Betty Boop? Corpses? Robots? Will Broadway audiences go to all these extremely weird new musicals?

With spring approaching, the fact that best sums up this bizarre Broadway season? There are three new musical comedies about corpses: “Dead Outlaw,” “Operation Mincemeat” and “Death Becomes Her.”Not far off, the romantic leads of the most acclaimed show of the past several months, “Maybe Happy Ending,” are singing robots.Of the more traditional fare, the two jukebox bio-musicals that feature beloved old songbooks don’t celebrate arena phenoms like Michael Jackson or Tina Turner.No, the respective focuses of “A Wonderful World” (closing Feb.

23) and “Just In Time” are Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin, both of whom died in the early 1970s and played the Copa.Welcome to the Year of the Underdog.Every season has a few scrappy tuners that cut through Broadway’s confetti canons with grit and heart.Think Best Musical winners “Avenue Q,” “Spring Awakening” and the more recent “Kimberly Akimbo.” But the 2024-2025 crop has no Goliath for them to triumph over.

It’s a crowded pack of artsy Davids clutching rocks, ready to hurl ‘em at each other.But they can’t all come out celebrated, or unscathed.Worryingly, most of the 14 new musicals — far too many once again — require a lengthy explanation for ticket-buyers as to what they actually are.

There is only enough time for the elevator pitch if the elevator breaks down.That’s even true of the relatively large ones.For example, the backstage farce “Smash” is the first Broadway show I’m aware of to be based on a drama that NBC canceled after two seasons 12 years ago. Not exactly “The Producers.”Flashy “Death Becomes Her” is hilarious, and is selling well so far.

But realistically how much gas does that campy old Robert Zemeckis movie have left in the tank?And there’s “Boop!,” a likable show in which the 1930s cartoon character Betty Boop comes to life in modern-day New York.Says everyone under 30: “Who the hell is Betty Boop?!”Of course, you’re proba...