Broadway has found its Gen Z audience — by telling Gen Z stories

NEW YORK — Kimberly Belflower knew “John Proctor is the Villain” needed its final cathartic scene to work — and, for that, it needed Lorde’s “Green Light.”

“I literally told my agent, ‘I would rather the play just not get done if it can’t use that song,’” the playwright laughed. She wrote Lorde a letter, explaining what the song meant, and got her green light.

Starring Sadie Sink, the staggering play about high-schoolers studying “The Crucible” as the #MeToo movement arrives in their small Georgia town, earned seven Tony nominations, including best new play — the most of any this season. It’s among a group of Broadway shows that have centered the stories of young people and attracted audiences to match.

Sam Gold’s Brooklyn-rave take on “Romeo + Juliet,” nominated for best revival of a p