25+ Beautifully Dark Musicals – Our Top Picks
Happy October!! You will be seeing lots of fun Halloween-inspired blog posts over the next few weeks. And to kick everything off, here is a full list of interesting and powerful dark musicals. If you’re looking for a bit of a musical theatre shock, here’s where you’ll find it.
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Dark Musicals
Music/Lyrics/Book: Joshua Schmidt Lyrics/Book: Jason Loewith
Musical Type: Contemporary (2007)
Music/Lyrics: Duncan Sheik Book: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Musical Type: Contemporary (2013)
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: John Weidman
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1990)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Willy Russell
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1983)
Music: John Kander Lyrics: Fred Ebb Book: Joe Masteroff
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1966)
Music: Michael Gore Lyrics: Dean Pitchford Book: Lawrence D. Cohen
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1988)
Music: John Kander Lyrics/Book: Fred Ebb Book: Bob Fosse
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1975)
Music: Frank Wildhorn Lyrics/Book: Don Black, Christopher Hampton
Musical Type: Contemporary (2001)
Music/Lyrics/Book: George Reinblatt Music: Christopher Bond, Frank Cipolla, Melissa Morris
Musical Type: Contemporary (2003)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Dave Stewart, Glen Ballard, Bruce Joel Rubin
Musical Type: Contemporary (2011)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Laurence O’Keefe, Kevin Murphy
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Music/Lyrics: Frank Wildhorn Lyrics/Book: Leslie Bricusse, Lyrics: Steve Cuden
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1990)
Music: John Kander Lyrics: Fred Ebb Book: Terrence McNally
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1992)
Music: Alan Menken Lyrics/Book: Howard Ashman
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1982)
Music/Lyrics: Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer Music: Alan Stevens Hewitt Lyrics/Book: Tim Maner
Musical Type: Contemporary (2009)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Michael John LaChiusa
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1999)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Douglas J. Cohen
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1987)
Music/Lyrics: Jason Robert Brown Book: Alfred Uhry
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1998)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Brooke Maxwell, Jacob Richmond
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Music: Marvin Laird Lyrics/Book: Joel Paley
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1992)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Mbongeni Ngema Music/Lyrics: Hugh Masakela
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1987)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: Hugh Wheeler
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1979)
Music/Lyrics: Paul Simon Lyrics/Book: Derek Walcott
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1998)
Music: Martin Silvestri Lyrics/Book: Joel Higgins
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1993)
Music/Book: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics/Book: Richard Stilgoe Book: Charles Hart
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1986)
Music: John Kander Lyrics: Fred Ebb Book: David Thompson
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Max Vernon
Musical Type: Contemporary (2017)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Andrew Lippa
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1997)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Preston Max Allen
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Music/Book: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: Jim Steinman Book: Patricia Knop, Gale Edwards
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1996)
Other blog posts you might like:
• Musicals Set in New York City
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Which of these dark musicals is your favorite?
Know any other great Halloween musicals? Let us know 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.