Golden Age Musicals – The Full List of Shows

September 30, 2019

Golden age musicals were special in that they played a huge role in popular culture. A few of the popular musical theatre trends at the time included feel-good shows, book musicals, Rodgers & Hammerstein, comedies, love stories, French culture, and big dance numbers.

The 1940s-1950s are also referred to as the “golden age” of musical theatre. Here’s the full list of musicals that premiered during the era. And to enhance your researching experience, you can pop on Theatre Trip’s Spotify playlist while scrolling – “The Best Musical Songs of the Golden Age”➝.

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Contents:

1940 Musicals

Cabin in the Sky

Music: Vernon Duke Lyrics: John Latouche Book: Lynn Root

Musical Type: Golden Age (1940)

Louisiana Purchase

Music/Lyrics: Irving Berlin Book: Morrie Ryskind

Musical Type: Golden Age (1940)

Pal Joey

Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics: Lorenz Hart Book: John O’Hara

Musical Type: Golden Age (1940)

Panama Hattie

Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: Herbert Fields, B.G. DeSylva

Musical Type: Golden Age (1940)

1941 Musicals

Best Foot Forward

Music/Lyrics: Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane Book: John Cecil Holm

Musical Type: Golden Age (1941)

Lady in the Dark

Music: Kurt Weill Lyrics: Ira Gershwin Book: Moss Hart

Musical Type: Golden Age (1941)

1942 Musicals

By Jupiter

Music/Book: Richard Rodgers Lyrics/Book: Lorenz Hart

Musical Type: Golden Age (1942)

This Is the Army

Music/Lyrics: Irving Berlin

Musical Type: Golden Age (1942)

1943 Musicals

Carmen Jones

Music: Georges Bizet Lyrics/Book: Oscar Hammerstein II

Musical Type: Golden Age (1943)

Oklahoma!

Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics/Book: Oscar Hammerstein II

Musical Type: Golden Age (1943)

One Touch of Venus

Music: Kurt Weill Lyrics/Book: Ogden Nash Book: S.J. Perelman

Musical Type: Golden Age (1943)

Something for the Boys

Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: Herbert Fields, Dorothy Fields

Musical Type: Golden Age (1943)

1944 Musicals

Bloomer Girl

Music: Harold Arlen Lyrics: E.Y. Harburg Book: Sig Herzig, Fred Saidy

Musical Type: Golden Age (1944)

Mexican Hayride

Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: Herbert Fields, Dorothy Fields

Musical Type: Golden Age (1944)

On the Town

Music: Leonard Bernstein Lyrics/Book: Betty Comden, Adolph Green

Musical Type: Golden Age (1944)

Song of Norway

Music: Edvard Grieg Lyrics: Robert Wright, George Forrest Book: Milton Lazarus, Homer Curran

Musical Type: Golden Age (1944)

1945 Musicals

Carousel

Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics/Book: Oscar Hammerstein II

Musical Type: Golden Age (1945)

The Day Before Spring

Music: Frederick Loewe Lyrics/Book: Alan Jay Lerner

Musical Type: Golden Age (1945)

Up in Central Park

Music: Sigmund Romberg Lyrics/Book: Dorothy Fields Book: Herbert Fields

Musical Type: Golden Age (1945)

1946 Musicals

Annie Get Your Gun

Music/Lyrics: Irving Berlin Book: Dorothy Fields, Herbert Fields

Musical Type: Golden Age (1946)

Call Me Mister

Music/Lyrics: Harold Rome Sketches: Arnold Auerbach

Musical Type: Golden Age (1946)

St. Louis Woman

Music: Harold Arlen Lyrics: Johnny Mercer Book: Arna Bontemps, Countee Cullen

Musical Type: Golden Age (1946)

1947 Musicals

Allegro

Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics/Book: Oscar Hammerstein II

Musical Type: Golden Age (1947)

Brigadoon

Music: Frederick Loewe Lyrics/Book: Alan Jay Lerner

Musical Type: Golden Age (1947)

Finian’s Rainbow

Music: Burton Lane Lyrics/Book: E.Y. Harburg Book: Fred Saidy

Musical Type: Golden Age (1947)

High Button Shoes

Music: Jule Styne Lyrics: Sammy Cahn Book: Stephen Longstreet

Musical Type: Golden Age (1947)

Street Scene

Music: Kurt Weill Lyrics: Langston Hughes Book: Elmer Rice

Musical Type: Opera (1947)

1948 Musicals

Kiss Me, Kate

Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: Bella Spewack, Samuel Spewack

Musical Type: Golden Age (1948)

Look Ma, I’m Dancin’!

