45+ Biography Musicals – The Full List of Shows
Whether you’re producing a show or simply looking for some new musicals about popular culture, it’s always good to get familiar with what’s out there. And that’s why we’ve put together this list of the most notable bio musicals (biography musicals) for you below!
The following list is broken down into the following subgenres: “Autobiographical Musicals”, “Semi-Autobiographical Musicals”, “Biographical Musicals”, “Semi-Biographical Musicals”, and “Jukebox Biographies”. Each subgenre is sorted alphabetically.
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Autobiographical Musicals
Music/Lyrics: Various Book: Dick Scanlan, Sherie Rene Scott
Musical Type: Contemporary (2009)
Who It’s (Loosely) Based on: Sherie Rene Scott
Semi-Autobiographical Musicals
Music/Lyrics: Edward Kleban Book: Linda Kline, Lonny Price
Musical Type: Contemporary (2000)
Who It’s (Loosely) Based on: Edward Kleban
Music/Lyrics/Book: William Finn Book: James Lapine
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1998)
Who It’s (Sort of) Based on: William Finn
Music/Lyrics: Marc Shaiman Lyrics: Scott Wittman Book: Martin Short, Daniel Goldfarb
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Who It’s (Sort of) Based on: Martin Short
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: George Furth
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1981)
Who It’s (Kind of) Based on: Stephen Sondheim
The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin
Music/Lyrics/Book: Kirsten Childs
Musical Type: Contemporary (2000)
Who It’s (Loosely) Based on: Kirsten Childs
Music/Lyrics/Book: Jonathan Larson
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary/Contemporary (1990/2001)
Who It’s (Loosely) Based on: Jonathan Larson
Biographical Musicals
Music: Cy Coleman Lyrics: Michael Stewart Book: Mark Bramble
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1980)
Who It’s Based on: P.T. Barnum
Music/Lyrics: Michael Friedman Book: Alex Timbers
Musical Type: Contemporary (2008)
Who It’s Based on: Andrew Jackson
Music/Lyrics: Robert Creighton, Cristopher McGovern Book: Peter Colley
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Who It’s Based on: James Cagney
Music/Lyrics/Book: Christopher Curtis Book: Thomas Meehan
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Who It’s Based on: Charlie Chaplin
Music/Lyrics/Book: Paul Hodge Book: Michael Hodge
Musical Type: Contemporary (2012)
Who It’s Based on: Bill Clinton
Music: André Previn Lyrics/Book: Alan Jay Lerner
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1969)
Who It’s Based on: Coco Chanel
Music/Lyrics/Book: David Bryan, Joe DiPietro
Musical Type: Contemporary (2019)
Who It’s Based on: Princess Diana
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: Tim Rice
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1976)
Who It’s Based on: Eva Perón
Music: Jerry Bock Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick Book: Jerome Weidman, George Abbott
Musical Type: Golden Age (1959)
Who It’s Based on: Fiorello La Guardia
Music/Lyrics: George M. Cohan Lyrics: Mary Cohan Book: Michael Stewart, John Pascal, Francine Pascal
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1968)
Who It’s Based on: George M. Cohan
Music/Lyrics/Book: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Who It’s Based on: Alexander Hamilton
Music/Lyrics/Book: Grace McLean
Musical Type: Contemporary (2019)
Who It’s Based on: Hildegard von Bingen
Music: Jelly Roll Morton, Luther Henderson Lyrics: Susan Birkenhead Book: George C. Wolfe
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1992)
Who It’s Based on: Jelly Roll Morton
Music: Stephen Flaherty Lyrics: Gertrude Stein Book: Frank Galati
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Who It’s Based on: Gertrude Stein
Music: Larry Grossman Lyrics: Hal Hackady Book: Arthur Marx, Robert Fisher
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1970)
Who It’s Based on: Minnie Marx & The Marx Brothers
Music/Lyrics/Book: Sam Kenyon
Musical Type: Contemporary (2018)
Who It’s Based on: Joan Littlewood
Music/Lyrics/Book: Michael John LaChiusa
Musical Type: Contemporary (2011)
Who It’s Based on: Annie Edson Taylor
Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick Book: Sherman Yellen
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1976)
Who It’s Based on: King Henry VIII
Music: Henry Krieger Lyrics/Book: Bill Russell
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1997)
Who It’s Based on: Daisy and Violet Hilton
Music/Lyrics: Paul Simon Lyrics/Book: Derek Walcott
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1998)
Who It’s Based on: Salvador Agrón
Music: Steven M. Alper Lyrics: Sarah Knapp Book: Mark Harelik
Musical Type: Contemporary (2000)
Who It’s Based On: Haskell Harelik
