The British Are Still Coming: 25 U.K. Contributions to Broadway’s Last 25 Years

As Broadway.com celebrates 25 years, we’re continuing our look back at what has defined the Broadway landscape since 2000. We’ve revisited standout Tony moments, major milestones and memorable opening numbers. Now we’re turning our focus across the Atlantic. With July 4 on the horizon, it may seem ironic to spotlight British imports. But over the past 25 years, U.K. talent has become a vital part of Broadway. As King George III sang in Hamilton, “Oceans rise, empires fall,” and through it all, these two theater worlds stay connected. Independence brings fireworks, but the real sparks on Broadway happen when talent crosses the pond and brightens the stage.

1. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
There have been plenty of British cultural contributions that changed the world, from Shakespeare to The Beatles, but in the 21st century, few rival the global reach of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. So when playwright Jack Thorne, director John Tiffany and Rowling teamed up to tell the story of the grown-up Hogwarts wizards and their children in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, millennials who grew up with the books showed up, often with their own kids in tow. The production won six Tony Awards, including Best Play, and proved the Boy Who Lived still had a few more tricks up his sleeve.

2. Mark Rylance
Mark Rylance was already a force in London when he arrived on Broadway in 2008, but his impact here was immediate and lasting. He won three Tony Awards in six years and an Oscar in 2016, earning the kind of respect that crosses industries. Praised by peers and adored by audiences, he turns every role into a lesson in nuance and presence. From the mischievous charm of Boeing-Boeing to the raw conviction of Jerusalem to the gender-bending wit of Twelfth Night, Rylance shifted the focus to the power of detail and restraint. Even at awards shows, he recited poetry instead of giving standard speeches. He didn’t raise his voice, but Broadway listened, and so did Hollywood. 

3. Matilda the Musical
Matilda premiered on Broadway in 2013, bringing to life Roald Dahl’s tale of a remarkable girl who dared to change her story. Tim Minchin’s score and Dennis Kelly’s book captured the show’s clever spirit. And thanks to Broadway.com favorite Lesli Margherita, audiences got to go behind the scenes with her vlog Looks Not Books. Both backstage and onstage, Matilda highlighted intelligence over idiocy in a way that often felt a little bit naughty. Family theater fare rarely had so much fun breaking the rules.

4. Daniel Radcliffe
Known to millions as the boy wizard, Daniel Radcliffe made his Broadway debut in 2008 with Equus, trading spells for stark, psychological drama. He kept theatergoers on their toes with a tap-dancing turn in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, a nuanced performance in the tragicomedy The Cripple of Inishmaan and continued variety with The Lifespan of a Fact on Broadway and Privacy off-Broadway. Then came Merrily We Roll Along, where he held his own in one of Sondheim’s toughest scores and took home a Tony Award. At every turn, Radcliffe reminded Broadway that fame might get you in the door, but real talent keeps you there.

5. Jez Butterworth
Jerusalem put Jez Butterworth on the Broadway map in 2011, followed by The River, The Ferryman and The Hills of California. The last three featured his partner, Laura Donnelly, whose performances brought extra depth to his already intimate work. The Ferryman, helmed by powerhouse director Sam Mendes, won the Tony Award for Best Play and confirmed Butterworth as a major voice on Broadway. His plays take their time in the best way, making a case for lingering and letting silence, history and pain settle before the storm breaks. With rich characters and emotional precision, he’s become one of the most consistently compelling voices on Broadway in the past 25 years.

6. Billy Elliot the Musical
Billy Elliot danced into Broadway in 2008 with Elton John’s score and Lee Hall’s story about punching above your weight. The winner of 10 Tony Awards, including one for its trio of young stars who shared the title role, Billy Elliot is still remembered for making ballet a working-class hero’s sport. Hall’s writing gave the show its grit and heart, while John’s music pushed it forward, but it was the young performers, tackling complex choreography and emotional arcs, who really brought the house down. Broadway loves an underdog, especially one who can land a perfect leap.

7. Cynthia Erivo
Erivo’s breakout in John Doyle’s revival of The Color Purple in 2015 brought soul, precision and a voice that floored Broadway audiences. Since then, she has won Grammy, Emmy and Tony Awards and earned Oscar, Golden Globe and SAG nominations. She stars as Elphaba in the two-film Wicked adaptation, with the first installment becoming the highest-grossing movie ever based on a Broadway musical. Her “Defying Gravity” battle cry became an instant cultural moment. In 2025, she reconnected with the Broadway community by hosting the Tony Awards. Up next: a one-woman Dracula in London and the role of Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl. It’s clear her future is unlimited.

