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THIRTEEN, your local PBS station, continues its special Broadway and Beyond celebration this spring as Great Performances raises the curtain on its annual “Broadway’s Best” line-up. The line-up, which coincides with Great Performances receiving a 2025 Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre begins with the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Next to Normal, now streaming for free at pbs.org/gperf, and the PBS app.
Caissie Levy stars as a suburban wife and mother living with bipolar disorder and haunted by her past in the production, filmed during the show’s West End transfer from London’s Donmar Warehouse.
Before you enjoy Levy’s Olivier-nominated work in Next to Normal, here’s a look at some of her other showstopping performances.
1) Elsa in Frozen
Levy originated the role of snow queen Elsa in the Broadway musical adaptation of the Disney movie Frozen, opposite Patti Murin as Anna. She belted the beloved showstopper “Let It Go” eight times a week, transforming from a frightened little girl to an empowered young woman during a faster-than-a-New-York-minute onstage costume change into Elsa’s iconic “ice dress.”
2) Penny Pingleton in Hairspray
Levy made her Broadway debut in 2006 as adorably nerdy Penny Pingleton in Hairspray after performing in national tour companies of the show and understudying the role in Toronto. Fun Fact: Levy met her future husband, David Reiser, during the Hairspray national tour. They first met outside the stage door of the Merriam Theater in Philadelphia, where Reiser had gone to see a friend in the show and Levy was wowing audiences as Penny.
3) Fantine in Les Misérables
In the 2014 revival of Les Misérables starring Ramin Karimloo as Jean Valjean, Will Swenson as Javert, and Nikki M. James as Eponine, Levy portrayed tragic heroine Fantine. She delivered the showstopping solo “I Dreamed a Dream.” It was a dream role in a dream show for Levy: seeing Les Misérables as a child left an indelible impression on her.
4) Rose Stopnick Gellman in Caroline, or Change
Levy played Rose Stopnick Gellman in Roundabout Theatre Company’s Tony-nominated 2021 revival of Caroline, or Change, Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori’s musical about about a Black woman working as a maid for a Jewish family in 1963 Louisiana. Even though Levy is Jewish, playing Rose — a liberal New York woman who becomes the uneasy new matriarch of a southern family — marked the first time she played a Jewish character on stage.
5) Mother in Ragtime
In 2024, Levy starred in the New York City Center Gala production of Ragtime, directed by Lear deBessonet. She portrayed Mother, the compassionate matriarch of a wealthy New Rochelle family, in the Stephen Flaherty-Lynn Ahrens musical based on E.L. Doctorow’s novel following three families pursuing the American Dream in turn-of-the-century New York. The limited engagement starring Joshua Henry as Coalhouse Walker Jr. and Brandon Uranowitz as Tateh became the hottest ticket in town, and the show is now slated to kick off Lincoln Center Theater’s upcoming season.
Follow Great Performances on Instagram and YouTube for the latest updates from the “Broadway’s Best” lineup. Visit thirteen.org/broadway to explore The WNET Group’s special Broadway and Beyond collection of theater and arts programming premiering on-air, online, and YouTube through June.