Music/Lyrics: Hugh Martin Book: Jerome Lawrence, Robert E. Lee

Musical Type: Golden Age (1948)

Magdalena

Music: Heitor Villa-Lobos Lyrics: Robert Wright, George Forrest Book: Frederick Hazlitt Brennan, Homer Curran

Musical Type: Golden Age (1948)

Where’s Charley?

Music/Lyrics: Frank Loesser Book: George Abbott

Musical Type: Golden Age (1948)

1949 Musicals

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Music: Jule Styne Lyrics: Leo Robin Book: Joseph Fields, Anita Loos

Musical Type: Golden Age (1949)

Lost in the Stars

Music: Kurt Weill Lyrics/Book: Maxwell Anderson

Musical Type: Golden Age (1949)

Miss Liberty

Music/Lyrics: Irving Berlin Book: Robert E. Sherwood

Musical Type: Golden Age (1949)

South Pacific

Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics/Book: Oscar Hammerstein II Book: Joshua Logan

Musical Type: Golden Age (1949)

1950 Musicals

Call Me Madam

Music/Lyrics: Irving Berlin Book: Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse

Musical Type: Golden Age (1950)

Guys and Dolls

Music/Lyrics: Frank Loesser Book: Jo Swerling, Abe Burrows

Musical Type: Golden Age (1950)

Out of This World

Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: Dwight Taylor, Reginald Lawrence

Musical Type: Golden Age (1950)

Peter Pan

Music/Lyrics: Leonard Bernstein

Musical Type: Golden Age (1950)

1951 Musicals

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Music: Arthur Schwartz Lyrics: Dorothy Fields Book: George Abbott, Betty Smith

Musical Type: Golden Age (1951)

Flahooley

Music: Sammy Fain Lyrics/Book: E.Y. Harburg Book: Fred Saidy

Musical Type: Golden Age (1951)

Paint Your Wagon

Music: Frederick Loewe Lyrics/Book: Alan Jay Lerner

Musical Type: Golden Age (1951)

Seventeen

Music: Walter Kent Lyrics: Kim Gannon Book: Sally Benson

Musical Type: Golden Age (1951)

The King and I

Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics/Book: Oscar Hammerstein II

Musical Type: Golden Age (1951)

Top Banana

Music/Lyrics: Johnny Mercer Book: Hy Kraft

Musical Type: Golden Age (1951)

Two on the Aisle

Music: Jule Styne Lyrics/Book: Betty Comden, Adolph Green

Musical Type: Golden Age (1951)

1952 Musicals

Hans Christian Andersen

Music/Lyrics: Frank Loesser Book: John Fearnley, Beverly Cross, Tommy Steele

Musical Type: Golden Age (1952)

New Faces of 1952

Music/Lyrics: Various

Musical Type: Golden Age (1952)

Three Wishes for Jamie

Music/Lyrics: Ralph Blane Book: Charles O’Neal, Abe Burrows

Musical Type: Golden Age (1952)

Two’s Company

Music: Vernon Duke Lyrics: Ogden Nash, Sammy Cahn Book: Charles Sherman, Peter DeVries

Musical Type: Golden Age (1952)

Wish You Were Here

Music/Lyrics: Harold Rome Book: Arthur Kober, Joshua Logan

Musical Type: Golden Age (1952)

1953 Musicals

Can-Can

Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: Abe Burrows

Musical Type: Golden Age (1953)

Hazel Flagg

Music: Jule Styne Lyrics: Bob Hilliard Book: Ben Hecht

Musical Type: Golden Age (1953)

Kismet

Music: Alexander Borodin Lyrics: Robert Wright, George Forrest Book: Charles Lederer, Luther Davis

Musical Type: Golden Age (1953)

Me and Juliet

Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics/Book: Oscar Hammerstein II

Musical Type: Golden Age (1953)

The Boy Friend

Music/Lyrics/Book: Sandy Wilson

Musical Type: Golden Age (1953)

Wonderful Town

Music: Leonard Bernstein Lyrics: Betty Comden, Adolph Green Book: Joseph Fields, Jerome Chodorov

Musical Type: Golden Age (1953)

1954 Musicals

By the Beautiful Sea

Music: Arthur Schwartz Lyrics/Book: Dorothy Fields Book: Herbert Fields

Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)

Fanny

Music/Lyrics: Harold Rome Book: S.N. Behrman, Joshua Logan

Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)

House of Flowers

Music/Lyrics: Harold Arlen Lyrics/Book: Truman Capote

Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)

Peter Pan

Music: Moose Charlap, Jule Styne Lyrics: Carolyn Leigh, Betty Comden, Adolph Green Book: Sir J.M. Barrie

Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)

Salad Days

Music/Lyrics/Book: Julian Slade Lyrics/Book: Dorothy Reynolds

Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)

