As another year winds down to a close, we at Playbill are especially grateful for all the musicals that premiered in New York this year, providing us with new songs to obsess over. From a power ballad that will no doubt become the new go-to audition song, to character songs for robots and corpses, to funky '70s-tinged tunes—we have no doubt the songs that we heard for the first time in 2024 will go on to become musical theatre classics.

Below are 10 songs from new musical scores that we are listening to on repeat. If you love these musicals we shouted out, we wonder if you'll agree with us that this is the best song from that show. If you are new to the musicals on this list, we hope our selection will inspire you to experience the show in full. Take a listen below to Playbill's 10 favorite new musical theatre songs. 

“When You’re in Love” from Maybe Happy Ending

So, a confession. When Maybe Happy Ending was announced and I read the plot synopsis about two robots falling in love, I rolled my eyes. Then they released a music video of a song from the score, "When You're in Love." Immediately it changed my mind, and I knew this was a musical I needed to pay attention to. Hue Park's lyrics are truly fabulous, with a surprisingly novel message that you don't hear often in love songs, how giving yourself over to love is to also give yourself over to inevitable pain—and why that's completely worth it. But even as expert as the song's lyrics are, it was the music that really grabbed me. Will Aronson is a fantastic melody writer—which can be a pretty rare quality! Better still is how deeply emotional his music is. All the songs in Maybe Happy Ending, and in particular "When You're in Love," sound exactly like what Park's fantastic lyrics are saying, which I do think is the hallmark of a truly gifted composer. The match of the music and the lyrics really send the entire score over the top. 

And as long as we're being nerd-level detailed here, there is a somewhat dissonant bridge leading into a modulation that gives me the most feels of any song I've heard in quite some time (listen at the 1:37 timestamp). Aronson lets it linger in these harmonies that make the ear beg for resolution, that give you this immense sense of something big coming, making that eventual key change feel like such a payoff that it's overwhelming. It's just an expert musicalization of that feeling of giving in to one's feelings, to being propelled to let your guard down and finally be vulnerable enough with someone to tell them you're in love. Moments like that are what makes musical theatre so effective, so indelible. I wasn't familiar with Aronson and Park before Maybe Happy Ending, but now I want to hear everything they write. —Logan Culwell-Block, managing news editor

“Stay Gold” from The Outsiders

I thought The Outsiders was full of good songs as I watched it for the first time, but one song stuck with me more than the others—and has gotten more plays from me on Spotify since the cast album came out. “Stay Gold” performed by Sky Lakota-Lynch as Johnny Cade and Brody Grant as PonyBoy, is an evocative second-act ballad. The lyrics—simple, yet full of meaning—sit easily on the melody and don’t reach for forced rhymes. “I have had some time for thinking,” sings Lakota-Lynch. “I thought I wasn’t ready to die. Turns out I was wrong.” Unusually, there is no bridge. Instead, the song has a simple, three-part AAA form (most musical theatre songs are AABA forms—or, if you’re Jason Robert Brown, AABCADGQMLZA). But because the melodic material is gorgeous and the vocals are so well delivered, my ear didn’t need any additional musical material. Instead, Lakota-Lynch is simply joined by Grant as they trade the upper harmony in the last verse. It’s an especially poignant song that (IMO) sealed the deal on The Outsiders as 2024's Best Musical. —Ethan Treiman, video editor

"Worth It" from Suffs

If you read our list of 15 favorite shows of 2024, then you're not surprised that I'm picking a song from Suffs (I have seen the show three times on Broadway after all, twice with my own money). But the truly challenging task is picking only one song from Shaina Taub's Tony Award-winning score: "The March (We Demand Equality)"? "The Young Are At the Gates"? "A Letter From Harry's Mother"? It's like asking me to choose my favorite musical theatre diva—they are all essential for different reasons. Yet if I must pick a song, the one that I play most on repeat, it would be "Worth It." While most of the song in Suffs are some of the greatest protest songs ever written, I go back to "Worth It" over and over again. For one, it's the rare ballad in the show. And it is where Alice Paul (played by Taub) takes a breather and asks herself if the fight for women's rights is worth the sacrifices she has to make—namely having a husband and raising a family. It's a question that any ambitious person can relate to, but it's one that women feel most deeply—that question of career (with it personhood) and motherhood, can you do both or does one always need to be sacrificed? And the song is gorgeous in its simplicity. "Is it worth it?" is repeated over and over again in the chorus, slowly building each time it is repeated until Taub is joined by the entire cast to ask the same question, in harmony with minimal orchestral backing. It's the most aching, primal cry that takes us to the heavens before Taub elegantly brings us back down to earth: "I swear I'll make it worth it." What an ending! 

