The best Broadway shows to see for Women’s History Month

Check out these plays and musicals in New York led by women on stage, as various historic and fictional characters, and off stage as writers and directors.

Erin Cavoto
Written byErin Cavoto
Six
Real Women Have Curves
& Juliet
All Nighter
John Proctor Is the Villain
Gypsy
Liberation
Smash
Wicked
Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Chicago

Six

Broadway
Musical
Popular
Award winner

Listen up and let them tell you a story. Six is the musical sensation that has taken Broadway by storm since premiering in 2020, featuring the six wives of Henry VIII — except this time, you get to hear about their lives in their own words. The show flips the script by allowing these women, historically known as little more than wives, to make their voices heard, independent of the king.

You’ll have a blast at this high-octane musical that mimics a pop concert, and you’ll also learn history about these women and the parts of their lives often left out of textbooks.

Get Six tickets now.

Get tickets
Six

Real Women Have Curves

Broadway
Musical
Screen to stage
Stars on stage

When it came to the big screen in 2002, Real Women Have Curves made America Ferrera a star in the role of Ana, a young woman choosing between working for her family business in L.A. and pursuing her dreams of college in New York. This coming-of-age tale is now reimagined as a musical and is inspiring and empowering for women of all ages, shapes, and sizes.

Get Real Women Have Curves tickets now.

Get tickets
Real Women Have Curves

& Juliet

Broadway
Jukebox musical
Popular

If you think Juliet deserved a better ending than the one she got in Romeo & Juliet, check out this new jukebox musical. & Juliet features the music catalog of Max Martin, the songwriter behind hits from NSYNC, Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, and many other pop sensations.

& Juliet centers two strong-willed female characters: Juliet and Shakespeare’s wife, Anne Hathaway. After reading her husband’s play, Anne imagines a new ending for the heroine, where she escapes Verona in search of her own destiny. The musical follows the two as Anne creates a different path for Juliet, who gets to live a new life.

Get & Juliet tickets now.

Get tickets
& Juliet

All Nighter

Off-Broadway
Play
Stars on stage

Five fast-rising young women star in this new dark comedy: Kristine Froseth (The Society, Looking for Alaska), Julia Lester (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Into the Woods), Havana Rose Liu (Bottoms), Alyah Chanelle Scott (The Sex Lives of College Girls), and Kathryn Gallagher (Jagged Little Pill) play close-knit college roommates whose friendship is tested as they pull one last all-nighter before graduation. Each girl is complex, fascinating, and utterly fun to watch.

Get All Nighter tickets now.

Get tickets
All Nighter

Unlock your 24-hour New York City itinerary

Unlock your exclusive guide, full of the best attractions, food, free events and more.

09:00

Breakfast at Liberty Bagels

Regularly named one of the city’s best bagel shops, the unassuming Liberty Bagels is the perfect spot to get a classic NYC breakfast sandwich.

10:00

Macy’s Herald Square

One of the world’s largest stores, Macy’s is a sight to behold, especially when it’s decked out for the holidays.

John Proctor Is the Villain

Broadway
Play
Stars on stage

Kimberly Belflower's new dark comedy is fueled by classic lit, pop music, and rage. Teenage girls studying The Crucible in class start to see parallels to their own lives — and start questioning what they're being taught about who their heroes should be. Stranger Things's Sadie Sink leads a cast of young female talent in this play about finding your power and your voice.

Get John Proctor Is the Villain tickets now.

Get tickets
John Proctor Is the Villain

Gypsy

Broadway
Musical
Classic
Stars on stage

Here she is, world: one of the most iconic characters in musical theatre history. Momma Rose, now played by six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, is part mother, part monster, and wholly fascinating to watch as she tries to push her two daughters into fame. The classic musical is also just as much the story of those two daughters coming into their own as young women within the wild world of showbiz.

Get Gypsy tickets now.

Get tickets
Gypsy

Liberation

Off-Broadway
Play

Liberation dives directly into women's history with humor and fabulous vintage outfits. Bess Wohl's comedy-drama jumps between the 1970s, when six ladies form a women's liberation club, and the 2020s, when one of their daughters tries to piece together what her mother was like back then, what happened to their friendship, and what went wrong on the path to change.

Get Liberation tickets now.

Get tickets
Liberation

Smash

Yes, it's gonna be a smash! The new musical adaptation of the hit NBC series follows the backstage drama between the artists involved in a fictional Broadway musical, and there's plenty of unmissable female talent on display. Tony Award nominee Robyn Hurder and rising star Caroline Bowman play rival leading ladies. Tony winner Susan Stroman directs. And on stage, the characters are putting together a musical about a Hollywood icon: Marilyn Monroe.

Get Smash tickets now.

Get tickets
Smash

Wicked

Broadway
Musical
Popular
Award winner

Adapted from the Gregory Maguire novel, Wicked has been a Broadway mainstay for two decades, wowing audiences with incredible music and celebrating the power of female friendship. Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, later known as Glinda the Good, initially start as enemies while roommates at Shiz University, but a friendship soon blossoms between the two.

The headstrong Elphaba risks everything to expose corruption in Oz, ultimately standing up for what’s right against all odds. You’ll be blown away by the incredible vocals in the women’s iconic songs like “Defying Gravity,” “For Good,” and “Popular.”

Get Wicked tickets now.

Get tickets
Wicked

Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Broadway
Jukebox musical
Popular
Award winner

Based on the cult classic Baz Luhrmann film, Moulin Rouge! The Musical transports audiences to Paris’s bohemian Montmartre district at the turn of the 20th century. The leading man is Christian, an American writer who has just arrived in Paris, but Satine — the sparkling diamond at the Moulin Rouge nightclub — steals the show.

Although she’s promised to the Duke of Monroth to save the club, the independent and closed-off Satine falls into a whirlwind romance with Christian. In the end, it’s Satine who learns to love and be loved in return.

Get Moulin Rouge! The Musical tickets now.

Get tickets
Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Chicago

Broadway
Musical
Classic
Popular
Award winner

There’s no doubt about the sheer female power in Chicago, a jazzy musical that’s run on Broadway continuously since 1996. Chicago features a majority-female principal cast led by Roxie Hart, who rises to celebrity status during her murder trial. In 2023, drag queen Jinkx Monsoon made history playing Matron “Mama” Morton, the warden at Roxie's jail.

The show features powerful vocals and showstopping numbers like “All That Jazz” and “Nowadays.” If you’ve only seen the famous movie version starring Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones, you’ll want to check out the musical to get a taste of all that jazz live.

Get Chicago tickets now.

Get tickets
Chicago