8. Spamalot
From the Finnish fisch-schlapping dance to the Knights who say Ni, Spamalot might be the silliest British musical comedy ever to storm Broadway. Monty Python’s brand of ridiculous humo(u)r landed in 2005 and found that American audiences were happy to always look on the bright side of life. With three Tony wins, including Best Musical, it turned gleeful chaos into the holy grail of musical comedy—armo(u)r, coconuts and all.

9. James Corden
James Corden made his Broadway debut in The History Boys in 2006 and returned in 2012 with One Man, Two Guvnors, winning a Tony Award for his riotous turn as a hapless minder caught between two bosses. He’s since kept one foot in the theater world, starring in movie musicals like Into the Woods, The Prom and Cats. As the host of The Late Late Show, he turned Carpool Karaoke into a phenomenon and regularly celebrated Broadway with elaborate musical numbers. He hosted the Tony Awards in 2016 and 2019, leaning into his lifelong love of the stage. Corden may be a Hollywood regular, but he’ll always be a theater kid at heart—and he’s coming back to Broadway in Art, beginning August 28.

10. Marianne Elliott
Marianne Elliott made her Broadway debut directing War Horse in 2011, followed by The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in 2014. Both shows used inventive stagecraft to pull audiences deeper into the story, setting a new bar for what live theater can do. She returned in 2018 with a revival of Angels in America that earned her a second Tony Award and also brought wins for Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane. Then came Company in 2021, where Elliott reimagined the central role as a woman and guided Patti LuPone to her third Tony. Each time, Elliott found a new way to make big ideas feel human.

11. John Doyle
Director John Doyle made his Broadway debut in 2005 with a scalpel-sharp Sweeney Todd and a clear point of view: less is more. Actors played their own instruments, the set was bare and nothing got between the audience and the story. His revival of Company took a similar path, followed by The Color Purple, which won a Tony and introduced Cynthia Erivo to Broadway audiences. Doyle’s style asked audiences to listen closely and let the storytelling do the heavy lifting. His influence can still be felt in the clean, focused revivals that keep showing up on Broadway and in the way they trust actors to work.

12. The Audience
Peter Morgan’s fascination with the monarchy has fueled a run of royal-watcher essentials, from the 2006 film The Queen, which earned Helen Mirren an Oscar, to Netflix’s The Crown and the 2015 Broadway play The Audience. In The Audience, Morgan brought Mirren back as Queen Elizabeth II, this time focusing on her private weekly meetings with prime ministers at Buckingham Palace. Both Mirren and Richard McCabe, who played Harold Wilson, won Tony Awards. No list of Brits on Broadway would be complete without Mirren’s turn as Her Majesty. It was so good, it made you want to curtsy.

13. Eddie Redmayne
Before his Oscar win for The Theory of Everything and roles in Les Misérables and the Fantastic Beasts series, Eddie Redmayne made his Broadway debut in John Logan’s Red, playing opposite Alfred Molina as the assistant to abstract painter Mark Rothko. He won a Tony Award in 2010 and returned to Broadway in 2024 as a Tony nominee for his turn as the Emcee in Cabaret, a role he first played in London. Redmayne’s stage work has bookended a film career shaped by eclectic roles and committed performances.

15. Andrew Garfield
Yes, he was born in Los Angeles, but Garfield grew up in Surrey and holds dual citizenship, so we’re flying the Union Jack for him here. His Broadway debut in Death of a Salesman was solid, but it was his vulnerable turn in the 2018 revival of Angels in America that truly stunned—and won him a Tony Award. And while it’s a film, his meticulous performance as Rent composer Jonathan Larson in the Lin-Manuel Miranda-helmed Tick, Tick… Boom! hit squarely in the heart for theater lovers. With all caveats noted, we’re happy to proclaim Garfield’s talent is louder than words.

16. Six
In Six, the wives of Henry VIII step out of the history books and into the spotlight, reclaiming their stories with the now-iconic summary: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Created by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, the show delivers a concert-style history lesson packed with pop bangers, sharp humor and plenty of sisterhood. It won two Tony Awards, including Best Original Score, and brought a fresh, feminist jolt to the Broadway stage.

17. Jamie Lloyd
Director Jamie Lloyd has changed the look and feel of Broadway revivals. Known for stripped-down sets, live cameras and emotional honesty, he’s brought star-driven productions of Betrayal, A Doll’s House and Sunset Boulevard to New York. The latter earned 2025 Tony Awards for Best Revival and for star Nicole Scherzinger. His minimalist approach cuts through tradition, drawing focus to the actors and their inner lives. With Evita running in London and Waiting for Godot on the way, Lloyd’s influence on Broadway’s visual storytelling is unmistakable.

