Schmigadoon! crossed the bridge into opening night April 20, as critics filed their reviews for the Cinco Paul musical at the Nederlander Theatre.
Schmigadoon! is based on the two-season Apple Original series of the same name. The Broadway version follows the plot of the show’s first season, which follows real-world couple Josh and Melissa as they find themselves in Brigadoon Schmigadoon, a mysterious and magical world populated with characters, plots, songs, and dance numbers plucked from Golden Age musicals like Oklahoma!, The Music Man, Carousel, and more. The adaptation—which features a book, music, and lyrics by series creator Cinco Paul—includes all of the songs from the series’ Grammy-nominated score plus some new titles, including songs cut from the series.
Read the reviews below.
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1 Minute Critic (Billy McEntee)
Entertainment Weekly (Patrick Gomez)
The Guardian (Jesse Hassenger)
New York Post (Johnny Oleksinski)
New York Stage Review (Bob Verini)
New York Stage Review (Michael Sommers)
New York Theater (Jonathan Mandell)
New York Theatre Guide (Christian Lewis)
New York Times (Elisabeth Vincentelli)*
Time Out New York (Adam Feldman)
Wall Street Journal (Charles Isherwood)*
Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.
The cast includes Alex Brightman (Beetlejuice) as Josh Skinner, Sara Chase (The Great Gatsby) as Melissa Gimble, Max Clayton (Chicago) as Danny Bailey, Ana Gasteyer (Once Upon a Mattress, SNL) as Mildred Layton, Ann Harada (Avenue Q) as Florence Menlove, Brad Oscar (The Producers) as Mayor Menlove, Isabelle McCalla (Water for Elephants) as Emma Tate, Maulik Pancholy (It’s Only a Play) as The Reverend, Ayaan Diop as Carson, Ivan Hernandez (Dear Evan Hansen) as Doc, and McKenzie Kurtz (Heathers) as Betsy. Brightman, Chase, Harada, Oscar, McCalla, and Kurtz are all reprising their work from the musical’s 2025 D.C. premiere. Harada also starred as Florence Menlove in the original series.
Rounding out the company are ensemblists Afra Hines, Becca Petersen, Clyde Alves, Jess LeProtto, Joshua Burrage, Kaleigh Cronin, Kimberly Immanuel, Lyrica Woodruff, Nathan Lucrezio, Richard Riaz Yoder, Shina Ann Morris, and Zachary Downer; Carson alternate Miles McNicoll; and swings Brandon Block, Kevin Quillon, Lauralyn McClelland, and Maria Briggs. Casting is by Bernard Telsey and Kristian Charbonier.
READ: 5 Reasons to See Schmigadoon! On Broadway
The work made its world premiere in 2025 at Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center, with series choreographer Christopher Gattelli directing and choreographing. Gattelli is reprising his work on the Main Stem. See what critics had to say about the premiere run here.
Schmigadoon!’s Broadway bow features set design by Scott Pask, costume design by Linda Cho, lighting design by Donald Holder, sound design by Walter Trarbach, and hair, wig, and makeup design by Tom Watson. Pask, Cho, and Watson also designed the Kennedy Center staging.
Schmigadoon! premiered on Apple TV+ in 2021, with a second season in 2023 that sent its characters to Schmicago, complete with parodies of ’70s musicals like Pippin, Godspell, and Sweeney Todd. Apple canceled the show’s third season while it was still in production, though Paul previously told Playbill that his goal is to bring all three seasons of Schmigadoon to the stage. Read Playbill’s exhaustive recaps of all first and second season episodes for a deep dive into the series’ many musical theatre Easter eggs, references, and parodies.