For those of us who can’t make it to New York on a regular basis, the Broadway cast album is an artistic lifeline. These gorgeous recordings take the best voices of the Great White Way and bring them right to us! But if you’re a bit behind on the latest theatrical goings-on, how to choose?
I’ve got you covered. I’m pairing up some of the best cast recordings of the 2025-2026 season with some of the year’s buzziest TV shows. Read on, and enjoy making your next playlist!
If you love: The Gilded Age
Listen to: Ragtime
Broadway babies already know there are plenty of connections between The Gilded Age and the musical Ragtime. (Who else got emotional when Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell shared scenes in Season 3?) Although the iconic musical is set a couple of decades later, it shares many of the same themes. A new era unfolds, the idle rich discover greater purpose, and Black success remains a complex struggle in a bigoted time.
If you’re counting down the days until The Gilded Age Season 4, you can’t go wrong spending some of that time listening to the Broadway cast album of Ragtime‘s Tony-winning revival. Caissie Levy’s vocal journey traces Mother’s evolution from a quietly content matriarch to a decisive, forward-thinking changemaker in “Back to Before.” As sung by Joshua Henry (one of the most resonant and richly voiced Broadway stars working today), Coalhouse is a tragic but never pitiful figure; a courageous and complicated man whose rich and confident voice soars equally on the hopeful “Wheels of a Dream” and the devastating anthem “Make Them Hear You.” Add the talents of Brandon Uranowitz, Ben Levi Ross, Nichelle Lewis, Shaina Taub, and countless others, and you’ve got one of the year’s most stunning musical achievements.
If you love: The Vampire Lestat
Listen to: The Lost Boys
Who knew 2026 would give us not one, but two hot, twisted, blond vampire rockstars? If you love Lestat‘s tortuous chemistry and faux-rock backdrop, it’s time to queue up the Broadway cast album for the musical adaptation of the 1987 horror-comedy cult hit. It’s a catchy, rock-pastiche score elevated by some of Broadway’s most promising young voices (and a few rock-solid veterans, too).
As she always does, Shoshana Bean finds every emotional (and melodic) moment pitch-perfectly, especially on single mom Lucy’s “Wild,” a complicated tribute to the bits of ourselves we give up along the way (and how we try to put the pieces back together). Quasi-ingenues LJ Benet and Maria Wirries imbue every shade of longing into tracks like “Now, Forever” and “Belong to Someone.” And then there’s Ali Louis Bourzgui, with Lestat-worthy magnetic energy and a thrilling, punky belt as David — truly one of the most singular voices Broadway has heard in years. “Have to Have You” and “Secret Comes Out” will be stuck in your head. Trust me.
If you love: Ted Lasso
Listen to: Schmigadoon!
Chances are, if you’re a fan of Ted Lasso, you have both a high tolerance for sentimentality and a fondness for lightly satirizing the same. Meet the Broadway cast album for Schmigadoon!, adapted from the beautifully bonkers, all-too-short TV series. In addition to sharing an Apple TV+ origin, they also share a wink-nudge sensibility with warmth underneath. Think of it as a sort of reverse-Ted situation. Ted is a chipper fish-out-of-water in grumpy England, while our real-world characters are too worldly for overly-cheery Schmigadoon.
Schmigadoon is a fun listen anytime, but you’ll get more out of it if you know the Golden Age shows and songs it (very, very clearly) parodies. And, like Ted Lasso, this score is an ensemble effort. There’s Ana Gasteyer’s Music Man-moralizing “Tribulation,” Isabelle McCalla’s sweet-and-stern “With All Of Your Heart,” and, of course, the gleeful earworm “Corn Puddin’.” Play “spot the musical reference,” or just sit back and giggle for a spell.
If you love: Adults
Listen to: Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Ah, the messiness of being twentysomething. While Adults is a bigger ensemble, and Two Strangers is a literal two-hander, they’re connected by their portrayals of disastrous but good-hearted young adults. They approach themes of messed-up families, bad romantic decisions, and floundering careers with sharp humor and surprising sweetness, too.
You’ll only hear two voices on the album, but when those voices are Sam Tutty and Christiani Pitts, who could complain? Songs like “New York,” “American Express,” and “On the App” feel fresh and modern. There’s a relatable cynicism tempered with sweet sincerity and even optimism (and vice versa). It may have been one of this season’s more under-the-radar shows, but its Broadway cast album is a gem.
If you love: Heated Rivalry
Listen to: Chess
Let’s get this out of the way first. Despite the jokey marketing, no, Chess is not, in fact, a steamy, queer, enemies-to-lovers romance. So if that’s what you’re after, this isn’t necessarily the recommendation for you. But if you’re obsessed with the big emotions, the push-and-pull of duty versus heart, and angsty Russians, you are so in luck.
The book for Chess is one of Broadway’s most (in)famous messes, and this revival is no exception. But this Broadway cast album shows why it’s also one of theatre’s most enduring and beloved scores. There’s Aaron Tveit, making “Pity the Child” and “One Night in Bangkok” sound easy. There’s Lea Michele, using that big belt on torch songs like “Nobody’s Side” and “Someone Else’s Story.” But most of all, there’s Nicholas Christopher as Anatoly, the Russian painfully devoted to his country and his game — neither of whom, it seems, always love him back. Sound familiar? From “Who I Want to Be” to “Anthem” to “Endgame,” he’s flawless.