in the new year!

Idina Menzel

The first new musical to join the Broadway lineup in 2025 is Redwood (which begins previews at the Nederlander Theatre on January 25), and leading the company is Tony winner Idina Menzel. She returns to Broadway after a decade away, having last graced the stage in 2014’s If/Then.

Jasmine Amy Rogers

Following an acclaimed pre-Broadway run in Chicago last year, Jasmine will reprise her performance as the title character in Boop! The Betty Boop Musical. This will mark the 2017 Jimmy Awards finalist’s Broadway debut.

David Yazbek

Yazbek is the music man in demand this Broadway season. Not only will his new musical Dead Outlaw transfer to Broadway after a triumphant run off-Broadway last year, but he also serves as music consultant for the Broadway-bound Buena Vista Social Club. They will open in April and March respectively.

Michael Arden

Another Tony winner with lots going on this Broadway season is Michael Arden, who, fresh off of his highly praised work on Maybe Happy Ending (currently running at the Belasco Theatre), will shift focus to another new musical- The Queen of Versailles. Theatre and dates for the latter project have yet to be specified.

Denzel Washington & Jake Gyllenhaal

Soon after Romeo + Juliet closes at the Circle in the Square Theatre, Shakespeare will return again with Othello. This revival (the first since 1982) will be led by stage and screen powerhouses Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

The 2024 Awards season was all about Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who took Broadway by storm with his play- Appropriate. He’s back in 2025 with a new family drama- Purpose, directed by Two-time Tony Award-winner Phylicia Rashad.

Danya Taymor

And speaking of the 2024 Awards season… one of the most exciting new directors of the year is returning again this season. Fresh off of her Tony-wining turn with The Outsiders, Taymour will be back to direct John Proctor is the Villain, which begins previews in March.

Sarah Snook

Television audiences know and love her for her Emmy winning performance in HBO’s Succession, but in 2025 Broadway audiences will get to see her as 26(!) new characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Snook already took home an Olivier Award for her performance last year.

Jason Robert Brown

Who can do better than JRB in 2025? Not only will his beloved musical The Last Five Years finally open on Broadway, but his new musical, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, is also set to take a 2025 bow. Theatre and dates for the latter project have yet to be announced.

Adrienne Warren & Nick Jonas

And speaking of The Last Five Years…. Jamie and Cathy will be played by music superstar Jonas and Tony winner for Tina- The Tina Turner Musical, Warren.

Sanaz Toossi

Already a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Toossi at last makes her Broadway debut with English- a powerful play about language and identity. It will be the first show to open in 2025.

Jeremy Jordan

After playing his final performance in The Great Gatsby, Jordan will move uptown to the Vivian Beaumont Theatre to tell a very different American tale. Floyd Collins is set top open in April. 

David Cromer

Cromer has a busy spring ahead, as the director of both Dead Outlaw and Good Night, and Good Luck, which will open at the Longacre and Winter Garden Theatres respectively.

Jonathan Groff

Franklin Shepard is so 2024. Fresh off of his first Tony win, Groff will return to the stage this year as crooner Bobby Darin in Just In Time, which opens just in time for the spring season this April.

Alex Timbers

Fresh off of his work alongside pal John Mulaney for All In: Comedy About Love, Timbers is shifting focus to the previously mentioned Just In Time- a show he will not only direct, but also developed. 

Jinkx Monsoon

It’s no secret that Monsoon’s Broadway debut brought a tidal wave of ticket sales to Chicago. In 2025, she will return in an update on a classic- Pirates! The Penzance Musical, which arrives in April.

Tina Landau

Soon after bringing Redwood to Broadway next month, the multi-talented director shifts focus to bring new life to one of her oldest projects. She will direct Lincoln Center Theatre’s Broadway premiere of Floyd Collins, which she wrote with Adam Guettel in 1996.

George Clooney

Hollywood has loved him for decades and he’s finally making a move to the stage! Clooney will make his Broadway debut in this stage adaptation, which he also happened to co-write with Grant Heslov. 

Lea Salonga & Bernadette Peters

Two of the most iconic voices of Broadway are getting ready to return in 2025. Peters and Salonga will join an ensemble cast to sing the music of their old friend Stephen Sondheim in Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends.

The ensemble casts of Operation Mincemeat, Buena Vista Social Club, and Smash

Let’s be real… the ensemble casts of every Broadway show are worth watching, but these three have us especially excited about the season ahead!