The Girl in Pink Tights

Music: Sigmund Romberg Lyrics: Leo Robin Book: Jerome Chodorov, Joseph Fields

Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)

The Golden Apple

Music: Jerome Moross Libretto: John Latouche

Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)

The Pajama Game

Music/Lyrics: Richard Adler, Jerry Ross Book: George Abbott, Richard Bissell

Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)

1955 Musicals

Ankles Aweigh

Music: Sammy Fain Lyrics: Dan Shapiro Book: Guy Bolton, Eddie Davis

Musical Type: Golden Age (1955)

Damn Yankees

Music/Lyrics: Richard Adler, Jerry Ross Book: George Abbott, Douglass Wallop

Musical Type: Golden Age (1955)

Saturday Night

Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: Julius J. Epstein

Musical Type: Golden Age (1955) / Pre-Contemporary (1997)

Pipe Dream

Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics/Book: Oscar Hammerstein II

Musical Type: Golden Age (1955)

Plain and Fancy

Music: Albert Hague Lyrics: Arnold Horwitt Book: Joseph Stein, Will Glickman

Musical Type: Golden Age (1955)

Seventh Heaven

Music: Victor Young Lyrics/Book: Stella Unger Book: Victor Wolfson

Musical Type: Golden Age (1955)

Silk Stockings

Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: George S. Kaufman, Leueen MacGrath, Abe Burrows

Musical Type: Golden Age (1955)

1956 Musicals

Bells Are Ringing

Music: Jule Styne Lyrics/Book: Betty Comden, Adolph Green

Musical Type: Golden Age (1956)

Candide

Music/Lyrics: Leonard Bernstein Lyrics: Richard Wilbur, John Latouche, Stephen Sondheim*, Dorothy Parker Book: John Caird*, Hugh Wheeler*, Lillian Hellman

* Writers who worked on the 1974/1999 revivals of the show

Musical Type: Golden Age (1956)

Chrysanthemum

Music: Robb Stewart Book: Neville Phillips, Robin Chancellor

Musical Type: Golden Age (1956)

Happy Hunting

Music: Harold Karr Lyrics: Matt Dubey Book: Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse

Musical Type: Golden Age (1956)

Irma La Douce

Music: Marguerite Monnot Lyrics/Book: Alexandre Breffort

Musical Type: Golden Age (1956)

Li’l Abner

Music: Gene De Paul Lyrics: Johnny Mercer Book: Norman Panama, Melvin Frank

Musical Type: Golden Age (1956)

Mr. Wonderful

Music/Lyrics: Jerry Bock, Larry Holofcener, George Weiss Book: Joseph Stein, Will Glickman

Musical Type: Golden Age (1956)

My Fair Lady

Music: Frederick Loewe Lyrics/Book: Alan Jay Lerner

Musical Type: Golden Age (1956)

The Most Happy Fella

Music/Lyrics/Book: Frank Loesser

Musical Type: Golden Age (1956)

1957 Musicals

Jamaica

Music: Harold Arlen Lyrics/Book: E.Y. Harburg Book: Fred Saidy

Musical Type: Golden Age (1957)

New Girl in Town

Music/Lyrics: Bob Merrill Book: George Abbott

Musical Type: Golden Age (1957)

The Music Man

Music/Lyrics/Book: Meredith Willson

Musical Type: Golden Age (1957)

West Side Story

Music: Leonard Bernstein Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: Arthur Laurents

Musical Type: Golden Age (1957)

1958 Musicals

A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green

Lyrics/Book: Betty Comden, Adolph Green Music: Leonard Bernstein, Jule Styne, André Previn, Saul Chaplin, Roger Edens, Morton Gould

Musical Type: Golden Age (1958)

Flower Drum Song

Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics/Book: Oscar Hammerstein II Book: David Henry Hwang, Joseph Fields

Musical Type: Golden Age (1958)

Goldilocks

Music: Leroy Anderson Lyrics: Joan Ford Lyrics/Book: Jean Kerr, Walter Kerr

Musical Type: Golden Age (1958)

Oh, Captain!

Music/Lyrics: Jay Livingston, Ray Evans Book: Al Morgan, José Ferrer

Musical Type: Golden Age (1958)

Say, Darling

Music: Jule Styne Lyrics: Betty Comden, Adolph Green Book: Abe Burrows, Marian & Richard Bissell

Musical Type: Golden Age (1958)

The Body Beautiful

Music: Jerry Bock Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick Book: Joseph Stein, Will Glickman

Musical Type: Golden Age (1958)

Valmouth

Music/Lyrics/Book: Sandy Wilson

Musical Type: Golden Age (1958)

1959 Musicals

Destry Rides Again

Music/Lyrics: Harold Rome Book: Leonard Gershe