Music: Scott Frankel Lyrics: Michael Korie Book: Doug Wright
Musical Type: Contemporary (2016)
Who It’s Based on: Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein
Semi-Biographical Musicals
Music: Jerry Herman, Mark Sandrich, Jr. Lyrics/Book: Sidney Michaels
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1964)
Who It’s (Loosely) Based on: Ben Franklin
Music: Jule Styne Lyrics: Bob Merrill Book: Isobel Lennart
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1964)
Who It’s (Loosely) Based on: Fanny Brice
Music: Jule Styne Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: Arthur Laurents
Musical Type: Golden Age (1959)
Who It’s (Loosely) Based on: Gypsy Rose Lee
Music: Bill Jacob Lyrics: Patti Jacob Book: Melville Shavelson
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1969)
Who It’s (Loosely) Based on: Jimmy Walker
Music/Lyrics: Peter Allen Book: Harvey Fierstein, Charles Suppon
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1988)
Who It’s (Loosely) Based on: Legs Diamond
Music/Book: Claude-Michel Schönberg Lyrics/Book: Alain Boublil Lyrics: Edward Hardy, Stephen Clark
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1996)
Who It’s (Loosely) Based on: Martin Guerre
Music/Lyrics/Book: Jonathan Christenson
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Who It’s (Loosely) Based on: Edgar Allan Poe
Music/Lyrics/Book: Toby Marlow, Lucy Moss
Musical Type: Contemporary (2017)
Who It’s (Loosely) Based on: The six wives of Henry VIII
Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II Book: Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse
Musical Type: Golden Age (1959)
Who It’s (Loosely) Based on: Maria von Trapp
Jukebox Biographies
The following shows make use of popular music and popular songs. These songs are used to form the biographical narrative of stars in the music industry
Music/Lyrics: Neil Diamond Book: Anthony McCarten
Musical Type: Contemporary/Jukebox (2022)
Who It’s Based on: Neil Diamond
Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations
Music/Lyrics: The Temptations Book: Dominique Morisseau
Musical Type: Contemporary/Jukebox (2017)
Who It’s Based on: The Temptations
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Music/Lyrics: Various Book: Douglas McGrath
Musical Type: Contemporary/Jukebox (2013)
Who It’s Based on: Carole King
Music/Lyrics: Buddy Holly, Various Book: Alan Janes
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary/Jukebox (1989)
Who It’s Based on: Buddy Holly
Music/Lyrics: Fela Kuti Book: Bill T. Jones, Jim Lewis
Musical Type: Contemporary/Jukebox (2008)
Who It’s Based on: Fela Kuti
Music/Lyrics: Bob Marley Book: Lee Hall
Musical Type: Contemporary/Jukebox (2021)
Who It’s Based On: Bob Marley
Music: Bob Gaudio Lyrics: Bob Crewe Book: Marshall Brickman, Rick Elice
Musical Type: Contemporary/Jukebox (2004)
Who It’s Based on: The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
Music/Lyrics: Various Book: Francis Essex, Rob Bettinson
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1995)
Who It’s Based on: Al Jolson
Music/Lyrics: Michael Jackson, Various Book: Lynn Nottage
Musical Type: Contemporary/Jukebox (2022)
Who It’s Based on: Michael Jackson
Music/Lyrics: Various Book: Berry Gordy
Musical Type: Contemporary/Jukebox (2013)
Who It’s Based on: Berry Gordy
Music/Lyrics: Gloria Estefan, Emilio Estefan, Miami Sound Machine Book: Alexander Dinelaris Jr.
Musical Type: Contemporary/Jukebox (2015)
Who It’s Based on: Gloria & Emilio Estefan
Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Music/Lyrics: Various Book: Colman Domingo, Robert Cary, Des McAnuff
Musical Type: Contemporary/Jukebox (2017)
Who It’s Based on: Donna Summer
Music/Lyrics: Peter Allen Book: Nick Enright, Martin Sherman
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary/Jukebox (1998)
Who It’s Based on: Peter Allen
Music/Lyrics: Various Book: Rick Elice
Musical Type: Contemporary/Jukebox (2018)
Who It’s Based on: Cher
Music/Lyrics: Various Book: Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar, Kees Prins
Musical Type: Contemporary/Jukebox (2018)
Who It’s Based on: Tina Turner
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• Musicals About New York City
Which of these bio musicals is your favorite?
Or have you ever played a role in any of the above bio musicals? Feel free to share in the comments below! And if you like these types of lists, check out the musical database. That’s where you’ll find musicals sorted by composer, theme, setting, and more!
Author: Stacy Karyn
Stacy Karyn is the founder of Theatre Trip, author of The Thespian’s Bucket List, and creator of The Cast Album List. She has a TESOL drama certificate, a BA in theatre, and has worked and interned with Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters.