Revealed: Time Out New York’s 2023 Best of the City award winners

Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s ruefully retrospective 1981 musical, which follows three friends backward through the course of 20 years, lasted just two weeks in its original Broadway production. But Maria Friedman’s superb revival is a smash, thanks in large part to its radiantly sympathetic stars: Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendez. Through sheer lovability, they shift the show’s aftertaste from bitter—in its pessimistic depictions of show business, friendship and romance—to lingeringly sweet.

The extended and notoriously disharmonious recording process that led to Fleetwood Mac’s classic 1977 LP Rumours is the inspiration for David Adjmi’s long and beautiful group portrait of a rock band riven along artistic, romantic and pharmaceutical fault lines. Every aspect of the play’s premiere at Playwrights Horizons is excellent in isolation, from the ensemble acting to the heightened-verité design and the pitch-perfect original songs by Arcade Fire's Will Butler; mixed together in Daniel Aukin’s meticulously layered production, they cohere into a riveting multitrack train wreck. 

The Off Broadway institution began 2023 with the final week of last year’s best play, Downstate, and ended it with this year’s best play, Stereophonic; another triumph, Wet Brain, was lodged halfway between those bookends. But even PH’s less successful efforts were the right kind of missteps: stumbles on a risky but resolutely forward path. When Tim Sanford ended his 25-year tenure as the company’s artistic director in 2020, his replacement, Adam Greenfield, had huge shoes to fill. He has done so with bold strides while keeping a remarkable sense of PH balance. 

Since the closing of Bad Cinderella, Baron Lloyd-Webber has had no musicals on Broadway for the first time since 1979. But Parris, a veteran of Cats and School of Rock, has been doing the lord’s work at the Green Room 42 in a thrilling nightclub set—called Surrender: An Andrew Lloyd Webber Thrill Ride—that includes well-chosen rarities alongside the big diva moments (including a trip down “Memory” lane). Her voice is a thing of seemingly limitless power, fullness and range; buttressed by piano superstar Brian Nash, she is the kind of rising star you want to call all your friends to make sure they catch.

One of our favorite things about the Hulu show Only Murders in the Building is how very New York it is. Thanks to a truly immersive pop-up this fall, New Yorkers got the chance to actually live like Charles, Oliver and Mabel. The show’s third season was set at United Palace in Washington Heights (called The Goosebury Theater in the show), and they packed the theater with props, costumes and clues for this pop-up. Given the extreme attention to detail, fun interactivity and moments of humor, it truly dazzled (or should we say “Death Rattle Dazzled”). 

Featuring the work of nearly 100 women artists from around the world, “Making Their Mark” stands out as one of the most diverse gallery shows we’ve seen. The vast exhibition drawn from the outstanding Shah Garg collection showcases paintings, sculpture, mixed media, textiles and more from artists including Firelei Báez, Cecily Brown, Judy Chicago, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Mary Weatherford, Anicka Yi, and many others. Collector Komal Shah set out to prove that “excellence and equity are not mutually exclusive,” and she absolutely achieved that goal with this powerful two-story show exploring abstraction.

New York City's streets are a verifiable outdoor art gallery. Walk almost anywhere and you'll come into contact with street art in many forms. Of all the public art this year, we feel that the floral archway in honor of the late Black transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson Park (formerly the East River State Park) in Brooklyn should take home the honor of best. It was unveiled this year after a few years of planning at the Kent Avenue/North Eighth Street intersection and showcases large sculptural flowers (like the ones she used to wear in her hair) in pink, blue, red and yellow, with gem-like petal designs along the sides. "Pay It No Mind," Johnson's life motto features in bold white lettering across the archway. It's a beautiful lasting tribute to welcome visitors to her namesake park.

Quick! Define a century of NYC art and culture. It’s not an easy task, but the Museum of the City of New York achieved it with expertise this year in “This Is New York: 100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture.” In this landmark exhibition, the museum showcases more than 400 iconic NYC items, from Carrie Bradshaw’s tutu to poetry by the Young Lords. The show explores the city “warts and all” and its many contradictions through the lenses of visual art, television, film, music, theater, literature and fashion.

This year has provided its fill of immersive experiences—a.k.a. digital projections on white walls. While we’re a bit over that trend, we are still awed by the shows at Hall des Lumières, its “Chagall, Paris-New York” show, in particular. First, Marc Chagall’s vibrant paintings lend themselves extremely well to a large-scale display. Secondly, Hall des Lumières provides the ideal backdrop for immersive experiences. This former bank building in Lower Manhattan reopened in late 2022 as a venue dedicated specifically to immersive shows. Given its resplendent architecture, digital projections interact beautifully with ornate columns, stone floors and stained glass ceilings. 

New Yorkers love a secret. The allure of entering a club through a secret door is enough to draw us in, but anything worth a damn has to be more than that. The Stranger stands up to the task. This new spot from the same owners of the Lower East Side's The Box, shuffles you in via one of the city's ubiquitous newsstands on 57th Street and unfolds a world of trippy fun with acrobats, dancers and actors roaming the floors. The insanity increases into the night as random characters pop up and dance alongside you to house and more.

Forget the Met Gala, this year’s hottest and most fashionable party was The People’s Ball. The Brooklyn Public Library invited everyone to strut their stuff on the runway at their free, inclusive event. The ball eschews elitism and amplifies the “colors, textures, and styles that comprise the city’s urban runway.” While some went for classic glam, others were inspired by the future, animals and fairytales for their ‘fits. Headwear, from a wreath made of flowers to a crown made of zipties, proved to be the icing on the cake. Our favorite look was a dress bearing the phrase “Read Banned Books” across its skirt.

This past August, folks around the world celebrated hip-hop's 50th anniversary and, since the musical genre was born right here in New York, you can imagine how intensely the city partook in the festivities. From a dazzling immersive exhibit at Hall des Lumières to the Universal Hip Hop Museum’s blowout bash and free concerts held by the city, New Yorkers were able to be a part of plenty of different events commemorating the occasion. But if it’s a single happening that truly captured the importance of the anniversary, it is the major (and free!) Jay-Z exhibit dubbed The Book of HOV took over the Brooklyn Public Library. Chronicling the journey and impact of Shawn Carter through thousands of archived objects, the show has become part and parcel of the library’s history.

Given the significance of September 11, it’s no surprise that New Yorkers were flabbergasted and delighted when a beautiful double rainbow appeared in our sky on that consequential date. On the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, folks noticed the celestial occurrence seemingly originating near the actual World Trade Center. Haunting? Sure—but oh so incredibly powerful as well. No wonder the moment went viral all over social media.