And Taub previously told us that Jeanine Tesori inspired her to write this song so that alone elevates it to greatness. —Diep Tran, editor in chief.

"Shame in My Body" from Teeth

2024 was a banner year for Off-Broadway musicals. While a wealth of wonderful material was produced, my heart belongs to the song stylings of several familiar names who poured their creative spirits into the weirdest idea they could get their hands on. My first pick is Teeth, Michael R. Jackson and Anna K. Jacobs’s musical adaptation of the 2007 horror film of the same name. It may be a laugh riot, but the potent understanding of how shame affects the inner lives of young women in the Evangelical space depicted in “Shame in My Body” stops me in my tracks every time I listen to the shows cast recording. Some of the lyrical turns of phrase may summon chuckles, but by the climax of the bridge, your heart is sure to ache for Dawn and all of the young women in PKG, setting the stage perfectly for the retaliatory horror to come. Painful salvation indeed. —Margaret Hall, staff writer

"Stay" from Lempicka

I would have my gay theatre card revoked if I did not include “Stay," the show-stopping, heart-wrenching anthem from Lempicka (written by Matt Gould and Carson Kreitze), performed by the absolute goddess that is Amber Iman (iykyk) in my 2024 review. This isn’t just a song; it’s a moment. Iman doesn’t sing the damn song, she lives it. It’s like Sade and Nina Simone had a lovechild, and that lovechild decided to break your heart while reminding you why musical theatre exists in the first place. Her voice is pure silk dipped in anguish, and let me tell you, you’ll feel every ounce of it like it’s your personal heartbreak. By the time she hits the final note, you’re a puddle on the floor begging Rafaela to…stay. And let’s not ignore the drama! This isn’t just a love song—it’s a plea, an ultimatum, and a spiritual awakening rolled into one.

Written with the kind of emotional precision that feels like Gould and Carson hacked into your innermost feelings, "Stay" is a gut punch of longing, sensuality, and full-tilt passion. It’s the perfect storm of tender storytelling and vocal fireworks, seamlessly blending a timeless feel with a sharp, modern edge. When that climactic crescendo hits, you’re done. Cooked. Emotionally sautéed. "Stay" doesn’t just ask for your attention—it demands your soul, and honestly? You’ll give it willingly. When I witnessed Iman’s performance, I was aghast. It was a masterclass in vulnerability but held so much power. Iman is the professor I didn’t know I needed. "Stay" is a musical theatre fan’s dream combination of a truly gifted performer and a writing team who gave us one of the best ballads of the year. All three delivered so hard that it leaves you wanting to call your ex, confess your feelings, and then block them immediately. —Jeffrey Vizcaíno, director of social media

"For the Gaze" from Death Becomes Her

Few shows have made me laugh out loud in a theatre quite like Death Becomes Her. The song that is the cherry on top of the show is the opening number and Megan Hilty’s rendition of “For the Gaze" (yes, it's a pun). The song introduces Hilty’s character, Madeline Ashton, a star of stage and screen who is addicted to attention and strives to keep it by any means possible. What better way to showcase both her fabulousness and character flaw than in a classic show-stopping Broadway number with five (!) quick changes, clever word play, and Hilty's powerful belt. "The gaze/gays love me," she sings, and so do we all! —Meredith Ammons, social media coordinator

“Morton Salt Girl” from Days Of Wine And Roses 

Days of Wine and Roses unfortunately had just a brief run on Broadway, which makes me all the more happy it got a cast recording—and a fabulous one at that. Adam Guettel's scores are always something of a revelation, but only more so when you have world-class singer-actors like Kelli O'Hara and Brian d'Arcy James handling things. There are so many songs and moments that I could spotlight, but the one I continually come back to is "Morton Salt Girl," in which O'Hara's Kirsten sings of feeling abandoned by her husband's choice to go sober. It's a heartbreaking window into an aspect of addiction that we don't often think of, and in true Guettel fashion, that has been explored to great complexity in the music. Guettel is one of those writers that really demands the best in technical abilities to be able to do everything he writes in his songs, and I mean that both in terms of just being able to sing them and in terms of being able to act them. Needless to say, O'Hara was more than up to the task. Her final "What about the church we built? That's where you'll find me"—that "find" on a gorgeously sung, emotionally wrought high A—had me clutching my pearls when I saw the show. I'll never forget it! —Logan Culwell-Block, managing news editor

"My Days" from The Notebook

Let’s get one thing straight: if you didn’t hear the song “My Days” playing multiple times while scrolling through Instagram and TikTok this spring…are you even a real theatre kid? Yes, the song that took Broadway and the internet by storm is without a doubt a standout of the year. With music and lyrics by pop singer Ingrid Michaelson and performed by Joy Woods, the song is everything you want from a new Broadway power ballad: a young woman making a major life decision via song? Check. Notes sung so high you fear for the glass in the room but simultaneously thrilled out of your seat begging for more? Check. And finally, a melody that is so addictive that the only way to ease your cravings is to listen to it on repeat so much that it becomes your Spotify Wrapped number 1 played song? BIG check.

In Michaelson’s debut as musical composer and lyricist, she has wonderfully encapsulated the moment a person decides to choose their own happiness. The song is a glorious epiphany of Ali freeing herself and letting go of the expectations that she and her family have put upon her. She isn’t choosing a man but choosing a life that she wants. And the song isn’t just a power ballad, but a declaration of independence. And how do you sing that? At the top of your lungs, belting from the rooftops (which is exactly how Joy performs the song in the equally viral music video for the song). Whether young or older, the song has resonated with many, and Woods' performance has stunned and captivated Broadway fans. Not only will this song be sung at concerts, audition rooms, and bedrooms across the globe for years to come, but it will definitely be hummed at my desk for the foreseeable future. —Jeffrey Vizcaíno, director of social media

"Bright" from Stereophonic

If Shaina Taub hadn't won the Tony Award for Best Score, I would have wanted it to go to Will Butler for his original songs for Stereophonic. While David Adjmi's script is a masterclass in hyperrealism, it is Butler's score that elevates the play into an unforgettable theatrical experience, allowing us to see the unnamed band's greatness without having to explain it to the audience. It is a difficult task to create original songs for a fictional rock band that could, conceivably, be radio hits; Butler not only wrote one song that I could see being in the Top 40s, but several. Yet no song on the Stereophonic album more showcases Butler and Adjmi's genius use of music as character and story progression than "Bright." In the show, you hear three different versions of the song—one as a rough demo with a piano, one as an uptempo bop, and the third as a brooding, dramatic anthem to the pitfalls of fame. And with each version you hear, Diana's (originally played by Sarah Pidgeon) voice becomes more and more powerful, as her character starts to define herself artistically until the audience finally witnesses hers and the band's full power in the final version of "Bright." Coupled with evocative lyrics, period-accurate '70s instrumentation, and Pidgeon's flame-crackling vocals, and you have the making of the perfect pop rock song to listen to as you're driving down a highway with the windows down. —Diep Tran, editor in chief

"Up to the Stars" from Dead Outlaw

My other favorite song this year comes from, undeniably, my favorite musical of the last decade. Dead Outlaw by David Yazbek, Erik Della Penna, and Itamar Moses is one of the weirdest musicals I have seen on any stage, and I loved every single second of its too-good-to-be-true twists and turns, all of which were ripped directly from the real life and death of Elmer McCurdy (an outlaw who found fame after death as a mummy). I’m going insane waiting for the cast recording; there's only footage from two songs available. But months later, I can still hum most of the songs, just thinking about the moments, because the melodies were so tight that they imprinted on my brain immediately. 

If forced to single out one moment from the perfect evening, however, I turn my eye from McCurdy to coroner Thomas Noguchi. “Up to the Stars,” which sees Thom Sesma’s crooning coroner reflect on the litany of celebrity corpses that had crossed his slab, is a perfect character song that has a dash of Frank Sinatra doing "Fly Me to the Moon." From Marilyn Monroe to Natalie Wood, the pop culture references in "Up to the Stars" flow like honeyed wine on Sesma’s mature tenor, allowing the long-beloved-yet-undersung actor his chance in the spotlight. With Dead Outlaw coming to Broadway in April 2025, I cannot wait for a whole new legion of theatregoers to fall in love with Sesma, and the wacky wonder that is Dead Outlaw.  —Margaret Hall, staff writer