Dark Musicals
The following list includes dark musicals, featuring stage works with somber subject matter, tone, or themes. Additional musical lists are available in the musical database.
Dark Musicals
Music/Lyrics/Book: Joshua Schmidt Lyrics/Book: Jason Loewith
Musical Type: Contemporary (2007)
Genre: Drama
Music/Lyrics: Duncan Sheik Book: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Musical Type: Contemporary (2013)
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: John Weidman
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1990)
Genre: Drama / Historical
Music/Lyrics: Eddie Perfect Book: Scott Brown, Anthony King
Musical Type: Contemporary (2018)
Genre: Comedy / Fantasy / Horror
Music/Lyrics/Book: Lionel Bart Book: Joan Maitland
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1962)
Genre: Drama
Music/Lyrics/Book: Willy Russell
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1983)
Genre: Drama
Music: Frank Wildhorn Lyrics: Don Black Book: Ivan Menchell
Musical Type: Contemporary (2009)
Genre: Drama
Music/Lyrics/Book: Robert J. Sherman
Musical Type: Contemporary (2016)
Genre: Adventure / Fantasy
Music: John Kander Lyrics: Fred Ebb Book: Joe Masteroff
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1966)
Genre: Drama
Music: Michael Gore Lyrics: Dean Pitchford Book: Lawrence D. Cohen
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1988)
Genre: Horror
Music: John Kander Lyrics/Book: Fred Ebb Book: Bob Fosse
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1975)
Genre: Drama
Music: Frank Wildhorn Lyrics/Book: Don Black, Christopher Hampton
Musical Type: Contemporary (2001)
Genre: Fantasy / Horror / Thriller
Music/Lyrics/Book: George Reinblatt Music: Christopher Bond, Frank Cipolla, Melissa Morris
Musical Type: Contemporary (2003)
Genre: Comedy / Fantasy / Horror / Parody
Music/Lyrics: Dave Stewart, Glen Ballard Lyrics/Book: Bruce Joel Rubin
Musical Type: Contemporary (2011)
Genre: Fantasy / Romance / Thriller
Music: Charles Strouse Lyrics: Lee Adams Book: Clifford Odets, William Gibson
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1964)
Genre: Drama
Music/Lyrics/Book: Anaïs Mitchell
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Genre: Fantasy / Romance
Music/Lyrics/Book: Laurence O’Keefe, Kevin Murphy
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Genre: Dark Comedy
Music/Lyrics: Paul Gordon Lyrics/Book: John Caird
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1995)
Genre: Drama / Romance
Music: Frank Wildhorn Lyrics/Book: Leslie Bricusse
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1990)
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: Tim Rice
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1970)
Genre: Religious Drama
Music: John Kander Lyrics/Book: Greg Pierce
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Genre: Drama
Music: John Kander Lyrics: Fred Ebb Book: Terrence McNally
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1992)
Genre: Drama
Music/Lyrics: Claude-Michel Schönberg Lyrics: Alan Boublil, Herbert Kretzmer, Jean-Marc Natel
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1980)
Genre: Drama
Music: Alan Menken Lyrics/Book: Howard Ashman
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1982)
Genre: Comedy / Fantasy / Horror
Music/Lyrics: Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer, Alan Stevens Hewitt Music/Lyrics/Book: Tim Maner
Musical Type: Contemporary (2009)
Genre: Horror
Music/Lyrics: Jerry Herman Book: Michael Stewart
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1974)
Genre: Drama
Music/Lyrics/Book: Michael John LaChiusa
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1999)
Genre: Drama
Music/Lyrics: Jeff Blim Book: Nick Lang, Matt Lang
Musical Type: Contemporary (2023)
Genre: Comedy / Horror
Music: Tom Kitt Lyrics/Book: Brian Yorkey
Musical Type: Contemporary (2008)
Genre: Drama
Music/Lyrics: Jason Robert Brown Book: Alfred Uhry
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1998)
Genre: Drama / Historical
Music: Stephen Flaherty Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens Book: Terrence McNally
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1996)
Genre: Drama / Historical
Music/Lyrics/Book: Jonathan Larson
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1996)
Genre: Drama
Music/Lyrics/Book: Brooke Maxwell, Jacob Richmond
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Genre: Dark Comedy / Horror
Music: Marvin Laird Lyrics/Book: Joel Paley
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1992)
Genre: Dark Comedy
Music/Lyrics/Book: Mbongeni Ngema Additional Songs: Hugh Masekela
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1987)
Genre: Drama / Historical
Music/Lyrics/Book: Michael John LaChiusa
Musical Type: Contemporary (2004)
Genre: Drama
Music/Lyrics: Jon Kaplan, Al Kaplan Book: Hunter Bell
Musical Type: Contemporary (2005)
Genre: Comedy / Horror / Parody
Music: Duncan Sheik Lyrics/Book: Steven Sater
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Genre: Drama
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: Hugh Wheeler
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1979)
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Music/Lyrics: The Avett Brothers Book: John Logan
Musical Type: Contemporary (2022)
Genre: Drama
Music/Book: Anna K. Jacobs Lyrics/Book: Michael R. Jackson
Musical Type: Contemporary (2024)
Genre: Dark Comedy / Horror
Music/Lyrics: Elyssa Samsel, Kate Anderson Book: Jodi Picoult, Timothy Allen McDonald
Musical Type: Contemporary (2022)
Genre: Drama / Historical
Music/Lyrics/Book: Paul Simon Lyrics/Book: Derek Walcott
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1998)
Genre: Biography
Music: Martin Silvestri Lyrics/Book: Joel Higgins
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1993)
Genre: Drama
Music: Peter Rutherford Lyrics/Book: James Millar
Musical Type: Contemporary (2008)
Genre: Drama
Music/Book: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: Charles Hart Lyrics/Book: Richard Stilgoe
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1986)
Genre: Drama / Mystery / Romance / Thriller
Music/Lyrics: John Kander, Fred Ebb Book: David Thompson
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Genre: Drama / Historical
Music/Lyrics/Book: Max Vernon
Musical Type: Contemporary (2017)
Genre: Drama / Historical
Music: John Kander Lyrics: Fred Ebb Book: Terrence McNally
Musical Type: Contemporary (2001)
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Music/Lyrics/Book: Pete Townshend Book: Des McAnuff
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1992)
Genre: Drama
Music/Lyrics/Book: Andrew Lippa
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1997)
Genre: Drama
Music/Lyrics/Book: Michael John LaChiusa Book: George C. Wolfe
Musical Type: Contemporary (2000)
Genre: Drama
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: David Zippel Book: Charlotte Jones
Musical Type: Contemporary (2004)
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Music/Lyrics: Maury Yeston Book: Peter Stone
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1997)
Genre: Drama / Historical
Music/Lyrics/Book: Preston Max Allen
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Genre: Comedy / Horror / Mystery
Music: Leonard Bernstein Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: Arthur Laurents
Musical Type: Golden Age (1957)
Genre: Drama / Romance
Music/Book: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: Jim Steinman Book: Patricia Knop, Gale Edwards
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1996)
Genre: Drama
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Music/Lyrics: David Yazbek Book: Jeffrey Lane
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Genre: Dark Comedy
Related Pages
Last Reviewed: July 4, 2025