Cole Escola and Nicole Scherzinger made spectacular Broadway debuts this year, justly acclaimed, but less attention-grabbing performances in less conspicuous productions also impressed, albeit more quietly. Here are a dozen performances of 2024, listed (more or less) alphabetically, with a dozen more below them worth acknowledging. After all, for every Jessica Lange as the mother of “Mother Play” there was Ron Bottitta as the father in “Fatherland.”

The list includes links to my reviews, which I mostly excerpt to explain my first dozen choices.

Cole Escola in “Oh, Mary”

As both writer and star of “Oh, Mary!”, a campy comedy about First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, Escola made what is unquestionably the most celebrated stage debut of the year (of most years), treated like a boy wonder of the theater world (albeit at age 37), and an overnight sensation (although he began posting comic videos on YouTube sixteen years ago, and is a familiar face on streaming comedies.) “What a joy to see this singular comedic talent become the toast of Broadway, ” New Yorker magazine’s Michael Schulman writes in The Best Performances of 2024 (which lists only one theatrical performer, Escola.) Even those few isolated souls less than completely smitten by Escola’s play (like me) celebrate Escola’s performance in the title role, with facial contortions reminiscent of I Love Lucy, and a hoop skirt evocative of Carol Burnett as Scarlett O’Hara wearing the curtains in her famous skit Went with the Wind.

Andre DeShields in “Cats: The Jellicle Ball”

In the reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical as part of Ballroom culture, every cast member was fabulous, credible and engaging. Only one, though, really deserved the standard Ballroom appellation “legendary”: André De Shields, who reigned as Old Deuteronomy, his slow, dignified promenade reminiscent (perhaps too reminiscent) of his entrance in “Hadestown,” but for all its familiarity, no less mesmerizing.

Dorian Harewood and Maryann Plunkett in “The Notebook”

Dorian Harewood and Maryann Plunkett portrayed the old couple Noah and Allie in “The Notebook” with two pairs of actors having portrayed the same characters when they are young and middle aged. But the two older actors stood out, because they served as the storytellers, but also because their performances were so detailed and devastating, Plunkett’s Allie living with dementia, Harewood’s Noah navigating his wife’s illness, his family’s worry, his own old age.

Jessica Lange in “Mother Play”

Jessica Lange was unforgettable in Paula Vogel’s unforgiving portrait of the title character in “Mother Play,” her semiautobiographical new play — a role that was so demanding that it felt tantamount to actor abuse. The actress was called on to age forty years on stage, frequently and ferociously in a heightened state of emotion, whether drunkenly oversharing, uncontrollably raging, bitterly regretting, or coldly rejecting her two children. 

Rachel McAdams in “Mary Jane”

Rachel McAdams might at first seem to have been miscast in her first role on Broadway.  She portrayed the title character in Amy Herzog’s deceptively casual play about the mother of a severely disabled son, with the same fresh-faced and cheerful approach as her beloved character Kate in “Slings & Arrows.” But this made increasing sense for the character, as we come to understand the extraordinary effort it takes Mary Jane to stay optimistic.

Audra McDonald in “Gypsy”

With less brass and more heart, Audra McDonald’s distinctive portrayal of Madam Rose, the mother of all stage mothers, is the reason to see this sixth Broadway production of the 1959 musical inspired by the memoir of Gypsy Rose Lee. As she has done in previous performances – for which she has won six Tony Awards, more than any other actress — McDonald seems to project her heartache from her insides directly into ours; it’s honestly difficult to witness her “Rose’s Turn” without crying. 

Nicole Scherzinger in “Sunset Blvd”

All eyes in “Sunset Blvd” have been focused on the fierce, full-throated and humongously-photographed performance by Nicole Scherzinger as Norma Desmond, the once-reigning silent movie queen long deposed and now delusional. I acknowledge how much the intense performance by Nicole Scherzinger, the former lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, has proven to be catnip for Broadway diva worshippers, even as the character she’s portraying now makes no sense. I asked on social media what role she could play that would fit her talents and make more sense for her glamor, her beauty, and her intimidating presence:·Morticia in the Addams Family, Anita in West Side Story, Velma Kelly in Chicago, the Phantom in the Phantom of the Opera, Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, the title role in Dracula the musical?

Helen J. Shen and Darren Criss in “Maybe Happy Ending”

This surprise hit about two robots who fall in love depends on the charm of the two performers, and their ability to incorporate a sense of humanity into characters that stay convincingly robotic in their movements

Holland Taylor and Ana Vilafane in “N/A“

Holland Taylor and Ana Villafañe were perfectly cast in comedy about the relationship between the  first woman Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. They are able to deliver the comedy without compromising their credible portrayal of these actual women, capturing their essences without being hat trick impersonations.

Also:

Antoine Boissereau, an aerialist in Water for Elephants

Ron Bottitta in Fatherland

Nicholas Christopher in Jelly’s Last Jam

Tom Francis in Sunset Boulevard

Joshua Henry in Ragtime

Amber Iman in Lempicka

Francis Jue in Yellow Face

Nichelle Lewis in The Wiz and Ragtime

Andrew Keenan-Bolger in Scarlett Dreams

Jennifer Simard in Death Becomes Her

Jordan Tyson in The Notebook and Gypsy

Joy Woods in The Notebook and Gypsy