Broadway’s Best College-Set Shows

by Madison Harman

The college years are an incredibly formative and intellectual period for young minds. Students and faculty alike can develop and learn valuable life lessons in what can often be intense and consequential situations. Fitting then for higher education institutions to serve as the setting for many plays and musicals across Broadway history. As the school year starts up again, let’s take a look at some of Broadway’s Best Shows set on college campus.

The Male Animal

Written by James Thurber and Elliot Nugent, The Male Animal, opened on Broadway in 1940, and starred the Nugent himself alongside Ruth Matteson and Leon Ames. This comedy follows an English teacher at Midwestern University as he struggles with what to do when not allowed to express his worldview sentiments to his class. In the midst of his struggle for his defense of free speech, his wife’s former boyfriend, a football legend, arrives to complicate matters. In 1942 the show was adapted into a screenplay that starred Henry Fonda, Olivia de Havilland and Jake Carson. The show was revived in 1952 once again starring the writer Nugent, with Robert Preston and Martha Scott. 

Wicked

With a now iconic score by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman, Wicked opened on Broadway in 2003. One of the longest-running shows on Broadway, it follows the story of a young witch, Elphaba, and the unlikely friendship that forms with her schoolmate Glinda before the events of The Wizard of Oz. Mainly taking place at Shiz University, the original cast starred Kristen Chenoweth as Glinda, Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Norbert Leo Butz as Fiyero. The show was nominated for 11 Tonys, winning three of them. It also won six drama Desk awards, including Outstanding New Musical. The modern classic continues to be one of the most popular shows on Broadway. A new movie adaption is set to release November 2024, starring Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and Jonathan Bailey. 

Legally Blonde

Written by Laurene O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin with a book by Heather Hatch, Legally Blonde opened on Broadway in 2007. Based on the 2001 movie starring Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Coolidge, Matthew Davis and Luke Wilson, the show follows Valley girl, Elle Woods, as she goes to Harvard Law in order to win back her ex boyfriend, while still staying true to herself. The musical starred Laura Bell Bundy, Richard H. Blake, Orfeh Christian Borle, Michael Ruper and Kate Shindle. The show was nominated for seven Tony Awards and ten Drama Desk Awards. 

Seminar 

Written by Theresa Rebeck, Seminar opened on Broadway in 2011. It starred Alan Rickman, Hamish Linklater, Jerry O’Connell, Hettienne Park and Lily Rabe. This comedy follows four young writers and their professor during a ten week writing seminar. Rickman’s performance awed viewers and made the show a success. 

Ohio State Murders

Ohio State Murders opened on Broadway in 2022, marking the Broadway debut of playwright Adrienne Kennedy, who penned the play in 1991. The show focuses on college student Suzanne Alexander at Ohio State University in 1950. As a renowned black author, she goes back to speak about her experience there and the murders of her daughters. The show starred Audra McDonald (Tony Nominee), Bryce Pinkham, Mister Fitzgerald, Lizan Mitchell and Abigail Stephenson. 

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf

Written by Edward Albee, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf premiered on Broadway in 1962. The original cast starred Uta Hagen, Arthur Hill, Melinda Dillon and George Grizzard. The play follows the marriage of Martha and George, who, after a university faculty party, drag a younger couple, Nick and Honey, into their relationship issues. The show won four Tony awards in 1963 including Best Play. Due to the unusually long length of the show, three hours, a separate matinee cast had to be formed, performing twice a week. The play was revived three times, in 1976, 2005 and in 2012, with a planned revival in 2020 that was thwarted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The most recent production starred Tracy Letts, Amy Morton, Carrie Coon and Madison Dirks. It won three Tonys and three Drama Desk Awards, including Best Revival of a Play in 2013. A film adaption was created in 1966 and it starred Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal and Sandy Dennis.