Gloria Steinem Musical ‘Ms.’ Announces 2027 Broadway Run

In the winter of 1971, a small group of women gathered in a cramped Manhattan apartment. They had a wild, almost impossible dream: to launch a national magazine run entirely by women, for women. They wanted to build a publication that completely ignored the traditional formulas of housekeeping, diet secrets, and how to please a husband.

That dream became Ms. magazine. Now, more than half a century later, that chaotic, groundbreaking era is heading to the Broadway stage. Producers announced this week that Ms., a brand-new musical chronicling the birth of the iconic publication and the rise of its co-founder, Gloria Steinem, will officially open on Broadway in the fall of 2027.

The Brains Behind the Show

The project is spearheaded by veteran producer Daryl Roth, who has spent years bringing Steinem’s legacy to theater audiences. Roth previously produced the hit 2018 off-Broadway play Gloria: A Life. But where that play was a sweeping biographical retrospective of Steinem’s entire life, this new musical zeroed in on a specific, high-stakes moment in time.

“The play was an intimate conversation,” Roth said in a statement. “But the Ms. magazine years? That was a pressure cooker. It was a moment of pure, lightning-in-a-bottle cultural revolution. It had high drama, deep friendships, bitter fights, and global consequences. It demands music. It demands the scale and energy of a Broadway musical.”

To capture that energy, Roth assembled an impressive, all-female creative team. The book is written by Sarah Burgess, known for her sharp, fast-paced dialogue in off-Broadway hits like Dry Powder. The music and lyrics are composed by Zoe Sarnak, a rising theatrical voice whose style blends acoustic folk-rock, 1970s protest soul, and driving, modern theatrical pop. Tony Award-winner Diane Paulus, the artistic director of the American Repertory Theater, is attached to direct.

Not Just a One-Woman Show

Steinem’s aviator glasses and long, parted hair made her the undisputed media darling of the second-wave feminist movement. But the creators of Ms. are quick to point out that the musical is an ensemble piece, not a solo tribute.

The script focuses heavily on the collective of brilliant, headstrong women who actually built the publication from the ground up. The characters include:

• Dorothy Pitman Hughes: The formidable Black activist who co-founded the Women’s Action Alliance with Steinem and fought to keep intersectional issues at the forefront.
• Letty Cottin Pogrebin: The brilliant strategist who took on skeptical Madison Avenue advertisers.
• Pat Carbine: The experienced publishing executive who left a secure, high-paying job at McCall’s to keep the chaotic startup financially afloat.
• Alice Walker: The young, visionary writer who joined the editorial board and pushed the magazine to expand its cultural boundaries.

The show does not shy away from the intense internal conflicts that threatened to tear the magazine apart in its early years. There were fierce debates over editorial control, race, class, and sexuality. There were also constant worries about money, FBI surveillance, and public backlash.

“We did not always agree,” Steinem, now 90, said in a recent interview about the upcoming show. “In fact, we argued constantly. But those arguments were where the real work happened, and where our strongest ideas were born. I’m thrilled this musical shows the messy, beautiful reality of our sisterhood, rather than some glossy, idealized version of history.”

What the Revolution Sounds Like

Composer Zoe Sarnak has crafted a score that mirrors the sonic environment of early-1970s New York. The music shifts from the gritty, brassy soul of downtown protest rallies to the quiet, acoustic intimacy of women sharing their personal stories in consciousness-raising groups.

One standout number, previewed for a small group of theater insiders, is titled “The Preview Issue.” It is a fast-tempo, polyphonic song where the editors scramble to lay out the very first pages while dealing with a broken typewriter, a skeptical male printing press manager, and a mountain of unpaid bills. Another song, “Dorothy’s Truth,” sung by the character of Dorothy Pitman Hughes, explores the intersection of the Civil Rights and feminist movements, bringing a rich, bluesy depth to the second act.

“The 1970s was a goldmine of sound,” Sarnak explained. “We want the audience to feel the physical vibration of that era. This isn’t polite theater. It’s loud, rhythmic, and urgent.”

The Long Road to Broadway

Audiences will have to wait a bit to see the finished product on Broadway, as the production is taking a deliberate, old-school development path.

A series of private developmental workshops will take place in New York City beginning in the spring of 2025. From there, the musical will head north for its world premiere regional run at the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in September 2026. This pre-Broadway engagement will allow the creative team to fine-tune the staging and musical arrangements before making the leap to Manhattan in late 2027.

Casting is currently underway, led by casting director Cindy Tolan. Finding an actress to play Steinem is a unique challenge. The team is reportedly looking for a performer who can capture Steinem’s public, charismatic warmth alongside the private anxieties she felt about being thrust into the media spotlight.

“Gloria never wanted to be the sole face of the movement,” book writer Sarah Burgess said. “She was pushed into that role by a media machine that wanted a single, photogenic symbol. That tension is the emotional core of our show. How do you lead a movement that is supposed to be leaderless?”

A Timely Return

The timing of the 2027 Broadway run is highly intentional. It marks the 55th anniversary of Ms. magazine’s very first independent issue, which hit newsstands in July 1972 with an iconic cover featuring a multi-armed Wonder Woman.

But the creators say the show’s themes are painfully relevant today. With contemporary debates over reproductive rights, gender equity, and media representation dominating current headlines, the struggles of the 1970s feel remarkably close to home.

“This isn’t a history lesson,” director Diane Paulus said. “This is an active conversation with our present. We want audiences to leave the theater feeling not just nostalgic, but energized and ready to organize.”