18. The Lehman Trilogy
A British cast and creative team took on the American dream in this sweeping portrait of capitalism’s rise and fall. Directed by Sam Mendes and adapted by Ben Power from Stefano Massini’s play, The Lehman Trilogy followed three immigrant brothers from their arrival in America to the 2008 collapse of their empire. Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley and Adrian Lester played more than 50 roles over 170 years, bringing focus and momentum to a dense, true story. The Broadway production earned five Tony Awards in 2022, including Best Play and Best Actor for Beale. The story unfolded inside a glass box on a turntable, rotating slowly through time and ambition.

19. Daniel Craig
Long before the tux and the martinis, Daniel Craig was a stage actor. Fame came later, but he’s never stopped returning to the theater to challenge himself. He made his Broadway debut in 2009’s A Steady Rain with Hugh Jackman, then took on Betrayal in 2019 opposite his real-life wife Rachel Weisz. In between Bond films, he played Iago in the 2016 Othello off-Broadway and tackled Macbeth with Ruth Negga in 2022. Known for action on screen, Craig brings quiet control to the stage. He keeps coming back to the theater, a place where even the most recognizable stars can stretch themselves.

20. Wolf Hall
Tudor drama landed on Broadway with Wolf Hall, the 2015 two-part epic based on Hilary Mantel’s bestselling novels. Adapted by Mike Poulton and imported from the Royal Shakespeare Company, it followed Thomas Cromwell’s rise through Henry VIII’s court without dumbing anything down. Ben Miles played Cromwell with quiet command, guiding the audience through shifting alliances and political survival. The staging was spare, the storytelling crisp and the tension slow-burning. Wolf Hall earned eight Tony nominations and reminded Broadway that serious storytelling—when done right—can be just as gripping as spectacle.

21. Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones won a Tony in 2009 for playing Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music, a role that comes with one of the most familiar songs in musical theater. “Send in the Clowns” is the “to be or not to be” of Broadway ballads—so well known it’s difficult to make your own. Zeta-Jones began her career onstage in London, but audiences knew her best as Velma Kelly in the 2002 film version of Chicago. That performance helped launch a new era of movie musicals and reminded Hollywood that glamour and talent still go together. Onstage, she held back just enough to let the role speak for itself.

22. The History Boys
Alan Bennett’s The History Boys arrived on Broadway in 2006 with its full original cast from the National Theatre—and barely needed a moment to settle in. A schoolroom play about exams, ambition and the purpose of education, it resonated deeply. Nicholas Hytner’s direction kept the rhythm tight and the sentiment in check, letting the performances shine. Richard Griffiths led the ensemble, which also introduced American audiences to James Corden and Dominic Cooper. It won six Tonys, including Best Play, and proved that a talky, British coming-of-age drama could hold a Broadway house. It wasn’t loud, but it stuck with you. Just like a good teacher.

23. Maria Friedman
Maria Friedman came to Broadway as a performer in The Woman in White, but her return as a director changed the conversation. Her revival of Merrily We Roll Along reintroduced the famously short-lived Sondheim show and reframed it. With Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendez leading the cast, Friedman stripped the story to its core and let the relationships carry the weight. She didn’t over-design or over-direct. She trusted the material and the actors, and it paid off. A show that once closed in two weeks is now a Broadway hit. Sometimes it just takes the right person to hear it clearly.

24. Jodie Comer
Jodie Comer made her Broadway debut in Prima Facie and won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The Killing Eve star delivered a solo performance as a criminal defense barrister forced to confront the legal system from the other side. Adapted by Suzie Miller and directed by Justin Martin, the production transferred from the West End and made a strong impression in New York. One actor, one chair, a sharp shift in perspective. Comer didn’t rely on spectacle or staging. She held the audience on her own, for 100 minutes straight, and never let go.

25. The Play That Goes Wrong
Some British imports arrive with pedigree. The Play That Goes Wrong arrived with a collapsing set and a lot of shouting. Created by the Mischief Theatre team, this farce about a disastrous amateur production turned chaos into an art form. It opened on Broadway in 2017 and ran for nearly two years before moving off-Broadway, where it’s still going strong. Peter Pan Goes Wrong followed in 2023, showing the formula has legs—and bruises. For a play built on disaster, it turns out a lot went right.